mrb

Great night of Drum Corps in West Chester PA-this is just very brief Jersey Surf-Nice show, not at the level of the other shows, but very entertaining. Huge improvement from the beginning of the season Crossmen-Seems like this is a show that gets redone every few years. Could be entertaining, but there are some really dirty spots visually that should not be there at this point in the season Blue Knights. Pleasantly surprised. Nice sound. Thought the green the guard wore got a little washed out. Nice show Phantom Regiment-Nice program. Could really be an emotional package at the end. Cool entrance and exit to the show Blue Stars-Love the Houdini concept. Thought that I was more drawn to what would be done in terms of a gimmick, and did not watch the corps as I should have. I have said that this was an up and coming group and they did not disappoint Carolina Crown-Always a favorite of mine. The sound is so rich and full. Love the tie into last year at the end musically Cadets-Very enjoyable. Nice to see them take a lighter more entertaining approach. My picks Carolina Cadets Phantom Blue Stars Blue Knights Crossmen Surg

I will say that the signage changed each day. They made the video ad during quarter finals on thursday and showed it on Friday-I was walking by as they were filming it. The outside entrance was not shown until later Thursday night-guess they realized the end zone entrance was not working great since they did not let people walk down during performances Then there was a sign showing an escalator down from the main concourse to your left that I saw as I was coming up after entering from the outside entrance on Saturday. Just something that will need to be worked out over time. Nothing is perfect the first time around-heck look at all the new endings the corps themselves do as the season goes.......

Just a thought about the set of the Marketplace at Lucas Oil. Loved that it was inside and the vendors did not need to worry about the elements, HOWEVER The fact that it was actually in the stadium made it very inaccessible. You needed a ticket for that day to get into it. Unlike past years when it was set up outside somewhere and could be visited by anyone without having to go into the stadium. Sometimes you just like to go walk around on a day you are not doing a show. For example for those people with finals tickets only, I do not think they want to spend their time in the marketplace when they are there to see a show. Some people come a day early and would like to just walk around

Thought the town of Indy was great-did not need a car to get around stadium is convenient to a lot of hotels Climate in the stadium was great. Black curtain took a lot of backfield clutter away Sound was not good. It was like WGI percussion championships with a muffled band back-up Seats. I am on of those who fell for the fan 5 package. Bought tickets last year in Bloomington thinking I was way ahead of the game. guess I was wrong-seats were on the 10. Will NEVER do it that way again. There were a lot of unhappy people with DCI on Thursday. They even sold tickets in seats that were blocked by The NFL camera areas. $125 = very unsatisfied customers. I even contacted DCI when I got my tickets and they tried to sell me that the angle would make up for the yard line locale-can you say scam..... food was ok-little pricey, but ok had issues with corps staff and members who were just in to watch. Constant moving around and sitting in peoples seats as well as trying to come in during performances-THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER other than the seat issue it was a good experience. i think we will see more corps working with the sound issue. It was the first year in THIS arena-there will be things to work out

At the end of Somewhere I noticed that Bass 2 was missing

Just got in from Allentown-here are my thoughts Surf - Doing a nice job in World class-good guard, some nice sound, wish drill was more open. X-men-Did not see, but my wife enjoyed them from a higher vantage then we have seen in the past. Still very even with not many highs and lows Spirit-seemed a little choppy and like a HS show Colts-Nice show. Would love to see the front panels done up like a coast line instead of all black Madison-Pleasant surprise. Guard struggled at the end, but again some nice moments Boston-Always a pleasure watching this group, thought they were a little flat in West Chester, but not tonight Blue Stars-Loved the show. Reminds me of crown a few years ago and I think they will hit their stride in the next couple of years Blue Knights-Glad the did not use painted flags ( it was getting old). Other than a few hand gestures I had a tough time getting that this was a winter show SCV-WOW WOW WOW just love the show PR-Horn line is incredible, guard had some issues, especially matching toss heights and solid catches. Not my favorite PR show, but still like it Crown-WOW WOW WOW again-never get tired of seeing this one. Looked like they were missing a Bass drum this evening. The only thing I do not like about it and this is minor is the shade of green on the bass heads. Seems to bright for the other hues on the field Great night of Drum Corps. Can not wait for Indy

There was an announcement right before the national anthem

No surprise here-could have been anyones show of the top 3

Just some quick thoughts on the show - Last show I saw was in Jackson Jersey Surf - WOW what an improvement! Looked like they meant business tonight. Guard looked great. Thought they would be closer to Crossmen Crossmen - Show seems to not have many highs and lows - very even throughout. Like the red on the guard Boston - thought they started out tired, but as the show went on the excitment just came through Crown - WOW. Some cleanliness issues, but just pulls the emotion out like none of the others Cavies - Great corp, not thrilled with the concept, but again great corp Cadets- Another great corp, but felt a little frantic tonight Great show overall by all groups, can't wait to see them in Allentown and then indy

I believe Surf is actually practicing at West Chester on one of the fields around the campus

My daughter is in year 4 - California was great

My daughter is on the saber line as well - Go surf

Surf had a nice jump in score over the past couple of days. Could do some movement in 2 weeks. 5th in guard over Crossmen and Madison. Nice Job

Where do you find the market place? I have tickets for Friday night for sale and would like to sell them

I love watching drum corps, but it is so frustrating to be at a show where people just do not be quiet during performances. Some people just talk through entire shows and get upset if you ask them to stop during a performance. Tonight was especially frustrating as there was a group (from a high school band) sitting behind me and they just would not stop talking. We even asked some of their parent chaperones to ask them to stop and they did not. All these people should understand more than others that it is only proper to respect the hard work going on the field. PLEASE if you go to shows, please have the courtesy to be quiet while groups are performing, there are people who wish to here the corps, not what you did during the day

Make sure the tour director/staff know the dymanimcs of the area around them. some schools are in communities and not all people will appreciate the efforts of the corp. If that is the case, 9:00 at night is a good time to call it quits on outside rehearsing. If gyms are available any corps will make use of them. Always be in touch with administration-ask them how things seem to be going. If there are problems be that liason so that it can be rectified. Most corps need places and want to be accomodating as well.

I haven't brought my son to any drum corps shows yet, only a practice, and he's 27 months old. Reason? I don't want to ruin the experience for someone else. See I try to be considerate. this is probably the most unselfish thing I have seen. Good for you. We all need to make sacrafices when we decide to have kids, (even if it means not going to a drum corps show) sometimes we just have to suck it up that we do not get to do everything that we want to do. Thank you for your thoughtfulness

all groups did great. Winning is not all about the medals, but the feeling the performers get when being on the field. They can not control the opinions of a group of people in green shirts. They need to come away knowing they did the best they could and that is all that matters. Congratulations to all groups

Does anyone have any reviews of the open class from champs week. Just would like to see what other people thought of the open class

This is probably my first review. It will be short and I apologize if it seems a little guard heavy, my background is with guard Jersey Surf Nice way to start the night. Big corps, big guard, nice rich sound. Lots going on in terms fo depth and content. Should do well next week. Crossmen Have seen them early in the season and they made some nice changes. Love the epalets and gauntlents that form the "X" when playing and in a carry. Need to stop making changes now and get things cleaned up Glassmen Fun Show, very easy to follow. My only gripe and this will be me on my soap box, is that I have a problem with letting the balloons go during the show. In this day and age when we are environmentally conscious, the danger the balloons pose to marine life is a serious issue. Just my 2 cents. Really like the show the Blue Knights This is a group I could never really get into, but tonight they caught my eye. many horn lines do body moves, but this horn line dances. The barrel turn the horns did in the beginning was cool. 2-3 years ago when they did the painted flags i thought it was cool. Now it seems to be a little distracting. some of the flags have brighter colors and catch your eye and then you miss something. The solid colored painted flags where really cool Crown Just love this show. Easy to watch and SO well done. Probably the best guard of the night, things were clean and appeared effortless. Very fun to watch. What a sound from the horn line and also some great dancing from the horn lines Blue Devils. Again, have not been a huge fan in the past due to all the jazz. This show however is fun to watch. I have heard great things about the guard, but i thought they were a little dirty-especially with the yellow flags. things just seemed fuzzy. Loved the battery feature with the body work, so hard, but so well done. I see why they are winning, but I think they can be caught. also agree with another poster about the running to cover transistions. also they draw your eye away from some dirty things by having you look else where. It is distracting, but it seems to work Cadets. Saw them early in the season. I do not find the narration as distracting. they are placing it much better-during transistions so you can focus on the corps while they are playing. They made a lot of positive changes to it, but with the new beginning beinb about family, why not take that through to the work/family section. say something like why I loved my job and making money, i loved even more making time for my daughters and getting to the recitals..... It was a great night of Drum corps and look forward to next week

Surf is in West Chester PA tonight, Allentown on Friday night and then on to Dayton on the 3rd

good show tonight. Can not wait to see the recap. lot of guards battled a strong wind 2 points seemed a little tight. Citations have a nice show and are very clean, but not much difficulty. Surf show may not have been as clean, but WOW what a package. they should do very well once they get in the mometum of being on tour again.

Can't wait. heading to Michigan City first, then to bloomington. found a hotel (Towne Place Inn and Suites) 8 minutes from the univeristy Try a travel agent, they may have blocks of rooms that DCI does not. We got ours last week that way GO SURF!

Thanks for the review. Great to hear that the East Coast is being well represented. SURF'S UP!

go get em Jersey Surf. Can't wait to see you in Bakersfield