Pittman

That's why I'm marrying one :)

Having been to some july rehersals last year, and then the rehearsals all day saturday in Allentown, I can say that there is a definite change in Regiment this year. The kids are having fun! You can tell they believe in the show whole-heartedly, and they are working their butts off to sell it. The attention to detail being paid on the field was a whole different level than what i saw last year, and Adam Sage and his crew have the color guard believing in themselves and performing at a level I've never seen in Regiment before. This is truly a special year to be at Regiment. the only bad thing about it is the fact that I envy the experience those kids are having right now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and i'm happy for them. Now all they have to do is "close the door" and bring it all home!!!!!

Got to see the show in Allentown. GET IT ON REGIMENT!!!! The show is wonderful and you guys have every chance to bring it home!!! Special love goes to my baby Victoria, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~jason pittman

The real question is.... are you a member of The Society or not? ;) UT 98 S.O.B. 93-98

Coats certainly won brass because they had the tightest sound, despite the holdovers and people sticking out every once and awhile (and by that I mean like 3 or 4 times total in the whole show) I think Regiment sounds great from Mello's down.. the sops sound like they are depserately trying to keep up with their own runs. Listen to the vid clip from Orlando and you'll hear what i'm talking about. The drumline, I certainly didn't think they were that far off from Regiment... but then again, I'm not a drummer, so the finer nuances of percussion judging are a bit lost on me. As far as colorguard.. I think Bluecoats colorguard was fantastic, as was Crown's. Crown has a great deal of difficult body work going on, in general and definitely under the pole. Plus, alot of the Crown kids are used to performing as an ensemble from performing in The Study winterguard together... either way, they were only .5 down from Crown, which isn't a whole lot... definitely within the margin of a judge's opinion in my book. I personally had scores predicted of Regiment 88.2, Coats 87.1 and Crown 86.5 .... so not too far off for my uneducated eye ;) I think overall, Coats percussion may have had a rough night within the ensemble, and they caused the tearing, thus the drop in Drums and Ensemble music. My friend, who is the percussion instructor at the school i teach at (and a Cadets 95 snare) said it sounded like the drums just couldn't keep up with the hornline in execution tonight. So take that for what it's worth. Oh, and Darren, the rough ending I was talking about wasn't a drill run... but the hornline run. they're standing still during it. Coats move very well this year. Excellenct form control within the ensemble. And yes, it's hard to stay impartial... but if anything, I think I tend to be harder on coats cuz I expect more from my boys ;)

Ok.. Here's my review, for what it's worth. I'll try to remain impartial ;) Colts - Nice show. It didn't really make me stand up, but it got some nice applause. The color guard work left something to be desired in the range of difficulty. The hornline moves well individually, but form control is an issue. Hornline sounds good, some control issues from individuals..but overall a nice job. Drumline book didn't strike me as too difficult, and it was decently played. Mandarins - First of all, yeah... the DM just looks tough Their show is quite entertaining. They seemed a little small to be going for Div I this year though, but they pulled it off well. There were several, unfortunate, drops in the guard during high impact moments. The drumline did superbly, and the drum feature is cool! The hornline plays very well, but at times sounds like they are sacrificing a little bit of quality for volume. There's also a lack of smoothness to the sound on the move, but I think that may be due to the marching fundamentals, they just don't seem to stand up very well. Overall though, a nice show and a good treatment of the music from Last Samurai Crown - The first thing I noticed about crown is that, yes, the hype is true about their hornline. They've got power and balance and they are NOT messing around. They sound wonderful, although there were a few issues with individuals popping in and out of the sound texture. Since this is the morning afterward, I don't remember there being any abnormally technical passages in their book. That being said, what they play the do very well. Drumline does an excellent job with Rennick's book. They're very tasty, and well executed, but, again, I don't remember anything knocking my socks off with the difficulty level. The colorguard, as usual is very clean with some really neat work. The drill is well executed. The arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody is stellar. When I heard they were playing it, back in the fall, all I could think of was when Tarheel Sun played it, and it left alot to be desired. Crown has really done a wonderful job with this tune. The amplification is not that bad. It works within the context of their show. The singing could be done with a small ensemble, esp. given the fact they are signing "Ahhh.." but oh well.. the beatnik poem is cheesy, and a bit distracting. all that being said.. while I can't stand what it represents in regards to drum corps, the use of amplification works for their show. Phantom - My official vote for the guard is Sassy, not trashy ;) These ladies are possibly the best Regiment colorguard since the early 90's. They are doing some incredible work, and doing it very well. Kudos to them. The thing that struck me the most is that the drill this year is definitely a step up for PR, but you can also tell that it is a step up. They are running, but do not appear comfortable with it at all. This may be due to the fact that they keep changing it. Also, the hornline, although they play wonderfully, does not move well. Watching them stand in the arc, the body alignment is not what it should be, and watching brass sectionals, people had phasing in the feet during simple exercises. That being said... the Regiment sound is alive and well. The power chords are awesome, bone rattling moments, and the sops are playing some incredibly technical passages. Tonight, I felt like the sop runs were a little dirty, I could really hear the valves between notes in the sound. Drumline is doing very well. Rennick has written a great book here and it is highly complimentary with the horn book. They are ramming alot of notes in there, and getting it very clean. I felt a couple of pulls in the closer where the timing ripped, but they pulled it right back in. I think Regiment's show has the most potential, like most people here online, but they've only got two and half weeks left to get it clean. I think they need to stop making changes and start doing alot of reps to get the kids comfortable with what they're doing. If they can get that done, watch out, cuz the show is smokin as it is.... nowhere to go but up. Bluecoats - I think the boys in blue had a rough night. I got to the show sight in time to watch their run-through, and I felt that that was a better run than the show. The color guard is smokin this year. Very talented kids doing very well with some difficult work. The silent flag feature in the closer was spot on. They are a fun bunch to watch, and they really sell the show. The hornline, as has become the standard for coats, plays extremely well and with alot of control. They are playing a difficult book, and it is certainly a step up for the Coats. They had a few issues with people coming out of the texture, and a few missed releases as well. The awesome hornline run during In the Mood seemed to get away from them at the end. I think that they had more individual errors than Crown, and I think that was a major contributor to their placement. Drumline is ramming ALOT of notes. Maybe almost too much, but they are pulling it off well. For some reason, in the show, there was alot of pulling in the tempos that I didn't feel during the run through. Not sure what happened, but it led to some uncomfortable moments. The overall thing that struck me about the show is that it is a constant string of cool moments, but there is nothing that really says "You will now be getting out of your seat to throw babies at us." They have alot of cool stuff going on, and they are performing extremely well... but there's just nothing that really grabbed me. I certainly didn't have them behind Crown tonight, but, in retrospect, I can see why. They had a rough night, and Crown rocked the house. Crown's show is very entertaining, and they perform the heck out of it. Bluecoats seemed a bit uncomfortable tonight. We'll see how it goes in Masillon for them. Overall. tonight was an excellent night for drum corps. All the groups did very well. I think Phantom certainly has room to grow and fight for some top 4 love, but they've got to get their kids comfortable with their well-designed product. They are definitely a step above Coats and Crown, if for nothing else than the technical demand that is being placed on them. Coats and Crown are neck and neck, and I imagine they'll be swapping around all the way until Denver. Then again... this all just my opinion, so who cares? ;) edited for typos...

you saw it 1975 times?? MAN that's alot of rule breakin'!!!!

Guys, that was awesome. I got a call from my girlfriend who's marching phantom tonight. She couldn't believe how much I knew of the show already. I told her it was all due to these awesome cats giving running feedback online!!! Thanks for the solid work!

Scores??

Sky Ryders - Although they are a winterguard in Kansas now, even made semi's at WGI this year. Freelancers - Just to hear their DM saying "sacramentofreelancerscorpstenhut" crazy.. One I haven't seen - The Madison Jr. Scouts - those were some of the toughest, locked on little kids you EVER saw. Velvet Knights - Dude, you gotta love them. Spirit of ATLANTA - Spirit of JSU just sounds weird.

I don't know about DCA... in DCI the only award is for first.. and scoring is just like the show, number scaled 0-100.

hmmm 1) Every Breath I take - Madison 91 (the 92 version was lacking w/o the duet IMHO) 2) Vesti La Guibba - PR 91 3) Summertime - Colts (92?) 4) Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair - Troopers 92 5) Shango - Magic 6) Sun and Moon - SCV 91 7) Since I Fell for You - BD 88 8) Autumn Leaves - Coats 87

but dude.... that sticker gives them like 90 more horsepower!!!!

Coats had a female bass 3 from 96-97.. Drum major in 98

Let me preface this by saying that I am NOT a drummer. It seems to me that everyone is pointing out how traditional grip is harder to play than matched. Well... wouldn't that be the point of doing it, then? If everyone played matched, and they maxed out their licks... the next step would be to try to play it with a more difficult style, wouldn't it? Essentially, maybe you play traditional BECAUSE it's more difficult. Also, from a drill perspective, doesn't playing matched grip cause you to have to give up about a half step on your left hand side to give room for your elbow? In a line of 9 people, that's over four steps of length to the snare line. Traditional seems like it would allow the line to stand closer together, and therefore be able to listen in (and across) better. Just my two cents, for what it's worth :D

w/Stp: (minus the stupid) that's the primary reason I also steer my high school bands away from doing jazz. It is extremely difficult to get correct jazz inflection and articulation to be uniform across a hornline, and when you get it right.... nobody notices. Heck, I didn't even appreciate 93 Devs until I listened to it on CD and caught everything they were doing, amazing stuff. But on the field, I didn't even notice....

now THAT'S some creative thinking my friend! :P

The 1993 Bari soloist that everyone is gasping over is Scott Rankin. He was my DM in Sky 92. An awesome player! His solos in 93 Devs are friggin sick. Incredible range and lip trill ability.

Back at 'Coats, we used some stuff called Alisyn Synthetic Valve oil... that stuff was AWESOME!! do they even still make it? Is anyone else bothered by the comments like "Put it in the leadpipe and blow to get it on the valves."??? I personally can't stand it when I see people turn the horn upside down and put the oil in the bottom of the valve. Take the friggin valve out and put it on the outside of the valve. If you put it in the hole on the bottom, most of it collects on the bottom of the valve and doesn't get to the valve walls. Sheesh. Sorry... it's a pet peeve of mine :D

Sky Ryders are still alive as a Winterguard in Kansas... they're trying to find the funds to return to the field some day.

I think the rule of thumb depends on what you're doing.. I think a 6 1/2 AL is fine for people who are just learning or transitioning from another instrument and that the longer you play/more proficient you get, you should start increasing the mouthpiece size to get the best tonality out of the horn.

Especially when that free stuff comes when you're in desperate need of a laundry day. It's bad enough the drumline hauled in enough stuff to cloth a small island nation. but to watch them in their clean, new shirts while i'm sitting in my bari-sweat soaked goodness.... now that's just being mean!

Bluecoats went back to a co-ed guard in 97.

I have to agree with DCM that Craig Biondi (Coats 95 96) is one of the best players. He didn't get solos to scream with at Coats, but he won I&E two years in a row, with a 99 the second year. He was an awesome all around player...... But I can't let this go by without mentioning the 89 BD soloist.... you know the one.... That guy is LEGENDARY.... if for all the wrong reasons ;)

DA**IT!!!!!! Your avatar completely got me.... so busted...... *hold head in shame*