scooter133

Phantom - wow, just wow. They really know how to get you right in the feels. Stunning, stunning ballad - I can't get enough of Rach 2.

I've never watched on Flo before - do you get the same commentary/interviews, etc. that the theaters get during prelims? Is there any commentary at all?

In case anyone reads this thread before next year’s show, I would definitely recommend eating before you go to the stadium. The concession lines were insane. I would also take a chance on sneaking in some water - water only concession lines were just as bad. Also, use the entrance gate on the opposite side of the stadium as the merchandise tents (near section TT). No waiting there versus hundreds in line on the other side.

Wow, the quality of all the corps tonight was just insane. My personal favorites were Bluecoats, Boston, and Crown. The first two prove that you can use popular music and familiar themes to be both accessible to the casual fan and high-quality art. Some of the programs are just too high-concept for me. Crown's on the list because I just love Gabriel's Oboe.

Intermission in the theater seems like a missed opportunity. Would love to see some throwback videos, Open Class champion, anything but a countdown clock.

Theater crowd here in Kennesaw GA loved SOA!

DCI's recap says 13,700 - last year's recap says there was 15,000.

Gorgeous rendition of Gabriel's Oboe! Biggest crowd reaction so far.

Side question about this show - is the venue easy to access by public transportation? I was thinking about making this show part of a vacation. I would stay in the city and then commute out to Chester for the show. Thanks!

Incredible victory run from SCV. I found myself watching the drum major as much as the corps. His passion is no doubt undeniable.

Random thoughts: Was anybody else as cold in the stadium as I was? I thought t-shirt and shorts would be fine (it's Atlanta in July, after all) but it was not nearly enough clothing. The echo off the empty side wasn't as noticeable towards the end of the night. Can't beat the concession prices and lines moved fairly quickly. Judging by the amount of people out there and bags I saw, lots of $$$ was made in the souvenir area. Looks like some corps were starting to run out of items. That being said, from an entertainment perspective, my favorites:- -Boston: understandable plot, visually interesting, loved the ending -Mandarins: Loved the uniqueness of it -Music City: biased Tennessean for sure, but again an understandable, well-executed plot. Between the way they're developing and the population boom in Nashville, watch out for them! -Vanguard: Props added to the production (which I don't think is always the case) and they played their faces off. Well-deserved win. Can't wait to compare tonight to the theater show!

Where is the souvenir marketplace? I didn't see it when I came in.

Anyone know if the show starts at 7:00 or 7:30? This website says both. http://www.carolinacrown.org/index.php/crownpreview-show

Another one for Charlotte!

Is there a list out there somewhere of Finals attendance by year?

The theater here in Charlotte was a little over half full, I'd say. Seemed like one large group of high school kids and then a pretty broad age range, I'd say. Crown was clearly and obviously the favorite here. Because we're right in Crown's backyard, I'm surprised there weren't more people in attendance.

Anyone know if the move to Winston-Salem is permanent or a one-year thing? I know their normal stadium in Charlotte is under renovation, so I hope they come back next year! I really want to go but it will just be too late to drive back from WS for work tomorrow.

There were 50-75 people at the show in Tupelo MS, which was a lot more than I was expecting. Most seemed to be from the local high school. A theater manager came in right before the show started and told us about the audio missing after intermission, which I appreciated. The highlight for the crowd here was the Cavaliers' tenors playing upside down (the high school kids loved that). There was also an audible gasp in the theater over Crown's placement for the second show. The same manager said they hope to do the August cinecast as well, which I hope happens.

Whenever I try to access Fan Network, I get a message saying that Fan Network doesn't support Internet Explorer 6. The thing is, I'm running IE8 - I even downloaded it again to make sure. I can't access any of the information, including the support page (which doesn't make sense). What am I doing wrong?

Looks like no Memphis show for 2008 following their championship season. The closest show will either be Jackson, TN or if the TBA, MS show happens to be the show that was in Tupelo the last few years.

I haven't seen this anywhere else. Is there going to be an ESPN/ESPN2 broadcast this year of the World Championships? If so, when?

I thought the Jackson TN show was well-organized. It was advertised on local TV, which I was surprised to see. The event was held at arguably the nicest public school in the area with lots of room. The crowd was pretty big too--they had to park cars in the grass. Overall, I thought it was an excellent show and I hope it returns in the future.

Without scrolling through 59 pages of comments, I'm going to post what I thought about the show. I would like to have seen more shows and longer clips, too, but then I realized this show was just as much for people new and inexperienced with drum corps as it was for hard core fans. That said, here's what I thought about a few of the shows: Madison Scouts - I've always liked Carmen and adding the girl was great for their show. Her entrance was great--you didn't see it coming. Blue Devils - I liked the idea of the dance marathon and the narration wasn't as out of place as I thought it would be. However, I'm not sure everyone in the audience had a way to understand that the marathon was actually going backwards. Phantom - Hands down, my favorite. Rhapsody in Blue was great. The Gene Kelly character added a lot, too. Cavaliers - Another great show. I liked the part at the end with the baseball being hit out of the park. Wasn't this the show with the ladders in it? I don't remember seeing any on the broadcast. Cadets - To me, this show was kind of out there. Of course it was good, I just didn't really get it. The narration was really strange, too. I hope the broadcast continues on ESPN2 on into the future and maybe even moves up to ESPN. This can be a great recruiting tool for drum corps and I hope it leads a lot of new people to join the activity.

Why did only 3 corps from Class A make finals, even though there were 10 in Prelims? What are DCA's rules on that?

I e-mailed DCI yesterday and asked if any Finals locations have been scheduled past 2006. I specifically asked about rumors I heard for California in 2007 and Nashville in 2008. DCI's one-line reply: "We have not formally announced anything yet."