zagreus
Active Member
- Messages
- 1,473
As I sit in class bored to death in my Federalism and Contemporary US policy, I am forced to write up my DD review. Its either do the review or pay attention...there's no way i'll pay attention in this class.
First gotta start out by saying it was a pleasure to meet all the different teams and people. I really gotta say that ECU really killed it, and they're an awesome group to hang out with. Also Ambarish was awesome too
, we really had a great time with all you guys! Justin, Shallu, Jose and all the other ECU people i can't remember, really was a great time hanging with you guys until like 6am. Can't wait to see you kids at AVAP!
Now to the show and the competition itself. We drove from Northern Virginia REALLY early in the morning, and boy was that a long ass drive. So it was nice to know when we arrived to the hotel on friday night, that food was already there waiting for everyone. Although i didn't eat any, i heard mixed reviews on the pasta..but no worries, that didn't ruin anything for me. A few teams were there when we were there, so it was nice to see the teams interact nicely and no real problems were brewing. I think one of our guys had a big run in with like 6 AEG guys in the bathroom...too funny a story. The guy was tryin to go to the bathroom, and like all of the AEG guys showed up and surrounded him cause they all needed to go too...and there was only 1 stall. too great. I didn't go to the party at night because i was insanely tired, but i heard from the team it was a different feel of a party. it was held at like an arcade type of place (ben and i played a good game of table hockey saturday night). but i did hear great things about the teams talking with the judges before the competition and the judges were very honest and everything.
On saturday it was generally ok run by the organization. Anil and Rinku did a great job conveying what needed to be done, and they were fairly prompt with their answers. We were the 2nd team up for the show so we had the early morning run throughs at the venue. Little did i know that the run through would not be held on the actual stage, but instead at a dance studio in the building. I must say that that was the biggest fault i had to give to the competition. I know its not the organizers' fault, but it was a big deal. Since we weren't really given time to do a good sound check on stage and go through and figure everything out, it made things very difficult for me (i was playing dhol for the team). The dance studio was ok, but i felt it was not adequate for the teams that needed to hit the stage and really see what its like. After the run through went to the hotel and found pizzas ordered for all the teams. That was quite nice to find. We didn't stay at the team hotel, so it was a different experience for us. I must say that Albany is not the prettiest city to see, it was a pretty shady place. There were some nice places to just look at, but not a place to go through.
The show itself started on time. The place wasn't full, but atleast it moved accordingly. The MC did a good job of just going through the list fast and didn't waste any time. He should learn to pronounce bhangra a little better, but the guy was really nice to talk to and really chill. They gave the teams about 10 mins each on stage before the event started. That was also a problem for me, since i had no idea where the monitors were on stage or how loud the mix will be. We were not allowed to play our mix because there were people outside the venue apparently who could hear it. I personally really needed to hear the sound system to know how much i can play or whether or not its worth it. Anil and Poonam did an awesome of walking around the crowd and asking if we needed ANYTHING. Water backstage was crucial and really helped us out.
Union went on first, and you saw the video of it...so no reason to talk about them. But hearing their mix backstage, it was really hard to hear, and it was worrying. We hit the stage after union, and it went on just fine. But again, not knowing how loud the speakers were was bad. I couldn't play dhol at all really, and i was the front of the performance for our mela (thinking it would be loud enough to play along to), but hearing it as i was on stage prevented me from playing hard since i didn't want to hurt the team. I believe the other 2 dholis from other teams felt the same way. They barely played and the judges were critical of me for that.
After GMU was Virsa, and their mela was awesome. It was VERY energetic and just really cool too see. Props to the guy doing pushups with one arm. Their phumanian and mirza were the most memorable pieces of their set. There were times where people weren't spaced properly and it got really sloppy at times. Plus energy was an issue for them, during their saap part people weren't hitting their spots fully and it was a little hard to follow. Their singer at the beginning also muffed the sher a little bit, but he killed it. His voice was awesome! It was really awesome seeing virsa up close and live. A real treat. Their groupies certainly had a great time there too. They were very present in the front row.
NC State went up and their outfits were sick. I really liked their colors and everything. You guys are mad nice, and it was great meeting all of you in the dressing room. They had a nice set, but it got a bit sloppy and spacing was again a problem. I can't remember a lot about the performance, but those stood out the most to me.
Sienna bhangra had the biggest entourage at the competition. Plus the night before they won a big basketball game in 2OT, so they had a high. They were very modern, and i didn't feel the performance too much. the energy certainly was there though.
SMD was a fun team to watch. They were pretty interesting to see, and Dheerja killed it. They lacked energy at some points, but they were quite creative. They did a lot of bhangra to english songs, such as the saap part to a Metallica song.
CMD was a fun team to watch. They had some good stuff going on, but at some point i was getting a little tired from the day and everything, so i didn't follow their performance too much. Nothing i can remember that was a big wow factor.
Binghampton was a nice team. I didn't feel their style so much, but they were nice people and really seemed to enjoy themselves. I liked the song selection. i didn't like the paggan so much, they seemed overly fake and i'm used to tying single piece paggan and everything so i must be biased i guess.
ECU was the highlight of the night. To me they should've placed first place. They had great energy and a sick set. Their ending mela was really cool too. Justin killed it, you dance a lot like Shahrukh from VCU. And i really mean it, its like an exact copy. you just gotta smile more hahaha. They were also an awesome team to chill with and get to know. Also it was a pleasure tying your guys' paggan. They all held up nicely so i was very happy with that. They really brought a great show.
It was a bit weird with the judging and all. They had a lot of free time to kill so they had the most random dhol off. So that was really fun. It was nice playing alongside the Virsa dholi and NC State dholi, but who won?! I was really feeling it.
It was REALLY nice that the organizers arranged time for the teams to meet with the judges individually. Seriously, that was awesome! The judges were brutally honest and knew what they were talking about. It was really nice to meet you guys, Atinder nice meeting you. You kinda did mess up my dhol case a little bit
The after party had its issues, but those were dealt with as soon as Anil was on the case. The after party was meant for 18 and over, and especially for the teams. At some point they ended up doing what happened at QC last year, and just made it 21 over. Anil was pissed and him and Rinku got that changed. The organizers were so pissed about all that that they threatened to leave the party. THEY made it about the teams, and that was amazing! All teams should go and experience this type of care. The DJ played a bit more hip hop for my liking, but whatever. At the end of the thing, you just wanted to get down and have fun. Great fun!
Too bad about the fight that happened at the end of the after party, that was just terrible. And it was funny how when you walked into the team hotel, that you were warned about noise and everything. it was a good time.
My suggestions to DD if they do it next year would be:
Guarantee time on stage and a sound check
Dinner would've been a little nice, but its all good.
First gotta start out by saying it was a pleasure to meet all the different teams and people. I really gotta say that ECU really killed it, and they're an awesome group to hang out with. Also Ambarish was awesome too
, we really had a great time with all you guys! Justin, Shallu, Jose and all the other ECU people i can't remember, really was a great time hanging with you guys until like 6am. Can't wait to see you kids at AVAP! Now to the show and the competition itself. We drove from Northern Virginia REALLY early in the morning, and boy was that a long ass drive. So it was nice to know when we arrived to the hotel on friday night, that food was already there waiting for everyone. Although i didn't eat any, i heard mixed reviews on the pasta..but no worries, that didn't ruin anything for me. A few teams were there when we were there, so it was nice to see the teams interact nicely and no real problems were brewing. I think one of our guys had a big run in with like 6 AEG guys in the bathroom...too funny a story. The guy was tryin to go to the bathroom, and like all of the AEG guys showed up and surrounded him cause they all needed to go too...and there was only 1 stall. too great. I didn't go to the party at night because i was insanely tired, but i heard from the team it was a different feel of a party. it was held at like an arcade type of place (ben and i played a good game of table hockey saturday night). but i did hear great things about the teams talking with the judges before the competition and the judges were very honest and everything.
On saturday it was generally ok run by the organization. Anil and Rinku did a great job conveying what needed to be done, and they were fairly prompt with their answers. We were the 2nd team up for the show so we had the early morning run throughs at the venue. Little did i know that the run through would not be held on the actual stage, but instead at a dance studio in the building. I must say that that was the biggest fault i had to give to the competition. I know its not the organizers' fault, but it was a big deal. Since we weren't really given time to do a good sound check on stage and go through and figure everything out, it made things very difficult for me (i was playing dhol for the team). The dance studio was ok, but i felt it was not adequate for the teams that needed to hit the stage and really see what its like. After the run through went to the hotel and found pizzas ordered for all the teams. That was quite nice to find. We didn't stay at the team hotel, so it was a different experience for us. I must say that Albany is not the prettiest city to see, it was a pretty shady place. There were some nice places to just look at, but not a place to go through.
The show itself started on time. The place wasn't full, but atleast it moved accordingly. The MC did a good job of just going through the list fast and didn't waste any time. He should learn to pronounce bhangra a little better, but the guy was really nice to talk to and really chill. They gave the teams about 10 mins each on stage before the event started. That was also a problem for me, since i had no idea where the monitors were on stage or how loud the mix will be. We were not allowed to play our mix because there were people outside the venue apparently who could hear it. I personally really needed to hear the sound system to know how much i can play or whether or not its worth it. Anil and Poonam did an awesome of walking around the crowd and asking if we needed ANYTHING. Water backstage was crucial and really helped us out.
Union went on first, and you saw the video of it...so no reason to talk about them. But hearing their mix backstage, it was really hard to hear, and it was worrying. We hit the stage after union, and it went on just fine. But again, not knowing how loud the speakers were was bad. I couldn't play dhol at all really, and i was the front of the performance for our mela (thinking it would be loud enough to play along to), but hearing it as i was on stage prevented me from playing hard since i didn't want to hurt the team. I believe the other 2 dholis from other teams felt the same way. They barely played and the judges were critical of me for that.
After GMU was Virsa, and their mela was awesome. It was VERY energetic and just really cool too see. Props to the guy doing pushups with one arm. Their phumanian and mirza were the most memorable pieces of their set. There were times where people weren't spaced properly and it got really sloppy at times. Plus energy was an issue for them, during their saap part people weren't hitting their spots fully and it was a little hard to follow. Their singer at the beginning also muffed the sher a little bit, but he killed it. His voice was awesome! It was really awesome seeing virsa up close and live. A real treat. Their groupies certainly had a great time there too. They were very present in the front row.
NC State went up and their outfits were sick. I really liked their colors and everything. You guys are mad nice, and it was great meeting all of you in the dressing room. They had a nice set, but it got a bit sloppy and spacing was again a problem. I can't remember a lot about the performance, but those stood out the most to me.
Sienna bhangra had the biggest entourage at the competition. Plus the night before they won a big basketball game in 2OT, so they had a high. They were very modern, and i didn't feel the performance too much. the energy certainly was there though.
SMD was a fun team to watch. They were pretty interesting to see, and Dheerja killed it. They lacked energy at some points, but they were quite creative. They did a lot of bhangra to english songs, such as the saap part to a Metallica song.
CMD was a fun team to watch. They had some good stuff going on, but at some point i was getting a little tired from the day and everything, so i didn't follow their performance too much. Nothing i can remember that was a big wow factor.
Binghampton was a nice team. I didn't feel their style so much, but they were nice people and really seemed to enjoy themselves. I liked the song selection. i didn't like the paggan so much, they seemed overly fake and i'm used to tying single piece paggan and everything so i must be biased i guess.
ECU was the highlight of the night. To me they should've placed first place. They had great energy and a sick set. Their ending mela was really cool too. Justin killed it, you dance a lot like Shahrukh from VCU. And i really mean it, its like an exact copy. you just gotta smile more
hahaha. They were also an awesome team to chill with and get to know. Also it was a pleasure tying your guys' paggan. They all held up nicely so i was very happy with that. They really brought a great show.It was a bit weird with the judging and all. They had a lot of free time to kill so they had the most random dhol off. So that was really fun. It was nice playing alongside the Virsa dholi and NC State dholi, but who won?! I was really feeling it.
It was REALLY nice that the organizers arranged time for the teams to meet with the judges individually. Seriously, that was awesome! The judges were brutally honest and knew what they were talking about. It was really nice to meet you guys, Atinder nice meeting you. You kinda did mess up my dhol case a little bit
The after party had its issues, but those were dealt with as soon as Anil was on the case. The after party was meant for 18 and over, and especially for the teams. At some point they ended up doing what happened at QC last year, and just made it 21 over. Anil was pissed and him and Rinku got that changed. The organizers were so pissed about all that that they threatened to leave the party. THEY made it about the teams, and that was amazing! All teams should go and experience this type of care. The DJ played a bit more hip hop for my liking, but whatever. At the end of the thing, you just wanted to get down and have fun. Great fun!
Too bad about the fight that happened at the end of the after party, that was just terrible. And it was funny how when you walked into the team hotel, that you were warned about noise and everything. it was a good time.
My suggestions to DD if they do it next year would be:
Guarantee time on stage and a sound check
Dinner would've been a little nice, but its all good.
