PRPhan4ever

Sorry -- that was "Supposed to be" -- Jamey Thompson and Adam Sage!

The more & more I watch clips of this show (from early season to fonals) & listening to APD's & downloads -- I realize just how good this music book really was! Horns were awesom-- better than, dare I say BD or crown? But, in the perfomance / technical aspect they were far superior (IMHO). Intonation was better (even in a dome), clarity and projection was crisper. You can hear it on the APD's if you listen to the teriplets, ensemble unison playing as well as releases. Their brass score? Totally unjustifyable.... but, I am human and can accept people dissagreeing. Regiment kids & staff --- you pulled out a tremendous show through hurculean obstacles. KUDOS !!! I wany Jamet Thompson & Adam Sage back.... please, please Regiment BOD -- give the marching members who PAY To be their the instructors worthy of THEIR talent and skill. 2008 was AWESOME... 2009 was disheartening in the sense that the design element needed to match the music just wasn't there. Perhaps 2010.... Best wishes to Regiment staff, members, alumni, supporters and volunteers..... YOU ARE the Phantom Regiment! THANKS FOR A GREAT YEAR!

You kmow, i just watched BD's full show (2009) on a site left uin-named and you know -- maybe Regiment should set up their encore block in the middle of the field next year, and play all of their standards / faves and have that be their show! Hell, wouldn't be too fqar off of what won this year? And they would certainly beat the snot out of any other corps in Brass/ drums if they did~! who needs drill anyway when you can stand/sit etc and win ? Regiment has been missing the boat all along! Well, i guess they have an idea for 2010....... But seriously, they should have had 7th.... at best! brass was just out of this world and percussion was simply awesome even though I'm a brass gal at heart & trade!

I'd sell my soul to understudy w/JD and better still, be a member of the Phamed Phantom hornline -- but alass, I'm too old, and besides, maybe I can take classes? Well, I think I'd have to relocate to NM ! Oh, hell, it would be worth every bloody cent!

I'd sell my very soul and what is left of this aged body to even be able to be his understudy! Much less a member of the Phamed PR hornline! I'd love to take classes from him.... but I think I'd have to relocate! Hell, it would be worth every cent!

You know "I" wanted to be the first one to START this thread - but I am glad I waited to even jump in and post. In the DCI Review Section "TXPRPhan" wrote this, and I agree wholeheartedly with EVERY word and will add my sentiments at the bottom: "Phantom Regiment performed like a champion in Indianapolis this weekend, with three heartfelt shows that the members put everything they had into. They also got better each night, with their best show on Saturday night. Musically, this corps never got credit for what they achieved – perhaps due to their early performance times in part. Stellar performances by those brass and drum lines. Regiment easily had my musical moment of the year with the release from the end of the ballad, with a gorgeous reverb in the stadium for several seconds. Gave me chills every time. This was, sadly, easily Phantom’s worst drill & visual design this decade, which is a huge shame. That said, this was NOT a 9th place show. If the music captions had gotten the credit they deserved, and the corps had not been dumped in GE Visual by a certain judge who tends to do that every time she has an opportunity to do so, they would have been 7th, and not far behind Bluecoats, which is where I felt they belonged. They marched a pretty darned clean show on Saturday night, as well. Easily one of my 3 favorite shows of the summer, along with Crown & SCV. This show, though, is exhibit “a” on the down side of the “Spartacus Effect.” Clearly this was a theme that seemed forced & unnecessary. The need to tell a story that was neither large or engaging sacrificed a lot of drill opportunities for staging, and even put constraints on the music book. I think the show would have been 3X better if they had just played that great music & marched a drill. I know that PR doesn’t have the financial resources of most of the other top 6 corps, but you also can’t tell me they haven’t seen their revenue spike after the last 4 seasons – in large part because of the competitive and entertainment success of 2005-2008 that was enhanced by elevating their visual design. Make the investment, Regiment. Fast." ========================================================================== Now "I' will give my assessment of this years show. Design? They tried to play the love, loss, good vs evil again, and came up with the wrong card! It just didn't flow. One thing, the new uni's are TOO WHITE! They need different color gauntlets/sashes. PERIOD!!! The drill was sub-par compared to the others in the top 5 that is evidently clear. I am ###### to agree and resolved to believe that Regiment was, from the onset of the seawson with their first three shows... 'written off' by the judges as 'This is last years champion and this is the best they can do...." attitude, not giving the corps iteself, due credit for changing 1/2 of their show 2 weks before finals, thus producing a much better effect ay championships. Their scores, placement hardly budged in some captopns and they were never rewarded in ANY sense for accomplishing the near impossible - as they did in re-writting the show in the design/drill facets . I am so ###### that a corps can sit, stand, pose, squat etc and play bits & pieces of familiar tunes and be labeled as 'inovative, best design, out of this world concept.... etc, etc, etc. BD won, they played great while doing very little and were rewarded for it PERIOD! I am so over it! Not bashing - stating facts that SO MANY all over this BB in various threads have pointed out! Now to give credit where credit is due and that is THE MUSIC and the PERFORMANCE of it! Tegiment fielded THE BEST (IMHO) brass line of the top 6. Percussion was just as great - considering that PR had a lot of new faces/talent in both! The soloist ---- OUT OF THIS WORLD! The kids who marched this year? Don't be discouraged or dismayed in iota! 9th or 90th place.... you kids did what NO OTHER CORPS would have done, or could have done and that's field a crowd favorite show that will be talked about, listened to and downloaded a thousand times over, so with that I SAY CONGRATULATIONS PHANTOM REGIMENT..................... You succeeded in doing what just everyone said you couldn't, and that's finish in the top 10 !!! And as JD Shaw has said: "I'd rather have 30,000 people eating out of my hand than a ring anyday!" THAT IS WHAT DRUM CORPS TRULY is.... love of perfomance and no one does it like Regiment! SUTA! Trisha

I LOVE the brass and the perc -- no probs there -- howver, the disonance / difference between "Woman in Red" and his love interest needs to be more villanous and it needs to be portrayed that way BY the guard person playing the part! I was lost when she "appeared" and for those in the stands who HAVE NOT seen the movie -- need to be visually told -- it's not as of yet! So far the storyline between the 4 characters.... musician, violin the love interest and the woman in red needs some definition, some purpose as well as some better charater acting by all three! People that know me know me -- I love Phantom and will till I die no matter what they put on the field or where they place--- the MUSIC is what is important, and right now--- IT'S KILLER! Props to JD SHAW & PAUL RENNICK and staff for doing what was least expected and bringing out that Regiment sound regardless of what we see! Luv U REGIMENT !! No matter what ! Trisha Longo

Just because corps of late (Cavies, BD, Cadets etc) have won back 2 back titles, and some Three3Peats... it's illogical to expect the same of others. Phantom Regiment is doing what they want & how. Yes I agree "it" the theme --- could be presented a bit better, it will come and i hope the audiance grasps it finals week. I do not think they will win - but I do not think they will fall from the top 10 either!

I would like to ADD my sentiments ------------ Lets remember that these corps, thse kids, these shows are FOR THE PERFORMER! They pay to march corps and do so willingly with all the trials, tribulations and B/S & T (blood, sweat & tears) every day. I see alot of technical performance in Regiments brass/percussion book this year -- it's heard in the performance of the show with even said, younger members. However, I recall a post/email by famed Tony Hall last year that outlined a scenario about what SPARTACUS was, what it meant to them - to the audiance - how Regiment was going to approach it as a departure of years past. So again this year I will do the same.............. Regiment members & staff----- YOU HAVE YOU'RE WORK CUT OUT FOR YOU! Matching the brilliance, musicality and passion of SPARTACUS could not possibly be duplicated EVER! It was a magical, spine tingling thing! It cannot be matched nor surpassed and I think you all know this. We as fans, fellow musician and past marching members however, want so badly for that same intensity and belief in THIS YEARS show, the "Red Violin" will tell a story, show us what is being played and why, but perhaps the corps has yet to "lock in" what the Red Violin and "It's" story means to each and every one of THEM! From the guard member to the players in the pit. from the horn players to the battery -- what personal struggles, decisions and issues are they facing that they can turn ineard and say -- like "Spartacus" - "Hey this story is all about me.... all about us, the Regiment and our constant struggle to be understood, rewarded and praised for what we do so well on the field every night, every show - for EVERY PERSON WHO PAID TO SEE/HEAR US". Let me tell you how "I" - me, a 20 year PR supporter, booster and volunteer and member sponsor feel. Inside, this show is Regiment -- in a whole DIFFERENT aspect than 'I AM SPARTACUS'. The plot is simple................. a devout musician (which is, no doubt all of Phantom's members & staff) driven and obsessed with passion for his/her instriment and the music and sound. beauty it makes. Divided by true love of his heart (the love interest - and, I guess, this yr - could be compared to Regiment's fans and Alums that love them so dearly) and the need to play the most wonderful melody's with technical prowess and ability (the skill level of the performers) possible from 128 individuals on a football field. The "Red Violin" is about inner struggle between TWO THINGS that consume one's heart, mind and soul. This year, I believe that it's between PR living up to their Passion, Power & Peerformance for THEIR fans, and choosing NOT to perform something that would BE EXPECTED! If Regiment came out & said they were doing "New World" again, they would be accused of closet cleaning, rehashing, retreading old, familiar ground just to try and match SPARTACUS!. Regiment has never focused on winning - it's the performance and the crowds reaction to it that matters to them. Regiment members.... YOU ARE, without knowing it -- in that same inner struggle to determine what is best for you - and what you truly believe in. Trust the staff, work hard(er), make the audience (and the judges) FEEL that struggle to not REPEAT -- but to be REPLEAT! Be it COMPLETE with resolve that when that last chord is hit - and the flags hit that finals toss and that red violin is tossed high aloft --- that you, the members of PHANTOM REGIMENT BLEED RED with the love of performance, the sweat of the passion that makes you do what you do -- the ability to move people like no other corps through the sound and visuals you perform and that, will make the struggle all worth it and understandable to us, those in the stands, without even trying any harder! Drum Corps life is a stage, an outdoor stage -- and you, YOU--- EACH AND EVERY MEMBER OF THIS YEARS Phantom Regiment are 'players' in it! "Phantom Regiment ---- You may take the field --- IS YOUR CORPS READY?" The time is now... make it count! Best wishes Regiment --- go PHOR IT! Trisha Longo / Pennsylvania

Great show - GREAT MUSIC - fantastically arranged in brass/perc -- the prob was the theme and how they used it. Someone stated the indian/burd theme? Guard costuimes- props? I totall agree. That was the only thing in that 11 minutes that didn't "click". Personally. the show was "On Air" - not birds of a feather... for the "Flower Duet" -- gee, use a motif of a leaf falling, use forms that depict a leaf in the breeze.... or floating on the wind, use large white silks moving in opposite directions to give the effect of clouds.... AND for the ending use the 'bird' theme in a way that would have depicted the 'bird' for which the piece of music was named--- "Firebird" ! The ending was great with the running jazz line and the never ending mello note on one note for like what 23 bts? But that theme and it's dissarray was a big detractor from the overall placement (IMHO) and, ironically, judges felt the same!

Ok Guys/Gals.... Been listening to FN as well as other videos of shows this year on various sites, I wonder which corps have, or still are using breathing exercisies/technques from "The Breathing Gym". I KNOW "Phantom Regiment" was one of the 1st to use it - and was wondering who else has? As I listen to corps warming up (brass only) so far this year, I wonder if there is (or has been) a "Standard" to which corps (DCI WC) use to warm up. Usually it's chord progressions, scales of various scopes/tones etc, but I found an eerie similarity listening to Phantom's hornline, and most recently ( from a place that shall remain un-named) as well as BD's horns, that the breathing exercises (see 2009 uploads of late for examples) BD does are almost exact in tone, scale(s), intonation and separation as Regiments? (blowing air through the horn on successive low notes/keys - kind sounds like "dutting" for brass instead of percussion) Have they always done this? And, do all corps do this? I have been volunteering for PR since 96, and ever since JD Shaw went to Regiment and they have ALWAYS used these excercises -- I have never heard/seen (BD) other world class corps do these particular ones. If clarification is needed, I can direct you to examples. A curious brass instructor / musician and Phantom Phan

What SHADE of black is this supposed to be? Look at the DM photo in uni and look at the uni colr as opposed to the gloves! THEY ARE BLACK -- not exactly what the uni itself is! (??) Was this intended? It Looks very off kilter like this -- almost faded! Maybe the DM's are in a 'mock' version so that they were outfitted along w/the rest of the corps... maybe not, but this looks wierd! Something Cesario is not usually one to let something like this slip..... Anyone ?

AS TO THE ABOVE?...... I AGREE WHOLEWHERTEDLY! PLEASE Regiment, Ditch these gaunlets and go with ONE color, silver or dark silver -- NOT this combo!

Ok BIG Question ----- although I think (I don't do that often) that I KNOW the answer.... WHAT IF 2008 "Phantom Regiment" wins as top vote getter -- will they show the FULL,unedited show as it was on finals... or the hacked version.... I think you know where I'm going with this, but it's a VERY strong possibility this will be the TOP vote getter and, seeing the dischord (pun intended) it cause in the DVD re-issues, this would only re-ignite and guel that fire!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..................... One wonders then why the refernce to "Back in Black"? Possible trickery eh? I guess we'll see in June!

THIS IS THE CORRECT URL/Website.................. http://www.rudimentaldrumming.com/phantom.htm

Here is a webpage like w/photo's through the years = me thinks it will be a more modern version of these............ http://search.msn.com/images/results.aspx?..._SnareLine2.jpg Check them out.....

Since seeing/hearing that interview, I then went to Regiment.org and looked at all the archived photo's. I am betting they are going to go with black trousers...... that was a standard until the all white briught out in 1987 by none other than Cesario. Who is now back w/regiment & FJM. I would surmize that the "Classic Regiment look" would be comprised of but not limited to, the following: -- White tunic, whith red/black baldric that hangs lower that the current ones w/red accents -- White helmets w/white/black plumes -- Black/red gauntlets -- Black trousers/shoes -- white gloves Look at photos from 1982-987 and you'll see examples of what I am thinking of, but again, it'll certainly be more 'modernistic & classy' as is the Cesario way. Any other thoughts????

Wonder if the Regiment folks, or those w/RAW (Christensen Video) know about the PC CD ?:? Perhaps Bob can be asked what the best way/format/player to use to view the one disc?

Ok, I should receive my 2007/2008 DVD's by week's end, and I've read/heard & seen alot about the 2008 "On the Road" DVD, but has anyone gotten or seen the 2007 "On Air" ? Hoe is it? What special features are there? in the "Tornado Alley" (running hornline) segments on there? Just curious as it (the 2007 DVD) was only offered limitedly via an email it seems. Just wondering............. any input? Reviews?

Well, i don't think "anyone" can just show up un-announced ! What I do, and y'all know the corps I volunteer with, and usually, around this time... I email the tour manager or the Corps director to express my interest and where I will be/could be of use. I always ASK "where do you need the most help?....." and take it from there. Now as to what to bring? Aero bed/sleeping bag... small container of clothes detergent, enuff clothes to change 1X a day, and of course, shower items. It is unlike the corps I assist to allow "outsiders' (non-corps members) to sleep in the gym or same space as the corps, and usually you can find out where others (staff, other volunteers) are bunking down each night and drop there. ALWAYS bring a water jub like the corps does as you are sometimes going back/forth to various places doing tasks and a cup just aint gonna cut it! Hope this helps!

Here is the email I/We recvd from Regiment Director Rick Valenzuela, "First, let me take the time to thank you for taking advantage of our 2008 On the Road DVD pre-sale! Without your support, we wouldn't be able to continue putting on such great performances like the one the corps did this past August in Bloomington, Indiana. But I'm mainly writing to apologize for the delay in shipping these DVD's. Originally, we thought they would be shipping the first week of January, but unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the DVD had to be edited." "The DVD had to be edited to remove 1:13 seconds of music in which the composer did not grant video sync rights. The process of getting all of the different permissions needed is a long and arduous one. The issue isn't a copyright violation at all, as we had secured all of the rights to arrange and perform the piece in question. The video sync rights that Drum Corps International secures were denied by the composer. The publisher, and in this case the composer, have every right to deny the final steps after they have already given permission to arrange and perform. That is their discretion." "The piece in question, Dance of Ecstasy, is 1:13 minutes of our overall production. After seeing the score and hearing a recording, the composer did not appreciate how his piece was interpreted and denied DCI the video sync rights. I do not believe the composer will be changing his mind unfortunately. There is a detailed article on the entire licensing process here: http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=5...d6-cef001a8383c. This is a very unfortunate circumstance, but completely out of our control as we do not secure the video sync rights." "So therefore, we had to stop production and re-edit. I authorized the duplicators to send a few cases overnight via Federal Express and they have arrived! We are sending them out right now." "I apologize for the delay in shipping these, as well as the delay in getting this email out to you" For $40.00 for TWO DVD's of Regiment performances? Especially with the behind-the-scenes commentary etc? A REAL STEAL!

Still no new info or word on when they wil be shippped..... and nothing recvd by me yet?????? Still we wait! Anyone hear anything of get them yet ??

Gee, I emailed Regiment and recvd. a response stating that they were currently being pressed and this was the middle of the 1st week of January. I guess, they had to ensure they took out that whopping 1:14 of footage to be safe ! But boy, this waiting is worse that the Heinz ketchup commercials ! But.... still we wait! I ordered them the day the internet "glitch" was fixed and that was in late November. I guess they will get here when they get here........

Phantom Regiment & the knife sounds as well as the amplified 'marching machine' and chain sounds. Great effects without overkill and to the point......... No pun intended !