chambo

Scenic City's guard stood at attention on the sidelines the whole time. They looked professional, but its hard to gain points not doing anything. There were only three of them, so hopefully they will be able to be worked in before too long. The rest of the corps also had a lot still to learn. I believe it was the closer that had no drill, and the pit sat out a whole tune. Dimensions was a nice surprise. Small, but doing a good job. I think they have some potential for future years if for no other reason than their geographic monopoly. Marion had some nice power moments for their size. I watched the drumline in the lot and they are not only bigger than last year, but i feel doing pretty well for this early in the season. It appeared that some of the players had been thrown into the show quite recently. I liked what the members were doing, but I didn't care much for the design. Drumline took off their drums and did movement (didn't like it when Bluecoats did it last year either), and the horns all had flags during a drum solo, but not much work to do with them...if that changes it may be pleasantly surprising. After the intermission came Capital Regiment, and I should note that I am slightly biased towards them. The new black pants look great, especially with this year's drum finish which I also liked. Some one from Toledo said that Capital is trying to play music that is too hard for them. I don't think that is the case seeing as they only moved in on June 6. Many other Division I corps have 2 or 3 weeks more rehearsal time under their belts. Which is why I think come early July Capital is going to be absolutely smoking. Things were still dirty, especially in the guard and horns, and I noticed the drum staff didn't look too pleased after their performance, but the visual looked decent and I'm sure the rest will fall into place soon. Kudos to a pit without a single vet that put on a pretty solid show. Definitely looking forward to seeing this show a little later in the summer. Next up were Cavies. To be honest, the show left me saying wow but I didn't care for it that much. The fact that I was only in row E didnt help I'm sure, as you have to see Cavies from above to appreciate the drill. However, I stuck around for the victory concert and moved to the front row on the 50. I was about 5 feet away from the pit and pretty close to the horns arc as well. I enjoyed the music much more this time around. Theres a screamer who did a nice job on the field but didnt quite have enough left in him and took the low octave at the standstill, but nice job to him anyways. I felt the power that was lacking from the horns here. Back to the field... The movement looked cool. I would like to see the guard do less frollicking and more equipment work. The rifle stuff was cool, but they spend half the show jumping around. As with last summer, I think a few more viewings will help me appreciate this show more. Southwind did a solid job for following the green team. I should say that my bias towards Capital makes me unbiased towards Southwind after last summer's "rivalry," but I'll try to be fair. Southwind had a really nice loud chord in their opener that was one of the true rushes of the night. I liked seeing the only cymbal line of the evening, as I feel it brings not only a great sound pallette, but good visuals to a show. Guard was pretty small...Don't remember a whole lot else about the show. Phantom was definitely the pleasant surprise of the night for me, and I think this might end up being one of my favorite shows of the year. Wow, what a hornline. And the percussion section wasn't exactly slouching either. Powerful and rich, with what I felt was much better drill than last year. I felt they were the cleanest corps of the evening visually and ensemble wise. Some dirt in the snare line, but tenors played well. I would have liked the pit to be louder. Perhaps the best part of Phantom was their guard. I know nothing about guard, but know that these ladies were not only beautiful, but put on a heck of a show as well. Solid and clean. Plus the music had some "passion" that I feel lacks in Cavies shows. Ticket line was long, but the problem was you had to buy your tickets in one line, and then walk all the way back to the end to get in the line to get in instead of just purchasing your ticket and entering. But it was nice to see such a large crowd at the show...many of whom stuck around for retreat. All in all, a great evening of drum corps.