Panther Pilot

That was a great article. I never knew so much about the Bridgemen. Sorry they had to go, I bet they made DCI senior leadership pull their hair out. I like that. Come back to us some day Bridgemen!

I was also at the Lynn show did you see the Boston guys beating their fist in the ground when they finished that show. You could tell those kids left it all on the field that night. Very emotional peformance for The Crusaders. Crowd was really into that show as well. I never heard such a roar from a home crowd. It was a fun show - now if they just fix up/clen up the stadium.

Great review and I agree 100% with your anyalsis of Cavies show. Actually, I think we see things pretty much the same as far as the Top 12 corps this year, but I don't like the tango section in Blue Coats show. You love BD and it shows and me Madison. You are 100% correct, BD has a great show this year and will make it Championship #11. Got to love that big hill in Allentown ... the joy of trugging up that thing.

Thanks for your review. I know you hadn't seen the recap sheet when you did this, but you said Cadets drums were on fire and they won percussion in Qtrs. Madison drum line and color guard were both 12th, visually they were 6th. I would sure like to see Madison 6th this year, but just don't think it will happen. Thanks for the info though.

Coro, nice review. Nice meeting you at Hard Rock. The Cavie guy on here that took your comments so personally, he wanted to know why Cavies were 2 points ahead of BDs. Its the music man. Blue Devils have a challenging book that has runs and high solo parts etc. Cavies are playing a very controlled sound and doing so they can tweak the crap out of it. Much easier to keep whole notes and quarter notes in tune rather than 8 note runs. Van Mathews isn't done with the Blue Devils horn line and I think Mr Gibbs wants to dethrone the Green Machine. Seperate note, last year was the first musical book since I've been around since 91 that I did not like from the Cavies. This year, I dislike this book much more. Music is melodic, but doesn't do a thing for. If it wasn't for the visual package this show has, I'd be out in the hot dog line getting a soda during it, because the only emotion the 2003 musical book SPIN envolkes with ME is a YAWN.

:P :P :P :P :P Harvey you crack me up. Yea I got flamed out by putting out something "bad" about the Cavies. If it wasn't for the drill I'd been out in the hot dog line during their show. This guy from Cavies knew a lot of information about the amount of music they "looked" at. My major fault with the Cavies show is the whole sound control thing. PR came out and had this huge sound and then the Cavies played mesto forte the entire show almost. Haven't we seen some of this before, Star 93 undefeated until finals night and Cadets turned in one of the best guard and visual shows this DCI fan had ever seen. I was sure Star would win, but didn't. Afterwards, Star went their seperate way.

Nice job keep it up.

What happened to Madison. Scores dropped again. Madison's drum line seems to be taking the big hits. Just an off night, new changes, I was hoping to see some low 70s out of Madison at this point. Very nice review BTW.

I don't know. Lots of hype this year on corps. While I see a battle for 10, 11, 12 this year. That battle will be between Spirit, Magic, Seattle, Colts, Blue Knights and Crown. Too early to say, but I think come 19 Jul, 3 weeks before finals the top 12 will be set. Lets compare last year Southwestern showdown to finals and see. 20 Jul 2002 Cavies Cadets BD SCV Gmen PR Boston Blue Coats Crossmen Seattle Spirit Blue Knights 10 Aug 2002 Cavies BD Cadets SCV PR Boston Blue Coats Gmen Crossmen Spirit Magic Seattle With the exception of Magic being added. The Top 11 remained. Big dropper from one show to finals was the Gmen. Basically, others just flip flopped positions.

Thanks. I won't get to see any of the shows until a month from now. By then who knows. The California corps have yet to come out and by 19 Jul when I see all of the corps, the writing will be pretty much on the wall, who will be where come finals.

Fair enough, but I would just like to see Madison get some consistency in judging. Scores seem to always skew wildly in any direction, usually downward.

Did you see a 6 point difference in Madison and Cavies? How would you have placed them. Recap shows Cavies guard over Scouts. Madison's drum line had a bad night with even the Colts beating them.

Did you see a 6 point spread between Madison and Cavies. Based on your review sounds like if you had to place them Madison would have been over Cavies.

Great Review. Thanks for taking the time to write all that down and thanks for the photos as well!

The staff of the Cavies have figured out the DCI score sheets and are writing and performing shows to achieve the MAX score. Hats off to them for being able to do that. But I sure hope the music is more accessable that last years. By accessable, I mean hum able. It doesn't have to be a West Side Story for me to hum it. I hum'd Pines of Rome for days after I saw that show in 1991 and that was the first time I'd heard that.

WOW DID YOU HEAR. There is going to be this new show this year - Color Guard with Drum Corps Accompaniment. It will be held in Orlando, FL with there big show on Aug 9, 2003. I'm thinking about going. Any other takers?

I'm going to see them in Corpus Christi in Feb. I'll see Blast in Jan here in San Antonio and Shockwave in Feb. Exellent review and thanks for sharing, I now know what I'm in for.

I didn’t stick around for the scores to be announced after the afternoon show. I could feel the writing on the wall. Scouts would not make the finals that night. First time in almost 29 years Scouts have not made an afternoon cut. Lots of long faces in the Scouts camp and I bet some big smiles on the DCI staff. It has taken years, but finally, DCI thinks they have put Scott Stewart in his place. It is not Scott Stewart you, DCI are hurting, it those kids that pour their souls into that show. One young man said it best. “Don’t feel sorry for us, feel sorry for the fans.” This comes from a Valedictorian that just graduated from high school in his first year of drum corps. I thought it said it all. Ok on with the reviews of the evening shows. Blue Coats – guys I am so sorry I missed your show. My bad, but got talking with former Madison Scouts that are now staff members of Blue Devils and I couldn’t get in time. Crossmen – I liked, I was very surprised where you placed. I had you 6th. Strawberry Soup is one of my favorites. Nicely done, and your all-jazz show this year really shows a marked improvement in the Crossmen. I thought you had a solid show, very polished and a good balance of audience and judge appeal. Blue Knights – Since they beat my favorite corps by .20 I was taking a critical look especially at their guard. Show is good and solid, but musically, you guys need to work on your phrasing and ensemble. You did seem a little tired tonight for some reason. (for more go to afternoon review). Spirit of JSU – I was looking forward to this! I wanted to see if you were constant from afternoon to evening and you were. I still love that body and horn movement to create all those unusual sounds. Really cool. (for more go to afternoon review). Seattle Cascades – Just as nice the second time around. Seattle’s rendition of Prelude Fruge and Riffs was great, the corps had a lot of fun with it and the audience ate it up. Lots of energy coming from you on this piece, keep it up. Continue to clean and work on the show musically and you’ll be a crowd favorite come finals. (for more go to afternoon review). Boston Crusaders – I can’t get into this show. (for more go to afternoon review). Intermission, one large coke, $4.25, man got to love drum corps. A tour of the souvies sales area, Madison is selling stuff like hot cakes and they’re not even performing. Fans know what they want. Blue Devils – Man the guard uniforms looked great. Loved the red bowler hats. Lots of former Madison staff now on Blue Devils staff, hello guys. This was the first corps of the day that really had it ALL together. Complete package. That color guard worked its magic and made it look effortless all with a smile. All equipment work was in sinc and man those ladies with the long hair really made me know that I’m one too, go back and review the words to “The House of the Rising Sun”. Their show Jazz: Music Made in America was very well done. Ragtime I didn’t know how they’d pull that one off, but it was done well, I Got Rhythm and Fascinating Rhythm about brought the house down. The drum feature in Fascinating Rhythm was very nice and lots to look at. If you like guard work with some cool horns you’ll love House of the Rising Sun. Channel One Suite, still needs a little work. All in all, I thought very entertaining, accessible and visual. Nice job guys. I think you can pull off an upset at finals – SECOND. Cadets – Do you guys have a storage area? I could swear most of the props, and guard uniforms from this show have been used in the 1992 and 1995 shows????? Cadets pressed all my buttons. Good horns, great feet, great guard and a top drum line. Okay, this show has been done before, but that’s cool it was still great. It looks a lot like the 1995 show, but with different music. April has got the guard looking great as usual and the guard sure does look like they’re enjoying themselves. More to a great guard than equipment work, Cadets guard acted the roles they were portraying very nice. A little surprised to see boxers and a white t-shirt on the field, but everyone has got to change clothes somewhere. Look for that when some of the guys change from street clothes into uniforms. Nice rifle work, I loved the loud count 1, 2, 3, 4, … release. It is a gimmick, but man I love it. Horn line looks like they’re having fun too, during Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy especially. Great marching guys, drill is typical Cadets, very fast very demanding. Always a pleasure to watch the visual portion of Cadets. Musically, New York New York, was the weak part of the show, if you could call it weak. The closer, with the melodies from West Side Story, was very cool. Cadets also pushed the “bible belts” button with the Pledge of Allegiance in their show, “ONE NATION UNDER GOD”, got a very positive reaction from this crowd. Cadets, great show, even if the concept was not entirely new. I would like to see the ending change. GEORGE YOU CAN SEND ME A CHECK LATER FOR THIS IDEA, Instead of the Iwo Jima pose at the end, put three guard guys in Firemen uniforms and use the Sep 11 raising of the flag for your ending. Those big boxes you use change all that Post WWII stuff you got on them now and put faces of NYC firemen on them and sing the last refrain of God Bless America, “God Bless America, my Home Sweet Home.” The full horn line, repeat phrase. There won’t be a dry eye in the house come finals. Watch out Blue Devils are on your heals. Santa Clara Vanguard – Who is colorblind and picked that shade of green in the new uniforms????? Man that color of green is going to take some getting used too. Looks like a faded ping-pong table. UUGUGUUGUG. SCV a very nice, show a solid 4th place. However, it just didn’t do it for me. Execution was clean but just didn’t thrill me. Guard, too many gimmicky things reminded me of the 1992 Fiddler Show before you cut the props. Use regular rifles please. Glassmen – Walking by their sovies booth, they have these shirts with Booring on them refereeing to B flat instruments. They should be careful, people might be thinking it would describe their show, because it is boring. The best part of the show and the best part I can say about the Glassmen’s show is the Fugal horn player’s solo. That boy can play. Glassmen, give me something I can hum or something. You finished 5th tonight and you had some of the poorest feet on the field. Learn to march not walk with those feet. Cavaliers – Big buzz in the stands will they go undefeated this year. This is the first time this year I’ve seen this show. Heard a lot about it and the folks in front of me in the stands were just raving about it. Okay, now I got that set up lets talk, guard uniforms. Does everyone remember the movie “Tron”, well that is what the uniforms looked like. Gray with different colored high highlights in some of the seams. Looked like the cording on my couch. Lets see there was yellow, orange, blue … ok you get the idea. I’ve come to expect great drill from the Cavies and this show is full of it. However, while I found the Frameworks show to be that a visual treat, musically, it was mesoforte’. The only time any volume came out of those B flat horns were when you were standing still. Great grill and the guard pulled off their portion as well, but the Four Corners and Waterfalls shows were much better. This show reminded me a lot of the concept Star of Indiana used to design their 1993 show. Obscure inaccessible music with lots of great visual stuff and a guard that can pull it off. I think this show if it does win DCI finals this year will do more to damage this activity than any other show. DCI did not let Star pull off their undefeated season in 1993, but right now Cavies you are the darlings of DCI and anything goes. What you did you did VERY VERY well. However, I wish you hadn’t. Even the audience I think was a little, huh??? I have read that you are pushing forward the activity with this show. Don’t – please. Jeff Felder knows what the DCI judges are looking for and this show hits all the buttons for the DCI judging staff. If this show is the future of drum corps we might as well change the name now. VDC – Visual Drum Corps. Sorry I can’t be more positive. Very changeling show to perform, but not one of your design staffs better efforts in my book, maybe I’m too old school. I had you 1st with a 92.6 I was .15 off you scored 92.45. Visually the scores are worth 60% of score, Cavies staff know this and playing it perfectly. Phantom Regiment – My old friend Pat Siedling, another former Madison Scout staff guy that toured with me. Glad to see Phantom doing so well. Just a few little things, lets start with YELLOW DRUMS??????? Okay, did you guys get a discount on them or did someone mess up? I would have loved to see Phantom in natural wood colored drums to match the top of the uniforms or something. Guard uniforms in the opener, old school I liked, then they change to the new school stuff, very cool and effective. Go back to white rifles though. The natural wood color guest lost. During the in unison toss. Very nicely done by the way. Drum Major, slow down – sell your opening!!!! You were in a little too much of a hurry. Pat I love ya, and I know its been raining, but fix the pants. You got some floods out there. Nice style on the feet, some of us old school guys watch that stuff. All in all I liked this years show. I had you 5th. All in all a good night in San Antonio. No mosquitoes and plenty of good old fashioned Texas air conditioning--NICE. I wish that some of the back field music corps played didn’t’ sound so much like a freight train at times, oh well that’s drum corps indoors. If DCI was trying to put on a good show at San Antonio they did just that. No controversy, no boos, it was all just “yad yad yad.” The fans didn’t create havoc when Madison didn’t make finals, Madison was quietly missed, maybe by just me. I think I got my $55.00 x 4 worth for the day. I had great seats right on the 50-yard line and could see and hear everything. Here is how I would have placed them that evening. 1- Cavilers – 92.6 2- Cadets – 91.5 3- Blue Devils – 91 4- SCV – 90 5- Phantom - 88.5 6- Crossmen – 87 7- Glassmen – 85 8- Blue Coats (didn’t see them but this was my guess) 9- Seattle Cascades - 83.5 10- Boston Crusaders – 83 11- Sprit 81.5 12- Blue Knights - 80 On a sad note as the evening was over and we were leaving the Alamo Dome the Madison Buses were pulling out of the parking lot. I heard a few fans say, “I didn’t know Madison was here, why didn’t they perform.” I just smile at the lady wearing an SCV shirt and said, “DCI wouldn’t let them.” I secretly hope Madison will make Top 12 in Madison, but I know deep in my heart, they won’t. What is oddly ironic, a large majority of the DCI judges marched Madison and sprinkled thought out the DCI activity on the staffs of many drum corps are many former Madison staff members. I wish all the corps the best as they turn in the last 3 weeks of the Summer Games of 2002, but here’s a little special push for the drum corps I love – FROM MADISON, WISCONSIN, THE MADISON SCOUTS!

I didn’t stick around for the scores to be announced after the afternoon show. I could feel the writing on the wall. Scouts would not make the finals that night. First time in almost 29 years Scouts have not made an afternoon cut. Lots of long faces in the Scouts camp and I bet some big smiles on the DCI staff. It has taken years, but finally, DCI thinks they have put Scott Stewart in his place. It is not Scott Stewart you, DCI are hurting, it those kids that pour their souls into that show. One young man said it best. “Don’t feel sorry for us, feel sorry for the fans.” This comes from a Valedictorian that just graduated from high school in his first year of drum corps. I thought it said it all. Ok on with the reviews of the evening shows. Blue Coats – guys I am so sorry I missed your show. My bad, but got talking with former Madison Scouts that are now staff members of Blue Devils and I couldn’t get in time. Crossmen – I liked, I was very surprised where you placed. I had you 6th. Strawberry Soup is one of my favorites. Nicely done, and your all-jazz show this year really shows a marked improvement in the Crossmen. I thought you had a solid show, very polished and a good balance of audience and judge appeal. Blue Knights – Since they beat my favorite corps by .20 I was taking a critical look especially at their guard. Show is good and solid, but musically, you guys need to work on your phrasing and ensemble. You did seem a little tired tonight for some reason. (for more go to afternoon review). Spirit of JSU – I was looking forward to this! I wanted to see if you were constant from afternoon to evening and you were. I still love that body and horn movement to create all those unusual sounds. Really cool. (for more go to afternoon review). Seattle Cascades – Just as nice the second time around. Seattle’s rendition of Prelude Fruge and Riffs was great, the corps had a lot of fun with it and the audience ate it up. Lots of energy coming from you on this piece, keep it up. Continue to clean and work on the show musically and you’ll be a crowd favorite come finals. (for more go to afternoon review). Boston Crusaders – I can’t get into this show. (for more go to afternoon review). Intermission, one large coke, $4.25, man got to love drum corps. A tour of the souvies sales area, Madison is selling stuff like hot cakes and they’re not even performing. Fans know what they want. Blue Devils – Man the guard uniforms looked great. Loved the red bowler hats. Lots of former Madison staff now on Blue Devils staff, hello guys. This was the first corps of the day that really had it ALL together. Complete package. That color guard worked its magic and made it look effortless all with a smile. All equipment work was in sinc and man those ladies with the long hair really made me know that I’m one too, go back and review the words to “The House of the Rising Sun”. Their show Jazz: Music Made in America was very well done. Ragtime I didn’t know how they’d pull that one off, but it was done well, I Got Rhythm and Fascinating Rhythm about brought the house down. The drum feature in Fascinating Rhythm was very nice and lots to look at. If you like guard work with some cool horns you’ll love House of the Rising Sun. Channel One Suite, still needs a little work. All in all, I thought very entertaining, accessible and visual. Nice job guys. I think you can pull off an upset at finals – SECOND. Cadets – Do you guys have a storage area? I could swear most of the props, and guard uniforms from this show have been used in the 1992 and 1995 shows????? Cadets pressed all my buttons. Good horns, great feet, great guard and a top drum line. Okay, this show has been done before, but that’s cool it was still great. It looks a lot like the 1995 show, but with different music. April has got the guard looking great as usual and the guard sure does look like they’re enjoying themselves. More to a great guard than equipment work, Cadets guard acted the roles they were portraying very nice. A little surprised to see boxers and a white t-shirt on the field, but everyone has got to change clothes somewhere. Look for that when some of the guys change from street clothes into uniforms. Nice rifle work, I loved the loud count 1, 2, 3, 4, … release. It is a gimmick, but man I love it. Horn line looks like they’re having fun too, during Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy especially. Great marching guys, drill is typical Cadets, very fast very demanding. Always a pleasure to watch the visual portion of Cadets. Musically, New York New York, was the weak part of the show, if you could call it weak. The closer, with the melodies from West Side Story, was very cool. Cadets also pushed the “bible belts” button with the Pledge of Allegiance in their show, “ONE NATION UNDER GOD”, got a very positive reaction from this crowd. Cadets, great show, even if the concept was not entirely new. I would like to see the ending change. GEORGE YOU CAN SEND ME A CHECK LATER FOR THIS IDEA, Instead of the Iwo Jima pose at the end, put three guard guys in Firemen uniforms and use the Sep 11 raising of the flag for your ending. Those big boxes you use change all that Post WWII stuff you got on them now and put faces of NYC firemen on them and sing the last refrain of God Bless America, “God Bless America, my Home Sweet Home.” The full horn line, repeat phrase. There won’t be a dry eye in the house come finals. Watch out Blue Devils are on your heals. Santa Clara Vanguard – Who is colorblind and picked that shade of green in the new uniforms????? Man that color of green is going to take some getting used too. Looks like a faded ping-pong table. UUGUGUUGUG. SCV a very nice, show a solid 4th place. However, it just didn’t do it for me. Execution was clean but just didn’t thrill me. Guard, too many gimmicky things reminded me of the 1992 Fiddler Show before you cut the props. Use regular rifles please. Glassmen – Walking by their sovies booth, they have these shirts with Booring on them refereeing to B flat instruments. They should be careful, people might be thinking it would describe their show, because it is boring. The best part of the show and the best part I can say about the Glassmen’s show is the Fugal horn player’s solo. That boy can play. Glassmen, give me something I can hum or something. You finished 5th tonight and you had some of the poorest feet on the field. Learn to march not walk with those feet. Cavaliers – Big buzz in the stands will they go undefeated this year. This is the first time this year I’ve seen this show. Heard a lot about it and the folks in front of me in the stands were just raving about it. Okay, now I got that set up lets talk, guard uniforms. Does everyone remember the movie “Tron”, well that is what the uniforms looked like. Gray with different colored high highlights in some of the seams. Looked like the cording on my couch. Lets see there was yellow, orange, blue … ok you get the idea. I’ve come to expect great drill from the Cavies and this show is full of it. However, while I found the Frameworks show to be that a visual treat, musically, it was mesoforte’. The only time any volume came out of those B flat horns were when you were standing still. Great grill and the guard pulled off their portion as well, but the Four Corners and Waterfalls shows were much better. This show reminded me a lot of the concept Star of Indiana used to design their 1993 show. Obscure inaccessible music with lots of great visual stuff and a guard that can pull it off. I think this show if it does win DCI finals this year will do more to damage this activity than any other show. DCI did not let Star pull off their undefeated season in 1993, but right now Cavies you are the darlings of DCI and anything goes. What you did you did VERY VERY well. However, I wish you hadn’t. Even the audience I think was a little, huh??? I have read that you are pushing forward the activity with this show. Don’t – please. Jeff Felder knows what the DCI judges are looking for and this show hits all the buttons for the DCI judging staff. If this show is the future of drum corps we might as well change the name now. VDC – Visual Drum Corps. Sorry I can’t be more positive. Very changeling show to perform, but not one of your design staffs better efforts in my book, maybe I’m too old school. I had you 1st with a 92.6 I was .15 off you scored 92.45. Visually the scores are worth 60% of score, Cavies staff know this and playing it perfectly. Phantom Regiment – My old friend Pat Siedling, another former Madison Scout staff guy that toured with me. Glad to see Phantom doing so well. Just a few little things, lets start with YELLOW DRUMS??????? Okay, did you guys get a discount on them or did someone mess up? I would have loved to see Phantom in natural wood colored drums to match the top of the uniforms or something. Guard uniforms in the opener, old school I liked, then they change to the new school stuff, very cool and effective. Go back to white rifles though. The natural wood color guest lost. During the in unison toss. Very nicely done by the way. Drum Major, slow down – sell your opening!!!! You were in a little too much of a hurry. Pat I love ya, and I know its been raining, but fix the pants. You got some floods out there. Nice style on the feet, some of us old school guys watch that stuff. All in all I liked this years show. I had you 5th. All in all a good night in San Antonio. No mosquitoes and plenty of good old fashioned Texas air conditioning--NICE. I wish that some of the back field music corps played didn’t’ sound so much like a freight train at times, oh well that’s drum corps indoors. If DCI was trying to put on a good show at San Antonio they did just that. No controversy, no boos, it was all just “yad yad yad.” The fans didn’t create havoc when Madison didn’t make finals, Madison was quietly missed, maybe by just me. I think I got my $55.00 x 4 worth for the day. I had great seats right on the 50-yard line and could see and hear everything. Here is how I would have placed them that evening. 1- Cavilers – 92.6 2- Cadets – 91.5 3- Blue Devils – 91 4- SCV – 90 5- Phantom - 88.5 6- Crossmen – 87 7- Glassmen – 85 8- Blue Coats (didn’t see them but this was my guess) 9- Seattle Cascades - 83.5 10- Boston Crusaders – 83 11- Sprit 81.5 12- Blue Knights - 80 On a sad note as the evening was over and we were leaving the Alamo Dome the Madison Buses were pulling out of the parking lot. I heard a few fans say, “I didn’t know Madison was here, why didn’t they perform.” I just smile at the lady wearing an SCV shirt and said, “DCI wouldn’t let them.” I secretly hope Madison will make Top 12 in Madison, but I know deep in my heart, they won’t. What is oddly ironic, a large majority of the DCI judges marched Madison and sprinkled thought out the DCI activity on the staffs of many drum corps are many former Madison staff members. I wish all the corps the best as they turn in the last 3 weeks of the Summer Games of 2002, but here’s a little special push for the drum corps I love – FROM MADISON, WISCONSIN, THE MADISON SCOUTS!

Ok, I know you saw the fleur de le before you clicked on here, but this is a no joke non-biased review. You may not like what you read here so if you are thin skinned and not a drum corps fan, move on now. I attended both the 1:00 and 7:30 shows. Here is a review of the 1:00 shows. I’ll do up a review of what I saw their, Cavies fans; you might want to read it. Southwind – I was a little disappointed. I think the concept of the show is solid. Opener really hit, but the performance of the show from there on needs some work. Gals in the guard, smile! You gals in the guard are very beautiful southern women, show off those beautiful smiles. But ladies, you made watching your guard work look like that, work. The equipment work you did seamed heavy and not effortless. Go watch a Blue Devils performance and watch the gals in the guard. You’ll understand what I’m saying. EFFORTLESS sells! March Slav needs some cleaning musically, but still love that piece of work. All in all, Southwind has a nice show, but judges have them slotted about right. Look for a 16th finish at DCI. Troopers - Got to love a legend. I was glad to see that some of the musical program has moved on from the old western classics. Troopers, you’d make a great Division II corps. I would not have used those white drums with those great new uniforms. Silver maybe, but not white. It is still nice to see you guys around. Man I wish I had about 5 million dollars to give you so you guys could get back on top. And remind everyone where we came from and kicked major butt all over again. If I hit the lottery, I’m coming to Casper. Spirit of JSU – WOW they are back. Didn’t really know what to expect from them, but great program. Some of the techniques they are using with body and horn movement, create some very usual sounds and I thought it was great!!!!!! Opener, don’t change a NOTE!!! Loved the guard exploding from the center forum wearing masks. Continue to clean and you’ll be back in the Top 12 come finals. Great job guys and my hats off to you. Suggestion, in the warm up how about the melody of Let it Be Me! Welcome back to the TOP 12! It’s been a while and it is good to see an old friend. Seattle Cascades – Okay, I’ve never seen before today. I was pleasantly surprised. I found an old friend Kurt Jewell coming on the field with them. Kurt was the former guard caption head for the Scouts guard, he left Scouts after the coop de ta in 2000 and I wonder where he went. I now know where he went; he’s the assistant director of Seattle Cascades. Man they were good! Nothing too over the top just the basics and might I add all done very well. Clean drill and good solid guard work, the kids looked like they were having fun and it showed. Seattle’s rendition of Prelude Fruge and Riffs was great, the corps had a lot of fun with it and the audience ate it up. I liked the guard; the ladies wore business suits coats over colored tops; the guys, all black suits with colored ties to match the ladies tops. About half way through the show the gals took off their coats and with all that color on the field the guard really came to life. Horns were very solid as well as drums. Seattle is looking at a Top 10 finish finals. I actually think they have a shot at Glass and Phantom. The great thing about Seattle, most of all the kids and staff come from the North West. Sounds like a community thing, wow wasn’t that what drum corps was once all about. I think Seattle has a good balance between audience and judge appeal. I hope to see you guys around for a while now. Boston Crusaders – I hated the guard uniforms. I later saw why they were in those, but off white body suits. What cruel person put those men in the guard in those off white body suits? Boston has discovered the new DCI formula for success. Clean drill, play what you play well, and have a big guard that is very visual. Crusaders got high marks in visual and it was visual, but it wasn’t all that. The guard had these roll out banner inspirational sayings on these rolling banner type things. That’s the best way I can describe them. Cool visual and gave some insight as to what they were trying to do. Loved the pictures of famous Americans thought it worked well with what you were trying to do visually. However, I did not like the singing. Standing in one spot for about 1 min singing a song. As nice as it was, it is NOT drum corps. As far as the closer, nice rendition of another Appalachian Spring piece and really a cool touch with the corps American flag at the end, but a YAWNNNNNER. Okay, for those of you that have not seen this. The guard in those off white body suits and the corps in those red jackets all lay down on the field and form a red and white stripe pattern for the base of the American flag. While some of the guard is in the upper left corner have these silks that have a single large blue star. Cool visual, but don’t end the show their. I want my closer like my opener; hit me straight between the eyes. Very pretty and the judges are eating it up. But, you were almost playing at the piano level when you finished and then just laid down and ended, people around me were asking me are they done? Blue Knights - Guard uniforms looked very scary, I thought I was going to see some S&M action. If you loved Star of Indian in 93 you’d like the Blue Knights, they are playing some of the same Barber tunes that Star used. Blue Knights had set their pit up a little inside the field and incorporated the drum line and horn line using them as blockers to march around and through. Nice effect. Color guard and pit crew had a moment that I thought was nicely done when they helped push the pit even further back on to the field in an arch. Nice piece and pit crew held their own with the guard guys doing the movements. Nice touch. I thought musically, it was little in accessible. What would have been cool if guard would have brush sprayed their eyes dark or even in different colors. Blue Knights will fight it out with Madison and the Colts for 12th at finals. Pioneer – Roman, go back to Division II. You guys ruled there and that is where you belong. The props that you used also could use a coat of paint before DCI finals. Musically, Pioneer is having lots of problems. Kids are trying very hard, but it is not happening. IF Pioneer were in division II the kid's would have those shoulders back and walking with pride, because no body could touch them. Carolina Crown – Okay Greek show. Loose the prompts. Put the guys in something other than a toga, the medusa heads on the guard loose. I thought Carolina had a good sounding horn line and drum line. Guard did solid work. I just didn’t get into this show either. Come finals Carolina will be in there with Blue Knight, Madison, and Colts fighting for 12th. Madison Scouts – Okay I was expecting a disaster. From reading everything on here I expected the worst. I was actually IMPRESSED. It is not a Cavaliers show or a Star of Indiana, it is drum corps. Yes, a little old school, but I believe there is room in this activity for everything. But, it was obvious that DCI want to move forward to a new more visual activity. Look at the score sheets folks, almost 60% of the score sheet is visual, who made it that way, it was the corps directors. Madison was the only DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS THERE in the afternoon show. Warm up was kind of cool, yes the K-Mart breastplates and helmets were a little cheesy, but not even part of the show. Madison hit me straight between the eyes with the open and every hair on both of my arms stuck straight up and the tears began to welt up in my eyes. Talk about energy and emotion coming from a field that was what the Scouts were doing. The guard work looks complete, but not effortless and needs more work, but man what a show. I will say when the guard changes uniforms about half way thought the show the bright yellow body suits are a little much, but as the evening went on, those bumble bee body suits look no worse than the “Tron” suits that the Cavaliers are wearing. When Madison finished the entire place was up on their feet cheering wildly. Obviously, despite what DCI and the directors are trying to do, the fans still see a place for style of show. This standing “O” was the first for the day. It was what the fans wanted and they got it. After review of the recap sheets, please do tell me what I am missing, Madison - top horns, second in drums and 8th in guard, by almost 3 whole points. Only Pioneer and Trooper color guard received lower scores in guard. If Madison could get those 3 points in the guard area back, they would be looking at a 7th or 8th place finish. It is not my intention to point my finger straight to the guard. I thought the guard work was good and would have placed them 5th behind the Blue Knight guard. If you also look at the GE categories on the judges sheets you also see the Scouts took a hard hit here as well. If GE was about getting people on their feet screaming their heads off, Madison would have a perfect score, but with the GE and guard scores being so interlaced, Madison is getting hit twice for the same problem. I might also add, Madison was the only corps that afternoon that had any type of marching style at all. Look at those feet next time you see that show. Most of the corps are just running around on their tiptoes trying to keep up. Shame on you DCI for being so critical. If we all wanted inaccessible shows, we’d sit through the Glassmen and Cavaliers and go drink beer during the rest of the shows. Drum corps should be about variety right? Is this non-biased enough????? Colts – I really looked hard at this show since it beat Madison’s by about 2 points at Drum Corps Midwest finals about a week ago. I don’t like this year’s show. Didn’t get me excited at all. I can’t say anything bad or good about this show. It was just there. Sorry Colts, but loved what you did with your Four Seasons show back when you broke into the Top 12 in 93? But this is a yawner. These are just my observations. I’m a paying fan so I’m entitled to my opinion right or wrong – right? I will say that all the kids that performed this afternoon are working very hard and it is nice to see 15 with an honest shot at finals this year. My final observation is that DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS are dead, what has replaced that activity is a Visual Guard Corps with Pit, Horn, and Drums Accompaniment. I’m not against these new shows. They all have a place. I know some of you say go to DCA for old school, but lets not throw the baby out with the bath water. I love great guard work, but I also want a horn line to part my hair for me. I like a gimmick or two. Read my review of the evening performances. Cadet and Blue Devils have got lots of gimmicks and horn lines with accessible music for all. Most of all, when you talk guard, you know the Devils and Cadets will have great guards. If I was to place the afternoon show here is how I would have rated them. 1- Madison, 87.5 2- Seattle Cascades, 83.5 3- Sprit of JSU, 83 4- Boston Crusaders, 82 5- Blue Knights, 81 6- Colts, 81.25 7- Carolina Crown, 80.5 8- Southwind, 77 9- Pioneer, 70 10- Troopers, 65

Is Madison that bad? I get a chance to see them and the rest of the DCI traveling circus this weekend here in San Antonio. I guess I better be glad that I bought prelim tickets too huh?