Widge

I , likewise attended family day yesterday. The G-men are indeed heading in a different direction from the past, and the look is great. I was a bet apprehensive with the electronics , but they do work very well with this show. The show design itself will impress many fans, and is indeed a different direction from the recent past. I like it a lot , as will many. The horn line is definetly ahead of this time a year ago. The pit shows great improvement. the guard is as good as ever and really ties the show together. Easy prediction. ..Absolutely better than an 11th place showing this season.

Talked to daughter yesterday. (3rd year vet) she is very impressed with the show and the group this year. They have many more vets returning , and they seem to work well with the staff. Going to family day this Sunday, and looking forward to seeing for myself. Will give a full report.

Here's my list. It is hard to come up with the order. I guess I go a bit farther back with a few of my preferences, as I have been attending shows since the 70"s I also surprised myself with some of my picks, particularly #1, I got on fan network and watched many of them just to justify them to myself. 1. 2008 Phantom Regiment. 2. 1975 Madison Scouts (I’m surprised that this has not even been mentioned ) 3. 1991 Star of Indiana 4. 2006 Cavaliers 5. 1994 Blue Devils 6. 1987 Cadets 7. 2007 Carolina Crown 8. 1980 Bridgemen (I’m likewise surprised that this has only been mentioned once.) 9. 1988 Vanguard 10. 1980 27th Lancers

Bridgemen..........VW Thing Very hard to describe to someone who has never seen one!!!

Already have tickets to the following... Toledo , Orlando , Ft walton beach ,Ocean Springs, Toledo again., Quarters, Semis, and Finals. ....Hoping to squeeze in a couple more if I can get the time off.

OK..me too. This early the only educated guess would be to place in groups, as many have. here's mine. 1-4 (you pick the order) Cadets, BD, Phatom, Crown. 5 - 7 (same rule) Cavies, SCV, Bluecoats, 8-12 Glassmen, BlueStars, Boston , Blue Knights, Crossmen. I don't see any of the 8-12 group finishing higher, Madison, could make finals,( or Spirit, if they can get the rest of the group to match the quality of the percussion. )

I see them realistically jumping up one or two places. I see this show scoring in the low 90's by finals time, and that , in recent years , gets you in the 7th - 10th range.

I've seen a couple of rehearsals at camp. And from all indications I will second the motion that you will be very wrong.

G-men have the most returning vets this year than in a very long time.

Many posters seem to be making this far too complicated. As to whether crowd pleasing shows are the way to go , I agree with Rick Valenzuela's philosophy. At a show there are a dozen judges, and a few thousand fans. If you can leave the field with the few thousand on their feet cheering...then you are probably doing something right. This seems to be working for Phantom, and Crown. Blue Stars, Bluecoats and g-men also had crowd pleasing shows that scored well in '08 . I for one hope that the trend continues.

The "haunted" legend of g-west stems from when the facility at one time was used as a hounted house at halloween for a fundraiser. Some of the props for that are still there in storage. As for the 2009 show...I have seen a couple of rehearsals. and it looks to be a well written, very entertaining show, with a very talented group to perform it !!

I was figureing Gmen for the Disney award for sure, especially after the award intro describing it as the "award given to the Corps that exemplifies family entertainment..., How can you go wrong with a little girl, a carnival, and lotsa balloons? Phantom wins the Disney award.... I guess nothing quite spells family entertainment quite like four murders!!! BTW Spartacus is now my all time favorite show....but Family entertainment?????

I was a DCI groupie the last week of the season, and attended Buffalo, Toledo and all three shows in Bloomington. The placings for the 3 corps in question were exactly right in my opinion. While the Colts really kicked it up a notch at quarterfinals, and were a great corps to watch, they suffered from lack of difficulty in drill and book compared to the Xmen and Scouts. I get the feeling that this is a corps with a lot of talent and are capable of doing more that they were given to do in their show this year.

Another G-men vote here. They are really Peaking now, and one of the most improved corps is now THE most improved. This is no fluke folks, they reallly are that much better than they were at Atlanta.

Glassmen have gotten it together. Their score is no fluke. They are now executing the ending, and an already good show is now cleaner by a mile.

Glassmen scores up are no accident. They have reworked the ending, which is very demanding, and now can execute, the scores are showing that the work is paying off.

Spoke to my daughter after the show last nite......She says the corps really has it together now, the ending change, now allows them to execute the music in that demanding closer. She says they are all really excited and growing more comfident each show. A good time to be peaking I'm guessing. Good to see this, I have liked the Glassmen show from the beginning, and it's great to see it all polished and shiny. We will attend the Toledo show, as well as all the Quarters, semi's and finals. Looking for a strong showing by the G-men.

Yes....Glassmen have now gotten it together. They have added some nice GE, and have changed the ending so that the drill is cleaner, and because of it the music is better executed. They are really cookin' tempo-wise at the end, and the drill does not get in the way of the execution. Scores are now reflecting the work. Also Kudo's to the Blue Stars. A remarkable comeback from last season, and their scores are well deserved.

Crown is definitely the winner here.......16 contras......with a great contra feature......I'm impressed!!!

Finally!!! Someone who agrees with me that ending a show with dialouge leaves the crowd sitting on their hands. I have seen this show twice. Once in its original form at Toledo, and again in a more revised form at Orlando. , and in both cases the audience reaction was the most reserved of any performance in the show.

Show themes, are they getting in the way of good shows design? YES!!!!

I Believe in Zambonis

I disagree with the subject line. Yes, the problem is the narration... You have a talented unit playing a great book , and it takes second seat to a narrated story that is just plain BAD!! The narration is poorly written , badly performed, and adds nothing to the show. It actually makes you squirm in your seat at times. Also,, am I the only one who is bothered, that even after all the changes in this show, The show still ends with narration, not music!! why guarantee that the crowd will be sitting on their hands when the show ends. No, the problem is not the bad PR.. it is the insipid narration.

So...when does what key you play in mean there is no difficulty?? As a teacher , I can teach nearly anyone to play the right notes. But to play them with that technique, tone quality , and power. while in tune. that's musicianship. To say that the 2008 crown show is keeping it simple, is absurd.