You know patty, I'd consider myself fairly unbaised when It comes to who should have made that 12th spot. Im a homer from both who made it and who didnt. Ive seen both recently, I think that both shows are on par with each other However, I find that the ones who didnt make it, are more talented (cleaner) from an overall standpoint. Both drumlines/ pits are relatively weak, but better than last year. But there is a large gap in the brass and guard proograms. I dont dont care to comment on design, because theyre are roughly equal, and its nearly unquantifiable at that point. Its a matter of opinion. The exececutions From the crossmen just arent as good as the other team. I really belive that the other team will pass them at some point, and itll be up to the crossmen to re-catch up. The opinion captions are what put them over the top. Had it been someone else, it could have easily gone the other way.

Just got back to my hotel after tonight's show in Allentown. More later, but I just have to say that Phantom's new ending is probably the greatest thing I've ever seen in drum corps. I think I basically was reduced to giggles for lack of anything else better to do during their last minute and a half. My guy friend now wants a uterus transplant just so that he can have babies to throw at Phantom. Absolutely insane.

Got back from the Massilon show last night. Holy Cow. I guess there is something to be said for difference in YouTube videos and On the Field. And I noticed that difference as soon as the first corp stepped on the field. By the way, I didn't get a chance to see all corps, due to my love for the Crusaders and how much I HAD to see them warm up.

Troopers- The most fun show of the night, by far. These guys were really having fun and loving it. It made me want to be 3 years older so I could get my license, and be able to drive down to audition. Percussion was surprisingly clean. That may sound like I'm dissing them, but I'm not. They were spot on every note, not one of them sounded out of line in the lot nor on the field. Overall, an awesome show with great musical selections, and the corps having fun with some of the louder parts of the show.

Mandarins ans Spirit I can't say much about. My Dad did mention the amount of awesome moments and how outstanding Blue Stars were, though.

Boston Crusaders- BAC!!!!! YES!!!!!! Finally after a few months on the waiting list, and now I get to see my favorite drum corp. And man, they were absoltely nothing short of expectations. But now into the review. Right from the beginning, they start off with some soft pregame playing. Then, of course, when the announcer says, "Playing their 2008 Show, Neocosmos, please welcome to the field the Boston Crusaders", they turn around and completely blast it. The drum break was probably close to the cleanest of the night. They really had it going on! Yes, BD was there. Yes, I think they were pretty close in terms of drum breaks. Overall, let's just say my little brother, who isn't as in to DCI as some of us are in our family, was left with nothing to say but, "Insanity" after the show.

Blue Devils- Though my love for BAC, this was my fav show of the night. When I saw the BD Percussion in the lot, I knew this was going to be insane. Lol, my older brother, was pretty psyched that Tim Jackson was sitting in front of us. The amount of brass and percussion moments evened out. And last years drum break, I can't say I was fond of. ButI will say this years actually fit into the theme. And in the beginning, they use those little mini bongo-like drums (with the sticks, not hands) I'm not sure what you call them. There was some insane backsticking there. And whoever designed this show was an absolute genius. All the little stuff that would happen was insane. You couldn't pay attention to just one thing on the field. They would have a brass player acting like there was a mirror between him and a colorguard girl, and at the same time, have a dude run around the corner of the end zone and back, and I'm not kidding, that's part of the show! Overall, awesome. Just awesome.

Santa Clara Vanguard- I have to say I was dissapointed at the show here. I wasn't sure what the theme was, I don't think the color guard explained it very well. The brass was good, the percussion was amazing, with a bunch of technical stuff and lots of moving, but there was an emptiness on what the show had to do with,"Thr3e". Maybe it's just me, but I think that Boston should have beat SCV. But on the good side, the second moevement had an arabian like feel to it, real cool brass and battery combinations there. I loved the cymbals. I've never seen them, so up until now, I didn't know why everyone though that the cymbals were awesome. Now I know. Because they're awesome!!! Overall, some good moments, a theme I couldn't quite catch. And I missed the Vanguard moment. Darn.

Bluecoats- Y. E. S. Yes. I saw this show at the Blue Debut, and they were just winging it. I didn't even know who had won the battle at the end, because they hadn't learned that part yet! But man, were they on it tonight!!! Percussion was on fire, man. And I didn't notice till the encore how many visuals they had! Those bass splits in the second movement were just plain awesome. Jay and the rest of the bassline were rocking it and loving it. The Boxer. Holy _____. (Enter your own word on how awesome you think it was) The only problem was you couldn't hear half the singing because the crowd was still cheering! But dude, that Boxer moment will forever be tatooed in my head! Overall, awesome show, great guard telling an awesome story in such an inspirational way. I could put this up there with Phantom 06, comparing the percussion and how motivational and choked up I felt at the end due to the awesomeness of it. Overall, Y. E. S. Yes. Just yes.

Well, there's my super long review. I tried my hardest to focus on the drumline perspective of it. Remember, I'm a brass player too, so I LOVE to hear those moments.

After spending the entire season with the Troopers and working on that show, coming back to see true responses from real DCI fans is amazing. I'm really glad you guys enjoyed the show, because we definitely had fun playing it.

They weren't kidding when they told us at the beginnig of the season that we were going to be doing twice as much work for half of the credit. It was all worth it, and I'm glad people are starting to take us a bit more seriously. Look for Troop in 2009, they're going to be amazing.

TORY WTF I MISSED YOU!

/irrelevant

Amazing to see someone who marched with Troopers. Awesome show, in all honesty, you should've placed higher.

Thanks, man. It's all very appreciated. It was amazing when the judges started writing down the scores that we worked so hard for. If we had deserved them sooner, we may have been in finals this year, but it's all up to opinions.