I've got the DCI.org fan network thing, so I've seen just about everybody so far. However, I will only see the Cavvies live this season, so I'll just review what I feel most strongly about.

Cavaliers - I remember hearing Samurai being announced as the show theme and responding with a resounding EH. And that is exactly what I say to you now. Eh. It's good, I guess. It's Cavvies, everything is good when they do it. But that's just all. It's GOOD. It's not great. It's not memorable. No signs of their theme except the occasional RA! HUH! KIMOSABE! which is disappointing. It's earlier in the season, so I'll let up on them a little, but seriously, I'm really not impressed thusfar. I'll give them a chance, though. They haven't let me down in the past.

Carolina Crown - Well, I don't know about a great theme, but HOLY CRAPOLA BATMAN that music was amazing. They did such a great job, and you can almost feel your face melting off as you watch. Visually great, as always, but it looks like a great, fun show to perform, and I throughly enjoyed every second.

The Cadets - Oh. Lawdy. I was praying really hard to the DCI gods that George Hopkins might stop the narration after all the negative reaction last year (my friends and I still say things like "When I pick up a sandwich, something AMAZING! happens!" to this day). But no. It returns in all its glory. I hated it then, and I hate it more now. The show theme is ridiculous. Breast cancer? Really? A show about breast cancer? Maybe for marching band, but not for a top 10 corps. And the fakeness in the way they narrated it makes me wonder if the Cadets hate the Cadets as much as I do. It's not genuine. The music I can't even comment on because none of it was memorable and all I can recall is BLAH BLAH BLAH SNAP! So basically this show is for the die-hard Cadets fans and breast cancer patients. If you are neither, I don't see you liking this show at all. As for the percussion, when you could hear it, clean and concise. Good work, guys.


*cough* Sorry. I'm a little biased.

I'm sorry if this is off-topic, but I'd like to get this off my chest. Is the show really that bad? Is it that bad that every DCI Fan everywhere has to bash them endlessly? Everyone blames the Cadets for the narration. The Cadets suck. Anyone who plays with them sucks. But that's not it! If you want to blame someone, blame Hopkins, and even then, I think it's not right.

These kids work their butts off all summer to perform for you. If you don't appreciate the hard work these kids are putting in for you, then keep your mouth closed. If it's not nice, don't say it. George is obviously doing something right, hence the 2nd place last year. And this show isn't for breast cancer patients and die-hard Cadets fans. It's for die-hard DCI fans that appreciate the work being put into the show they are performing.

I can understand how you're biased, and this little rant isn't directed toward just you. It's to everyone who hates the Cadets for the "crap" everyone thinks they're doing. If you think it sucks, why don't you go out for the Cadets and audition. Perform that show with them. Be the butt of riducule. That's how they feel when you talk about them behind their backs.

I rest my case. Again, sorry for the off-topic rant.

its true they work their butts off.... but no ones hating the cadets...its just the show we disslike.Its no different than when an Ohio State fan says " michigan sucks"....they dont hate michigan players they just disslike the team.i love the cadets but not this show..............and "talking behind there backs" sorry but i dont feel like driving 21 hours to pennsylvania to tell george hopkins i disslike the narration

This isn't a musician review thread. This is a show thread. You can't sit there and tell me you want to sit through a show about breast cancer and all this talking during it. The kids are great. No one respects them more than us. But seriously, the show stinks. The plot and everything are horrible. There is a freaking stage on the field where the people sit and chat. And talking behind their backs? What is this, high school? Are you saying we can't give our opinions on shows because we are talking behind a corps' back?

Pacific Crest: They were a pleasant surprise. A lot better than what I expected. And the tenor line was on fire hahaha.

I didn't see Academy, but i wanted to, and i wanna hear their Mapex Drums....

SCV: Dude, I LOVE this show!!! Very awesome drill and a larger than life brassline. Their drum break was very reminiscent to that of a Drum n' Bass groove, and by golly, it was one of the most awesome things ever! The pit left things to be desired, but they were able to lock in with the battery's hits exactly even though the drumline was on the 20 ha. And of course the cymbals were insane! Watch out for this one, i smell top 5

BD: Everytime I see this show, i fall in love with it more. It definitely is different than any other devs show I have ever seen and I like it better than Vanguard's show. Drumline's book is a HUGE step up from last year, but they need to do some serious cleaning.... The pit is just amazing......quite possibly THE best front ensemble in DCI this year. The drill design is innovative for the most part and the brass is just haulin' it across the field. This is definitely a contender for the title, guys.

Phantom: one word: Amazing. truly truly amazing. I cannot explain how awesome this show is. They got 2nd overall, 2nd in drums and 2nd in brass. These placings are ATROCIOUS and Phantom definitely deserves the 1st placing instead of BD (BD swept pretty much everything) man this show is off the chart. The hornline has unmatched dynamic clarity. UNMATCHED. The drumline was very very VERY clean and the General effect of this show was through the roof. So far, I think Spartacus can take the world championships, but I still need to see Cavies and Cadets, so we shall see.

What he said.

And as for the "die-hard DCI fans" comment, you can be a DCI fan and not like every single show. You can appreciate that they worked hard to do this, but you don't have to enjoy the show, and you can still call yourself a drum corps fan. The point of this is to have an opinion, and clearly we have opposing ones. It's ok. That means we'll give different reviews. That's fine. Not ever judge will judge the same, and not every fan will think the same way about every show.

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I think that there should be a rule
YOU CANNOT REVIEW A SHOW UMLESS YOUVE SEEN IT IN PERSON.

everyone has seen DVD's then seen the realy thing... its not the same...(same concept)

there are lots of eh shows on DVDs that were incredible in person.
so please if all youve seen is the fan network POS recording, leave it out.

I'm not talking about the recordings, I'm talking about the live streams. Also I'm just reviewing some small points and the general direction of the corps.

I saw the July 12th show in Denver


BD won. Their show seemed all over the place, but it was cool. Their pit is awesome, is just seemed like the drumset seemed like it didnt fit in sometimes, at least with the way it was mic'd... seemed kinda boxy and stuck out. i loved the taikos in the beginning i just wish they brought them back out again, it was cool. the bass drums spinning in their feature was pretty sick too.. i guess the whole show seemed full of tricks, and i guess everybody loves the random experimental shows?

Cavies took 2nd. awesome show, but its nowhere close to Machine. everyone keeps saying its Machine with a different theme... not really, its not as brilliant, but its pretty cool. i guess i came in with higher hopes and wasnt satisfied. its cavies and there was some really awesome drill moments like always, but there were also a lot of spots that could have been more exciting for the theme. they were frickin clean though.. i was just hoping for this to be the kind of masterpeice that Machine was. I dont know if its good enough to win now that i have seen it.

Phantom took 3rd, but they had the best show IMO. Spartacus is AMAZING. my only issue was that from the very start when they ride in with their convoy and are in character from the very beginning it sets up this amazing show, stays exciting for long time.. but by the time it gets to the end its not exciting anymore. seems like it peaked too soon and the ending wasnt as great as it could have been. i liked how they marched over the corpse though lol. their drumline was killin it though, especially for not doing all the tricks like the top 2 corps and just drumming. overall a very well done theme

SVC took 4th. meh... their drill was nasty.. i give them props for attempting so much hard stuff in the drill, but snugglebunny wasnt clean... and then 6 tenors and no special amazing trick to feature them? just 6 for the sake of 6? lame.. and their cymbals were not early as exciting as they have been, this year they were just... there.. and their show was just... there....

BK took 5th but were probably exhibition anyways. i just think it was kinda boring.. nothing ever really happened. then they ended on a sloppy set lol.. oh well. i think BK has a lot of potential and just play the same stuff all the time, they could be really great but for some reason dont. once again another show thats just there but nothing special.

Madison Scouts took 6th, they were pretty good, just have a ways to go i think. i definitely think they had a better performance than SCV did

Troopers took 7th, man they have a pretty cool show. I wish it wasnt so kiddy all the time, but there are some awesome moments.

I didnt get in for Mandarins, 8th.

I hung out with the bluecoats yesterday at the lafayette show. I got to see several runs of their feature and man they nailed it every time. The snare features...omg...notes galore, at one point the whole line is spread like 5 yards apart person to person and the ram like a bunch of flam drags. Now on to the bass feature,which is EXACTLY what it is supposed to be,a speed bag work out.(i caught it because im an amateur boxer) Now the thing that is so amazing about it is that they actually warp the time and the notes diminish in sets of 3's. I swear it feels like the real thing. I think they should be winning drums, this show is the bomb. Anyway tried to find cheese but i don't know what drum he's on, so i just gave them a good show during their lot.