r_karlsson

South Shore Cinema in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, a southern suburb of Milwaukee. Great time! The sound was decently loud and they dimmed the lights right away (which doesn't normally happen until a few corps in). However, like a few people before me expressed, the stream cut out just before scores! Maybe half the audience had left by that point anyway, but the rest of us were disappointed, of course. A man sitting in front of me was looking at his phone and shouted out, "I have scores!" And he read them all out to everyone, which was super cool. Attendance at my theater was very good, but the crowd seemed a bit subdued to me compared to recent years. I really enjoy it when the crowd is more lively and eager to applaud. It was like crickets through Colts and Academy, but after Spirit I made the move to applaud, and people followed suit (I just love Spirit this year!). I think everyone got applause at the end after that point, with only a few corps getting some spontaneous short bursts of applause at other points. But it definitely was more of a polite applause and not the excited applause I've seen in years past. Not sure what's up with that. This has probably been the most exciting year of DCI in a really long time, imho, so I don't know why the crowd was kind of zombied out tonight. One thing worth noting is that here in the Milwaukee area, the Cadets usually get a very cool reception (as does BD), but tonight the Cadets probably got one of the strongest crowd responses. I've always been a HUGE Cadets fan and have always felt out of place in the theaters here since fandom seems somewhat regional in the midwest. But tonight, the fans were on board with the Cadets. And guess what? They also seemed to really enjoy BD for perhaps the first time ever. Overall a wonderful evening of drum corps! But come on, let's get a little more crowd enthusiasm next year, Oak Creek, WI! As a side note, I loved the bit about the woman music teacher in the Bronx (who marched BAC) who won the Grammy. The crowd definitely LOVED hearing her story, the love she has for her students, and her desire to spread the life skills she learned from drum corps to very low-income kids who perhaps normally wouldn't get to experience such a dedicated teacher like her. It really pulled at the heartstrings. If she ever someday wants to come to Milwaukee, we could certainly put her awesomeness to great use here in our inner city schools! <3

This is actually my very first time seeing Southwind since their days in World Class (or I guess, what was then "Division I"). I was so sad to see them fold! I was very impressed by them tonight and hope big things are in store for their future. Great job, Southwind!!

Phantom Regiment is kind of painful for me this year. I'm not sure if I'm alone on this. Their guard bleeds into the field, which is so strange to me, because PR were kind of the pioneers when it comes to costume changes and all (think "Rhapsody" in 2005). This year's show falls so very flat to me. But I do really enjoy the ballad. It just feels very mediocre to me overall, which makes me sad. I'm sure they will have a great comeback next year, but this year is kind of really depressing to me. I don't understand their "monkey bars" at all. The show just doesn't live up to the BEAUTY that we all think of when thinking of the Regiment. Very flat for me.

I agree, Mandarins guard is SUPER STRONG. It makes a HUGE difference! I am still in total awe after watching them. Absolutely incredible. I can remember when they were at the bottom and their biggest competition was Pioneer. Zero offence meant to Pioneer, of course. I love Pio! But I'm so happy to see the Mandarins rise to finals, and my hope is that Pioneer will someday take that leap as well! What a crazy amazing year for drum corps! I'm loving every moment of it!

Here we go, Mandarins!!!! I'm SO excited for them this year! One of my favorites for sure!

I am seriously LOVING Spirit this year! Absolutely amazing in every respect. My only wish is that the guard could stand out more with their costumes. But other than that, AWESOME!!!

Funny, because Chrome caused a million issues for me on my streaming device (Media Cube), and once I installed Firefox, PERFECT stream ever since! I'm pretty darn happy with Flo this year, and the only issues I've had were on MY end, not theirs. It's unfortunate because I think so many of the people experiencing issues are having something weird on their own end, and it's so frustrating to try and figure out how to fix it.

I feel bad saying this, but Academy's shows have never connected with me. I mean zero disrespect to the performers out there doing an amazing job. I see how great they are, yet I just never feel like I can connect to their productions. Is it just me? I kind of hope so. Because I know they are freaking good. But I just never feel satisfied after watching them. Probably my own issue, and really I hope it is my own problem. They really are great out there. I just don't ever "get" it. I'm trying to give them a real chance in my own mind this year, but I'm not really feeling it yet.

I know so many are disliking Madison this year, and I sort of get it because I know it's not typical "Madison," but I really love it. Not my favorite Madison show by any means, but I still find it very enjoyable and a thrill to watch every time. And I actually really love the uniforms - very fitting for the theme! And their female "soul" soloist is GREAT! I'm really loving it!