Another Kingston review

[topsops]

Great show....couldn't have been better. With the exceptions of missing corps.

Sunrisers...better then I thought they would be. Glad to see them out there. Keep up the hard work kids.

Carolina ..... really cool show. More like a Jr. show show not DCA. Guard was a surprise, nice work.

Empire.....surprised to see them on so early, what happened here? If they had gone on much later, there would have been a bigger spread.

Award for most entertaining and most crowd reaction! WOW, instantaneous ovations for the audience as a whole. Joe P. is a fantastic horn player no doubt.

The picture of the women as a prop started to 'bleed' during the third number and I almost missed it, but wow, the crowd that saw it loved it. Watch for this at DCA. Guard was great, but to be expected from Empire. Hornline could have been louder in spots, but overall fantastic. Easily 1st place tonight.

Bushwackers.....only saw from behind, so I couldn't be fair with any judgement.

Skyliners.....same....sorry guys but I had to socialize.

Buccaneers....whew who.....now that's a Buccaneer show. GREAT show. Crowd loved it too. Second best crowd reaction, and well deserved. I was VERY impressed with this show. At one point (ballad) the drum line is spread out from 10 yrd line to 10 yrd line in the back of the field. They don't play here, but they become part of the whole picture....wonderful to see. I can't wait to see this again. Most folks I talked to before retreat had them in 2nd. So did I. Scores are close, but they shoudl have been second.

Kingston Grennies.....I missed because....well, no excuse....I was out of my seat.

Brigadiers.....another great show. Can't help this, but the guard is their hi-lite!! They end the show with so much enthusiasm it put the other guard to shame. Great work folks. Trophy for guard should have been here with Empire next, then Cabs and Buccs. Anyway, I didn't like this show as much as previous years. Music didn't 'grab' me as it probably should have. But it was clean for what they were doing. Nice show Brigs .....I had them behind Buccs for 3rd.....and close to Cabs for 4th.

Cabs....good show. Great guard. Any other year this 'could' be the number one show, but NOT this year. Sorry, I love you guys, but the Alumni is more exciting to listen to. I do have to say though, the mellos have such a GREAT lick in the beginning and play with confidence.

Can't say Cabs aren't 'ready' yet, they were awesome, just IMO were 4th.

Surprise of my night....Corps Vets......I liked them. I like most of their music. Great entertaining show. Not up to par with the big-gun corps, but they still get the crowd going. Soloist wasn't pleased with his performence, but he should not worry. He did not bring the score down. Your corp made a nice impression on the audience. Of course "When a Man Loves a Women" was going to be a hit....well, it sure was. They must like this song because they really played this out well.

Guard uniforms gotta go....ugh....they take away from their show. But....the guard was VERY entertaining. Very impressive in my book. Some wild throws from a guard I didn't expect to see do anything great. One of my favorite guards of the night!! Can't wait to see this show again!!

Hurricanes.....saw them from the side....sorry. Not a bad show. Of course the crowd loves the old time stuff, as well as I. Okay job, they just have such a dead spot during drum solo when the horns dissappear behind the props. WHY? this must hurt the visual.

Dissappointed with a couple placements, but overall, the most entertaining year for DCA. Maybe I'm wrong and the top 4 corps should be tied for first...they are each very unique and crowd pleasers. Can't wait to throw in Minn and Renegades.

It's late....sorry for the choppy review.

[RayH]

Not a bad review! Thanks.