Machine Posted June 21, 2003 Share Posted June 21, 2003 I got an email from Phantom staffer (who won't be joining them on tour until mid-July) who was interested in a more detailed description of what Phantom Regiment's show looks like this year. I'm sure there are others that are interested as well so I will post this for everyone! I am armed with video I took at their rehearsal yesterday, so I should be able to give some pretty good detail..... but, the descriptions you are about to read are subject to change at the whims of the staff. (.... and judges!) B) The show opens with most of the guard on the perimeter of the field, the sops are in a block on the left side (all of my descriptions will be based on the fan's perspective...), battery stationed behind them, contras kneeling down front facing backfield, and all others on the right half of the field. Sops start the show with the opening strains of Canon, along with some body movements. The melody is then passed to the mellos on the other side of the field. Guard is still doing work on the sidelines. Contras stand and face front and enter with the Buicks to add bottom end to the song. All sections are moving towards the center of the field as the melody builds until the entire corps is in the center for a huge beautiful musical moment. At this point the guard has come running off the sidelines and filled the field with silks. Think BAC '00 except with baby blue and silver. Just georgeous and those mello runs....!! What a way to open a show! Now the music subsides as the corps moves into a large block formation. Enter the pit. Very nice! After some full corps body movements to accentuate the music, the different sections start breaking into their own segments. Flags are gone and the guard is now starting to use some rifle. Not a lot, just here and there. They're painted orange so they are definitely easy to see! Wild Nights has started and it's going to be a wild ride! The sections finally reunite in a formation for the first hit of the song and a nice toss by the entire guard. There's body movement with the hit that really adds some dimension to the sound (ala Spirit & Cavies last season). The song continues from here and this is where the low brass hits you in the chest. Being right down front really helps! The music is cookin' and so is the corps. The formation breaks and there is a lot of contrary motion culminating in a block that moves across the field causing the rotation of a couple of line elements attached to it. The result is another block that then rotates once more before collapsing into a company front for another big hit, plus a super 6 by the entire guard on rifle. Nice! Then there's a ripple effect down the company front which initiates a free form to the next set. The corps expands to a large circle with the guard complimenting that circle with some very nice flag work. In the center of the field the percussion takes over with their first drum solo. Some nice work being done here.... probably one of the best lines I've heard from them in some time (throw in standard "I'm a brass player so I may be smoking crack" disclaimer here...). As the percussion finishes up, the corps moves back into sectional blocks for more Wild Nights mayhem. The blocks all come together in a big block on the center/right half of the field and does some fast pass through/toilet bowl moves as the color guard occupies the left half of the field for more big silk work. The song is really kicking into overdrive and the corps is definitely protraying that! The pass through/toilet bowl is then broken up by the percussion block that literally runs into it and forces freeform in it's wake. The block reforms behind them and then collapses into a company front for the last big hit of the song. Cymbals crash and the company front breaks. The music takes a much quieter turn as the corps starts spreading the field, ultimately going 20-20 if not more in preparation for the ballad. Whew! We're only half way home!! The Lord's Prayer is a beautiful piece of music. It starts out with the low voices on the melody as the color guard starts using sabres and long white poles. The corps stays spread over the whole field for the entire piece, just changing what the formation looks like. The upper brass joins in with the low brass as the music builds to it's first "climax". This occurs with the color guard having made their way all the way from the back of the field to the front sideline. After a short quiet spell, the music builds again as the hornline moves into a giant arc. The corps is now playing the melody at full tilt as the color guard breaks the into pairs for some team work, while the corps resolves and dissolves and resolves once again an arc formation. As the corps starts moving into resolution mode (and upping the volume) the arc dissolves once again and the guard move back up front with their original equipment and the corps backs into their final formation of the song. The volume picks up on the final chords and the girls up front bring resolution by bringing their arms up sequentially, starting on the right side and working left so that the last girl arrives at her spot with her arm up as the chord breaks off. Now that we have had our tears jerked, it's time to scare them back in with Ostinato. If there was ever anything that Bartok was good for it was for scaring the bejesus out of people! Mike Micelli (of PR's "Mike's Memoirs") mentioned in one of his early journal entries that he "joined Phantom Regiment 'cause they scared (him) when (he) saw them perform." I think they'll get a boat load of recruits after this piece! The corps immediately portrays the crispness of the music with some body movement before breaking into sectionals on the left and right sides of the field. The color guard is occupying the middle and the outer edges with sabres and flags respectively. The Buicks are the first to start in on the melody line and handle it aggressively. Perfect for this song! It then gets passed to the sops for an even more aggressive pass at the melody line. The sectional blocks are rotating and moving before the sops and mellos go into a dual leading up to the first hit of the song. After about 2 million notes the hit is there and the corps somehow had transformed itself from a bunch of sectional blocks to one continuous form with the battery in the middle. Perfect, because it's time for the second percussion feature. The horns and guard expand to give the battery room to do their job. Once again, some nice drumming and even a little stick flair by the basses. You will not, however, see the classic Phantom snare solo. Good, bad or indifferent? Does it really matter? While they were doing their thing, the rest of the corps was turning the large circular/oval shape into a bunch of lines all radial with respect to the center of the original form (also where the percussion section is currently throwing down!). The forms are then rotated perpendicular to the front sideline just before they all head to the front of the field. The battery rotates in segments to allow them to get through. Then all #### breaks loose! A lot of pass throughs lead up to a big pie wedge and the huge recapitulation of Canon. The pie wedge then collapses on itself throughout this huge musical moment resulting in another wedge although this more closely resembles an isosceles triangle (or a pyramid, whichever makes more sense to you), all the while being backed by the entire colorguard on yellow silks. The musical hit resolves in this formation at which point the pit picks up to segue to the final push. As it does so, the corps brings the wedge forward and then across the field before doing a 360 degree snap turn that triggers a peel off and the final push by the horn section! This leads to a huge hit and a company front that immediately turns into about a dozen rotating units that ultimately turn the front into a huge block along the front sideline. That was of course the band ending, but since this is drum corps, they continue the horn push, split the block in the center pull them into each other and then collapse the form so that they are all extremely tightly spaced at midfield for the cut-off. Oh yeah, there was a kick out on the last step to... Had enough yet? b**bs b**bs b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryce's Dad Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Good description... you left out one thing though: the crowd's response.... it goes something like this: b**bs WOOOHOOOO!!!! b**bs AHHHHHH!!!!! b**bs b**bs ^OO^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted June 22, 2003 Share Posted June 22, 2003 Had enough yet? b**bs b**bs b**bs It sounds like we may not be able to get enough... Well described. Thank you for allowing me to imagine now what I won't get to see for another month or so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasPRfan Posted June 23, 2003 Share Posted June 23, 2003 Thanks so much for all the time this took. I hate that I don't get to see them until mid-July, and this was the next best thing!!! GO Regiment, ROCK THE HOUSE!!! Harvey Phelps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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