I have not seen drum corps in years. Watched some DCI TV from Minnesota last weekend. Regarding Phantom Regiment; I truly enjoyed their program. I congratulate them for their non-fragmented delivery of musical phrases. They completed many musical sentences, and in some instances, completed entire musical paragraphs! They must have a unique set of brass instruments? On my computer, they were a completely intonated family. Wow! Soloists, as well as the ensemble were totally pitch centered, even centered with the pit instruments. Again, Wow!
Bravo Brett K! The percussion scoring was outstanding, and very tastefully complimented the brass program. Their battery sounded great on TV, clearly a different tuning range than all other groups I heard. Bravo! The snares were much wetter than others, and actually had a "bit" of width to the signal. They may not tape the snares to the bottom head. What rebels!! Their tenors were clear, and much warmer than others. I so appreciate any deviation from the norm, especially if it best suits your musical program.
Granted Phantom, does not perform the COMPULSORY, fabricated brass runs and numerous syncopated angry endings with gong and concert bass drum strikes, they do deliver a very entertaining and musically worthwhile program. Congrats to their staff and kids for surviving the season with So Few Notes!