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I was at the Sawgrass theater, in Sunrise, FL. Underwhelmed with the sound. Plenty of people complained, and I got up during VK (I have the DVD, plus there was sort of a hurry to get it done before Phantom '96) to go find a manager. When I told him that there was no surround sound on and the front speakers were pretty quiet, he said that they had plenty of complains, and had called up twice. He told me that they were getting a satellite feed and that there was no way to turn it up or put the surround sound on. At one point in the broadcast, I heard the volume go up for a few seconds, but then get lowered. I'm not too sure about this whole satellite thing, but I really was not musically blown away as I had hoped to be.

Corps was pretty well represented, about 2/3 of the theater was filled. I assume it was much more so crowded in Miami. Even though there's a theater there, we had a very large BAC majority, with Magic and Cadets people interspersed. I was told that there was a guy there who marched Madison '75, though I didn't get to meet him. Cadets '00 probably got the biggest ovation, I'd say. Pretty good fan participation, though I would have liked to see/hear more. Someone yelled "goooo Iiiiiannnn" at the beginning of Cadets 2000, and I could hear some of the BAC '00 vocals throughout the theater. I wore my Bluecoats shirt and my Magic jacket, and met up with a few (personally expected more though) people who I marched with in 2004. Overall, it was a good experience, but the sound really kept it from living up to my expectations. Without the surround sound, things like the America O' Canada just didn't really have any effect to me.

I also feel like mentioning....the gap between '80 27th and '89 SCV was really awkward. So much happened in between those two shows that wasn't covered. The spectators seemed quite ready when SCV came on; I didn't realize how fast they moved that year!

(Out of all the shows I hadn't seen before; the first 5....I liked 27th a lot.)

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Just home from Stadium 18 in Kansas City.

Our sound was o.k., I'd have turned it up a bit, but no real complaints.

Our lights didn't go out until after Anaheim (compounding the degrading image), was fine for Star, and never came on once the show was over.

quick shots on the shows-

Kingsmen really played well. A few more field markings would have helped...

Scouts were 2nd in crowd response. Loud, exciting- struck me as not all that different than from when I marched, or for that matter, the late '90s.

I'd heard '76 BD, but never seen it. I'm glad I got the chance.

I had seen '79 Spirit, but never '80. I think I liked '79 better, but this show worked for me. (weren't there 14 snares and 7 tenors in '79? I could hardly hear the measly 13 and 6 :)

Whereas Spirit did still look like the '70s, 27 was a nice bridge for the massive changes in the '80s. Especially nice to see early GZ, and then contrast with '91 Star. Those kettledrummers were GREAT!!! (I mean it!!!).

'89 SCV will always be my second favorite Phantom of the Opera. No real reason. I wish they'd shown '85 or '87 if not '88.

I wish I'd met Mr. George Zingali. Star was never my favorite (though I did like '90 better than '91), but watching that drill makes my head spin! I know it wasn't all clean, but that is only because it was impossible, and it's amazing how close to clean it actually came. That mello line will never be topped (IMO, Mike).

VK was better than I remember. I laughed out loud and cheered with everyone around me (crowd response #1). Originally I was shocked to see this show on the list, but I'm glad it was there.

Yes, Phantom's horn line was better than I remembered. Yes, '96 is a beautifully controlled and performed show. Yes, the on field battery was superfulous (IMO), but the front line is a perfect example of why we DO NOT NEED AMPLIFICATION, ESPECIALLY FOR SPECIAL EFFECT SOUNDS!!! (sorry about the yelling...) excellent effect from the 2 kettledrummers (sorry, I prefer that word over Timpani sometimes) and from all in the front ensemble.

Boston was the one show that seemed out of place to me. Just an O.K. show, adequately performed. Quietest point of the night.

Liked the Cadets better than I remember, and loved the danger factor in the first 2/3s of the show. They really didn't march most of the last four minutes, but it was so much fun to watch that I didn't care.

Liked the Cavaliers a lot. I might have prefered '95, '2000, or '2004, but maybe not. Spots of the visual program are downright REDICULOUS, but I agree with everyone who says that the music will never stand alone. Not a slam- just...MHO

All in all, an enjoyable evening. I will go again if there is a part 2 next year.

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One more thing I thought would've been cool:  if they had the pa announcer (of course I draw a blank for his name now) announce the votes like the scores at finals and if they could've shown the drum major's salutes from the retreats.  Then we could've seen the SCV drum major cry again.:P

EDIT- Now I remember!  It's Larry Crocker isn't it?!

Brandt Crocker. "Troopers, and my son Greg Crocker, you may take the field in competition." <_<

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Sound in Wisconsin started pretty quiet. It was turned up in time, kind of, for Madison. House lights were on through the Kingsmen; I forgot to bring a visor. Place was about 3/4 full. Mostly middle-aged people. Almost no kids. Popcorn was excellent. Intermission well-timed.

Someone in our group pointed out that Madison might have beat SCV tonight if SCV hadn't pulled those over-age kids from England in time...

hehehehehehe ^0^

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My 2 cents:

The theater in Marlborough, MA was filled to capacity.

Ran into a corpsmate who I hadn't seen in 25 years while standing in line for popcorn.

Ran into Shag and his son who we had lunch with in Oct. We sat together and talked about the good old days. They drove 2 hours from NH to see the show.

27, BAC and Phantom got the biggest reactions from the crowd. New Englanders have always had a soft spot for Phantom. I think because we see them as the Red Sox of the drum corps world.

74 Kingsmen - What classy bunch. Old school power all the way. Love the horn book. Did you know that Bobby Hoffman wrote the drill

75 Scouts - Pure testosterone baby!!!!!!!!!!!!! The rifle bow gives me goosebumps everytime. That corps had a ton of confidence. It came right through the screen after 30 years.

76 BD - Monster show in every regard that set the tone for everything through 1982 in the activity. Legend as a concert piece :blink: Not fair Wayne.

80 27 - Zingali's high energy show that pushed BD to the brink. Danny Boy and the wheel always moves me.

80 Spirit - What a horn line!!!!!!!!! Let's not forget the Float drums. Wow!!!!!!!

89 SCV - This is the show that bridges the gap between the old and new school eras in the activity. It is a timeless classic that every generation of drum corps fan can find something in it to relate to.

91 Star - Those middle voices are unreal. Seeing a Zingali show 11 years later is amazing. The man had an imagination that is untouched in the activity.

92 VK - Fun, fun, fun!!!!!! There was some serious talent in that corps. Making mayhem look that polished takes a tremendous amount of discipline. Challenge to the member corps: When will a show be fun again?(Props to Magic last year for giving it a shot)

00 BAC - Love the drill and the horn book. A classic show that really hit home emotionally. Not to mention all the BAC people in the theater going wild.

00 Cadets - They were spot on that night. A very well rounded corps. the quad feature is a kick but I have always been annoyed by the horns copying of Crossmen from 1980.

02 Cavies - No denying the excellence but the show left me a little flat. In fact all of the shows lose a little someting when not live but the Cavies seem to lose a little more.

My better half put her top 4 as:

1. Star

2. SCV

3. Phantom

4. Madison

Mine were:

1. SCV

2. Star

3. Phantom

4. BD

We both felt our top three were close to a toss up.

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I could hear the surround sound.

We just got home from the Orlando theater. We sat right in the middle. Granted the surround sound was not as loud as I would've liked it to be but maybe we should've asked to turn it up. They did the same thing with us on leaving the lights on through Stars show. Did you go to the same theater? :)

It seemed the kids enjoyed Madison, 27, Star and SCV and of course Phantom.

I loved that Phantom show, I never saw it and that incredible horn line! Wow! I enjoyed hearing the Anaheim and Madison show, thanks to DCI and Tom Blair for that! Also Madison's horn line to me was the loudest! :) Especially when they're coming OTL. :P

I have to say I like the 1988 SCV Phantom..just my opinion. :)

I was pretty impressed with how the kids acted in our theater, I thought we might have some rude talkers but they knew when to can it! :) Thanks kids! I'm glad you enjoyed it too!

More history lessons please DCI!

I always seem to sit by some old bat that can't keep her yap shut.

Tonight was no exception.I had to ask her once to put her cell phone away and I had to TELL her twice to shut her pie hole.I thought me and husband were going to get into but I think he was as tired of listening to her as I was.

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I enjoyed the show but I am annoyed at the production people that left Music City legend off the "senior corps" schedule.No mention of us at all.

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I really wish I could have gone to it.

For this guy who hated it...some people will complain about everything...just to complain.

Sound was a problem in my theater. Most of big hits were anything but big. It almost sounded like I was listening to the PBS broadcast, where everything gets so compressed that you lose any sense of volume. Some of the time it was fine, but when it got loud, especially when the on tape audience started cheering, the volume went WAY down.

Edited by Tank
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Yes, we had audio trouble as well. No sound from anywhere but straight ahead at a very nice theater in Huntsville AL. Our big problem was not sound, but total loss of picture for the last half of VK and Phantom opener. VERY distressing to the audience. The managers were very obliging with refunds and showed the entire third segment again after the show's conclusion.

Thanks, Tom Blair and Co. for your efforts and PLEASE do this again next year.

Oh, and Tom, if you are reading this, PLEASE get the announcement of scores vack on the Top 12 DVD's this year. It's just not the same without them. I know they're on the PBS edition, but its abbreviated a little too much.

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I was at the Sawgrass theater, in Sunrise, FL. Underwhelmed with the sound. Plenty of people complained, and I got up during VK (I have the DVD, plus there was sort of a hurry to get it done before Phantom '96) to go find a manager. When I told him that there was no surround sound on and the front speakers were pretty quiet, he said that they had plenty of complains, and had called up twice. He told me that they were getting a satellite feed and that there was no way to turn it up or put the surround sound on. At one point in the broadcast, I heard the volume go up for a few seconds, but then get lowered. I'm not too sure about this whole satellite thing, but I really was not musically blown away as I had hoped to be.

This was exactly what our manager said in Vegas. He said the sound was being pumped down via satellite and there was nothing he could do.

And he was bummed about it, too, as he watched the whole thing from the front row. I thought that was pretty cool.

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