Lets keep tradition going of the past couple years, and compile your show reviews for the season right here...

Bluecoats "The Knockout"-
The program goes a little something like this:
Excerpts from- "On The Waterfront"
Excerpts from- "The Boxer"
Excerpts from- "Rocky"

The opener is EXTREMELY intense. Percussion is on fire with visuals. The best part for me in the whole show was when (SPOILER) the corps, at the end of the third movement, lines up on the sideline and sings an excerpt from, "The Boxer". (SPOILER ENDED) So yeah, look for them in the top 3 this year.

I thought for sure the boards would be aflame about this already...I went to the show in Toledo Ohio. I know the season's just starting but...

Pioneer - I enjoyed their show. Another Irish themed show, of course, "Celtic Traditions" I believe. The had giant triangular props with mirrors on them. I remember being blinded once or twicee . I can't wait to see this corps when they are cleaner.

Troopers - "Iron Horse Express". The crowd liked this show. The tenors started on brushes, then the snares came in. They definitely have the train effect going on. All the musical selections were good and made sense. Another show I really want to see later in the season.

Crossmen - "Planet X". Another good show. Some of the Drill was a little off. I had watched them the night before at their housing site. Their percussion still need some more work...They are right underneath the next level. My favorite part was when they played "What a Wonderful World". I really like this corps. It also seemed a little short, so I'm guessing they are planning on adding some more stuff to the show.

Boston Crusaders - "NeoCosmos". I've never seen the Boston Crusaders before, and it was quite a surprise. Everything was clean, and their visual ensemble was their strong point. In my opinion, it seemed like they had the most challenging drill, and boy did they do well with it. My favorite hornline of the night. Their was a moment where I was totally reminded of The Matrix movie... The Boston Crusaders and The Bluecoats had the favorite shows of the night.

Blue Coats - "Knockout". Amazing. This, my friends, is how narration should be used. It wasn't overbearing, and it made total sense. It started out with the 'Coats forming rings around the boxers, and then merging when they fought. Everything about this show was good. Like many other corps, a contender for top 3 this year, they're only going up. There was also a part where the hornline came in the front and sang. "And it was good...". Except I think one guy got off pitch ;p. The drumline...wow. I got goosebumps from this line. Major props to the Bass Drums during the "training" feature where the main character hits the speed bags. AMAZING. As I said before, a crowd favorite.

The Cadets - "...And the Pursuit of Happiness". Well, if you didn't like their show last year, your not gonna like it this year. They were good, the cadets always are, but the narration was a little overbearing. I don't know how to feel about this show. The narration is heartfelt, but... I didn't notice any of the accidents on the field. It just feels as if they put drill/music backstage to the narration. You can feel the potential this corps has every time they play and every time they moved. I really do feel like they are being limited in a way. Another clean drumline, and the tenor break was amazing, first time I heard everyone cheer for the drumline in any corps when they were exposed. Obviously, the Cadets one. I hope this show changes a lot by the time finals comes around. Yes they do end with narration. And the girl on stage gets off and gives her "daughter" (?) a hug. The corps drill ended with them forming a smiley face .

The Glassmen - "Karnevel". A good, fun show. I like this much better than last years. A lot of guard work, and a lot of circus themed music. There was also a lot of bumping into their props.Out of all the shows at Toledo, this one had the most battery exposure. They are really close to being clean, this will be a very good show by finals. Also, everyone loved when they did double rifles in the guard.

Every show was good last night...it will be a great season for Drum Corps.

Just my two cents .

Shows you have seen live should be reviewed on here, not shows you've seen on Youtube.

I had a show on the 22nd with JSU, Coats, G men, Boston and Pioneer.

Watch out for Bluecoats!!!! Their show is called The Knockout and has a boxing theme with selections from the Rocky movies. The horn line is sounding great, the drum line has a lil dirt here and there but sounds awsome for this early in the season, the pit has some pretty cool parts and the gaurd is lookin good. From what I see all the Coats need to do is clean up their feet and they will be good to go. I'm excited to see them at my next show, I belive the Coats will break their all time highest place of 4th this year.

Glassmen have a circus themed show this year. To be honest there's not to much good I've seen with them so far and I'm not going into details.

Boston's Show I don't know too much about their theme but they are looking good, very powerful brass and percussion.

As far as the other corps I'm not sure about them I was in the lot during their shows.

I also attended the Toldeo Show

After watching Pioneer in the lot, and seeing their show, I was not really impressed, Good Corp, But between being blinded by the mirrors, and seeing the drumline attempt to backstick out a lick, and come up short, They were kind of, eh on me.

I'm not much of a fan of the troopers, but man! I loved their show, Especailly the random pose in the middle of it when everyone took a pose that reminds you of the old drunk crazy guy in western movies. Good show, and good effects.

The crossmen, This was the corp that I actually kind of day dreamed through, After noticing they changed their jacket color, I just kind of zoned out and waited for the bluecoats and cadets.

The crusaders came on next, and man they blew me away, Just the finish on their drums made me want to go run onto the feild and steal one. They hammered the entire show through, and I was very impressed, especailly with one of their snares, he seemed to be about 5,4, taking these GIGANTIC strides for the drill.

And then came the Coats, Man, I love the coats, from the first groove in the start of the show on the set to the last pose, I was entertained throughout the entire show, especailly when I saw the guard attempting to change from boxing shorts into the guard uniform behind the pit, kind of amusing. They were on fire, And of course, they ranked #1 in percussion.

-Did anyone else see the original announcers amp go out, so he had to yell his dialog over the sound of a drumset, suprisingly, I could still hear the outline of what he was saying

The cadets... Total let down =( I thought they might drop the vocals, or at least use them sparingly, Nope, I think there was about as much vocals as there was playing. The story in itself was not very impressive for me, I did'nt really want to hear the story of a life of a (I'm Assuming) fictional person who got a divorce and lived through breast cancer. It may seem jerk-ish to say, But, the Cadets let most of the crowd down, especially with the ending. (SPOILER) Who ends the show with a cut dialog and a hug between guard members?

-Watching the drums trip was almost like watching someone else get hit in the groin, I really don't know what Hopkins is trying to do out there, but the dialog is not working. Im not one to say its un-traditional, I don't care, But lay off it

And then the Glassmen. Typical glassmen show, it never made me want to jump up and go march with them, but it definatly did not bore me. They hung where they have been, a good top 15 corp, but nothing that stands out.

well i watched the Madison shows on DCI fan network's live stream so here's what i could hear(speakers are terrible)

pioneer-Like all world class drumline's, they're amazing. i can see them beating mandarins(i haven't seen them yet but i just have a feeling)

Madison scouts- didn't watch much of them

The Troopers- This might be biased due to the fact my brother marches trumpet there, but wow! I love their show and if it wasn't for all the missing guard spots and the fact that some of the guard came a week within the show, they could have beaten Crossmen and maybe spirit(they beat pioneer and madison). If they work super hard and get this show very clean, I could see the troop in finals.

Spirit- didn't watch much, wasn't too memorable.

Crusaders(yes i skipped a lot, didn't watch them)- very good this year, i can definitely see them in top 6 or maybe 5.

Carolina- Skipped them(just had my opener for our high schools show emailed to me, had to hack away at it)

Bluecoats- I love this show and they're drumline is great! I think if they get this show perfect, top 3 for them!

Cadets- Narration is distracting from the music which is always good, but the music wasn't as hard this year, I don't think cadets can get into top 3 or maybe even top 5 this year.

Cavaliers- My speakers really screwed up, but what i saw was great! guard amazing as usual, from what i heard of the drumline, it was clean for the most part(they got first in percussion as well as first overall).

I think this year will be great!!!

What I've seen so far...

Cavaliers - This show, to me, is just like Machine, only the theme has been replaced. Hell, the second half of the drum break is 7/4, just like 2006. But, I think that's a good way to go, considering Machine won that year. I'd like to see how this show evolves. Drums are rockin' it - I wouldn't rule them out for winning drums, or everything for that matter.

SCV - I gotta say, I was slightly disappointed at this one. I was expecting insane percussion especially with their line of SIX tenors. But, in the words of Cal, for anyone that's seen the 40-Year-Old Virgin, "I got there, and I was expecting a woman f****** a horse, and well...it was a woman f****** a horse. It just wasn't really as great as I thought it would be." Exactly that, only with six tenors, pretty much. It's still early in the season, though, so I'll keep an eye out for them.

Blue Devils - Oh my God...this show is ridiculous. It's really an amazing turnaround from last year, even though they won last year. Right from the beginning with the pre-show music from the pit, it grabs your attention. Again, they did add some quirky movement in the drum feature, but they're atcually playing some notes this time around. The entire corps in general portrays their quirky, weird, circus-like characters amazingly, and I would be willing to bet a lot of money that this show is going to win this year.

July 3rd, San Diego.

SCV
Great opener. Excellent quality of sound. They still had some ticks tonight, but the drumline was playing great.

BD,
Coolest pit ever. The Bach invention section of the show was awesome. The battery had some stellar moments, and played a lot of notes, but had some clarity issues at this show. When it's all done, I bet they will be rockin', but there are too many ticks to be totally in love with them right now.

Regiment:
CLARITY! The entire battery is burnin' through this show. Not only are they playing a bunch of great beats, they are clean from top to bottom. What a great show for them. Their show Sparticus is wonderful to watch. This is going to be a great year for Phantom.

G

I could feel a little bit of '02 and '06 in the cavies show. I really like this show but as of now I don't think they will take first, top three but not first.