acolli17

Don't forget, this was the Color Guard uniform in 2013, and people on DCP were flipping out. And then, once we saw them in context, we all realized that they looked great.

That last line, "good guys wear white hats." Holy crap imexcited to see them this year.

Yeah, I'm really interested to see how much the music Smith writes fits the identity they've had all of these years. Very smart from the design staff to make their theme the most American aspect of this, so that it allows the music to be a little more varied. I'm really excited to hear what they'll do with the Coldplay music, for some reason I always pair Fix You with the Some Nights fanfare the Colts (or was it Crossmen?) did a few years ago. I think it's going to translate extremely well.

http://trib.com/news/local/casper/troopers-take-field-honoring-heroes/article_bc8a7a07-4672-58a7-b429-aea6c073576d.html Each movement will represent a different type of hero - Veterans, those living with HIV/AIDS, Firefighters and other first responders, and lastly those who have dealt with breast cancer. Music will include "Walking With Heroes," an original work by Robert W. Smith, and Coldplay's "Fix You."

Well, they just posted this to their facebook this morning, so hopefully they'll at least release some information about the show. I can't imagine they'll show us anything about the uniform, but here's hoping.

How about the new uniforms? I heard recently that they will be pretty drastically different, yet still keeping with the corps traditions (a la short-sleeved Madison Scouts). As an alum who welcomes change (though I may be in the minority), I'm curious what everyone else would think of a changing the uniform to something radically different by the Troopers' standards.

They had their February camp last weekend, correct? Has anyone heard any updates?

I mean, you could have just said that: "While your observation may be true, it isn't necessary" Saves some drama, and doesn't leave room for misinterpretation.

I found it on their Facebook page, I'm not sure why it isn't showing up for you.

25 Minutes ago on Phantom's Facebook page: "IT'S UNIFORM UNVEILING TIME! Oh wait. Friday has past on the East Coast. Here's 2 snippets to make up for that."

I just received the Band Shoppe's catalog, and they feature Boston's uniforms pretty prominently. From what I remember from last year, and trying to find pictures online, they seem to have made some minor adjustments - They took off the cross baldric, and just left the one, which I think makes the logo on the uniform pop much better. Did they also add a skirt thing to the leg? I don't know if that's new this year.

Some say he brings up the rear of one of DCI's finest. All we know is... he's called THE STIG

I know it's not smart to cross compare shows, especially when only a few corps have performed tonight, so this is anecdotal at best, but I just wanted to point out that Troop-A-Loop is currently sitting in 10th. The Troopers are coming.

Just for comparison, (because I can't sleep, and have nothing else to do) the corps' respective scores this time last year: Phantom Regiment: 74.9 Madison Scouts: 73.0 Boston Crusaders: 68.8 Troopers: 64.8 Colts: 65.75 Pioneer: 52.5 Not that there's that much value in it, I just found it interesting.

Let me preface this by saying I am not, nor have I ever pretended to be, an expert. I'm a music education grad who marched two years, but I don't know much about designing and creating a drum corps show. I just wanted to share my thoughts. Please don't hate me. I just watched what they have so far, and... I dunno... Musically, it's clean, it's just busy. There's so much going on, with so many melodies overlapping, I just got overwhelmed by trying to catch all of it. Many times, I caught myself focusing more on where I heard the last melody, and less on the actual show. I guess that's kind of how I feel about the show in general. I've never been opposed to narration, 2005 and 2007 were some of my favorite shows, and I think they were as effective than as Crown was last year. I loved the sound clips from WSS in 2009, and I LOVED the Christmas clips in 2012 (that was my favorite show that year). But I think narration is dangerous, as it can be as much of a hindrance as an enhancer. I found myself while listening, so many times, trying to jump back and forth between the narration and the music, I felt like I didn't really catch either. The narration reminded me a lot of 2008. Actually the whole show reminded me a lot of 2008. I mean the last movement, you have Copland's Our Town, Appalachian Spring, and I'm pretty sure I heard at least two other things. It's honestly genius that they're able to combine that many elements and keep it from sounding like a mess. But it's just information overload. And then they hit the ending, with just a clear presentation of Appalachian Spring, and IT'S AMAZING!! I absolutely love the ending, I just wish more parts of it were as straightforward as that. I thought the stage at the front was incredibly distracting. When the marching member is up there mimicking the narration, I thought it was pretty cheesy. It again reminded me of 2008, with the kids sitting on the stage in the middle, they were just kind of a distraction, in my opinion. Please don't hate me, and please don't think I dislike the Cadets. I was supposed to have marched with them, I just had an injury that withheld me from it. I have loved their shows recently, and stood up for them and their design when those around me criticized it. They sound and look amazing, but I feel like the design takes away from the credit they should be getting for the product they're putting out.

It was a bad example, I'll admit, but I remember watching the Oscars when they were showing the nominees' designs, and I remember thinking the phantom outfits looked hideous. I wish I could find the photo, it would have made my point a lot better, so I'm sorry for that.

2006 Cadets. While obviously weird, and it didn't do well competitively, I think it would better fit with the themes that we're seeing out of Crown and BD these days. I think it was just a show ahead of it's time. Also I think getting the chance to re-do it would do well with where the Cadets have gone recently.

2014 Predictions Wishlist: 1. Phantom - Despite doing similar show year after year, they will really hit home with Swan Lake, and Tchaikovsky is right up their alley. Plus their use of drones to adjust drill will drastically help their visual. 2. Crown - Their brass will carry them through again, but drums will hold them back from a repeat. 3. Blue Devils - Their show will be accessible to audiences, but will lack the necessary tools to help them win, similar to 2011. A surprise crowd favorite, however. 4. Santa Clara - Pulling in Scheherezade will help them do well this year. It fits them, and they will run with it. 5. Cadets - If you've seen their prop at the front of the field, this will hurt them a lot. Great percussion will keep them from falling further. 6. Bluecoats - Their show will be complex, and difficult to understand. While the overall concept will be a little blurred, they will play really well, and still compete with Cadets throughout the season, even beating Santa Clara once or twice. Ultimately, their theme will hold them back. 7. Boston Crusaders - A new take on an old story, and Boston will do it well. 8. Madison Scouts - Their drum book will be ridiculous, and Stan Kenton and Don Ellis fits well with them. 9. Cavaliers - They and Madison will be duking it out all season for these two spots. 1-7 will be a point or two above them, and 10-12 will be a point or two below them. 10. Blue Stars - I really dig their choice of music, and I'm excited to see how they fit that all in to their theme. 11. Troopers - Obviously this is biased, but I really trust the hall of fame staff and design team they have, and I really think they're going in the right direction with the group. 12. Spirit of Atlanta - I'm really excited about their "southern jazz" vibe, and I think they're going to have an entertaining show. 13. Blue Knights - I think their uniforms are going to do more harm than good. The white bottoms are going to dirty up a lot of the visual, and they will have to put more focus on that, losing other areas in the process. 14. Academy 15. Crossmen 16. Colts 17. Pacific Crest 18. Oregon Crusaders 19. Jersey Surf 20. Mandarins 21. Cascades 22. Pioneer I only included World Class corps, as I only wanted to include groups I've read about. I can see some of the top open class corps beating some of the bottom 3, but I don't really have any idea. As such, I know very little about the groups I didn't write anything for other than placement.

In regards to the negativity surrounding Phantom, I prefer to keep in mind that the show does not depend on solely the uniform, but rather what a group does with it. Last year I remember talking a lot about the Troopers guard uniforms, and how a lot of people were saying they were overdone, and ridiculous. When in context, however, they were very fitting and were a nice contribution to the show. Do I like the dangle drop feather thingies? No. Am I waiting until I see them to place final opinion? Absolutely. It matters to me less how they look, and more what they do with it. For all we know, they are utilizing them in an incredibly unique way that we'll all love come August. Everything has to be in context for me. For example, do you remember the Phantom of the Opera movie that came out around 2004? The costuming was up for an oscar, and out of context it looks overdone: But put that costume in context, and it looks great: I purposely picked a context picture that was farther away, because I feel like that's roughly the viewpoint you have when watching a show. The overdone shoulder drop won't look as ridiculous from far away. Conclusion: I refuse to hate until I see it in context, and what they do with it.

I was more referring to the narration within the actual piece, "Lincoln Portrait." To my knowledge, Day-Lewis has never narrated a performance of it, but I honestly don't think it would come across well, simply because the piece isn't in the first person from Lincoln's perspective. Just in case anyone hasn't heard the narration section, here (I tried to cue it correctly, but am failing. The narration starts at 8 minutes):https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3sv4Xzyn0wk#t=480

Troopers music includes "The People's House," (By John Williams??), Clifton Williams' "The Ramparts," Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," "American Symphonic Overture," by Tchaikovsky(?), and "America the Beautiful" by Samuel A. Ward. I found it embarrassingly difficult to find composers, so excuse my mistakes if I'm wrong.

So does this mean they'll be using James Earl Jones' narration, or did the Casper Tribune just use that performance to garner interest in the show? I feel like if Troop uses Jones' recording, it might be a bit gimmicky.

http://trib.com/news/local/casper/troopers-drum-bugle-corps-sets-show-to-lincoln-civil-war/article_8d5341c8-daf8-5b88-9371-ea4dba0ef7c7.html "The music for "A People's House" includes a brief, haunting solo from "The People's House"; "The Ramparts," which was written for the Air Force Academy Band; Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," which includes narration from James Earl Jones; "American Symphonic Overture," a medley of Civil War tunes with a main thread of "Shenandoah"; and "America the Beautiful."

FWIW, I thought Cadets' show this year was as 'drum corps' as it gets. Yeah, they had props, but that's not really new. Pure music, and they did it very well (obviously).

Did anyone else who saw the quarterfinals cinecast notice him give a slight wink to someone in the audience?