A Quick Harrison Review

[GmenBari78]

Here's a quick few-lines-per-corps review of the show. My first show this year, so based on first impressions, no show history embedded here. In order of appearance:

Scenic City - great start for this small group. You can tell they are giving it there all out there. Looks like they have more work to finish on the drill. I think once they learn the drill fully and get comfortable with it and the music together, they will look and sound nice!

Dimensions - I really liked this small corps from Michigan. They are executing well and have a great show. I hope they grow and do well, we need corps in Michigan!

Capital Regiment - the first div I corps of the night, they put on a nice show that centers around Dvorak's New World Symphony. Lots of cleaning to do in the show, but once done they will be in the running for semi-finalist again.

Madison Scouts - I was all nervous hoping everybody so far was right about the Scouts being back. Guess what, everybody's right! They are back! I was hoping also that they would be moving up in score tonight, but I have no doubt they will soon. (can you tell I'm a Scouts fan?)

Bluecoats - for first night out these folks did an awesome job. They looked very polished for early season, not to say they did not have some ticks, but looking good for early. The show did not have a big impact on me, but it was enjoyable and it was good solid drum corps!

Phantom Regiment - all I can say is WOW. Those horns! I mean, were those really Bb horns? My prejudice just got blown away on that item. Not to take away from PR horn line, they used them to great affect. This is an awesome show, definitely a top 3 or 4 as far as I am concerned.

Glassmen - they continue in the realm of nice, easy listening type of shows, subtle sophistication. Not to my liking however, not in your face enough. They have a lot of cleaning to do, and need to crank the volume up. Enjoyable show, certainly a difficult show to execute, but done well.

Marion Glory Cadets - I had a hard time getting into their show last year, but this year's is more accessible. A great start for this small corps. They had a difficult act to follow, going on after Glassmen, but they did a great job.

Good luck to all these corps, have a great season!

[GmenBari78]

Oops, I posted too fast, I wanted to say a few things about the venue -

Better run and better organized that last year, kudos to the show organizers.

Last year we had the one guy in the ultralight/parasail thingie, this year we had two, buzzing the stands. Mostly affected the small corps - was a significant distraction for me.

Thankfully the rain held off. I was worried with the flooding we had here last weekend that the field would be a soggy mess, but thankfully we had a day to dry out.

Retreat was majors only - I was disappointed, wanted to see PR do an encore. I didn't stick around, did I miss anything?

[Machine]

Thanks for the review! Personally, I found Glassmen to be one of the loudest corps I've seen this year. Maybe they've toned it down a bit...

[flyboy]

Maybe it's just because they were after PR, who is very loud right now. When I have seen the Glassmen this year, they have been fairly loud.

[BTBeck1]

I'll add my quick review as well.

I loved madison's show! However i thought they were holding back a bit, the hornline certainly wasnt as loud as i had expected, especialy since they are still on G-Bugles. Perhaps the fact that the audience was a little tame, and that the female anouncer was more boring than all of Glassmens shows combined. A very enjoyable show non the less.

I was quite impressed with Bluecoats. The drill is pretty clean and the hornline sounds good. Enjoyable musical program but I didnt find it incredibly exciting, perhaps it was just a little 'first show jitters'. They certainly have the potential to move up the ranks this year.

Phantom is definetly one of my favoirtes this year. They have one of the most musical books that i have ever seen. I think they have the potential to repeat 96. As clean as the look and sound now, i just hope they dont peak too soon.

This is by far the most exciting and entertaining Glassmen show in recent years. They just need to clean it up. They've made a couple of changes since Toledo. I'm hoping they lay off the changes for a while and focus on cleaning the drill and music. They have a lot of young members this year so they will have to put up quite a fight to stay in the game.

[IMcomguy]

I loved madison's show! However i thought they were holding back a bit, the hornline certainly wasnt as loud as i had expected, especialy since they are still on G-Bugles.

Whoa whoa whoa. There are certain G-Bugles out there that can outblow (notice outblow, not outplay) Bb hornlines, times 3! Some of the original power-packing horns out there, DEG's included, :sshh:, were designed for volume. Sure, most of them sound like crap run over twice, but the volume and "WOW" factor is still there.

With that being said, Madison is doing a %#$@ of a job so far with G bugles, and hopefully can prove to some people that control and balance IS indeed possible without multi-key instrumentation. I've been on the G bandwagon for years, and never agreed with the multi-keyed horn addition in the first place. But last night in Harrison, Ohio... boy was I ever proved wrong! All I can say is jeebers Phantom was ON. It was like Finals 1996 all over again, but even more so. They threw it down last night, and the emotion is there this year like none other. Both Madison and Phantom have done their homework, and it's going to be a dead heat by August.

Cheers.