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Anyone catch the BK/Trooper Preview yesterday


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I talked to a few people yesterday online that said that both corps are amazing. One said that Troopers are the best they've been in a long long time and I've heard from people on the BK front that this show is a big force to be reckoned (sorry spelling?) with.... Just curious if anyone on here went to see the groups yesterday and would like to share some thoughts for those of us that can't go to the mountains to see corps... :tongue: I wish I could...

Wes P

BK'97 '98

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I really enjoyed both of the DCI corps at the event.

Troopers looked large, and that was confirmed by Fred Morris, who said that it's the largest Troopers ever. Color guard was dirty, but much more effective than they've been in past years. Drums were on par with last year's line, maybe a touch better. I was really impressed with their brass. Heard some individuals, and like any performance this time of year, there was dirt, but their overall sound is loud and biting. They've got some problems with the marching technique, but plenty of time to work that out.

Show concept was really clever. The mix between classic Troopers-style programming and West Side Story came off very well. I especially enjoyed fusing Rumble from WSS and the gun fight from Billy the Kid.

This is as good as I've seen Troop at this time of year since I started watching drum corps in '96. I expect some good things from them. I'm sure finals will be as (if not more) competitive to get into as last year, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't have a chance.

As for BK, I was quite impressed. Programming (and from what I could tell at a low vantage point, the drill) are much more effective than they traditionally are out of BK, without losing sophistication or the unique qualities that Blue Knights generally have. This is the best marching Blue Knights that I've seen in years, and I think the simplification of the technique is a big reason. There's still some body movement in the corps, but it's much less emphasized than in years past. Color guard looked GOOD (both from a performance standpoint and the costuming), drum line is miles better than this time last year (save for the encore pieces, which were laughable) and the brass sounds on par or better (at least to me) to what they were doing a year ago, as well.

I had been hearing good things from friends on staff, and was thrilled to finally see it in person. There's no reason why this can't be the best Blue Knights corps to date, and I mean that wholeheartedly. As I look back on what I consider to be the best BK corps (1999, 2000, 2006) I think this corps has the ability to top all of them in every way (save for 2000's percussion line). Who knows how that will translate in placement, and obviously that has as much to do with everyone else as it does this corps, but I can honestly say that it's gearing up to be my favorite BK production ever, especially coming off what I considered to be a disappointing show last year. I was on the fence on whether I'd be traveling to Indy, but now I've got to do it.

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VERY Happy to read that! I think its great that there are now two strong World Class Corps out of our region. Lets see how things pan out this season. But I think it's safe to say that the Rocky Mountain Region will be well represented this year. :tongue:

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Very glad to hear that about BK. I'm really looking forward to seeing them live.

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I'm going to be at Drums Along the Rockies this year. I'm pretty excited to see BK and the Troopers. BK seems like they have a good show theme this year that could turn out to be a very good show. It is nice to the see the Troopers coming back after being pushed to the brink a couple years ago. Here's hoping the BK has their best year ever.

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I really enjoyed both of the DCI corps at the event.

Troopers looked large, and that was confirmed by Fred Morris, who said that it's the largest Troopers ever. Color guard was dirty, but much more effective than they've been in past years. Drums were on par with last year's line, maybe a touch better. I was really impressed with their brass. Heard some individuals, and like any performance this time of year, there was dirt, but their overall sound is loud and biting. They've got some problems with the marching technique, but plenty of time to work that out.

Show concept was really clever. The mix between classic Troopers-style programming and West Side Story came off very well. I especially enjoyed fusing Rumble from WSS and the gun fight from Billy the Kid.

This is as good as I've seen Troop at this time of year since I started watching drum corps in '96. I expect some good things from them. I'm sure finals will be as (if not more) competitive to get into as last year, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't have a chance.

I'm a Trooper mark (step one of the 12 step program) and I was over at their message board where it was mentioned that the Troopers guard had a unique outfit this year. Could you comment or give your impressions?

Thank you.

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I'm a Trooper mark (step one of the 12 step program) and I was over at their message board where it was mentioned that the Troopers guard had a unique outfit this year. Could you comment or give your impressions?

Thank you.

Yeah... they are unique. I'm not crazy about them, myself, but they do fit the "Cowboys and Indians" nature of the show. They're based off of Native American clothing (perhaps in bit of a characturized way), and have fringe and warm colors, but with a twist.

They're very much modern colorguard costumes inspired by what you'd see in like Disney's Pocahontas, for instance.

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It's been said before, but I'll say it again: their new uni's are too... solid. At least a stripe down the leg or something to give a bit of definition, although if they went back to the gray pants it would be even better.

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