xrifle

Thanks for assisting the remedial! Kelly

Who said that you had to have first hand experience to form an opinion? Many of the DCP posters who express opinions on this forum don't have first hand experience, although many do. That shouldn't and doesn't appear to stop them from expressing those opinions. But that's the issue that I was addressing. It appeared that you felt that at 22 she wasn't entitled to an opinion. Again, I say she is as entitled to her opinion based on her experiences at 22 as I am at 45. There'd be a lot less opinions on DCP if we used your acid test to determine who got to have one. IMO! Sorry this post looks funky. I haven't got it all figured out yet!

Let's not minimize this kid's opinion just because she is 22 years old. She is as entitled to it as I am at 45. We have no idea how this opinion was formed. Perhaps she has been immersed in Cd's and DVD's of an earlier era. Perhaps she has been trucked around to competitions for over a decade. Perhaps she has received much first hand information on what drum corps was like from the period we're speaking about. Perhaps the fact that she is a musician gives her a base of credibility that others may not possess. And ultimately, let's not underestimate her ability to form an opinion on her own rather than simply echoing something that she may have heard discussed. This kid is old enough to vote and serve her country. I think she is old enough to hold an informed opinion about Drum Corps. My goodness, it's not rocket science after all.

Jonathan said: "From what I have seen I would give Phantom the edge at this point. The only X factor in all this is the guard. " "We don't talk about it enough, and I know G would concur with this, but when talking about the big 3 you have to talk about guard. The one consistent factor with these corps is the absolutely incredible performances and design elements of their guards, and the inclusion of all this into the fabric of the total visual and music al program. The challengers have all been good over the years, but they lack a guard with the ability, design, and integration of the Blue Devils (who are the masters), as well as Cadets and Cavaliers. Ultimately, to score higher in GE in all areas you need a guard at that level." "You have to assume that Phantom can match BD in the performance captions like music and perhaps even the marching captions come finals, but where will BD's guard be by that point? This is a big X factor." Well said. However, I think that the more important question is where will Regiment's guard be by that point? The ingredients are all there but there is still a tremendous amount of work to do in 2 weeks.

I think that the ending is abrupt in its subtlety. It doesn't give the audience a chance to get there. If that makes any sense. This was first time I saw the show. Had nothing to compare it to and I thought it ended with the loud push, and then it actually ends with this soft moment that I do not think they transition well into either musically or visually. IMO it is a design issue. However, I personally like endings that you can get revved up about. Maybe that is old school but most of the corps last night seemed to adopt that strategy.

Attended the show tonight. Gotta say straight from a spectator's point of view, I feel the spread should have been greater between Cavaliers and Cadets. I don't see Cadets catching them this year. Don't see Regiment or the Scouts passing BD (unnecessay narration) either. Madison's ending doesn't work and PR's guard (although beautiful costumes, flags, props, etc) is disappointlingly weak. Saw my first horn player fall tonight. Treacherous drills and the field looked like a lumber yard. Much dropped equipment. Still lots of cleaning left to do from the top on down!

Don't know if it's still true but in the mid to late 70's, no one had a better cook staff than Phantom Regiment. One of the drum corps magazines at the time published a story on them. I came from SoCal drum corps where peanut butter and jelly had attained sort of an iconic stature. I don't think we ever had PB & J in the Regiment. Seemed like we had a hot lunch every day unless we were really scrambling to be somewhere. A lot of us ate better on tour than we did at home!

Does anyone know when the Corps will arrive?

I took my husband to his first drum corps shows in the early to mid-80's. He's not a musician but a huge music fan. He has always maintained that he would love to hear Zappa's Peaches in Regalia performed by a drum corps.

Whitey Meier was more than an occassional bus driver for the Phantom Regiment. I believe he was a member of the Board of Directors. His wife Sue was a bus mom for the at least the 77 and 78 tours. They were a dedicated corps family and his daughter is much more than the sum of a single performance. xrifle Kingsmen Cadets: Colorguard '73-'74 Anaheim Kingsmen: Winterguard '75, Rifle Royal Regiment Colorguard: Winterguard '76, Rifle Velvet Knights: '76, Rifle Phantom Regiment: '77-'78 Winterguard and Field season, Rifle