johnweldy

1997-2001 seemed like the "dark ages" to me. That's when I felt DC really went off the deep end on the academic side, moving away from crowd-pleasing fare. Sure there are bright spots, but I'm talking generalities. 2002 this trend seemed to take a complete 180 and has stayed that way so far, though this year seems like the pendulum may be starting to swing back to the academic.

Pick 'em up on Season Pass and burn 'em.

I don't get why one or two of the demons have the same shirt as faust. You'd think they'd try to distinguish a bit more. ...totally dig the hoods, though...

And Michael, I would have LOVED to sit and chat with you a LOT longer, but unfortunately you caught me on the day my in-laws were in town... :( Ah well, such is life...

bump

Heh...but your commentary on doing it was 6. :P

I'll do you one better. Halfway through the show in BC I realized how to tell Faust and the demons apart after the demons lose their hoods. It's not the shirt - one or two demons have the same shirt as Faust. -- it's the codpieces -- Demons just have better codpieces, I guess.

That's what I got, too. Not only that, but the demons go to Heaven?!? Check out my post here: http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums//ind...showtopic=82473

I thought the purple worked really well with their show concept. Along with the stripes and all the spinning in their drill, it gives the show a hypnotic quality. They don't have the performance level of Bluecoats or Phantom, but they were probably my favorite show last night in Battle Creek. I'm guessing they'll duke it out with SCV for 6th.

BD does have some ensemble moments, but I was more struck with Bluecoats'. I think they're staged better.

No doubt. I hate it when my favorite shows are the Bluecoats' closest competitors. :P Last year, my favorites were Coats, Madison, Crown. This year it's Coats, PR, Crown.

CAPITAL SOUND Augustus Gloop. Augustus Gloop. Heh. COLT CADETS More fun last year. MEMPHIS BLUES Where was "Blue Suede Shoes"? THE MAGIC Please help fight breast cancer. SOUTHWIND Duality - interesting visual, segmented music CAPITAL REGIMENT Coolest flag prints in DCI. COLTS Great "Ride" - rest mostly forgettable SPIRIT FROM JSU 94 tonight. Hornline was hotter. MADISON SCOUTS That drill will never clean. BOSTON CRUSADERS "Archway line. Cover down!" GLASSMEN Beethoven meets "A Chorus Line". CAROLINA CROWN Incredible contrasts. Top 6 beware. BLUECOATS 1. Connect. 2. Blow their face off. PHANTOM REGIMENT Satan punches drum judge. Sweet. BLUE DEVILS Nobody's refused the offer yet.

See, I don't see the problem here. All a championship means is you had a combination of design and performance that was better than anyone else that year. Design can cover some performance flaws and performance can cover some design flaws, but both have to be excellent. Take 2004 for instance. Was it Cavaliers' best show ever? Of course not. But did they have the best combination of design and performance in 2004? Of course they did. Blue Devils had design issues (though I am sure some will disagree with me) and SCV had performance issues. No one else was close. Bluecoats this year look like they have the best combination of design and performance they have ever had. But seeing the shows side to side, I don't think they have even the tiniest chance of beating the Blue Devils and/or taking the title this year. I don't think it's a "politics" thing, it's just a design and performance thing. BD is just plain better. Coats are on the way, but they're still at least one more year from being a true championship contender.

Okay, I am totally digging Regiment's show and the story is a LOT better than it was a month ago in Toldeo, but I'm still not really following it. This is what I got from seeing them tonight in Battle Creek (please note, I do not know the story of Faust and have not read anything from Regiment): We start with a demon (or devil, or something). He's a bad dude, but man, can he sling a rifle. He's got all sorts of rage issues (tonight he even air-punched a drum judge! No joke! It was too funny...not sure if he improvised that because the judge was there or the staging was just very opportunistic). Then comes our hero Faust playing with his demon friends. Then we meet the girl. Faust likes the girl. He thinks she's swell. They love to dance together. But for some reason (this is VERY not clear), Faust cannot be with the girl. So here come our friends the demons. They have power. They know things. They have the keys, so Faust shakes hands. And it's sheer bliss. Faust and the girl are so happy. They dance some more. The End. Yeah right... Something goes wrong (again, not clear) and the demons come to claim the girl. They kill her. This makes Faust a mite bit ######. He's so angry, he runs off and takes a nap under a tarp. Then the girl comes back. All the demons are gone and she's in front of the girl guard members with white flags, so I'm reading this as Heaven. This makes perfect sense to me and I think the story's over...but it's NOT. Faust comes back, and the demons come back. Are they in Heaven, too? Som new liberal entrance policy? This is the part I really don't get. Help anyone?

Only one thing to say... 2 COOL VK

Not true. My opinion from actually at the show was while Coats, PR, and Crown had more emotional and/or energetic performances, no one could touch BD. I haven't seen Cavies since Toledo, but I really don't think anyone else has a prayer against the Blue Mafia. They don't have the best product they've ever had, but it's definitely championship material. It's theirs to lose.

Okay, take this for what it's worth (seeing as I am just as biased as you) but you are SO wrong. :P In all honesty, I wouldn't say either corps show is better than the other's from a design standpoint. They seem on VERY equal footing to me, with the difference being simply performance. From where I was sitting (low on side 1 40), Phantom just had a better performance tonight. Coats seemed to run out of gas near the end. They had a new trick up their sleeves (first time tonight) where they pull out white elastic streamers to link the corps (the ENTIRE crowd let out a gasp...freaking incredible!) that there were a couple issues with. Maybe that contributed to a tentative ending, maybe not. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised to see PR and Coats (maybe even with Cadets in the mix...haven't seen them yet) trading night to night right up until finals based on who had the better performance that night. That's good drum corps! b**bs

BLOOO! is SO cool! We used to hype on it so much. Now I about yell myself hoarse at every show. Something even cooler about it (which we realized in the Star era) is if we ever got booed, we'd never know it! b**bs

Yeah, McConnell did the music from 92-96. We would always joke that he wrote it with a beer in one hand and a joint in the other. <long drag, squinty Christian Slater expression> "Well, I think I'll give this to the mellophones..."

I'll send everyone who replies a PM with my contact info and try to put something together soon.

Been noticing a few Kalamazoo, MI area fans here and there on the boards. Was wondering if any of you would be up for a get-together. Probably too late now to hook up this weekend, but we could definately gather for the ESPN2 show, maybe sooner. John Weldy Portage, MI

Thank you, Rondo...says working on audio

yeah, my audio is really, really bad...

Good luck with that, dude. When DCI emailed me about the stadium swap, even they didn't have a decent stadium diagram.

Dude, I don't know about a tagline, but I've got the perfect picture (if someone could make it). Take the classic '93 tour shirt, except give the Sop player a beer gut, and take the helmet off and he's balding. Maybe even work in a La-Z-Boy, remote control, and a couple screaming kids. :P Maybe this - "Still Blue, just a darker shade...", or just "A Darker Shade of Blue" (though that may be better for a '91 hype shirt).