On a positive note....

[RickCogley]

If it were on vinyl, it would be surely worn out by all the replaying. Great show! Great solos!

NR_OhioBando - "Triplet Fanfare" in the closing statement - yeah, I love that too. Thanks for giving me a way to describe it.

[festive]

JD's a tremendous brass arranger. There were many wonderful moments in the show from that perspective, and the horn line did a very capable job with a complex horn chart. And the drum line played another great book, which fits nicely among their recent work over the past several years, and did so with panache and clarity. More right than wrong, musically!

It's going on the iPod. With good reason!

[Junior]

I'm sorry, really, but I'm not sure how BAC and Blue Stars and what they accomplished is particularly relevant to a discussion or appreciation of what Regiment accomplished this summer. If you are talking about how the judges ranked them, yep, the judges agree with you. But the judges' opinions have very little to do with whether or not I'll listen to the show now or whether the members did their best with the product and were "successful". Being 9th takes absolutely nothing away from you, unless you live for judges and their rankings. And I've never known any Regiment corps to live primarily for judges or rankings (including the ones that have won). Mostly, you march Regiment because you want to march Regiment. If the corps happens to do well with the judges, then fantastic! But it's more about being the best Regiment corps possible, with the show and the members you have.

And so, 2009 is a success--perhaps a more difficult kind of life lesson than last year's competitive success with Spartacus, but nevertheless a summer with much one can draw on. Mostly, I would think, about deciding what really matters to you, and reaching down when you feel like you have nothing left to give and putting out your best effort--giving the crowd something to embrace. Design issues or not. And the crowd agreed, for the most part--certainly no shortage of applause or cheers in Indy. As for the scores and the Miley Cyrus Disneyfied retreat in that tin can of a stadium, I didn't stick around, so have fun discussing the scores, I guess.

Well stated. I concur!!

[NYCFan]

Giving Phantom some love!!!

This year I have read many posts about the Phantom Regiment that were not the most positive along with being bashed for some of their challenges this season. Despite, all of what I have read, I had the opportunity to see Phantom Regiment (many times) as their show evolved over this short competitive season. Most recently at the DCI Championships in Indianapolis. Yes- you performed well as the crowd responded favorably each evening.

To the young adults of the Phantom Regiment, THANK YOU very much for a great season!! With some of the challenges you faced, they were handled professionally on the field as you performed as a championship corps should. Indeed- your hard work and tirelses work ethic paid off. Please be proud of your accomplishments as you reflect and transition into 2010.

Yes- I have been a fan for many years and will continue to be.

Irregardless of what place it is, you will always be one of my favorite corps.

Again, CONGRATULATIONS on a great season! Rock on Phantom!!

I initially saw the show in Bloomington, in June. Immediate goosebumps, and I walked straight out to the suvie and bought the tour shirt (best shirt of the year, by far!). Saw it many times over the next 6-7 weeks, as it changed. Incredible horns, incredible percussion, talented guard. And a tremendous amount of work in re-doing the show.

I think they got "slotted" down too low, and couldn't break thru. I think the real lesson here is the judges having an open mind, when it comes to all corps that spend the entire summer developing the shows. I know it's hard to "view it as if for the 1st time" each show, as you'd expect them to do, but hey, are these not trained (and paid!) professionals? Aren't they supposed to be the best, judging the best?

AJMHO

[PRPhan4ever]

You know "I" wanted to be the first one to START this thread - but I am glad I waited to even jump in and post. In the DCI Review Section "TXPRPhan" wrote this, and I agree wholeheartedly with EVERY word and will add my sentiments at the bottom:

"Phantom Regiment performed like a champion in Indianapolis this weekend, with three heartfelt shows that the members put everything they had into. They also got better each night, with their best show on Saturday night. Musically, this corps never got credit for what they achieved – perhaps due to their early performance times in part. Stellar performances by those brass and drum lines. Regiment easily had my musical moment of the year with the release from the end of the ballad, with a gorgeous reverb in the stadium for several seconds. Gave me chills every time. This was, sadly, easily Phantom’s worst drill & visual design this decade, which is a huge shame. That said, this was NOT a 9th place show. If the music captions had gotten the credit they deserved, and the corps had not been dumped in GE Visual by a certain judge who tends to do that every time she has an opportunity to do so, they would have been 7th, and not far behind Bluecoats, which is where I felt they belonged. They marched a pretty darned clean show on Saturday night, as well. Easily one of my 3 favorite shows of the summer, along with Crown & SCV. This show, though, is exhibit “a” on the down side of the “Spartacus Effect.” Clearly this was a theme that seemed forced & unnecessary. The need to tell a story that was neither large or engaging sacrificed a lot of drill opportunities for staging, and even put constraints on the music book. I think the show would have been 3X better if they had just played that great music & marched a drill. I know that PR doesn’t have the financial resources of most of the other top 6 corps, but you also can’t tell me they haven’t seen their revenue spike after the last 4 seasons – in large part because of the competitive and entertainment success of 2005-2008 that was enhanced by elevating their visual design. Make the investment, Regiment. Fast."

==========================================================================

Now "I' will give my assessment of this years show. Design? They tried to play the love, loss, good vs evil again, and came up with the wrong card! It just didn't flow. One thing, the new uni's are TOO WHITE! They need different color gauntlets/sashes. PERIOD!!! The drill was sub-par compared to the others in the top 5 that is evidently clear. I am ###### to agree and resolved to believe that Regiment was, from the onset of the seawson with their first three shows... 'written off' by the judges as 'This is last years champion and this is the best they can do...." attitude, not giving the corps iteself, due credit for changing 1/2 of their show 2 weks before finals, thus producing a much better effect ay championships. Their scores, placement hardly budged in some captopns and they were never rewarded in ANY sense for accomplishing the near impossible - as they did in re-writting the show in the design/drill facets .

I am so ###### that a corps can sit, stand, pose, squat etc and play bits & pieces of familiar tunes and be labeled as 'inovative, best design, out of this world concept.... etc, etc, etc. BD won, they played great while doing very little and were rewarded for it PERIOD! I am so over it! Not bashing - stating facts that SO MANY all over this BB in various threads have pointed out!

Now to give credit where credit is due and that is THE MUSIC and the PERFORMANCE of it! Tegiment fielded THE BEST (IMHO) brass line of the top 6. Percussion was just as great - considering that PR had a lot of new faces/talent in both! The soloist ---- OUT OF THIS WORLD! The kids who marched this year? Don't be discouraged or dismayed in iota! 9th or 90th place.... you kids did what NO OTHER CORPS would have done, or could have done and that's field a crowd favorite show that will be talked about, listened to and downloaded a thousand times over, so with that I SAY

CONGRATULATIONS PHANTOM REGIMENT..................... You succeeded in doing what just everyone said you couldn't, and that's finish in the top 10 !!!

And as JD Shaw has said: "I'd rather have 30,000 people eating out of my hand than a ring anyday!"

THAT IS WHAT DRUM CORPS TRULY is.... love of perfomance and no one does it like Regiment! SUTA!

Trisha

[BRASSO]

JD's a tremendous brass arranger. There were many wonderful moments in the show from that perspective, and the horn line did a very capable job with a complex horn chart. And the drum line played another great book, which fits nicely among their recent work over the past several years, and did so with panache and clarity. More right than wrong, musically!

It's going on the iPod. With good reason!

' Agree with their placement this year...... but still dig their music, and it definately won't be my 9th pick on my 2009 DCI replays on my iPod, that's for sure.

Edited August 12, 2009 by BRASSO

[MN DCI Fan]

JD's a tremendous brass arranger. There were many wonderful moments in the show from that perspective, and the horn line did a very capable job with a complex horn chart. And the drum line played another great book, which fits nicely among their recent work over the past several years, and did so with panache and clarity. More right than wrong, musically!

It's going on the iPod. With good reason!

I agree with all of this, the bolded part in particular. I'd be very happy to arrange a horn book half as well as JD.

[PRPhan4ever]

I'd sell my very soul and what is left of this aged body to even be able to be his understudy! Much less a member of the Phamed PR hornline! I'd love to take classes from him.... but I think I'd have to relocate! Hell, it would be worth every cent!

[PRPhan4ever]

I'd sell my soul to understudy w/JD and better still, be a member of the Phamed Phantom hornline -- but alass, I'm too old, and besides, maybe I can take classes? Well, I think I'd have to relocate to NM ! Oh, hell, it would be worth every bloody cent!

[PRPhan4ever]

You kmow, i just watched BD's full show (2009) on a site left uin-named and you know -- maybe Regiment should set up their encore block in the middle of the field next year, and play all of their standards / faves and have that be their show! Hell, wouldn't be too fqar off of what won this year? And they would certainly beat the snot out of any other corps in Brass/ drums if they did~! who needs drill anyway when you can stand/sit etc and win ? Regiment has been missing the boat all along! Well, i guess they have an idea for 2010.......

But seriously, they should have had 7th.... at best! brass was just out of this world and percussion was simply awesome even though I'm a brass gal at heart & trade!