Huntington Mallets Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 (edited) Ok just thought I'd give my opinions of the show at Charleston, WV tonight Just a note: Rain SEVERELY threatened this show tonight and we sat in Wendy's across from the field for about an hour and a half till the rain FINALLY stopped and the show was postponed for drying the field area and the competition finally began to go undeway at about 7:15 :) ......Thank you Phantom Regiment and DCI for persevering through the rain! Ok thoughts on corps: 1. Memphis Sound - Harmonic Voices - 71.75 - First corps of the night, the corps vocals (unamped voice) in the Chorale VI were great but I wish the corps would pick up the tempo a bit in the Song of Aeolus. The Whitacre piece is a WONDERFUL ballad and made for some great moments! Finally the show wrapped up with Dies Irae and created for a strong closer to a very entertaining show. 2. Colt Cadets - SOLD OUT! - 59.7 - Don't read into scores....this show was FUN. A lot of the people I sat around were constantly grooving to the charts they were playing such as "Carry On My Wayward Son" and "All the Small Things" Nice moments from the percussion at some points. The corps seems to love this show and are trying to put their best into it and I hope to see them excel in the future! 3. Troopers - Awakening - 69.25 - Great show all-around. One thing that really stuck out to me were the snares, these guys could throw it down! The "Joy" intro creates a really strong statement for the rest of the show and it was great to see the sunburst at the end. the one thing I wish they would do is lose the black gauntlets........they just look weird on the navy. Great show though! Props to Troop! 4. Boston Crusaders - A Picasso Suite - 78.7 - Favorite show of the night for me. Everything about this show was just amazing!!! Guard was spot on the whole show with excellent moments using the painting easels. Percussion were groovin the entire entire time and that drum break had me rockin in my seat! The one problem I could tell was the brass seemed somewhat "crass" at moments when they were really pumping the sound out but it didn't ruin the show for someone like me. 5. Blue Devils - Winged Victory - 86.85 Wow.............loud does not even begin to describe this show! Very dark and eerie show from start to finish. A few things I immediately noticed was the immense volume of the corps, the mass amount of notes by the percussion, and the great moments with the "wings" in the guard. During the space chord portion while the percussion was "snaking" through the corps there was a demon-like voice laughing meniacally going "MWUHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAA" and really confused/startled me at the same time.......Great effect! Another moment that stuck out was when the guard switched from their outfits from the intro and ripped them off to reveal new garbs, it really caught my eye but was too fast for me to notice all together. Really, just an amazing show that I'm glad I got the chance to see live! 6. The Cavaliers - And So It Goes... - 86.25 - Another fun show! Make sure you watch for some of the poses in the intro before they start, you'll catch some really funny ones (like one guy standing there with a horn over his head while crouching). Trumpet soloist in the beginning was very nice and the opening statement for the entire corps just set the tone for the entire show to come. Guard was amazing and I really like their uniforms (look like suits) but I wish they would lose the stripes on them. Ballad really didn't stick out to me but once they hit "Pressure", the show took off again! Great use of unamped vocals here, especially the one time it was like..."Preshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhha!" I do agree the ending needs changed because I thought the show ended about 2 minutes before it actually did, but I'm sure it will be flawless once it is changed! 7. Phantom Regiment - On Air - 84.85 - Beautiful show. The intro of Vespertine formations with the percussion patting their drums with their hands creates quite a "hey that's really neat" moment then yet another "neat" moment is followed with the pit runs that sound as if they are made from the sky, then the hornline takes control of the show and leads into 1000 Airplanes on a Roof". Here's the one thing I have a problem with.......the transition from 1000 Airplanes to Flower Duet with the pit sounds...........I guess I'm look at "too forced" it just doesn't sound right to me, other than that I couldn't ask for more..........Firebird was simply amazing and carried the passion of the show to the last chord. (Also.... guard needs to lose the cavies 88 looking outfits) *Bonus* Phantom Regiment Encore - Pieces: Nessun Dorma, Finale to New World Symphony, Elsa's Processional to Cathedral - Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't think it was possible for them to top last year's encore.....but they did.....by quite a bit! Nessun Dorma was beautiful and created the loudest moment of the night on the ending of the piece and was just amazing to have my face absolutely ripped. off. Next was New World, And had the same fire and intensity as the 89 version! Really like the changed pit parts throughout the piece, it made for a nice little change. Then......ELSA'S!!!! I really have nothing to say about this piece....it speaks for itself.....amazing! Perfect way to end the night and Phantom got a well deserved standing ovation afterwards! Thank you for a great show Phantom Regiment organization!!! ------- Final Rankings Division I: 1. Blue Devils 2. The Cavaliers 3. Phantom Regiment 4. Boston Crusaders 5. Troopers Division II: Colts Cadets Division III: Memphis Sound Edited July 11, 2007 by Huntington Mallets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntington Mallets Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 Finished the review....enjoy! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lara87 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Finished the review....enjoy! :D Thanks so much. Good review of all corps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMS0527 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 7. Phantom Regiment - On Air - 84.85 - Here's the one thing I have a problem with.......the transition from 1000 Airplanes to Flower Duet with the pit sounds...........I guess I'm look at "too forced" it just doesn't sound right to me, other than that I couldn't ask for more........ I agree that this transition is problematic...actually all of them are...not scored very well...feels more like filler to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpMom Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Thanks. Great review. BAC Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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