Brasskitten

Yes! That and when they take the company front and run it forward....w-o-w.

I was surprised (and glad) that there was only ONE train, and (in comparison to past shows, both high school and drum corps) they didn't blow their horn nearly as much as they usually do. Blue Stars were louder than the CSX, anyway. :)

Haven't seen anyone from the West Coast (or Midwest) yet.....I will in Atlanta. ....and it has more to do with my corps affiliation. It's not that I haven't loved or appreciated the products put out by green team or the blue team or any other color-specific corps, I just "dislike" them in the same way that I "dislike" the Philadelphia Eagles. :)

Then I'll bet that you will just LOVE me. Tonight's show..... I'm really, really glad that it wasn't rained out. The $50 that I paid for tickets is a veritable fortune for a graduate student. Blue Stars were loud and I was quite taken aback and....well, impressed. Holy Name Cadets were....amazing. I found that there were many 'wow' moments throughout the show, and even more moments in which words escaped me. I was so proud to call myself an alumni. The horn line had such a resonant sound, and the writing was stellar (Jay). There were some problems with feet in the sound, but then again.....they were moving at incredibly high tempos and in some really, really intricate drill. What's more, they make it look easy. My boyfriend, who had never seen a drum corps show until tonight, commented 'Whoa, they never stop, do they? They're like a perfect...machine. Badas*'. It's true. Even during what might be considered their ballad, they were trucking it all over the field. I was also proud to tell my new to drum corps boyfriend that I am an alumni of Crown; they were spectacular. I loved how they visually and musically broke apart Copeland and the company front at the beginning and then put it back together in the end....very cool. The brass had a lovely sound, and I enjoyed their arrangements. I do however, have a few gripes. Altogether, I find that Crown is---for lack of a better term---effeminate. Oh yes, there WAS marching, but there was just as much prancing, sitting, kneeling, laying, and other relaxing recreational activites going on during the show as there was marching; it was really 50% prancing and 50% actual marching. But, I suppose that's their identity now? My boyfriend (I only add in his commentary because he's objective, I suppose) commented that they were 'cute'. Which pretty much summed up my feelings concerning their show. It's cute. That being said, I did love Crown's show. I am a Crown fan. However, I can see the reasons behind all of the recent scores, and why they're .35 points ahead. They're sitting, and kneeling, and posing. It sure would have been nice to sit down during an 11 and a half minute show, to catch my breath and so I'd have less to worry about cleaning, but Jeff Sacktig didn't see it that way, so he never wrote that in for me. It's pretty clear. Cadets are flying, and once they hit that end of the season cleaning frenzy, they'll be incredible. Crown is doing new and different things with the way they move on the field, and I certainly respect it. I love Cadets. I love Crown. I hope they beat the tar out of the West Coast.

It would be pretty baller if you could get a brass choir from PR to do Canon in D (their 2003 arrangement) for a processional. I would love it.

You meant Crown, correct?

Wow. As an alumni of both Crown and the Cadets..... I must say.....the new Crown fans are annoying.

######!!! AFTER I age out. Why, oh why didn't they just start with THAT in 2003? We all would have been so much happier. No more muckles. It's a beautiful thing, Mikey.

Hmmm....they were all good. But considering I marched in one of them......yeah. Ah. Sorry. 1. Cadets 2. Phantom 3. SCV 4. BD

Straight legs, fast drill and a beautiful, loud, lush brass sound is all I want. And Cadets have it in spades. :-)

Crown was wonderful last night. You could tell that they lost a lot of steam towards the end, but that's to be expected seeing as it's early season (not to mention, their first show). They have a lot of room to grow, and they will. I can't wait to see them again in Atlanta.

We had a wonderful trainer named Chris and an amazing nurse that has been with the corps for awhile, Joan Borden. Both take incredible care of members at The Cadets.

THE BACK OF THE BUS HAS BENT LEGS!!!! I miss you too, baby. I have an awesome picture of the two of us from after San Antonio.

Reow.

:)

Hold your horn up. It'll make you stand out from the weaklings and earn respect from vets.

Half of our corps is from below the Mason-Dixon line. In 2003, I believe we had 16 people in The Cadets from the University of South Carolina alone....not just the state of South Carolina.

It felt perfect when I marched it.

We had Bb euphoniums this year at Cadets. They had a spectacular dark, clear sound. They played well, the weight was distributed fairly well. Great horns. I plan on marching one this year....there is nothing ###### about second baritone.

but Fanfare and Allegro goes nowhere...actually, coming out of Fave Things, you need something more attention getting. The sound is slow to start...first drum break, and oh look, the same lick they have been using for a few years now....w/some not so clean diddles. Rocky Point, IMO is wasted as the closer. After the high energy rip faces off attempt in Malaguena, RPH just seems to come off lame til 1/2 way thru, esp w/the fave things inserts. I agree, Barbara. Jeff....you know I love you....but honey....cough biased cough But thank you for the review, Jeff. Always good to read. <**>

ALRIGHT so after all of this bickering, we've come to the conlcusion that we all should have known from the beginning: everyone has a different opinion on who's show they think is the best and that everyone supports different corps...and that :gasp: we may not always agree. I respect your opinion that the Cavaliers are the greatest corps....if you will respect that I believe Cadets are. As for placements....I'm not holding my breath for anyone till Finals...not even for my beloved Cadets. And neither should you. Predictions are crap. Don't play the game.

The Cadets guard was singing along, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong. I heard the guard (yes, HEARD) warming up to the opener (On The Town, Bernstein) and they had their own lyrics to go with it.... it started of with 'Run run run as fast as you can..... and I didn't hear the rest. I THINK that's what I heard.

I didn't know where to post this......and I didn't want to post In The Stands (don't ask) I need a recording of 1987 Suncoast Sound. The secretary at my office needs it, I said I'd ask around. E-mail me at Crownberry9@aol.com. thanks guys!

It was a rule in our hornline to shower with your horn. My trick was that instead of showering with it, THEN applying silver polish, after removing my valves, I would grease 'er up with silver polish first, then take that into the shower. Saved time AND produced a lovely, shiny horn. Another trick that Jen taught me while we were both cleaning our baritones in the shower, we'd put the bell to the shower nozzle and let it fill with water and suck on the lead pipe at the same time till water came out through the lead pipe.....everything got clean very quickly that way. Don't even ASK me about the ONE time I FORGOT to take my horn in the shower....the hornline police gave me #### for THE REST OF TOUR. Jerks.

Yeah, I played on them....brand new. Very nice. Phantom made a top notch choice in selecting new Bb horns. Lovely, rich sound. Playing high is a bit difficult for some reason on these horns, takes more out of your chops...but I'm sure that'll be an easy fix after they get used to them.