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I had a bunch of these from a few years ago. I don't know where they originally came from and some are probably repeats of what's already been posted, but here goes: "Take a lap....now take another lap for wasting our time by taking a lap." "It's not raining....I'll tell you when it's raining" "See that tree waaaay over there....run and get me a leaf from it." upon returning from the loooong run "Wrong tree...try again" "That was the FIRST last time. This is the NEXT last time". "The world is full of air...USE SOME!!!" "run and bring me some magic dirt from that dirt pile way over there," "theres a leaf on one of those trees with the word concentration on it. Go get it" "If you do that again I'll hang you by your eyelids and kick you in the nuts till you blink!" BASS LINE!!!!!! YOU SOUND LIKE A BUNCH OF POTATOES FALLING DOWN STAIRS!!!!! "There are a 1000 excuses for losing, but not one reason" "Don't look at the ground. We aren't in California, there aren't any cracks in the ground here." "If you're going to suck, suck all the time so we can at least fix it!" "Would you like an invitation to join the form?" "Are you happy with that sound?" "Pitch is a place, not an area."

I find a good solution to writers block (at least for when you get stuck on one page) is to watch everything leading up to that page in fast forward with the music in your head. Usually the lead-in flow combined with the musical passage renders a clear image of where the drill should go for me. I reckon this is a little easier with pyware than visualizing it all in your head in fast-mo, but that works too. Then again I don't write dozens of shows every year so who knows. Just my 2 cents.

This topic reminds me of the true beauty of being a die-hard Cadets fan. I can appreciate other shows and usually even recognize when other corps should win but in years such as this when there is so much criticism of the Cadets show I can sit back, relax and still love em' to death. Ahhh, sweet comfort. Enjoy your rants.

Nice review...and probably the first on here this year that I agree with 100%. Thanks.

Seems like I remember hearing Cadets had a rather young corps this year as well; battery included. On top of that, although I'm no percussion expert by any means, I am sure their battery book is hard as ####.

I just found another topic with this discussion (about the battery tear in WV). Sorry for the pre-mature post. Here's the thread: http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums//ind...showtopic=81249

When I saw them last week the vocal in the ballad was quiet enough that it just sounded like another (albeit ethereal) instrument; almost like a harp or something. I assume this is the effect they were going for and I thought it worked well. There were a couple of times where I could barely hear the vocals and they came across almost like overtones. Very nice.

Below is an excerpt from George Hopkins' blog posted this afternoon (Thursday 29th). I haven't noticed any references to this yet on the forum. Did anyone that was at the show pick up on this? Sounds huge... On Wednesday night in Huntington, WV a bizarre series of events caused the percussion section to “come apart at the seams” for more than 30 seconds during the percussion break. The “breakdown”, according to George Hopkins, “was the worst I have ever witnessed on a drum corps field. At one point, I thought I would have to re-start the corps”. So what happened … After the tom feature there is a 4 count hold for applause, after which the red queen says “do they always have to do that”. The vocal is on count 5. On Tuesday, Marc Sylvester changed it to count 7 and never told anyone. Now, at the Tuesday night show, with Hopkins at the audio panel, the entrance for the red queen was missed … it never happened. At rehearsal, when the corps works in ensemble, we always stop following the top feature. So … no one knew of the change. Until …. The show in Huntington. With the voice two counts late, and coming in on count seven, the snares, who face backfield, were not sure of the counting. They were expecting to enter on 1, not 3? Meanwhile the keys followed the major and came in on one. The first snare was two counts late with the voice, the second snare tried to rebound, the third followed the first, the fourth did not play etc … Unfortunately, this is a 100 count phrase so for 100 counts, it was nothing but a jumble. It was impossible to make sense at all of anything being played.

I realize the odds that someone has seen all are slim, but one can always hope...

Are there any jet set corps fans that have seen all of these shows in person that can provide some sort of review?

I didn't say it was easy, compared to other corps, it was challenging, but as far as top Div I top 3 corps books go, I would not consider the level of difficulty of the PR hornbook very high. Just my opinion. Maybe I'll feel differently after I see/hear the show some more. I'll remain open minded :)

I also saw them first at Powder Springs last year and agree with SeanOwenSullivan that they are better in all aspects. Most notably they are cleaner (I remember several blown releases last year as well as a couple of near collisions). They play very well in tune and the technical passages are amazingly clean for this early in the season. It'll be nice when they can open up a little more. As far as design, this year's show makes more sense earlier in the season than last year's. I was never too distracted from the overall show by any individual element and some of those elements added to the show. After they work out some design, focus and integration issues they'll have a nice product.

I haven't liked Boston the last couple of years but I have high(er) hopes for them this year. If they can work out a few design issues, clean the drill and open up their hornline I think they can get back into the middle of the finals pack. I really enjoyed the show and thought it flowed well. It's one of those shows (reminds me of Glassmen from late 90s, early 2000s) that comes off clean but doesn't have a discernable melody or peak moment.

I agree, while the Cadets have some focus and clarity issues to work out from a design standpoint their show made more sense to me than Magic and Southwind. Boston's was somewhere in between. It didn't make sense on a conscience level but some part of me "got" it.

Thanks for the in-depth review. I've posted my own that expresses most of my opinions but since this one is more in-depth and more people seem to be reading this thread I thought I'd toss in one last thought concerning last night's show that I just remembered. Aside from all my other comments on Phantom (no nuance, too tight drill, etc.) I realized that all the things I did't like about Phantom's show aggregate into one main concept: I've seen this show at least 15 times before. Not literally, but I don't know how many DC shows I've seen over the years that involved tight drill, so-so integrated guard, and a loud as #### hornline throughout the whole show. I enjoyed getting my ears rung as much as the next guy but I'm getting old enough that when I go to a show I want to see something that I haven't seen before. and the Cadets can fairly regularly deliver that. Just a final thought...