mnscoutfan

I don't understand why the Scouts have this "blow your face off" show for 2/3 of the show and then end it with Bolero and a quiet ending. The first part of the show is totally on fire and they douse the ending with water. Please guys, change the ending...even if you bring back parts of the first two movements, don't let the fire go out before the end of the show! Rant off...

Here's my review... Got to the stadium late so we had to park far away so we missed Chops, Inc. I've yet to see a mid-season show of theirs as I'd like to see how they improve during the year. Blue Stars- Seemed to have improved a lot since Menomonie. Lots of new drill incorporated along with higher comprension of the show by the members. Horn line sounded great. Guard was its usual stellar self. Drums were a bit messy still, but better than Menomonie. Kiwanis Kavaliers- I love the Pink Panther tails! :) The guard members have curly pink "tails" they used as equipment for the PP part of the show. I liked the Incredibles music and the Mission Impossible section as well. Pretty clean, but they seemed a bit down numbers-wise this year. I'm just glad it wasn't West Side Story again. MN Brass- MUCH better this time! Two more sops were in front compared to one soloist last time. (It was good to see Roger back again) The hornline is smokin' again. Drums were excellent as well. A guard member was hit in the face by a rifle or something and his head started to bleed profusely. He calmly walked off the field for medical attention. Hope he's okay... I enjoyed this show a lot better with the extra sops up front. Keep it up, Brass! Capital Regiment- I like this show! What a beautiful ballad! The sundial in the middle of the field makes some sense, but it's a show about darkness, yet they have a sundial. I didn't get it. It didn't look like their guard uni's were in yet either since they had black outfits on. Hornline was impressive and I liked it again this year. They didn't bark as much as last year, but they play with a controlled power. Drill was pretty good as well for this time of year. You could tell they were a step down from the next two corps though. Madison Scouts- Hornline seemed to be holding back a bit tonight. Maybe they were trying not to overblow. This show just smokes when they push down on the gas pedal all the way. Drums were TIGHT! I guess they won high drums, and deservedly so. They play very controlled, unlike in the past, and the scores are reflecting that. Guard was awesome again, they're so much more active than last year's show. Carmen was dancing around as usual and didn't seem to have done anything differently than before. New drill at the end was good, but they still seem to stand for quite a long time at the end. Plllllease add more exciting drill at the end, guys! Cavaliers- Wow! Drill was fast, fast, fast, and for the most part, pi** clean. Their show, musically doesn't seem as challenging as Madison's, but they make up for it in GE/drill. The show went so fast, it seemed as though it was only 5 minutes. I guess that means I must have enjoyed it. Guard uniforms were strange...they have a lot of differet themes in their show, so that could be the reasoning behind them. If you haven't seen them, just think frameworks uni's and you'd be close. (ANOTHER EDIT: I thought I should add more here.) I really liked how the "fire" sound is started by the battery hitting their sticks together. The drill at the end is like the diamond cutter in the center of the circle of ladders they have up. I couldn't see it too well from my vantage point, but it's fast, fast, fast! Wow. The blues closer is a fun, jazzy piece. Very un-Cavies-like. They pull it off well though. The show though didn't have as many "WOW" moments as I thought there would be, other than the drill at the end. However, I could really tell the Cavies were 2 points ahead of Madison after seeing this performance. EDIT: (forgot the encore!!) Scouts did the encore tonight. First was "You'll Never Walk Alone," just beautiful. Then the opener from the 2005 program. Holy crap that was loud, it was great to finally see a Scouts encore, they didn't do any at the shows I went to last year. After that, the drum major told the corps to play Ice Castles. Seems as though it wasn't planned, so it was kinda cool. I don't think I've heard them do IC in an encore before, so I was thrilled to hear it. Just a beautiful intro and the ending of the tune was long and louuuuuuuuud!! Just awesome. This corps will always have a special place in my heart. :) General thoughts- Oh, you're still here? Good! Stadium is TOO small for this show. Put it back at the Blaine Sports Center or something. I felt like I was in Mankato again. This is usually the most well attended show in the area, they should definitely have it in a bigger and better venue. St Thomas anyone? :) (sorry, I'm an alum, had to say it) The field is also far away from the stands because of the track. After the three shows I've been to this year, Menomonie is still the best run show I've ever attended. (You can thank me later, Marilyn!) Next year is Drum Beauty's 50th anniversary. What a great time to move to a better venue. Thanks for reading! Chris

I was surprised to see an attack on Lancerlady. She's one of the nicest people on here. Man, if she gets attacked, we're all in trouble. Nice review Stephanie! :)

I left DARC '05 early this year for the fact that the Scouts were not playing the encore performance. I liked full retreat, but I agree with the reasoning behind eliminating it. However, most people come to see the top corps perform. If they win the show, they should absolutly do the encore performance or no one should at all. Just my opinion....

Blue Stars are in. Oops!

Drums Along the Red Cedar 2005 Menomonie, WI Mini Review Since I went to the Coon Rapids show the night before, I will just make some comments on the corps that were at both shows. Chops, Inc Second viewing: Seemed like they left everything on the field at their home show and forgot they had to play this one yesterday. Seemed like they got winded a lot earlier at this show. Still better than last year’s performances that I saw. Capital Sound First viewing: Improved over last year. Drill was well done for early in the season. Music was pretty good. That’s about all I remember. EDIT: OOPS forgot the Blue Stars: Second viewing: I like this show. However, it's not quite as exciting as last year's performance. The drill was still messy due to it's difficulty, lots of new people in the corps, and the fact that it's their 3rd show. The guard uniforms are pretty ugly (silver/grey pants??? ick!). I liked last year's a lot better. However, it seems as though this show as a lot more potential than last year's did. We'll see what they do with it. Minnesota Brass, Inc. Second viewing: I noticed their screamer Roger sitting in the stands, I hope he’s doing okay. Another one of their guys that was at Coon Rapids wasn’t at this show. He was another screamer and really stole the show at Coon Rapids and it seemed like there was a giant void in their program. It seemed to lack emotion without him there. Troopers First viewing: Great horn line even though they were missing a couple of spots. The show was entertaining and it was performed well even though it was their first performance of the year. Guard work was very strong. Battery had a lot of dirt, but it was the first show. Colts Second viewing: I love this show! The drill was cleaned up a bit and horns were still very loud and effective. Guard work was very good too. They have a nice ballad and a very strong closer. I can’t wait to see it again! Blue Knights Second viewing: After the second time…I “get” this show. I really liked it tonight. At Coon Rapids the closer didn’t do it for me, but I really liked it this time. They have a BEAUTIFUL ballad. Guard tells a good story in that piece. I love the hand painted flags every year too. Madison Scouts Third viewing (if you count rehearsal): Holy ****!!!!!!! These guys turned it up another notch tonight! WOW!!! I can’t get enough of this show! I said this in another post but I’ll rehash it again: I understand why they took the red out of the uniforms this year. Carmen wears a nice hot red outfit (not much to it) and you are constantly drawn to her the entire time she’s on the field. I thought this was genius! I wouldn’t be surprised to see red added back in the uni’s next year. Drum line was very effective for their feature, otherwise, during the rest of the show you can’t friggin’ hear them because the horn line tears your face off! While watching this show I kept thinking to myself, “This is why I love drum corps.” I will need to see it again to see how clean they make the drill, guard work, etc. I wasn’t watching for that stuff tonight, I just sat back and tried to hold on to the shreds of skin still left on my face. This corps has “it” this year. EDIT: General show comments: I love this stadium! What a great place for drum corps! My only complaints are the long line at the concession stands during intermission and the TERRIBLE pizza. UGH!! Please never serve that type of pizza again...it was nasty!

I just got home from the cities and left the show before scores were announced. I can't believe Madison pulled out a 71 tonight...nice! Anyway here's my mini review as well... Govenaires: Better than last year! Their hornline sounded a lot more full than last year's corps. I really enjoyed the guard work as well. They did a nice job with this show this year. Of course there was a little early season slop, but it looks like they could be on their way to a clean program pretty quickly this year. Blue Stars: Great show!!! I love the theme of their shows the last two years. Their guard costumes were really colorful and they all had bright neon orange or green belts. Pretty cool lookin’. I’ll agree with TylerDurden in saying the battery was a bit rough. The show seems a lot more difficult than last year’s visual program was. At least at this point last year, people weren’t stumbling around as much, so there could be a lot of newbies attributing to the mess. I liked what they were trying to pull off though, so this show has a lot of potential after cleaning. Minnesota Brass: I like the direction they took with this show. Great guard costumes, nice bright colors again. Battery was very strong. Hornline was good as well but I didn’t see Roger out there. Bummer. They have a gentleman playing soprano up near the pit and he doesn’t march at all, but belts out some nice high notes. Colts: Wow! Much better than last year! Smokin’ hornline! They weren’t as clean as the next two corps, but I really enjoyed this show. A guy from Phantom ’93 was sitting behind me and when they played the Landworkers, I should have asked how he thought it compared to PR’s version. I thought it was well done, nice and LOUD!! Great guard uni’s…why are the girls always very attractive in this corps? It never fails. Oh, they were the first corps with amps (I didn’t see Blue Stars with any) and they had some feedback right away. Ick. Blue Knights: Best ballad of the night. Just beautiful. I thought it was the highlight of their show. They never seem to WOW me though. At least the last two years they haven’t done so. The rest of their show is just kind of there. Horn line was rich but I would have liked to have seen more out of them on the FF side. I liked the concept of their show, so they could have some potential with this one. A mellophone player took a nasty spill during the opener. I felt bad for her but she recovered nicely. Madison Scouts: The boys of old are BACK!!! I don’t know how TylerD could have said this show was flat. He should listen to last year’s show and compare it to this one. Hornline was SMOKING!!! I already had perferated eardrum going into the show, but I think the other one can be marked up as a casualty of the Scouts. The concept is great. Basically, it’s an urban version of Carmen. The guard has two colors blue and green and they’re separated into two “gangs.” Blue gang has a fleur-de-lis on the back of their “sweatsuits” and the green gang has a “M” on the back. Carmen herself only shows up for about the middle third of the show. I’m guessing they’ll do something more with her as the season moves along. Same goes for the closer. It seemed like it was sort of abrupt, but that could have to do with it being the early part of the season. The drill was much improved over last year as well and looks like quite a bit more demanding. Guard work is much more physically demanding too. What I heard and saw from the battery I liked. The horns were so darn loud I really couldn’t concentrate on the drums. There’s a nice drum break though where they were using whistles and they really came through loud on the amps. The Scouts don’t need any amps, but that’s just my humble opinion. Anyway, these guys are the real deal this year. I see top 6 for sure. Chops, Inc: Much better than last year at this time. I honestly felt bad for them last year and this year the horns were much more full and they lasted most of the show. Everything was a bit dirty, but they’re a young corps and that’ll happen early in the year. Much improved over last year though, I can’t say that enough. General Show stuff: The ushers (at least the one in our section) seemed really uptight about pictures. She yelled at a kid twice for taking pics but then she came back and said people could take them as long as there’s no flash. I don’t get it, I don’t think it disrupts the show at all, but oh well. The stadium was on a busy street so getting across to the field from the parking lot was difficult and the police officers didn’t seem too happy about being there. See you in Menomonie tomorrow! Err...tonight.

Same here....leaving in a half hour to head toward the cities and have some dinner at the show. Haven't been to Champps in a while....mmmmm. :)

The forecast looks awesome for the weekend! Should be a great show again this year! Can't wait!!! :D

Welcome back Nikk!! I always love reading your posts. '93 Regiment is one of my favorite shows as well. "Fire of Eternal Glory" could be the best ballad in DCI history. It was like taking a bath in....caramel? ;)

'92 Star anyone? This sounds like an awesome show. I wonder if we'll get a "fire alarm" siren (i.e. '91 Scouts, '91 SCV,'96 BD) in this one.

I'm guessing since they're doing a throwback show, they want to make sure everything is very traditional....hence, matched grip.

Never mind...I just got a bonus at work and bought the 2000 and 2001 VHS. :)

We'll cheer real loud for you, Toby! I'll try to write a review that does the event justice. :)

Looking for 2000 or 2001 VHS or DVD's. I was away from drum corps for those years and still have never seen any of the shows from those two years. PM me or reply here. Would be willing to trade as well.

Can't you find anything in Whitewater in your sleep? It's not that big of a town! :)

Here's another one from the Madison Scouts' site posted by Sal Salas. Since I haven't seen it anywhere else, I'd say it's still unofficial. Drums On Parade June 25, 2005 - Saturday Madison Scouts Phantom Regiment Capital Regiment Southwind Pioneer Troopers Kilties Colt Cadets Capital Sound

Scene: Our band room Date: Circa 1990 Occurrance: Our band teacher puts in a video showing us the marching style we were going for. He puts the tape and then I see the 1988 Madison Scouts championship performance. What a thing of beauty. I remember thinking, that guy on the triangle is sure intense!!! You know what I'm talking about if you've watched that show ever. I never made it to a show though until 1993 when I was at Drum Beauty in Blaine, MN. Top corps in the show were: Santa Clara Vanguard Madison Scouts and....Star of Indiana :) That was probably the best non-regional show I've been to. 96 was pretty good too at Drum Beauty with Bluecoats, Crossmen, Madison, and Blue Devils (who barely ever play in MN)

I have some info on the Drums Across the Red Cedar show in Menomonie, WI. Lineup: Sunday June 19, 2005 6pm Madison Scouts Blue Knights Colts Troopers Blue Stars Americanos Capital Sound Minnesota Brass, Inc. Chops, Inc. Anyone want to post other shows if they have the info?

What he said. :) I've never seen 75 Madison so I'm dying to see it! Except if we vote for it, we may not see 95 on the big screen which is what I'm hoping for.

I love Star 91 and I think it's way more entertaining than 93. Too bad everyone will vote 93. Go 91!!! :) 1991 was the best year in the 90's for drum corps. Hands down.

C'mon people, I want to see 1995 Madison in the theater!!! VOTE 95!!!! 1995 Madison Scouts (Most exciting show of all time) :) 1991 Blue Devils (SCREAMERS!!!!) I doubt it'd get picked so I should vote '94. 1996 Phantom Regiment

Oh you don't?? Then what are we all doing here??? :)

<----- Idiot Never mind, I found the thread.

Is there a vote going on somewhere or do we just post here and find out? 1988 Madison Scouts World Championship Performance :) 1987 SCV 1989 Phantom Regiment