84chief

Why do I have this feeling that the Big, Loud & Live cameras will miss this?

Did it happen on the podium? Believe it or not, I was there last night, but I wasn't looking at the DM at that point in the show, so I missed it

2003

I am looking for one ticket to tonite's show in Westminster, as high up and toward the center as possible. I can meet you at the show. Please PM me if you can help. Thanks!

What parking lot? Street parking only, AFAIK. Also, that bar across the street? A little on the dingy side, if you ask me. Crowd looked a little scary when I popped my head in the door (and quickly popped it right back out) a couple of years ago. I would like to check out the new Allentown Brew Works, but it sounds like the Cadets alumni party will be taking over the place on Saturday. Not a reason to avoid the place, but since it will be very busy, I'm thinking it might negatively affect service. I was also told that Werts Cafe on 18th Street is not bad, although I've never been there myself. Anyway, I'll be rolling into town about 4PM tomorrow so, after the obligatory stop at Josh Early Candies, I'll end up somewhere with an adult beverage!

Last night at Warrenton, they were announced two different ways. Before the show began, when they were running down the list of corps which would be performing, the announcer (announcette, actually) did say "from Allentown, Pennsylvania" when she announced The Cadets. When they were ready to go on, they were announced as "sponsored by Youth Education in the Arts". She did not say "Allentown, Pennsylvania".

Don't forget, The Commandant's Own - The USMC Drum & Bugle Corps will also be performing in exhibition. Semper Fi!

I just ordered a premium ticket for the DCI Eastern Classic in Allentown...but I ordered it for the Friday show, when I thought I was ordering for Saturday. Only one problem... I CAN'T GO TO THE FRIDAY SHOW! I am going to try to cancel this order when the DCI offices open again next week, but I am not optimistic (all sales are final, dontcha know). So, assuming I end up getting stuck with this ticket, does anyone want to buy it from me for face value? It cost me $33.50. This is one Premium seat in section G, row 21, seat 19. Please PM me if interested. Thanks!

Just noticed that the DCI broadcast on ESPN2 is immediately preceded by game 1 of the WNBA finals. So, my guess is that a 10PM on-the-dot start time for the program is highly unlikely, even if the WNBA game does not go into overtime. Just thought I would mention this so folks can keep it in mind when planning their viewing schedules or setting Tivos, DVRs and or VCRs.

Turns out my gut feeling was right. So it wasn't just the chicken wings I was feeling, after all.

Crown's guard singed my eyebrows. In other words, they were ON FIYA!!!

Big move for SCV tonite - gut feeling...

Agreed - thought it was just me. This is my first Webcast - is it always this blurry?

Never mind.. found it (told you I was stupid...)

OK, maybe I'm stupid, but I just signed up for the Web cast on PPV, and I can't see the link to the actual Web cast anywhere on dci.org. I assume it will appear somewhere at 6:45, but right now, all I can find are the links to the schedule, to sign up (which I've already done), and to the Gary Gilroy Web site. Sorry, it's my first time, but I'm getting a little nervous... Help?

:spit:

SCV 2005 fits into both categories, IMO. I think it would fit right into the early to mid 80's era as a stand alone feature, but it works great integrated into the '05 show, as well.

I WOULD have been at the Ballston Regal Cinema in Arlington, VA; however, I will instead be at RFK Stadium in DC watching the DC United vs. LA Galaxy soccer game (AKA the "Beckham" game). I bought my ticket a few weeks ago, before I realized the conflict with the quarterfinals broadcast. The soccer game is now sold out and tickets are selling for a pretty penny on Craigslist, so I might just sell mine and end up at the theater anyway. Guess I got some deciderin' to do...

"When a Man Loves a Woman" - BD 92

As a cure for this syndrome, I would prescribe listening to Santa Clara's 2005 show and pretending you never saw them. Not that there's anything wrong with their visual presentation, it's just that I find that this is a good example of a recent show in which the music stands extremely well on it's own, in an old-school kind of way.

Make it 5. I will also throw in BD 88 - AKA The Black & Gray Devils.

My first review (EVER), so bear with me... The Rush Hour Drive Down from Rockville, MD: We won't get into that... <**> The Weather: H-O-T. B) At least it wasn't rained out (it's happened here before) The Venue: I've been to the Warrenton show each year since the first one about four or five years ago. By my recollection, this show is usually later in the season. That, plus the lower than usual turnout gave it a "weird" feeling for me. I attribute the low turnout in part to the BD/Cadets head-to-head match up in Hershey happening on the same night; I can see how some folks who live closer to Hershey or equidistant between the two would choose Hershey over Warrenton this year. Plus, it was the night after Allentown, which isn't usually the case. There was a pretty good size block of empty seats right smack in the middle of the stadium on the 50. My assumption is that maybe a large group who were coming together couldn't make it, for some reason (bus breakdown, traffic, whatever...). On the upside, it sure made for easy in and out, parking, and short lines at the concessions/rest rooms. For some reason, the only souvie stands which were set up were Blue Stars, SCV, Colts, and Spirit (and the Marines). Cascades and Teal Sound souvies were MIA . PA system could have been a bit louder. The Show: USMC D&BC: I saw them at Annapolis three weeks ago, and they have tightened up since then. Not sure when their "season" begins and ends (or if they have a "season" for that matter), but it seemed similar to the improvement seen in the DCI corps over the first few weeks of the season. I liked the second part of their show here better than at Annapolis; they did a James Bond medley, and a VERY nice arrangement of "Beautiful" for the ballad. They were, of course, very well received by the crowd. Teal Sound: I like their unis! Nice teal colored accents to the black which seems to predominate among corps of all shapes and sizes these days. Of the D II corps I have seen this season, my rankings would be 1) Jersey Surf 2) Spartans 3) Teal Sound. I thought the best part of the show was the opener. Molto brava to the guard girl who takes longer than everyone else to "wake up"; I was impressed with her ability to "sell" her part of the show, as well as her athleticism. She is obviously very talented. Pioneer: Being a sucker for a hummable melody, I've always liked Pioneer's shows, and I was looking forward to the step up in performance level over the last few years which I had heard I should expect.; however, I'm not sure that's what we got. The Irish-flavored theme makes for accessible music, but with the competition the way it is these days, you'd better play it perfectly if you're going to succeed with a show like this. I found myself daydreaming about how Pioneer's musical book would sound being played by someone like Cavvies... Memo to Pioneer: Whatever you do, do not, repeat, DO NOT ever get rid of the logo printed on your bass drum heads. IMO, that is one of those special little things that makes drum corps what it is. Cascades: My overall impression was: Blue Knights Lite. Their music has the "dark" feeling which BK has done so well with recently. After 2002, I really though Cascades would be the Next Big Thing in DCI (you know, that thing that Carolina Crown ended up being instead); I know they had some organizational turmoil since then, but I always root for them to get back to that stage and continue their development. Cascades win my prize for drum major with the coolest name (Ricca?) :) INTERMISSION: about 45 minutes long (!) Spent a lot of time watching old Blue Stars videos at their souvie stand. All I have to say is... BRING BACK COLOR GUARDS WEARING HOT PANTS!! ^0^ The Mountain Dew I got at the concession stand was ice cold. Perfect... Blue Stars: My sentimental favorite. The new unis are used with great effect, but it makes for some very dangerous visual exposure. You can really tell if everyone is not precisely together in their moves. If this issue can be resolved by finals, visual scores should benefit immensely. Musically, I am a huge fan of their entire book. I've seen Phantom twice this season, and I was a little apprehensive about hearing a not-as-good-as-PR version of Firebird. Blue Stars' arrangement is different enough and so listeneable, that I found myself enjoying the heck out of it, and NOT comparing it to PR's as I feared I might. Colts: Another corps which I've always liked, and had heard was better this year than last. Their musical selections were a bit of a disappointment. As much as I enjoy them on the face of it, I kept thinking of the other corps which I have heard play some of these selections over the years. The new unis are nice, but I am a big fan of white pants, so I would be happy to see the Colts go back to their previous white-panted unis. The overall on-field look of the black and red colts reminds me a little bit of the Boston Crusaders. Spirit: This is the third time I have seen them. I am a fan of their percussion writing, especially the bass drum line - very tasteful. The part of the show where the corps gathers in the right end zone while singing reminded me of the similar move which Madison did last season; I liked it, especially the quick sequential 'bout-face move out of that form (which the crowd really dug). Someone sitting behind me commented that they should not be missing music hits this late in the season. I thought to myself, isn't it still early in the season? This wacky west coast-oriented schedule has us all discombobulated, I guess... Santa Clara Vanguard: After having seen them in Allentown on Saturday, I decided to try to keep my eyes on the cymbal line as much as possible. Boy, was it worth it. The move at the beginning of the show where one of them swings his cymbal at the feet of the other as he jumps over it has been changed. It is now a "decapitation" move where the cymbal is swung full speed at the other's head, and he leans back limbo-style out of the way at the last minute - AWESOME!! Can't wait to see what they do with this move by finals! SCV cymbal line is unequivocally one of my all-time favorite things in DCI. As for the rest of their percussion section, I'll say that Jim Casella's lines were some of my very favorites, but I absolutely ate up SCV's 2005 drum book, after Jim had left. The current drum staff seems to have maintained that trademark low-tuned multi-tenor sound which I think has become the definitive SCV drum sound. The level of difficulty and the level of performance are awe-inspiring. I was a member of a chorus which participated in a performance of Ravel's Daphnis & Chloe last fall, so the music was more familiar to me than some other folks. This added to my enjoyment of their show, as I pretty much knew what to expect musically. They seemed to be a little more together visually than they were at Allentown just two days before. I did not see any drops at all in their guard. The Finale: Colts & SCV horn lines (and the drum majors of all the corps) were played onto the field by SCV's bass drum line (love that bass drum cadence). Scores announced, then the Colts' DM led the combined horns in America the Beautiful. Better than "Anthem of Champions" or whatever that thing they played the last couple of seasons was called, but bring back the old arrangement of America/O Canada, says I. Encore: SCV formed up and played the opener from this year's show (complete with the cymbal visual again!), then Music of the Night (which literally bought a tear to my eye, as I never got the chance to see or hear either of their "Phantom" shows live), then, of course, Send in the Clowns. The Drive Home: About 50 minutes to my home in McLean, VA; no traffic whatsoever. Then: OK, I know I used a lot of words to say not so much, but I wasn't planning on writing a review, so I didn't take any notes at the show. Sorry if I left anything out. Feel free to correct anything which my faulty memory got wrong. Whew! I feel like I just finished a term paper (and, trust me, I had COMPLETELY forgotten what that feels like)

I can confirm that there will be tickets available at the gate, as I will be selling two myself! They are in section F, and they are priced at face value ($25.00 each). Look for the guy wearing the blue Troopers t-shirt and the navy blue Washington Nationals baseball cap (with the curly "W" on the front).

Hello: I have two tickets for sale for the Saturday show. They are in section F, and I am selling them for face value ($25.00 each). Please PM me and we can arrange to meet up.