radiosteele

If a corps did a Bollywood show, it would be ground-breaking. I would not be surprised if Crown, Cavaliers or Blue Stars did it next year.

It's fun for some of us armchair drum corps dopes like me to brainstorm, but in all seriousness, the staff, the crew and the members of Troop need to be VERY happy with what they have done so far this year - they may not be completely winning the judges over yet, but they own the audience like a set of fine china. Building on what Pinwiz so capably started.... I preface this by saying the talent is very much there - this is one bad ### group of men and women on the field this year, and they just need some more cool things to do. Some specifics that could launch the Troopers' show into a solid finals spot: 1) The end of the percussion feature, the dissonant chord sounds like it just sits there. Take a cue from Madison 1997 and go friggin nuts. The crowd will lose it. It's just what my soul is craving in that moment. 2) Get the soloists off the sideline after the Sunburst. It causes balance issues and unless they are wailing a la BD, the ensemble needs to be the focus. 3) Their first big chord, while powerful, could use a high mello layer on top. That would kill it. 4) Yellow scarves by finals. Make it happen. 5) I second Pinwiz on crazy-### bananas bumblebee drill the last 30 seconds or so, because the "11" doesn't show up that well. The kids are marching the crap out of it, it's just laid out a bit skewed. Suggestion: end with one perfectly straight and symmetrical HUGE "11"....and have our old-school homegirl with the flag *run* down the middle to the sideline during the last 4 measures (a reprise of the ballad move - makes sense). Babies - I promise you. 6) A few note runs in the opener. It feels like a more traditional arrangement, and while awesome, needs to be competitive. Useless opinion concluded. Everybody has one, just like........ (well, OK)

(whoops, double)

If BD wins this year, I totally get it. That was the most complex musical & ensemble package I have ever heard or seen on a football field...and somehow those #### kids sold it. Kudos to them for trying something unheard of in the activity. Crown still wins brass, though. I'm not conceding that one.

Blue Devils, you are polychordal, asymmetrical, abstract, absurdly complex and straight up weird. And awesome. Wow.

My God, Crown sounds like a Symphony Orchestra.

"Jingle Bells" to "Do You Hear...." - best transition of 2012. I just love it.

Awesome SCV! Just awesome!!!! MOTN just hit me out of nowhere.

The Cavalier's identity and standard of excellence - safe for another season. Kudos to the staff and those young men for turning it around :)

HUGE improvements to the visual package from early season!! Way to come back Cavies!

INT's drum solo was pimp. Look out Vanguard.

What is up with the crowd - did they sprinkle valium on the hot dog buns?

YES!!! THEY DID IT!!!!!

Great show - but I feel like they're saving something for tomorrow....

Bones up a point and a half from yesterday!!!!!!! WOW!!

I'm not feeling much power from this show (Blue Stars) - man they better step it up in the second half. Clean stuff though and great percussion.

Sick Bones, truly sick. See you Saturday.

OK, Colts - I just pooped myself. Unreal.

The Colts are making it clear that the competition is now at a whole other level of drum corps. You can see the bar raised quite a bit from everything preceding it.

The Troopers don't need to stay "Western" to be "America's Corps". Next year, they should venture off in a different direction while still maintaining their patriotism. Say - an armed forces salute to veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan? Or Band of Brothers? I could totally see them going military and flag-waving it would work :)

This Troop show is flat as a pancake. The kids are performing it quite well, but I don't connect with it. The haunted screams of "yowza, yowza, yowza" keep going through my head. I say both Surf and OG will pass them tonight.

Bingo. Two different ways to skin a cat.

As entertaining as I found Jersey Surf, OG just blew them off the field as far as technical achievement. WOW - masterful in every category. Their score difference will be mostly in reportiore and program difficulty - not execution. Just amazing.

Thanks. We are sitting at #62. We shouldn't be that low peeps. We don't want to lose to the Peoria Dog Collar Society. (I don't know if that's an actual group, I'm just sayin'.....)

Hi friends and family - Our drum and bugle corps, Arkansas Thunder, needs to raise money to pay for instruments, uniforms and travel this summer. This is SO important to us! All we need is your vote. It's free and cost you nothing and helps us with everything. Click this link: VOTE HETE and then vote. Then forward this to your "everybody" list. Tell them that Patrick ("my relative" or "my friend" or "some idiot I knew long ago") has a drum and bugle corps in Arkansas made up of lots of awesome people who deserve this equipment. Your one vote and forwarding can turn into 10,000 votes. Use the code under Pepsi product bottle caps, and get 100 power votes. This will propel us to the front of the list. PLEASE help us!! Thank you! Patrick Laxson Hot Springs, Arkansas