THE defining thing that won Regiment a championship!

[27thAvantCadets]

I saw the show semis and then again in finals! Amazing!!!

I think they had it won after finals.

However even if they didn't, when the two drum Majors dragged the third dead DM out to retreat did it for me!

[chaos001]

Well, I only saw the show once all season. I was in the stands finals night, the one and only night when Phantom came out first in the standings and beat every other corps, so I like to think that what made the difference was... well, me.

It may have been the two of us. My only show of the year as well. And also from Indiana. Go figure.

NOT EVEN CLOSE!

it was my 1st finals ever AND i had to drive 6 hours to see it.

me, FTW.

lol. on another note. it never hit me during their finals performance or encore just exactly how much they made me feel. it wasn't until i started driving back to the hotel that it really did. i was flipping thru a Regiment cd when i started listening to Amazing Grace...and the flood gates opened. there i was, driving down the highway...sobbing to high heaven!

officially one of the greatest moments of my life.

Edited September 19, 2008 by chaos001

[Zeke]

When that chick's head BOUNCED off of the field turf after she was murdered.

That alone was worth .025

She definitely TOOK ONE FOR THE TEAM!! I thought to myself " I wonder if she is going to need her Orbital Sockets checked". I dont think iv'e ever heard such a Collective GASP as big and loud as that night.

Edited September 19, 2008 by Zeke

[TerriTroop]

I would love to hear from some 2008 PR members about what it was like performing Spartacus for the last time on Finals night.

I've listened to the APD of this show many, many times. I constantly find myself awed by the percussion performance: amazing musicality and cleanliness highlighted by brilliant writing. Also, some have talked in the past of PR's hornline having those "ugly" moments from time to time. This time you can tell when those moments would have happened, but they managed to push it right to the edge and stay just inside that line.

But I don't think there is a single thing that catapulted them to the top. The whole package sold the show.

[Peel Paint]

She definitely TOOK ONE FOR THE TEAM!! I thought to myself " I wonder if she is going to need her Orbital Sockets checked". I dont think iv'e ever heard such a Collective GASP as big and loud as that night.

I thought, "Concussion".

Part of what made the show special was how much every performer got into and stayed in character, and all the details the designers and performers found to communicate that. You believed the slaves were slaves, you believed the soldiers were soldiers. They did it with visuals and music. Other corps have done this, e.g. Cavaliers' Machine, but I can't think of any show that has ever done it in a way that delivered so much emotional punch.

[Jeff Ream]

emotion and timing. when you get to that top level, performance is pretty close. granted, BD may be better visually and Phantom may be better musically, but that stuff usually washes out.

but Phantom was on a surge. the show took on a life of it's own, and the kids fed off of that and embraced it. it peaked at the right time, and IMO, BD peaked a week early.

[cowtown]

Yeah, I’d go with the above poster, they had a momentum swing going in their favor, you could feel it all week, can’t really say I was surprised they won – finals was basically theirs to lose, there was a major guard drop that put in a bit of doubt but that was equalized by some less than stellar music performance issues by BD.

Part of that momentum was performance order, it was a very difficult show to follow, it made me look at the shows that directly followed it a bit differently –it kind of stole other corps thunder

Then there was the issue of spats – if BD had spats, they would have won. That show screamed for spats which would have emphasized their visual even more and completed their theme – spats I tell ya

[VOReason]

If you watch closely....

At 3:45 into the show you can see a wristwatch on one of the sopranos.......

They did not even have wristwatches in Roman times.

They didn't have sopranos either....

[shawn craig]

I wasn't at finals. Saw both corps only once at Allentown which was not a head to head competititon.

My thoughts are:

Blue Devils: I felt like the design team "tried to hard" to make the show art but that it came off too contrived. I certainly enjoyed the show and appreciate the difficulty and performance level but in the end I didn't conncet to the show emotionally very much.

Phantom Regiment was art. They told an emotionally charged story of slaves standing up for themselves and giving the ultimate sacrifice through absolutely beautiful and powerful music! Yes the guard and visual componets were great also. Engaging the audience and the yelling of "I am Spartacus" and identifying with the main character was also a difining moment in the show.

Edited September 19, 2008 by shawn craig

[ajlemm]

Well, I only saw the show once all season. I was in the stands finals night, the one and only night when Phantom came out first in the standings and beat every other corps, so I like to think that what made the difference was... well, me.

Wow! This post was both deep and prescient!!!

That's what it is all about; us, and how we interpret what we see on the field.

I'll be totally honest. I saw PR in Stillwater, MN. I am a HUGE Phantom Phan, but I thought Crown was the best corps that night. Crown easily brought the crowd into something they recognized and sold their show. Regiment's show was obviously a work in progress even though they won. I had the good fortune to see Regiment again in Allentown (drove wife to New York for a conference). My son and I watched every corps both nights, and Phantom Regiment had done something that I couldn't have predicted at the beginning of the season. I was completely floored by their performance. We all know that PR has put together some of the finest classical, dramatic moments in DCI history, but that doesn't make a championship. What makes a championship is what the French call the "je ne sais quoi" or the "I don't know what". I watched the Cavaliers go up against the Blue Devils in Allentown, and to me, the Cavaliers clearly won over the crowd and the judges. The second night, I once again saw PR go up against Crown, and while Crown definitely brought the crowd to its feet, Phantom Regiment had the "je ne sais quoi". They had that extra "oomph" that is a rarity, that connection on a visceral level with the DCI Eastern Championship crowd that let you know they would be a factor in the Finals. Yes, maybe it has been done before, but it was the thing this year that no one else could match. When they were done, when they had unveiled the new beginning and ending, the crowd actually became part of the experience, and that, in my humble opinion, is what drum corps aims to do. They were the only corps this year that brought the visceral connection that is paramount to a championship performance. As Michael Boo pointed out, there have been shows that have won even though they were somewhat sterile, but in a year of such great performances, a corps needed to connect on another level. And although the judges make the final decisions, they have ears, and they themselves can sense a unique and special experience. Watching PR go second to last at finals before Blue Devils, and feeling they showed us something epic, is something I will be ecstatic if I will experience again.

Edited September 19, 2008 by ajlemm