The Virginia Arts Festival Tattoo is always an event to look forward to, according to my sister. For one reason or another, however, I had never managed to go. This year my schedule finally worked out and I attended opening night on Friday, April 20th. And I found that I only partially agreed with her assessment. In short, the show was about half oh-my-god-amazing and half oh-my-god-another-marching-band, and it's up to you to decide if you want to make the time to attend next year.

Though I arrived at Norfolk Scope about 15 minutes before show time, the Will Call line was hideously slow and I wasn’t able to get in to the show until about 10 minutes in. It didn’t look like I’d missed a whole lot, though. Mostly a few national anthems and an armed forces tribute. And while yes, patriotism is important, a good portion of the remainder of the Tattoo was also dedicated to military tributes, so I feel like I got my healthy dose of national pride even though I missed the ones in the beginning.

If you’ve ever been to the Tattoo, you know that it’s basically a bunch of different groups performing one right after another with some nice transitions and a big group thing at the end. I have a few things to say about the show as a whole, though. First of all, the sound for the announcer was wretched. The Norfolk Scope being a sports arena, I don’t know if this could’ve been helped, but it’s unfortunate. If I hadn’t had a program in front of me I wouldn’t have had any idea who all these groups were.

Having heard only good things about the Tattoo, I guess

I had few expectations that were sadly left unfulfilled.

Holland was represented by the Juliana Bicycle Team. This group performed twice during the Tattoo, and their second round of tricks was absolutely amazing. They rode on unicycles of staggering heights to the sound of gasps and moans of appreciation from the audience.

One of my two favorite presentations was the Traditional Band of the Army of the Republic of Korea. It was a gorgeous display. They vaulted and jumped and twirled around with long ribbons streaming from their heads, making intricate designs in the air. Sixteen female drummers pounded away at their drums - reminiscent of that party scene in Charlie's Angels. You know, that one that Tim Curry hosts and the Angels first see the skinny tall man? ...I digress... Anyway, it was cool.

My other favorite presentation was actually the United States Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard Silent Drill Team. They're just as impressive as their name is long. You've heard of these guys before, but "they twirl rifles" isn't an adequate description of what they do. They perform intricate maneuvers with frightening precision, and they do it silently, meaning there's no one giving them orders. Their entire routine is memorized down to the smallest flick of the wrist. Imagine a filled-to-the-brim Norfolk Scope (capacity of 12,600, though one end was empty for sightline purposes) absolutely silent except for the sound of gloves hitting the guns and an occasional baby crying. The tension was palpable and I was incredibly impressed.

The remainder of the acts were either bagpipes or marching bands of varying entertainment value, with a couple short interludes thrown in for a breather.

Somewhat surprisingly, given the rank and reputation of the other bands performing,

Norfolk State University's Million Dollar Funk Squad was one of my favorite marching bands - mostly because of their drumline.

Honestly, the remaining groups didn't really stand out much in my mind. The United States Navy Fleet Forces had cool marching designs and their music got less repetative after the jazz band joined in. Massed Pipes, Drums and Dancers Featuring 8 Wing Trenton Pipes and Drums and "The Fiddleheads" had bad sound mixing so I didn't find them terribly enjoyable at all. One drumset, one fiddle, two guitars and a keyboard should not drown out 50+ bagpipes.

The Ties That Bind Featuring The Band of the Bermuda Regiment, Bermuda Islands Pipe Band, H & H Gombey Dance Troupe and Vasco Da Gama Folklore Dancers (whew!) began with a dramatization of a poor starving group being brought food, which was "cheesy" but at least different. But then they were joined by another marching band.

The Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force Steel Orchestra was another marching band, but they played steel drums so it was automatically a bit more fun than the rest. And their limbo girl obviously had no bones in her body as she shimmied under a bar that was approximately one foot off the ground. I kid you not.

The United States Quantico Marine Corp Band was of course hardcore and intense - Marines, you know. The Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines wasn't particularly showy but they played beautifully. I guess that a band from a country with centuries of classical music behind it doesn't need to be flashy.

The Finale began with a lone bagpiper which is always a bit mournful sounding to me, then he was joined by the other bagpipers (over 50), horns and drums, resulting in a truly majestic sound. Add in the rest of the insturments and it's enough to bring tears to your eyes. The bass soloist for Amazing Grace was wonderful, unfortunately the chorus behind him was fundamentally unmic'd so they could barely be heard.

All the accumulated grandeur of the finale was then spoiled once we reached God Bless the USA. Why, oh why did they have to ruin a great song like that by getting a soloist who sounded like a cheesy American Idol reject? It was a nice voice, I suppose, but the poor guy had none of the power this song calls for.

Even more anticlimactic was the lone colonial soldier who entered after most of the audience was already gathering their things and standing to leave. "Hear ye, hear ye! We're done!" was basically the message. Um, thanks. We got that.

All in all, I did have a pretty good time and some of the acts were super impressive as I said. I'm glad I finally went, but my final verdict is: This is a one-time thing.