Akron, OH show, July 9!

[skimannc1]

Congrats Bluecoats. I just hope this is a repeat of several of the last few years where Coats came out very strong and knocked off the eventual champion. Too early to tell but great show tonight.

Kevin your right this stadium should hold a regional.

[steeldrum]

I went to the show last night and have just a minute of internet time to post a few observations.

1) One of the best stadiums I've been to for drum corps. 2nd the nomination for a regional major. The only problem was crowd looked small in such a large stadium.

2) The crowd sat on their hands most of the night. Not many standing O's.

3) Missed Spirit but they sounded great in warm up.

4) Madison was exciting but seemed to lack that extra punch of sound I was hoping for. They overuse the low end synth, which I don't understand with 20 tubas. Watching them I kinda felt like I was watching a cover band of a great rock band. Sounds like them, looks like them, but just not quite them.

5) Only chills of the night for me was produced by the music of Phantom, absolutely beautiful music. And that drumline deserves all of the high scores its getting. Both the battery and the pit execute a very difficult book at a very high level.

6) I enjoyed Crowns show but they clearly were hurting with the two snares out. But that hornline produces an amazing balanced sound. I believe they have a new ending from what I saw earlier on FAN network. I look for them to fix the snare issue and get back to the top.

7) Most surprised by Cavaliers, loved their show, a very fan friendly show. And their hornline was very loud compared to what I expected based on early season reports about them being subdued.

8) I was suspecting early season over-hyping for the Bluecoats, thinking their fans had taken over DCP. But I gotta tell you, they are for real and will contend for the title. A clear winner for me tonight. Their show is stunningly good. The hornline and the drumline both play extremely well and in balance, and the guard is fantastic (coming from a percussionist!).

Oh I forgot Boston, they have a great show too. Very loud hornline and the drumline is not that far behind the other lines. Give them some time, I watched them in the lots and they play very well.

One other quick note. Dropped by Phantom's practice earlier in the day. They were practicing in pouring rain, great dedication. I also noticed there were 14 tubas practicing in a sectional, but they only marched 9 in the show. I guess they're still trying to work the late arrivals into the show, looking forward to seeing the others added in.

Now off to drive to Kalamazoo.......

[theCHEZman]

I'm just curious; do you think Crown is getting tired of hearing how they look like and remind everyone of Star? With that being said percussion is an issue for Crown they are already sitting behind Cadets, PR, Bluecoats, and BD. It is always difficult to loose someone (don't care what section) this late into the season.

Irving

Fan of the Arts

Hey, that's life in the big leagues. Now they can almost understand the abuse CADETS and BD's get all the time. A true champion overcomes all the

drumcorps obstacles, injuries, broken down food trucks, roque judges etc. and shows up finals week all clean, rested and ready to claim it all. That's

the life lessons one should be taking home after their drum corps days have faded.

[chadwick]

LOVE the recaps!! I read those on DCI.org first before coming over to DCP and my first thought was oh boy, those judges just poked an ant hill (DCP) with a stick and stirred up all kinds of commotion!

I am excited for the Bluecoats tonight. I just had this feeling way back during the Classic show at the theater when they highlighted the Bluecoats camp that they had something special this year...it just sounded incredible. I hope Crown can kick it back up and that their drumline can recover from what is surely a challenging thing emotionally.

Sure turning out to be one exciting season! I just hope when east meets west it remains this way.

[bluecoats88]

Many people are attributing Bluecoats win to being in Ohio....my question is....aren't A LOT of the Bluecoats from Texas? It would be very interesting to know the actual amount of members that are from Ohio...let alone the Akron region. My guess would be maybe 30-40 at the most would even be from Ohio. I personally don't buy the "home show" boost. Lets all just face the fact that at TONIGHTS show Bluecoats were the best! CONGRATS BLOOOOOOO!

hey it just means that Crown's victory at their first beat show earlier this year wasn't a real victory either since it was their home show and all.

[emc2]

Gezzy chreeezy! <$1.00 to Eddie Izzard> Touchy much?

OK, what I said was in no means a slam on the Bluecoats or in support of Crown. If you took that way, sorry. And no where inmy post did I say Bluecoats fans couldn't be happy. I mean... I'm a Bluecoats fan! I was merely asking a question. How can you call someone a front runner after 1 win? My Giants started the year off at 5-0. Front runners, right? Where are they now? 3 games above .500, 5 games out and in 4th place. As I said, with the Bluecoats win tonight, it just mixes it up more which makes for a better season, right? Anyway, wouldn't BD be considered the front runner since they haven't lost?

We'll know more after the west coast corps start mixing in.

And my celtics were 4th seed and almost pulled it off. free throws were the difference.

[corpsband]

Hey, that's life in the big leagues. Now they can almost understand the abuse CADETS and BD's get all the time. A true champion overcomes all the drumcorps obstacles, injuries, broken down food trucks, roque judges etc. and shows up finals week all clean, rested and ready to claim it all. That's the life lessons one should be taking home after their drum corps days have faded.

This is such a farce. DCP'rs heap abuse on Crown and then say "see how it is at the top". It literally makes me LOL. It's not like there's some uncontrollable force of nature creating all that abuse -- it the same 'ol people doing it :) But its all good and I'm not complaining.

As for all those "lessons", I think every drumcorps on the road has to deal will all those things. Its nothing special or different for Crown , Cadets, or Pac Crest and Academy. *ALL* drumcorps deal with all those things on tour. How you deal with them is part of the what makes drumcorps a valuable experience for the members.

[ScribeToo]

A true champion overcomes all the drumcorps obstacles, injuries, broken down food trucks, roque judges etc. and shows up finals week all clean, rested and ready to claim it all. That's the life lessons one should be taking home after their drum corps days have faded.

This is such a farce. DCP'rs heap abuse on Crown and then say "see how it is at the top". It literally makes me LOL. It's not like there's some uncontrollable force of nature creating all that abuse -- it the same 'ol people doing it :) But its all good and I'm not complaining.

As for all those "lessons", I think every drumcorps on the road has to deal will all those things. Its nothing special or different for Crown , Cadets, or Pac Crest and Academy. *ALL* drumcorps deal with all those things on tour. How you deal with them is part of the what makes drumcorps a valuable experience for the members.

I think you and the poster you quoted are making the same point.

[victorcoly]

Great venue! Great line-up! I agree with the folks saying Univ of Akron should hold a regional.

Congrats Bluecoats on not only winning the show, but also resurrecting the "Innovations in Brass" brand name!!!

[corpsband]

I think you and the poster you quoted are making the same point.

Except that I posit that *all* drumcorps go through this and the OP tied it to those at the top.