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Ok, so the wife and me got back to San Antonio after a week long 2550 mile trek around Colorado concluding with drums!! First off I really enjoyed the alumni festivities on Friday and Saturday and want to say a big thanks to the Blue Knights and Mark Arnold!!! Happy 50th, our trip was great, we hiked, climbed mountains, rafted and then got to see drum corps, you can't beat that!!!

So we went from Buena Vista, CO which was about 75 degrees every day to Denver on Friday where the temp was over 100, ouch!! But it cooled off Friday night and the weather was beautiful on Saturday night!!!

The Senior corps that played first had a lot of energy and set everyone's mood for drum corps!!!

Andy Smart played the anthem on trumpet, and rocked it!!! Good Job buddy, you still got the chops!!! Then it was on to the Junior Corps!!

Mandarins- I was pleasantly surprised, this was the best I have ever seen them. They have a rich sound and good show. I think as did my wife that the visual demand and the lack of size really hurts them in comparison to Madison and Troopers. They more than hold there own, I thought Cajun Folk Songs made a good piece for this show and I would have had them over 70 by a little bit!!

Troopers- Man these guys play well!!! I sat in the troopers section about row 38 in lower deck and they were filling their horns nicely. Some great visuals with the train theme. I think they have found a great niche that helps them maintain their identity and still be more modern. I though that the first half of the show was finals quality, but I find that the show drags on as the visuals/drill are too much of the same idea in the closer!! They have a very good show that draws the crowd in and I would have had them about where they scored. They should be close to the Scouts and the judges are calling that correctly. Well done Troop!!!

Madison- I think my wife said it best. This show is safe!!! They are playing a show title that makes me think hot smoking latin jazz and it is not coming accross that way. Do they perform the show well? Yes, but there does not seem to be enough demand in their drill/visual aspect! The dance movement is not engaging and gets old! There is not a move in the show that makes you go YAHHHH!!!! This is not to say that they do not have a great hornline, they do!! They play well, but on Saturday I also felt they ran out of gas!! Altitude? I think so as they had some pretty large stick outs in the upper brass at the very end of the show!! I don't see this show making finals, but who knows!!

Cavies- Man do I love this show!!! My wife said she did not care for it because the music book did not do enough to sell the show. I disagree, but I can see what she is saying. I think another post early on said that the music is too square or "American" sounding for this show and I can agree to a point! However, I see a crazy moving drill and great use of percussion that more than make up for the "American" Samurai music!! Actually I feel this show is probably my second favorite show of theirs only to Machine! On a side note, this is one of two "R" rated shows that you will want to shield your children's eyes from. Lots of death here!!! :lol:

Phantom- Wow and again I say Wow!!! This hornline is absolutely amazing!!! I found their sound a bit tinny last year, but the traditional Phantom dark low sound is back in a big way!!! What a phenomenal show they are doing this year!! From the field entrance where half the corps enters in goose stepping to the chained slave guard members being dominated by the hornline members, this show is well choreographed!! On a side note, parents this is the second show that has a lot of violence, shield those kids eyes!!! :wub: ha ha!! One trumpet player around the 50 slaps his guard girl around good!! I bet she punches him every day after the show!!! :lol: Anyway, the sounds of this hornline were not matched by anybody all night, period!! The show has great movement and I disagree with people saying that the drill was too safe, I thought it was spot on!! I absolutely loved the DM slitting the guard members throat (can I say that?) :lol: I also think the I AM SPARTACUS is one of the most powerful momnets in any show this year!! Amazing job, could contend for 2nd, I would have scored them higher and closer to Cavies!!

SCV- I leaned to my wife and said I was so looking forward to this SCV. That being said, this show doesn't do it for me. The hornline did not fill up the stadium and I found the drill very boring! It is traditional SCV with many block rotations and snap turns, but there is no WOW like Phantom, Cavies and BD!!! On a side note I think their battery was 2nd best to only BD on Saturday!!! To be honest I think this show may finish 8th by the end of the summer!!! I really expected the spread between BK and SCV to be even closer, but agreed they should be a little ahead right now.

BD- Hands down here is your Wolrd Champion for 2008!!! My wife and I agree that this "Absurd(ity) show" seems to poke fun of all the stuff going on in DCI.

The members running was funny and yet well conceived and effective!! The drill is amazing and it is great to see the traditional bully Blue Devils do something that is light hearted!!! What a drumline, I cannot even find the words to describe it, and the guard is amazing. They have all the tolls and a great vehicle to get them there. I think the hornline has more sound to give, but they are running for the whole show! :wub:

Blue Knights- I have to admit that I was worried about them going last after BD and knowing that BD was going to win, but my former team blew my socks off!!! They (hornline) filled the stadium with sound and had amazing energy!!! (Great job Andy and staff) My wife an I agree that this show is intellectual, but not unapproachable as it has been described by others. We absolutely love the music!!! This is such a young corps that is kicking serious butt!!! Do they deserve to be in the 80's? YES, BIG TIME!!! This not to say that they don't have much to clean, but this is the hardest music/visual show I have ever see BK perform. The music is very exposed and they were the most musical group of the night!! No kidding. The dynamic contrast was very evident and the mood and the corps sells the theme well. Robbie Billings has written the most amazing difficult drill I have seen and they are performing it well. Visually the ensemble vis still needs cleaning in the rotations, but they look the best of any of the BK corps in recent past at selling their marching style!!! I love this show and the members are portraying major confidence and they should!!! When it is said and done they are hungry and selling their product, I only see this show going higher and believe they can beat SCV. Have not seen BAC or Bluecoats, but it is going to be fun!!! Would have put them above an 81! Way to go BK REMAIN EVIL BABY!!!

In conclusion this was a great way to end my vacation and my wife and I had a lot of fun. Life has come full circle now and I have two former students in the BK Mello section and was so happy to be there to see them perform. This was the first time my wife and I had been back to Drums since we marched in '97 and '98 and it was worth it!!! Can't wait to see all the corps at SA this weekend!! Gonna be a great show!!!

Wes Perkins

BK '97 '98

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Cool review! I loved reading the enthusiasm you had for all the shows - though with a line-up like that, if you weren't enthused then someone should check your pulse! :wub:

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The Blue Devils won their first regional by 0.5. If history says anything, it's that this score does not bode well for the Devils. I do not see the Devils going the distance. The Cavaliers program is too strong musically and visually, only has yet to come to fruition. Any thoughts?

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The Blue Devils won their first regional by 0.5. If history says anything, it's that this score does not bode well for the Devils. I do not see the Devils going the distance. The Cavaliers program is too strong musically and visually, only has yet to come to fruition. Any thoughts?

It's going to be interesting. Here are my thoughts heading into this weekend:

Phantom- Best sounding hornline by far!!! Show is great, Cavies and BD have amazing programs this year that push the envelope.

Cavies- Most amazing visual program this year, with that said, they play well, just not at level of BD or Phantom.

BD- Most innovative program I have seen in a while. Design left me speechless in Denver. It was a shock after seeing two great corps in Phantom and BD, but all I could say after seeing the show was there is the 2008 world champion. I believe they are on a different kevel this year than anyone around them. Cavies may have more difficult drill, but BD has the better hornline and overall design in my opinion. We shall see though.

WP

BK '97 '98

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The Blue Devils won their first regional by 0.5. If history says anything, it's that this score does not bode well for the Devils. I do not see the Devils going the distance. The Cavaliers program is too strong musically and visually, only has yet to come to fruition. Any thoughts?

I agree that Devs will peak early, but it won't be the Cavaliers catching them (music book is too weak, in my opinion)....Devs are clean, but I find the music book choppy and not nearly as musical as Phantom or Crown. Phantom just beat Devs across the board in each music caption(as I said they would earlier) last night, and once their marching execution catches up....game, set, and match......the whole margin was visual, and even with that they sliced the lead considerably in just 2 days. I don't see Cavs any higher than 3rd with their brass book.....don't count out Crown, either, as they do have a very strong product that could win........for a long time, we have had many "cast in iron big-three years".....BD, Cavs, Cadets......but I believe the mold will be shattered this year...........

GB

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I agree that Devs will peak early, but it won't be the Cavaliers catching them (music book is too weak, in my opinion)....Devs are clean, but I find the music book choppy and not nearly as musical as Phantom or Crown. Phantom just beat Devs across the board in each music caption(as I said they would earlier) last night, and once their marching execution catches up....game, set, and match......the whole margin was visual, and even with that they sliced the lead considerably in just 2 days. I don't see Cavs any higher than 3rd with their brass book.....don't count out Crown, either, as they do have a very strong product that could win........for a long time, we have had many "cast in iron big-three years".....BD, Cavs, Cadets......but I believe the mold will be shattered this year...........

GB

I thought I'd take a stab at these two statements...

I don't see this show "peaking" until Finals. They have layered in so many things at once that I feel it will take them to the end of the year to fully parse out what they are going to do from both a content and execution standpoint.

I don't put much stock in Phantom beating Blue Devils across the board in all the Music captions (though congrats to Phantom for accomplishing that). They won each subcaption by no more than .2, which means the judges only gave them a slight nod as the better-performing corps. Let's not make this out like Phantom dominated them (i.e. a half-point or more). I can conceivably see these corps trading wins in the music captions the remainder of the year. I see extreme strengths and weaknesses in BOTH programs this year, and they have proven that on any given night the outcome can be altered by small measures.

As for the "cast in iron big-three years", I wouldn't say that we've had those for a "long time". Sure 99-03 and 07 was those three as the big 3. 04 saw Cavaliers/BD/SCV, 05 saw Cadets/Cavaliers/Phantom, 06 saw Cavaliers/Phantom/BD. Prior to 99, 98 was Cadets/SCV/BD, 97 was BD/Cadets/SCV, 96 was BD/Phantom/Cadets, 95 was the big three you mention, and then from 94 and further back those three were NEVER in the top 3 together.

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Blue Knights- I have to admit that I was worried about them going last after BD and knowing that BD was going to win, but my former team blew my socks off!!! They (hornline) filled the stadium with sound and had amazing energy!!! (Great job Andy and staff) My wife an I agree that this show is intellectual, but not unapproachable as it has been described by others. We absolutely love the music!!! This is such a young corps that is kicking serious butt!!! Do they deserve to be in the 80's? YES, BIG TIME!!! This not to say that they don't have much to clean, but this is the hardest music/visual show I have ever see BK perform. The music is very exposed and they were the most musical group of the night!! No kidding. The dynamic contrast was very evident and the mood and the corps sells the theme well. Robbie Billings has written the most amazing difficult drill I have seen and they are performing it well. Visually the ensemble vis still needs cleaning in the rotations, but they look the best of any of the BK corps in recent past at selling their marching style!!! I love this show and the members are portraying major confidence and they should!!! When it is said and done they are hungry and selling their product, I only see this show going higher and believe they can beat SCV. Have not seen BAC or Bluecoats, but it is going to be fun!!! Would have put them above an 81! Way to go BK REMAIN EVIL BABY!!!

In conclusion this was a great way to end my vacation and my wife and I had a lot of fun. Life has come full circle now and I have two former students in the BK Mello section and was so happy to be there to see them perform. This was the first time my wife and I had been back to Drums since we marched in '97 and '98 and it was worth it!!! Can't wait to see all the corps at SA this weekend!! Gonna be a great show!!!

Wes Perkins

BK '97 '98

Kicking butt? Who's butt are they kicking? Not Cavies, BD, Cadets, Phantom, Crown, Bluecoats or SCV.

The most amazing difficult drill? Yeah right, that's all everybody has been talking about all summer. If that was true BK should place no less than 3rd after it is all said and done. Yeah, that drill is better than Zingali or Brubaker or Gaines has ever put on a field.

Fact: Rob Billings has never defeated SCV head to head as a drill writer for BK. Look it up and ask him yourself. He has shared this with the kids for many years.

I have no problem with alumni supporting and rooting for their corps, but this goes beyond reality. I can respect some of the other alumni who have been on here, but will call a spade a spade where they see fit such as laurakemb Mnm, Keith and Traveller30 and not look at their corps thru rose colored glasses or in this case, blue.

I noticed you commented on June 24th here about, "What is so terrible about being 7th-11th place?" in the BK design thread but in last year's San Antonio review you made the comment you would like BK to rule the world. And to predict last year that BK would end catching up beating Crown was something a lot of folks knew had no chance of happening and then slowly backtracked in the San Antonio review on what a great show in fact Crown did have.

I can appreciate folks being so rah rah about their corps, but as far as I can go back on these threads, I have yet to see one instance where you have been either realistic or somewhat critical of their show. Everything has been incredible, wonderful, amazing and most difficult, yet the fact remains BK remains a lower tier top 12 corps and that is not an opinion. That is a fact and facts do not lie. I want to see them excel and become a top 6 corps year in and year out, but praising the staff and corps for every show they have ever done just reminds me that this activity needs less band and soccer moms cheering and seeing good in every possible action their baby performs. I'm not trying to mean and degrading (because I can definitely be that) but why don't you see everybody perform live at least a couple of times before making such predictions. It is embarassing to myself as a Bk friend, fan and huge supporter to have read these unrealistic reviews of the corps. They have some issues percussion wise and marching for sure. The three techs I am close with conveyed to me that these kids are not "getting it" at the speed that they would like and probably will not all summer. Just part of the huge turnover and growing pains that they will have to endure which every corps goes thru at one time or another.

Now TexasPRfan's review was much more realistic of what I have heard from many folks around the country and I have been to 9 shows this summer thruout the midwest and I ask a lot of folks what their impressions were not letting myself on as a BK fan. I want to hear the truth from them and no suger coating.

Edited by bstar82
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The Blue Devils won their first regional by 0.5. If history says anything, it's that this score does not bode well for the Devils. I do not see the Devils going the distance. The Cavaliers program is too strong musically and visually, only has yet to come to fruition. Any thoughts?

BD has a ton more to add and clean at this point in the season than I can remember in a long time. All the talk about BD peaking early is pretty funny because they're not even close to having design or performance running at all cylinders. As they add and tweak, I think we'll see their music performance and GE scores fluctuate, and Phantom is so good musically, it'll probably be close for awhile.

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Thanks for the review!

On a side note, Vanguard recently re-wrote (music, drill) their closer, so that should help them quite a bit. They've added the Vanguard yell and the cymbal "V" as well. :thumbup:

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Kicking butt? Who's butt are they kicking? Not Cavies, BD, Cadets, Phantom, Crown, Bluecoats or SCV.

The most amazing difficult drill? Yeah right, that's all everybody has been talking about all summer. If that was true BK should place no less than 3rd after it is all said and done. Yeah, that drill is better than Zingali or Brubaker or Gaines has ever put on a field.

Fact: Rob Billings has never defeated SCV head to head as a drill writer for BK. Look it up and ask him yourself. He has shared this with the kids for many years.

I have no problem with alumni supporting and rooting for their corps, but this goes beyond reality. I can respect some of the other alumni who have been on here, but will call a spade a spade where they see fit such as laurakemb Mnm, Keith and Traveller30 and not look at their corps thru rose colored glasses or in this case, blue.

I noticed you commented on June 24th here about, "What is so terrible about being 7th-11th place?" in the BK design thread but in last year's San Antonio review you made the comment you would like BK to rule the world. And to predict last year that BK would end catching up beating Crown was something a lot of folks knew had no chance of happening and then slowly backtracked in the San Antonio review on what a great show in fact Crown did have.

I can appreciate folks being so rah rah about their corps, but as far as I can go back on these threads, I have yet to see one instance where you have been either realistic or somewhat critical of their show. Everything has been incredible, wonderful, amazing and most difficult, yet the fact remains BK remains a lower tier top 12 corps and that is not an opinion. That is a fact and facts do not lie. I want to see them excel and become a top 6 corps year in and year out, but praising the staff and corps for every show they have ever done just reminds me that this activity needs less band and soccer moms cheering and seeing good in every possible action their baby performs. I'm not trying to mean and degrading (because I can definitely be that) but why don't you see everybody perform live at least a couple of times before making such predictions. It is embarassing to myself as a Bk friend, fan and huge supporter to have read these unrealistic reviews of the corps. They have some issues percussion wise and marching for sure. The three techs I am close with conveyed to me that these kids are not "getting it" at the speed that they would like and probably will not all summer. Just part of the huge turnover and growing pains that they will have to endure which every corps goes thru at one time or another.

Now TexasPRfan's review was much more realistic of what I have heard from many folks around the country and I have been to 9 shows this summer thruout the midwest and I ask a lot of folks what their impressions were not letting myself on as a BK fan. I want to hear the truth from them and no suger coating.

Well excuse me for being positive and liking the Knights!!! I did not know I was such an offensive guy. Last time I checked and I do often, I did not like the direction in 2001 because many of those that went through that difficult season were my friends that I marched with!! Please read my review again, while it may be a lofty goal for them to beat SCV, Bluecoats etc... it is not out of the question. Remember that they trailed Crown in '06 for the entire summer, BAC in '05 for the entire summer and Crossmen in '04 for the entire summer before beating them in the end!!! I never said Robbie's design was superior to any corps, I just said that this is the best design I have seen drill/choreography wise since the great one of 2000. What in the world gives you the right to try and belittle my sense of how I write or what I believe in? Last time I checked I am a musician not a soccer mom that has been teaching for almost a decade. Due to my "irresponsible" teachings I managed to have great success as head of a Texas 5A brass program and have had many students go on to march, be music majors, and march drum corps. I am passionate and I care about the Blue Knights. I honestly believe in their direction and the way in which it is written. You don't think Madison (last few years), Colts, Academy Troopers etc... wouldn't like to have the success they have had the past 5 years and be where BK is today? I truly believe it is a privelidge to be a top 12 corps and think it is degrading to see it as any other thing. BK has no feeder corps like BD or SCV and don't have the coasts to draw from like many groups yet they still have pulled in consistent talent. This is a huge turnover year and I am excited to see how well this young talent is performing. Is that wrong? Am I a terrible person for believing in the corps? Harvey's Reviews are always great and I enjoy them too. If you don't like me or mine then that's fine, but I thought you really crossed the line. I am entitled to my opinion even if you don't like it. So enjoy your season and remember that what I am writing about is how proud I am of the kids, not for my own personal glory!!!

Wes Perkins

BK '97 '98

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