As promised, here's the Elizabeth, PA show... corps are in order of tentative appearance, and not actual appearance:

Teal Sound-Voices of the Sun
They were supposed to perform first, but actually performed third... There was no intermission, so my mind wandered a bit through their show, but I was sincerely impressed by the musicianship and talent displayed. The thing that stuck out the most was how noticeably short the show was... it might have been 10 minutes. Regardless, the music selection was very good, and the show was pretty cohesive. The drill wasn't overwhelmingly dizzying or anything like that, but I was surprisingly engaged throughout most of the show. The percussion was pretty tight for the most part, and the horns held their own. They were always in tune, but there were a couple rough attacks and releases. A little bit of phasing as well, but nothing that completely made the show unlistenable. Good stuff!

Score: 66.950, First place, Div. I

Crossmen-Symphonic Metamorphosis
I really liked this show. The music was absolutely fantastic, and they really played with a lot of emotion and color. The battery was pretty tight, but the snares were exceptionally wet, and it really made it sound a bit dirty at points. At the rate their going however, they'll be really clean by Finals. The horns were lush and very easy to listen to, no horrendous flaws that would be expected to be fixed at this point in the season. It was a crowd favorite, and a pleasure to listen to and watch. They'll be going places very quickly, I can assure you. This change of pace, what with Texas and a new director, surely seems like a good thing at this point.

Score: 69.150, Fifth place

Boston Crusaders-A Picasso Suite
I liked this show... the music selection was great, and the corps as a whole was very tight, but it lacked a certain sensitivity. The entire show was performed at a minimum of mezzo forte... and that was during the very beginning of the ballad. There was very little dynamic variance; the first and last 4 minutes of the show were performed at or above fortissimo. The musicianship as far as notes, rhythms, and attacks and releases go was superb, but it was just a sonic assault on the ears. The show design is great, and the color guard is a lot of fun to watch... they were pretty clean and did some interesting stuff dressed as painters with easels. Another good one to keep an eye out for.

Score: 74.040, Fourth place

Blue Knights-Dark Dances
Overwhemingly surprised that the title of the show contained no cheesy allusion to the word "Knight," coupled with the fact that it was Dmitri Shostakovitch in their repertoire, I was supremely excited to see the show. Unfortunately, it left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. I've never been a huge fan of BK... their shows seem to be abstract, dissonant, and not too entertaining for me, and this was no exception. Don't get me wrong, it was a great show technically; the brass was spot-on, the battery was tight, the color guard looked graceful and effortless, and the mallets were flying all over the place at times... I just wasn't too entertained by it. Part of it might have been the fact that it was pouring down rain during their performance, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Score: 75.250, Third place

Carolina Crown-Triple Crown
This show was my (as well as the entire crowd's, it seemed) favorite show of the night. The music (what a selection, might I add) is beautifully done... my second favorite hornline for a reason. Their sound has never been so lush, and it's so flawless for this point in the season. The percussion is infinitely better than last year, although they still have some work to do... regardless, it's a significant improvement, and after last year, it's awesome seeing them work as a cohesive unit. The color guard performs as horses (hence the title of the show), but it isn't as corny as it sounds. It's a lot of fun, and there are some great laughs as well as some serious notes and musical integrity there. They were less than a point and a half off of Phantom... I wonder what would've happened had it rained a bit less during their performance.

Score: 79.200, Second place

Phantom Regiment-On Air
I was really hoping that Phantom would do something great, and they really did. The show is damn near flawless for this point in the season. The brass is smoking, the percussion is so tight, and the whole show is just one cohesive entity, from start to finish. I can't stress how much cohesiveness means to me. The new sash/drum color combo is fantastic... I'd never thought I'd say Phantom looked so good in (iridescent) green. This is definitely a contender for a top spot, and after watching Coats, Cadets, and Cavies at the Pittsburgh show, I'm very excited to see how things will begin to work themselves out. I hope everyone gets a chance to see the show... its a perfect example of what drum corps is about. Great selections in music, superb musicianship, a fantastic guard, and a heart-racing ending (with the Firebird Suite, of course).

Score: 80.500, First place


The encore was also notable... Phantom performed, and the very first selection was Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, Fourth Movement... It felt as though I was sitting in the stands watching their 1996 Finals performance, which I was too young to even know about at the time. They played it with the same intensity they played their actual show, and it was a blast to watch and listen to.

I wish the weather had been better, as the corps were really struggling at times to fight the rain and wind... the guards all had their share of drops and sails, and the batteries did lose a couple sticks. All-in-all, though, it was a great night.

good review jaco. Crown's definitely the corps I'm keeping my eye on.

I saw a couple vids with a Phantom encore, playing a Shostakovich medley with the 5th in it. The arrangement they played was actually the one from 1974 I believe; the low brass have more of the melody. And I also heard a bit of the 2003 opener (in a drumline clip), I'd really like to see them play that.

I was also at the Elizabeth, PA show, but my review is probably not going to be as eloquent as jaco's. Also, I didn't see Teal's or BAC's show because I was busy getting my ears blown off by the Phantom brass warmup.

Another note – due to the rain, most of the corps were unplugged tonight. Yay for old school!

Crossmen

Their review may be longer than the others because I saw them in rehearsal and spoke to a few of their staff and members. Plus, I may be a bit biased because they're family. Anywho...

There was a vast improvement from last year in every caption. The battery finally had some of that swagger back, especially during their lot. The first movement was a medley of Russian Christmas Music, First Circle, Birdland, and Deep in the Heart of Texas to name a few. Could be very cool if they bumped the tempo a little bit to add some drama. They have a ballad that's actually more of a drum feature than anything with snare solos and drum pods. There's also a really nice park and bark section where the hornline is doing some of their most intricate playing, contrary to what you'd usually hear during those types of sections.

Overall, the percussion is MUCH better than the past couple years, especially this early in the season. Nice little balls to the walls drum feature – sort of reminded me of Puma when Thurston was writing. The biggest issue in the percussion right now is the phasing that occasionally occurs both back to front between battery and pit and side to side within the pit. The visual program has the corps spread out from end-zone to end-zone quite a bit which adds to the difficulty. I do prefer the battery writing more than last year, but I'm still on the fence about the pit arrangements. They have a few runs and features, but sometimes it doesn't seem to correspond to the rest of the music at all. Perhaps it was just some minor phasing between the vibes and marimbas, but they haven't quite found the pocket yet.

The visual program is eons ahead of any of their other captions, and the scores show it. The new white trim on the jackets and aussies look really good under the lights, and the guard is well on their way. Mark Sylvester’s drill is definitely evident with some nice integration between the corps and the guard. However, they move better than they sound. In my opinion, they were the weakest hornline out there last night, with respect to volume. After some asking around, apparently, their staff has the teaching philosophy of “we’re going to sound good first then bump the volume”. Unfortunately, their brass scores aren’t showing any improvement because the judges just CAN’T HEAR THEM, besides some nasty intonation problems coming out of the mello line. Lots of exposed parts that just weren’t done well. Hopefully they’ll have that all straightened out by finals time.

Overall, I liked their show a lot more than I thought I would, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. They also have some drill changes on tap so it’ll be interesting to see how they end up. The new staff is definitely more serious this year and won’t be satisfied with anything less than making Finals.

Blue Knights

I honestly had ADHD during their show. Everything was done…well, but it just didn’t hold my attention. Their opener was a Shostakovich tune that I recognized from one of Phantom’s old shows and that sounded pretty nice. Nothing really memorable for me – it was just a well done show that everyone has learned to expect from them. I’m just REALLY tired of the body movement which they did throughout the entire opener and ballad.

Carolina Crown

Okay, I’ll admit it. This is the first Crown show that I’ve liked. Ever. They take advantage of their show concept without being extremely corny, despite their use of horse gates as props. However, those were integrated into their drill quite well in the closer. And ya know, I’d actually put Crown’s brass over Phantom at this show. Whether it be the rain or whatever, Crown seemed to have the better sound and soloists. And finally – they have a percussion section to match their hornline. They’re definitely more integrated with the horn book and playing with some aggression. By the end of the season, I could see their show easily in the top 5 - perhaps ahead of Bluecoats because it seems like Crown has a lot more room to grow.

Phantom Regiment

Let me preface this by saying that I’m in love with Phantom, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. They sort of looked like those little goombas from Super Mario Bros. last night since they weren’t wearing their plumes. This show has more emotional moments than Faust last year, in my opinion. The drumline is on par with last year (clean, playing some notes, and really pretty teal fade on their drums), but I don’t think that the pit arrangement is integrated as well as it has been. Don’t get me wrong – they did have a lot of nice features that were played well with the most dynamic contrast of the night. The talent and the ears are there. Hornline was amazing as usual, even with little blips here and there and some demanding drill. Flower Duet was my favorite ballad with the flugel duet – it was a shame because it didn’t come out as well as it did during their rehearsal that afternoon. The closer ends in a formation that could easily adapted into a wedge by the time Finals rolls around…My only real problem with this show is the guard uniform. It’s some sort of American Indian costume with the bright colored fringe – I really don’t get it. There’s going to be some real competition at the top.

Encore – Phantom Regiment

If you get a chance to watch Phantom doing the encore, do it. And make sure that you sit about 5 rows from the front – it’s amazing how powerful their hornline is. I think I had to change my pants after they played “Nessun Dorma”.

Anyway, that’s all I got. Forgive me for not being able to remember more details – I hate writing things down at shows.

You're true about Crossmen, Patty. When I saw them at the TX drum corps preview: 1: You're right about their lot this year. It's not only a lot more enjoyable, but seems more powerful, if that makes sense. I've never thought there's something better in the beginning of a lot session than to hear the power of 8th's starting. Surprisingly, they did the Russian Christmas Music big pretty nicely. I wasn't in PA last night, but they executed that one pretty loud... Really, I think they have a great show ,but maybe some things could be adjusted.

I'm still very anxious to see Phantom, Cavaliers and Vanguard. DCI TX takes too long!

Patty... I sat 8 rows up on the 50 during the encore... I'm assuming we were within speaking distance, haha. Small world.

Oh, and I thought Phantom's guard uniforms were supposed to be birds? My girlfriend said it looked more like Pocahontas.

PR's guard uniforms aren't done. They have 3 more additions to make to it this summer.

This is from the Lexington, KY show on the 26th of June. I only saw a few corps actually perform since I stayed in the lot for awhile.

Phantom Regiment: They have an incredible ensemble, a great sounding brass section, and the cleanest line I've ever heard in June. It amazes me how good they are right now. Their show didn't do a whole lot for me though. The opener blew me away but I lost interest as the show progressed. I also have to question the necessity of the black props. I wasn't high enough to see the drill. Great performers but I could see them peaking too early. I also liked the drumline book except that every exposed lick sounds sort of the same.

Cadets: Wow. I might be a little biased having a friend playing there but I was blown away by their show. I've heard complaints about the narration but for me, it worked. The beginning was a tad annoying but as it went on, it felt more like thoughts made audible and less like narration. The music did a much better job of building suspense than in PR's show. I was on the edge of my seat just waiting for that big hit. The brass was very, very loud and the drumline is playing a ton of notes.

Southwind: I was supposed to be playing snare there this year so I am a little biased towards them as well. I liked the show concept. There were a lot of holes in the drill. The drumline is almost all rookies but with such a great staff, they'll definitely improve as the season progesses.

Good luck to everyone.

Anyone with a little Mempho love?

Hey, Nex! How's the season going?

We're doing really well . . . you can check out the thread Alex, Chris and I have somewhere in here and send some care packages to the Bethel address for the week we spend if you're nice