Weaklefthand4ever

It really was a great uni and I do miss some of the really iconic designs. But I think it's really because the uniforms back then WERE iconic. You always knew when 27th or BD or Phantom was coming onto the field and it built excitement before the first note was played. Now, I have to wait to hear the corps announcement sometimes to know who it is I'm dealing with. But again, man those things must be SO comfy by comparison.

Ok. Just watched the show and this is just MHO and I don't feel like arguing about stuff today. I don't get the first 1:10 of the show up until the first impact. With 2010 Into the Light, it worked for me because there was a brass build up and a huge front ensemble presence to that first hit (which still makes me grin from ear to ear.) You knew you were about to get your face melted off in classic PR style. Something just seems disjointed here. The battery sounds muddy as it moves through the back form in that opening segment. Now it's most likely just how they're positioned and the echo from the back stands. It just doesn't work the way I would expect it to because it isn't driving the build up forward into that opening hit. I'm sure the book is good but I can't hear it. I really don't like the "I am Joan" scream right before the hit. It would be different if it added something, but I don't feel like it does. Maybe that's just me. The high mark time into the "goose step" COULD be kinda cool but it's dirtier than my flam 7's and trust me, that's pretty bad. Maybe as the show develops and the story becomes a little more clear and clean it will make some sense. There are some really good moments in the show that make me think they're making a turn in the right direction. I love the set at 4:24. It's well executed and it's clean. Some of the mini "park and bark" moments don't have that same level of execution...but it's early season. The beginning of the ballad feels like it builds too slowly and the MM's feel too spread out. I think of drill design like I look at Instructional Design (which is what I do for a living.) If you put something into a piece of training material, it HAS to add something. If it doesn't add anything, then it's just a distraction. Being so spread out had my eyes wandering around the field trying to figure out what the story was and that pulled me away from the small ensemble work of the brass and guard. It also made me notice that the props at the back of the field hadn't been utilized the entire show. Remember when you were marching and and you missed your cover in the company front and were just hanging out like a 3rd nipple? That's PR's props right now. Just my opinion. /shrug My hope is that as the season progresses, we will see some vertical staging and actual use of the props. Again, if it doesn't ADD something it's a distraction. From 8:28 to the end....THANK YOU PHANTOM REGIMENT! I would say, the front ensemble during the singing portion needs to turn it down a little...or maybe a lot. Ok...a LOT. Maybe from like a 10 to a 2 volume wise. Vibes especially REALLY drown out everything else. Look, it's a good show. It could be a REALLY good show. Maybe as high as 8th or 9th. It's just visually not very good yet. Feet can be fixed, intonation and staging of small ensemble sections can be tweaked. Phantom isn't doomed in 2019. I don't think they're going to push any real boundaries and theme shows like this can be notoriously hard to pull off. The MM's aren't making the most out of the product that they've been given quite yet but that will take some time. And, the product that they've been given needs some real thought and consideration too. Hopefully PR is getting some good feedback from the judges and taking it to heart. Again just my opinion and feel feel to flame away. I don't read most words that have over 4 letters anyways.

Never thought of it like that LOL. It's like when I drive Britt nuts with every top tier drum solo from '87, '89 and '90 and she says "How the #### do you remember that #### but you can't remember to get Almond Milk?!?" My answer is usually something along the lines of "Well, I tried almond milk once....I heard those solo's literally every day for 3 months at a time."

My fathers favorite uniforms were you guys and the Troopers. He never marched but his niece did (Bridgemen) and of course I did. He always loved the 27th.

There seem to be 3 different kinds of Phantom posters on DCP over the years. 1. The die hard fans who may try to put a silver lining on everything PR does 2. The middle-men (and women) who try to look at things subjectively and hold out hope that things will improve as the season progresses 3. The people who seem at times to think that PR is doomed to burn in a dumpster fire unless they come out on day 1 with a top 5 show All of these posters generally make some good and valid points. But if you're trying to get an answer without a LOT of pre-conceptions, it's not going to happen on DCP unless you're really willing to stick it out, read everything from everyone and then watch the show from all points of view.

I've yet to see the show, though I'm hearing there are videos from 06/20. Until I can at least see those, I'll have to withhold any true judgement until I see them in Atlanta late season. I'm sure some video will pop up throughout the season.

I think my worst was long after my DCI days when I started back with Corpsvets (Atlanta CV) in Orlando (maybe it was St Cloud) in 2005 at the SE championships. It HAD to be 1.2 billion degrees outside on the practice field with 1000% humidity. Then it rained during the show. It was wretched and I'm pretty sure that everyone from all the corps at that show smelled like wet dog afterwards. I'm sure there were times when it was equally as bad in my DCI days but the older I got, the less heat tolerant I became.

See, I came in after the trooping the stands days but my dad used to talk about it.

Peeling your carrier off your body was always fun too. I think we started with MAG carriers and then the Fiber Vests came out and we had the silly thought that they would be better. They were MUCH better on your back but man alive they would make you sweat like you were on a Greyhound bus headed to Cali. We drilled extra holes in them thinking they would get some extra air flow somehow (which it didn't) but it probably unknowingly reduced the weight somewhat. It's a trade off. I envy the MM's for their comfortable uni's now but I don't think I could have hung with all the stuff they do now drill and dance wise. These cats are freakin' amazing.

THIS 'nuff said

I think they will clean it. I would agree somewhere in the 8th to 9th spot from what I am hearing if they can clean it. Battery still seemed a little fuzzy even in the lot videos but that will come. Pretty good power in the hornline as well. I try to never doubt the MM's in these corps and what they can accomplish as the season progresses. But to everyone's point, other corps are also progressing at the same time.

I look for ward to seeing the show. Missing the opening in the theaters was a big downer for me and I didn't see anyone periscope the show.

This I gotta agree with. I don't think the show is top 5 design wise anyways, but they'll make finals I think. It's the first show of the year. I can't think of a single season I marched in DCI or DCA where we didn't sound like shoes in a dryer at some parts on the first show. I always dreaded that first show battery judges tape. Dirt can be cleaned. And if the MM's are as bought into the show as they seem to be, they'll bust ### and clean it pretty quickly. And unplugging.....THAT would have the potential to create something really special.

"They're not wearing aussies what the ####!!" OMG I'm dyin' LOL. I gotta say, I never saw this show from the top brings back a lot of memories. Good stuff George.

I'm telling you, this could tie into our game where we pick a random member of the crowd as tribute and they have to go on the field and dodge drill. I miss field judges already and it's only day 2 of the season.

But...did anyone scream "We're always ready!!"? I'm still gonna try to sucker Britt into doing it in Atlanta. I'll just call it her initiation and then sit back and watch the looks. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ours didn't last year when I went. It wouldn't be a bad thing though.

I still don't get that LOL. I had to play a pro league last night so I didn't get to watch the theater show. But last time I did, it was pretty much the same thing only worse. A few high schools in the area had a bunch of kids come out and their parents were with them. All I heard from some of the parents all night was how much their high school bands could compete with DCI corps. I couldn't even respond. We have a few vets here in the area that I see every year at shows, most of us are from Spirit, Sky Ryders and Southwind and we all hang together at events and talk #### about each other in good fun. We do have a Crown family here in town and they're a lot of fun. But we NEVER claim that we could compete at the level these cats do now. No way in ####. The members now are just so far beyond what we did drill and GE wise.

They tried a audio model in Berlin years ago at the airport in the bathrooms to cut down on congestion. Basically they played row, row, row your boat on a continous loop to see if people would move through the bathrooms quicker. It worked. I was there.....i remember it well lol.

I wish I could love this color 20 more times.

Probably so. All of that history seems kinda scattered and almost falls into an "oral tradition" type of information exchange. At the time, I hated the fact it was off time. Now I wish we had at LEAST on off time broadcast for some visibility.

As are we all from the moment we arrive in this world until the moment we leave it. You're passionate and honest. I, for one, appreciate that.

And I did actually think about that as well. And though I would agree that Cook was the man behind the money, I think the other lines of support could still be alive and well in that market. If nothing else, there are a few things going for it. Indiana seems to still have a fairly significant band presence (though nothing like the hot bed of the 80's.) Though Star was created with Bill Cooks endowment, Phantom is already established. I think it's worth putting out some feelers in the area to see if corporate sponsorship is out there. The University has an excellent program and was always friendly to Star. It's hard to imagine that it's not worth investigating. As far as fundraising, PR has always kept that a little close to the cuff for anyone who isn't an alumni to get a solid feel for outside of rumor and innuendo.

I've always wondered if another corps could start / relocate to Bloomington, IN. You have a pretty good economy in a drum corps savvy town. The university is there and probably still quite a bit of design talent. I could be wrong on all those fronts but I would be interested in hearing the positives and negatives.

With running over a field judge now no longer an option, I think the only thing you could do would be to choose a fan at random and have them try to not get run over. At least it would embrace fan participation!