Phlickster

Nice job on the review. we are in agreement on much. It's great to have this local show in such a great venue with easy access and ample parking.

Wow Step away to deal with the real world for a few months and look what happens

I'm not going to read through 260+ pages of comments.... I'll just add my $0.02 based on the Houston show. This is a horrible idea that needs to be canned after this season. Bravo to the Corps who have not climbed onto the synthesizer band wagon.

Love the "Texas Two Step" (Dallas/Houston) format. Love having the shows at the Berry Center in Houston. Easy access, lots of parking, great venue! I'll make like I'm from Chicago and vote multiple times Keep it Keep it Keep it

I recall feeding Regiment in the Dome parking lot during my time with their food crew. Usually, it was after the show but before hitting the road to the next show, but I seem to remember doing dinner in the lot one year. Maybe Aramark's rule only pertains to running a concession stand

Doing the Happy Dance Congrats Regiment!! Wish I had been able to have been there At Least I was able to enjoy your performance on screen during the QF's

Indiana Memorial Stadium Repairs At least they haven't forgotten about finals

If it's supposed to be Cuba, someone modified what would be the entire eastern end. What about taking the opposite approach and instead of viewing the silhouette as a land mass view as a lake.

I was there as well. Great evening for Drum Corps! Everyone around me was amazed that this is a high school facility (it would put many university football stadiums to shame). The facility was built by the Cy-Fair School District and will be shared by multiple high schools. It would suit me just fine if the show was moved to this facility from Rice (I'll admit this is a selfish desire on my part due to it being only a few minutes from my home) for the future. I really thought Pioneer had a shot at Magic last night. They continue to close the gap and their show has the potential. Too bad the don't have a few more members to fill it our a little more. I also had Crown over SCV, but knew it would be close. Another great show from the Cavies with a theme that the crowd buys into from start to finish. Well Done.

WooHoo!!! *Doing the Happy Dance* Go Phantom!

Is the "America / O Canada" 911 Tribute from Buffalo DCI Finals available anywhere?

Oops, sorry. I thought this was recent news. I did a search but only looked back a couple of weeks

Saw a news clip on ESPN that the Colts had signed a new deal including a new retractable roof stadium to be complete in 2008. Is the echo dome on it's way out? :) Will DCI move to the new digs?

DCI server seems to have gone down

Just wanted to catch up with a couple of quick comments to add while they're still fresh on my mind. Colt Cadets: I applaud these youngsters. Not easy at that age (or any age for that matter) to put a show together. However, this was my 1st show where the mic's/amps were used for voice/singing and to be honest I hope this is the only year this is allowed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the kids (I would have had the same complaint if it had been PR, Blue Devils, etc.) but I am complaining about the show concept/design. Show Organizers: Intermission: 45 mintues? TOO LONG! Vendor Placement: Don't put the kettle corn vendor under the stands. The fans in section B were gagging from the smell of burnt popcorn most of the night. ampssuck

Bull####! DCI Finals in ANY ondoor venue would be an insult to the corps and the audience! The fact that they STILL hold DCI Midwest in that godforsaken echo chamber is one of DCI's greatest acts of idiocy. The fact that so many suckers - er, fans - keep voting for this gigundo mistake with their $$$ is unbelievable to me. But, we do live in a market economy, so if the masses buy CRAP they will continue to be sold CRAP. I went once, and never again will I encourage DCI to continue this mistake by buying a ticket to this show. ####, if you think domed stadiums are okay, then lets go back to Montreal for Finals! Great city, great weather, and the acoustics in Olympic Stadium (which are cited over and over as a reason not to go back there) are no worse than they are in the RCA Dumb! SHEESH! And as for plusses - have we become such wimps that we can't handle drum corps being an outdoor summer activity?!? If so, bring on the woodwinds - this audience does not deserve drum corps anymore. (And this is coming from someone who was seriously disappointed by the Canton show being rained out last night. And you know what - if I had a choice of it being rained out, or watching it in a dome, I would rather have gone home wet and disappointed.) BTW I am not generally a wholesale DCI basher. I just believe this mistake is a HUGE mistake. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Hmmmm Sounds like a great idea to me!!!! ^OO^

First let me say that without a doubt, the RCA Dome is the worst venue for a drum corps show imaginable. Hard to make any judgements regarding quality of sound from the stands. I would rather suffer through unbearable temperature, humidity, bugs and rain than to experience the RCA Dome. But drum corps in a bubble is better than no drum corps at all, so like 10,000 + other fans, I went. Sat with a lot of the PR volunteer staff in section 118 near the PR souvie stand (not exactly on the 50 yr line ) Also, whoever designed this place didn't have "midwestern hinders" in mind when they picked the seating Blue Knights - 82.55 (have seen them numerous times this yr.) A lot of cleaning improvements have been made since I last saw them in Denver. Love the new guard uni's. Classy. I think they add much more than the old "dreamcicle" look. Not sold on the "drop & roll" move being made by the sopranos. Magic - 82.95 (2nd viewing) Seems to have been a lot of changes since Denver. Good show. Crown - 83.25 (1st viewing) Crown is back!!! Nice job. Love the uni's. Again - classy look. Nice job all around. Nice to see the ex-PR DM is on staff. Xmen - 83.45 (1st viewing) Good show, liked the music. "Big Ending" on the closer didn't do much for me. Will have to keep working hard to keep Crown from overtaking them. Boston - 85.5 (1st viewing) Somehow was expecting more from the hype I had heard about their show. I like it better than last year's ( I didn't have to read along this year ). Scouts - 85.7 (1st viewing) Welcome back Scouts! Big improvement over last year. New uni's are OK. Guard is doing a great job. You will not be watching finals from the stands this year. Bluecoats - 86.55 (1st viewing) Would like to hear this show outside of the echo chamber. Guard didn't seem to be as prominent as in the last couple of years. Were the guard uni's used by Boston a couple of years ago? Just kidding, but they do look very similar. SCV - 90.55 (multiple viewings this year) Continuing to clean and make improvements. Great job! PR - 90.6 (multiple viewings) I thought they had a clean show. Sound was as good as can be expected in this venue. In checking the recap, guard got hammered pretty hard, but I don't remember seeing anything unusual happen. Oh well, judges have their own opinions, just like we do (only theirs count on the score sheet). I think it has been a challenge for PR to keep the guard from disappearing after the opener this year. They have made lots of changes, and I'm sure there are more to come. I can't believe how many changes have been made to this show in the last 2 weeks. Cadets - 92.05 (2nd viewing) Good show, but not 1.45 better than PR. I think this was my wife's favorite of the night. Cavies - 93.65 (2nd viewing) Didn't seem like the Cavies were "on" tonight. Alignment was bad at times and there didn't seem to be a spark from the horn line (could be an echo chamber fault). Congrats for accomplishing an unbelievable undefeated streak. Blue Devils - 93.95 (multiple viewings) After the Cavies performance, I thought if BD came out and rolled a good show that they would be the winner. After BD was done, I didn't know if they had blown their chance or not. Didn't seem to be as sharp as I have seen them in the past. I thought they were cleaner in Denver. Contra took a bad spill b**bs , but recovered nicely. Could have easily taken out a few more of the horn line with him (block formation marching backwards at the time). Congrats for breaking "the streak".

I can't believe this is as close to an SA evening review as we've gotten so far :sos:

Doris - Outstanding review! I was in Chicago Tuesday and my original intentions were to make the 3 hour (round trip) detour to Rockford on my way back to Central Illinois. I scratched the trip due to the questionable weather and feeling worn out already. Your review makes me wish I had poured down some more caffeine and made the trip. However, I will be able to see them at ISU on Friday! Thanks again :D

If you look in the General Junior Corps Discussion section, there is a PR uniform message string with links to actual pictures.

Phantom Regiment Dress Rehearsal - Saturday June 7th The weather was perfect and the appreciative crowd was large. PR rolled out their new show complete with their new uni's, new drums & new King horns last night to a very receptive crowd at Winnebago High School. New uniforms look outstanding. New horns sound great - They can still peel the skin off your face even though they are not using G horns anymore. The Cannon opener is stunningly beautiful combination of rich music and great flag work by the color guard. The show continues with Wild Nights, Lord's Prayer, and Ostinato. The music sounds great and for being June 7th, the drill looks clean (although I'm sure it will be enhanced and modified as the summer progresses). They performed the entire show twice so I got to pick out more on the 2nd run through. The drum line is larger than I remember in recent years, and is prominently featured during the show. Interesting fact - the last time PR made the trip to California, none of the current members were born yet.... A good deal of time spent blah blahing with my son and Phamily and then the 3 hour drive home is not helping the quality of this review, so I'll close out. It's a great show - the fans in Toledo for the opener are in for a treat. :)

Sorry, I work around way too many sharp objects and hot liquids while on tour with them.

Have seen them and they look GREAT! UR out of luck if looking for a description, my lips are sealed....