BLAST! national tour, Kingsbury Hall, Friday.
If you like rhythm — pulsing, pounding, beating rhythm — Kingsbury Hall was the place to be Friday as "Blast!" stormed into town. If you like rhythm, accompanied by dazzling color and movement, you could see these amazing performers turn sound into a visual entity.
Conversely, if you have harbored even a secret notion that marching bands are a little on the geeky side, "Blast!" was also the place to be. You could see these guys take the idea of moving musical instruments (and batons and flags and all the other paraphernalia) and raise it to heights that "cool" doesn't begin to cover. These guys have skills. They have the moves. They can make trombones and tubas look sexy.
"Blast!" is comprised of 35 brass, percussion and visual performers, both men and women, a group that grew out of a drum corps called Star of Indiana. It is now a Tony-winning traveling troupe noted for its showmanship, energy and choreography that offers a truly unique form of entertainment.
The program began with the building, tension-filled "Bolero," which got things off to a perfect start. It ended with a sultry, heat-filled "Malaguena" that provided a stirring finish. In between was a little bit of everything: a pageantry of flying flags in two "Color Wheel" numbers; a tribute to the blues, with sizzling solo work on the horns; a lively "Gee, Officer Krupke"; a delightful step into the "Land of Make Believe," complete with lighted sticks that twirled and blazed in the dark.
The "Battery Battle," which featured both solo and dueling drummers, was a particular crowd-pleaser — who knew that drumsticks could even move that fast? And not only was the handwork exciting, so was the legwork, the armwork, the shoulderwork, the earwork, etc.
A change-of-pace came from "Simple Gifts/Appalachian Spring," which combined bells, a bit of ballet and a lot of athleticism in a beautiful number.
Drums and brass were the primary instruments, but a whole range of others, including marimbas, mellophones, water sticks, euphoniums and even didgeridoos added to the mix.
It all added up to a sensory experience that you could enjoy on many levels. It was a "Blast!"
E-mail: carma@desnews.com