kac

I think Cadet311 is driving tomorrow???

Question- How many theaters were sold out at KofP this year? When I arrived at the Philly theater, they said they had only sold about 100 tix before the show. I left after SCV (preschooler was having a meltdown- apologies to everyone in the theater!!) and there were only 150 seats or so filled. Next year I'll drive to KofP since I'd rather be in a full theater. I went last year to New Brunswick- in NB the theater was packed and we had a blast- yes we cheered & gave standing O's for corps just like we were at the show. It was definitely loud enough in Philly, but we did have to ask them to turn it up just before the live feed started. Interestingly enough I found out that my 4yo knows the words to "Luck be a Lady Tonight" during Sprit's show. He was singing it in the car the whole way home (glad he doesn't know the words to Paradise by the Dashboard Lights yet!). Soda, pretzel bites, & a water was $13.50.

A few questions- Where's your hotel? Are you driving directly to the stadium or checking in first? And what time of day do you anticipate being in Hartford? I've done the drive MANY times from NJ/PA to Foxboro up 95, and have also done 5 trips from Omaha to Foxboro. What I prefer to do when driving on 84 is to stay on 84 - get through Hartford by 2:30pm at the latest- and take 84 to the end then take the Mass pike to 495 south. You will see exits for the stadium. This will be the best route if you have a hotel that's off of 495 (by Worcester, etc) However, if you are staying in a hotel in Providence, you will be better off to cut over to 95 at some point and take 95 north to the hotel. Maybe they send people on 691 now to alleviate congestion on 84??? Sorry, I have never used the 691 route- for me, the less interchanges that I have to look for, the better!

Another vote for Eaglebrook Saloon! Pizza at Papa Geno's is super greasy. 99 is a local chain- food is decent. Picadilly Pub (another chain) is right over near the 99 on Rte 140, so if one is crowded, try the other. Skip the End Zone.

Then I wish you were in section Z that night! Go Vanguard! (can't wait to see their show tonight without her screaming!)

I agree, every corps needs fan support, but she was beyond inappropriate. If you were sitting in section Z you would have thought so too.

This would have required me to climb UP the middle of the 4-5 rows of seats BEHIND ME during SCV's performance to ask her to nicely quiet down. I was not about to become as disruptive to SCV's performance as that lady was! Believe me, I tried to follow her after their show, but she slipped out of the stands as soon as SCV was done. And I wasn't the only one looking for her either.... I think the whole section wanted to find her and duct tape her mouth shut for the public good! DCKid80 couldn't get over to her either- she was smack in the middle of our section. Yes, I had a ligitimate complaint, and was not able to resolve it, so I thought I'd start this thread as a reminder to everyone heading to Foxboro. Be a fan, cheer, buy t-shirts and love your corps, but be respectful of the people around you also!

So you aren't driving up then?! I'll be at the theater in Philly with a couple of other Crossmen from the late 80's early 90's... My son will be wearing his "someday I'll march in the Crossmen" t-shirt. :)

Well, here's a question- If I were to walk up to your son and asked him how his tour was this summer, what would his answer be??? Would it be "I had the time of my life, saw all kinds of new places, met these amazing new friends, etc?" or would it be "well it was great until we were dumped in scores". ... Why let the opinions of a bunch of people in green shirts tarnish what was probably an amazing summer?? Something that might help- give him a piece of paper and have him write down every positive memory from the summer, and every negative one. I bet you that his positive column will be much larger than the negative one. If he gave it his all and had a great time, then that's what truly counts. Honestly, I marched in junior corps 15 years ago, and I can't even recall what place I came in either year. I would have to look it up online. I have a vague idea of what range of #'s my placement was in, but that's it. And I don't care to look it up because my placement has never mattered to me. It didn't then, and still doesn't. It wasn't relevant to my experience. When I think back to junior corps, I think about certain perfomances (both good and bad), my friends, bus rides (and bus breakdowns), grueling hot days, and realize just how lucky I was to experience ALL of it. Some people are NEVER that lucky. Someday my son will hopefully march and if he's ever in the same place that your son is right now, I will give him a hug and remind him that life is about the journey, not the destination.

What a great idea! My HS has never had a competitive marching band. I am relatively sure I'm the only person to march DCI or DCA from my school- I know there was no one before me, and I don't think anyone after me marched either. There was a very small handful of us that watched DCI (maybe 10 kids at the most). Anyone that knew about it did so from word of mouth. I think there would have been more of a following if the director brought us to shows, etc, but jazz/concert band is really the big thing there, not marching band. Oh, and I went to Foxboro HS- Foxboro MA. Ironic, isn't it? Hopefully they are at least bringing the kids to semi's since it's just down the street.

Braintree is south of Boston so you should be fine. Take 128 (or 93 or whatever it's called now) to 95 South to the Rte 1 exit- Rte 1 South to the stadium. Just leave the hotel before rush hour really kicks in- and on Friday you will be going opposite the beach traffic, so you should be ok then too. I don't know if there's any construction going on right now in that area- if you have AAA you can call them and find out- they usually keep a list of the summer road construction projects around the country.

They added the rest of the song. It's much better than the ending in Westminster.

Hey Lady, you hurt my eardrum with all of your screaming during SVC's show!!! I have NEVER had my eardrum hurt like that before- including the times that I was performing, and even standing in front of a hornline while they played at full volume! <**> <**> <**> <**> <**> <**> <**> <**> <**> <**> I understand being a fan of a certain corps, but screaming "YEAH" at the top of your lungs during every cool visual hit was downright RUDE to the other SCV fans around you!!!! (and fans like me who were rows in front of you & couldn't even SEE YOU!) Did you think the kids on the field could hear you screaming on the field from the upper deck?? They were a little busy performing their show- I highly doubt that they heard your ear splitting screams over everyone else's cheers AND over their music. If I were any closer to you, I would have very kindly asked you to not yell so loudly, as there are other people who were also trying to enjoy SCV's peformance. This was my only viewing of SCV this year and your screams did nothing to enhance their show. <**> Next time (especially if you are going to finals!) be a little more considerate of the other fans around you. We have also paid for the show and would like to listen to the MUSIC, not your screaming! Thank you! Side note is that this person is obviously not a Crown fan- she was silent during their performance. The woman sitting next to me thought that perhaps one of the people sitting near her stuffed a t-shirt in her mouth! :sshh:

My thoughts exactly!

YAY! I was wondering how long it would take for someone to post about this!!!! How great was that encore??! I was right on the other side of the fence and they rocked! Those kids are definitely having the time of their lives. I'm biased since I just love this show, so I didn't want to be the first to post about the encore and have been curious all day as to who stuck around for it. RCM gave us alums a few tears and some goosebumps.... it was a great way to end the evening. Glad to hear that someone other than Xmen alums and the diehard band kids stayed for it! Everyone that hopped into their cars to race up to Allentown sure missed out!

What I don't understand is why the OP didn't say something to these people at the end of the performance? Couldn't this have been dealt with that evening instead of posting about it?? Then at least this thread could have been a negative that turned into a positive- "the people at the end of our row were ___________ (fill in blank with poor etiquette of your choice), but I spoke to them (or their director), and the situation was taken care of."

Earlier this year, I was driving on the NJ Turnpike, looked over, and saw that I was driving next to someone that I marched with in Cabs. Last week, at a restaurant in North Carolina, I ran into someone that I went to college with who marched in 89 Crossmen. Have you ever bumped into someone from your corps in a completely random place??

I voted from more than one email address and put Cadets & Cavies on first simply because they perform towards the end of any given show- I think it would be fun to shake things up a bit. The rest are random selections. Cadets (first) Cavies Madison Phantom Devils Crown Boston Bluecoats (last) and Cadets (first) Cavies Devils Madison Boston Bluecoats Crown Phantom (last)

Ok, this is my first review ever! Although I'm a new member here, I've lurked for years. First exposure to DCI was in 1984 and started following drum corps much more in 1986- the rest is in my signature..... With me in attendance last night was my friend who also marched Crossmen, has a masters in music and has also been working on a doctorate in music. The review is from both of our notes/comments during the night. The drive down to Westminster was quick- under two hours. We arrived less than 15 min after the car accident (see other posts on this). I'm not sure if this impacted the parking situation or not, but parking at the school was poorly organized. <**> No one was directing people into the lot, and they only had one row of parking on much of the grass- they didn't leave an opening for cars to fill in behind the initial row. There was definitely room to park on the grass, but we had to drive right by it since there was no way to gain access! The show was delayed until 8pm. At 7:30, the MD state police helicopter landed to pick up the person(s) hit by the car. I haven't seen anything online in the Westminster paper about the accident yet.... if anyone does, could you please let me know? Stadium was a decent size. Our seats were on the 25 (and these were the $20 seats!) about 10 rows back. Good sized crowd too! First up was Surf- I have to say I'm a big fan of the Jersey Surf- I think they make smart decisions in regard to their corps (budget, marketing, recruiting/retaining members, etc). The have their niche, and stay true to who they are and what they want to accomplish within the activity. I loved the silent drill/guard feature in the opener as well as the tribute to "old time" drum corps- not too often you see a guard today doing front & back presents! My friend said they needed to work on the "broken record" section because it wasn't as noticeable as it should have been.... to which I replied "what broken record section??" The hornline was holding back last night- I thought they were louder at the Elks parade in Wildwood back on June 4th! Caught up with my friend Steve, the brass caption head, who said that yes, they were holding back because the previous night, they had kids popping out left and right. All in all a fun show that has the right amount of demand for the performers- just needs to be cleaned up. :) Next up was Magic- Ok, now one of my biggest colorguard pet peeves is when I am in the stands and can HEAR GUARD MEMBERS YELLING OUT COUNTS. I understand why it happens and have done it myself, but really, did the person LEADING the arc have to yell out the counts to the people BEHIND HER during the whole opening segment? Why couldn't two people in the middle (and not near the front hash) have done it so that the sound went THROUGH the guard and not forward to the audience? I realize the work was new- anyone could see that because it was probably the dirtiest colorguard opening statement all night, but it was to the point where I literally lost focus on what the musicians were playing because that one guard member was louder than they were!!! Otherwise, I liked their show. They had some drill moves that looked cool- and would have loved to have seen from higher up. They need to clean up the guard and work on body control/posture, but it is June, and I'm sure it will be taken care of before finals. Nice job! :) Intermission........... Spirit was after the intermission. Ok, I'm going to say it- the show reminded me of an Empire Statesmen show........ WITHOUT the cool groove or cheese factor- which IMHO Spirit needs to find in order to be playing this show on finals night. Visually, I felt like the guard could have drawn the audience in more (the cheese factor), and the flags with the white on them were washed out because of their white guard uni's. Guard was cleaner than Magic's- at least from where I was sitting. I really wanted Spirit to get into the groove in Luck be a Lady and it just didn't happen. They did get into the groove at the end of the show, but I wished they had been able to do so earlier on. I had issues with some of their drill staging as well- there's a chord that is just gorgeous that develops into something you would think would blow your face off- however because they are facing backfield, it didn't have as much impact as it would have if they were facing front. Kind of a letdown (although I bet it will sound great tonight when it bounces off the wall at the Meadowlands). Kudos to the tubas who were running like mad at times! I don't know how you guys run with those things, but way to go!! I think if they can add little more oomph to draw the crowd in and get that groove going musically a little bit earlier in the show, this will be a really fun crowd pleasing show come August. Then Boston came on- I loved this show- visually the guard was clean, and had well written footwork & body. That guard had a confidence that I hadn't seen until that point in the evening- they PERFORMED the show. Previous to Boston, I could tell which parts in the shows were new work because the confidence level (execution and body posture) was just not there yet. Boston's guard knew that show last night and it came through to the audience. I was drawn in- the colors were effective (both flags and uniforms), and they way that they are incorporated into the drill benefits the overall program. Boston had the most effective drill so far- so much so that I could read it from my seats on the 25! I'll be curious to see how this show develops over the summer- I think some of the other shows out there have more substance to them but are not executed as well as Boston's show is right now. Next was Crown's Angel show. I liked the music, the visual package was good, and the guard performed well. Would like to see this show again and have them go on BEFORE Boston so that I can get a true read of the show. It seemed flat to me after watching Boston perform their show so well. I think the show has a lot of substance to it and will take them far. Again, it's June- look forward to seeing it again later this summer! Cadets- I kept an open mind about this show and understood the concept before seeing it. For me, this is not the "best Cadets show EVER". There are definite issues with this show. Musically, I liked Liquid, as well the percussion in the chess match portion of the show. I realize I'm not saying much about the music here, but those are the two parts that stuck out the most for me. I have many more thoughts on the visual program than what the performers were playing. (will get to the whole voice thing later...) Visually, I think the drill is hampered by the door. I think the door should have been set off-center (either left or right) by 5-10 yards because the drill through the middle of the field seems to be compromised. However, it's too late now to move the door without doing massive drill rewrites. The door forces the drill to be symmetrical and also keeps the guard & corps proper apart from eachother more often. Because my seats weren't that high up, it was very easy to see that members were having a difficult time maneuvering around the door. I don't know if this was because of new drill, or simply because the door is BIG. There was one horn that tripped over something behind the door- I could see part of what happened, but it might have been missed by anyone sitting on the 50. Also, there was a SNARE that tripped over the door in the closer. Now I didn't mind the park benches and lightposts back in the day- they were not as big as this door, and the corps did not have to compromise their drill on the center of the field because of the benches. To me, the door LOCATION-not necessarily the door itself once the members learn to march around it- is a hindrance. The corps pants are not an issue for me because their feet are clean. Love the blue flag for Liquid! Flags still look too NASCAR for me in the chess match. I liked that they had chess pieces on the guard uni's during that segment. I really wouldn't have had much idea that there was a chess match going on if I hadn't seen the chess pieces though. Guard work is of course well written and executed well- nothing less than what's expected from a Cadets guard. For me, the main character (the triplets) took away more from the guard than they enhanced. I watched their entrances, and then tried very hard to ignore them wandering around the field, so that I could focus on what was happening with the guard and the drill. As for the vocals. The introduction really isn't that bad. Seriously! The corps is already playing, the announcer is saying "you may take the field", and just after that happens, the voice comes in with "The Zone" announcement. From my seats, I had to listen carefully for it because if I was not paying attention, I would have thought it was still the announcer. It was almost like opening the cover of a book. I like the whistling- I don't think it needs to be recorded or amped or anything.... As for the vocals- I would have been ok with the Bjork-ish vocals in the pit if it wasn't for the additional vocals later on. That was just too much! Here's my issue with the vocals- and it's because of the snare drummers that were doing their dut-dut segment. IF YOU GIVE A MICROPHONE TO A SNARE DRUMMER FROM THE CADETS, I WANT TO HEAR HIM THROWING DOWN ON THAT SNARE!!! Not "drumspeak"!! If I wanted to hear that, I would stop by at lunch and listen to them dut dut to their heart's content! These snare players are some of the best in the country, and they are in the Cadets because they can play the #### out of that snare! NOT because of their singing ability! When you take away all of the gimmicks, I'm not sure that the show has enough substance underneath it for them to take the title this year. I honestly can't say that I liked the show, but didn't hate it either..... I would like to see it again to see how it evolves over the summer. And now onto the host corps of the evening- The Crossmen! :) This was my third viewing of the Crossmen in the past week. I saw Friday night's ensemble & run through at Sun Valley, the dress rehearsal on Saturday, and now at Westminster. The show was MUCH improved over the dress rehearsal. Love the opening segment and how the dancers move across the field. Ballad is beautiful- musically and visually. Radar Love is still my favorite tune, and they've added a few more sets of drill at the end of the show. There are still a few musical things that bug me- it was the third time I heard the tear when the battery enters in the opener. Recovery time was MUCH quicker than last week, and apparently this didn't happen at the VA show. The drummers are either too far back on the field, or they need to come in slightly earlier, or they need to keep repeating it over and over until they figure it out- I'm sure they will figure out a solution. Also, the soloist in Paradise seems to drag down the tempo and the tubas behind him are pushing it- each time I've heard it, I've wanted the soloist to step it up a little. Improvements were made in the brass this week- especially in the ballad. The releases are much more crisp. Visually the guard is coming along- things are cleaner than they were- work was added, and now it's just a matter of cleaning up and filling in the few gaps in the flagline where there isn't any work still. Does anyone know what flags they used in Paradise at the VA show? I liked the ones that they used at the dress rehearsal more than the solid colored ones they used last night.... Anyway, I was pleased with their progress over the week, even though I was told by a reliable Crossmen staff member, who will remain nameless, that their performance in VA was 5 points better than the show in MD. We didn't stay around for the Crossmen encore- I had already heard it on Friday, and at 11pm, was ready to head home. Enjoyed parts of a Jimmy Buffett concert on my satelite radio in the car and arrived home around 1am! So there you have it! All in all a good show for June, good venue, and a large crowd. ^OO^

They said over the PA system that the intermission was being moved up because the buses couldn't get to the site due to the accident. Writing my review now....

Thanks for the review! Great job! :)

"Back in the day" when I marched in Crossmen, the drumline wore yellow Railmen t-shirts under their uniforms. I think this was 1990 (or 91). I'll have to see if I can find a photo for you- there might be one in our yearbook.... I went to college in PA and ended up transferring to UNO. There were still some Railmen members around campus then (as well as Madison members, & Sky Ryder alumni). I kept my Crossmen jacket in my car for those random summer downpours, and every time I did, someone would stop me to talk about it. Anyway, there used to be a decent sized group of dc people in Omaha in the early 90's. It's too bad the Railmen couldn't hang on after losing the UP sponsorship- there are more than enough talented kids in the Omaha/KC area to field a corps. I think the biggest hurdle would be getting the communities to rally behind something OTHER than Husker football.........