Racine tonight

[Dave Scott]

Oh my...and the show is at historic Horlick Field (I know...that's the name!)

It's a very good stadium with a great concession stand and lots of free flowing adult beverages <read: beer>.

I was there when Chicago Royalaires had their re-debut back in the 90s. Between the Kilties and Royalaires members, you couldn't get near the concession stand unless they were on the field.

Folks would get a armload of beers...and then...get back into the line again. By the time they were done drinking the first round, it would be time to buy the next round.

It was about time the Lion King film was popular so I dubbed it the great "Circle of Beer" <cue Sir Elton John>

I hope the weather hold off until late. The next 10 days are when I really miss living in the Midwest. Racine tonight, Rockford tomorrow night, Lisle, South Milwaukee, Oswego, Bloomington or Madison (tough choice). Ah, to be home again.

Someone drink a beer <read:several> for me tonight. And say hi to Joe Fazzari...he lives like a block away from Horlick.

Tom,

A few corrections. The spelling is CHICAGO ROYAL-AIRS. You could not have seen RA back in the 90's as we did not form the reunion corps until 2002. We did not drink beer while in uniform.

[prodigal bari]

Well, it looks like the Troopers and the Scouts are going to be neck and neck this year. Their scores are low, though. Crown and the Cadets were in the mid and upper 70's on Thursday.

The scores are doing the usual early-season spread...they will compress as we get further along; and the panels get more exposure to the slate of corps.

[acn]

I watched Scouts practice from 10-4pm today, then went in for the show. I'm a huge Scouts fan, so I can't help but be a bit biased. I can see, however, why the scores are low. I thought the placements tonight were exactly how they should have been.

There were some definate phasing, marching out of step, etc... problems in rehearsal today. I attribute this to a few things. They are really spread out quite a few times. Other times the battery is way in back and there is phasing with the pit. Bad feet - well no excuse for that, especially June 22nd. Nothing that can't be corrected with some hard work. That being said, this could be a great show. I saw 2 runs in rehearsal, then the show.

Troopers are for real though. After they went on, I seriously thought that they might beat Scouts. I believe the last time this happened was '73, when I was a 1 year old. Then Scouts came on, and performed the best they did all day. My brother, MJN on DCP, will post some pics on Saturday.

One funny note. There was a point in rehearsal where they were running the closer, and a staff member said "I'd take that tonignt. That was good. The problem is when we get to this point in the show, I don't get that same result you just gave me. If you give me that...." then someone in the corps said "we'll get a 62." Everyone laughted while the guy dropped for pushups. Good to now that they haven't let the scores, or negative comments get them down.

It was a great show. First sunburst I've seen since '91, I think. Scouts got the biggest ovations. The opening to Scouts show is amazing. I'll post more thoughts in the morning.

[Pinwiz]

I'm still waiting for Troop's score to start going up. I won't start thinking about what the recaps mean, I'll save that for when I see them live on Monday, but isn't it time for a significant score increase?

Blah blah scores don't matter blah blah COME ON! :)

[Jim Anchower]

ROCK ON GREEN GODS!!!!!

Madison has now won as many shows as BD has this year! :wub:

[Pinwiz]

I did some more recap spellunking...

Did Troop just march badly at the show? Why is the Field Vis score so far below the previous benchmark? Could that have been a sign? Add in the score difference and suddenly Troop's around 63...

(And while they didn't win any captions, Troop did win some half-captions. It's a good sign.)

I'll understand the matchup more after Monday.

[84skyrydr]

I did not see this show, but did see the Troopers in Omaha. They have a really solid first half of the show, but then it kind of lags. The kids are perforoming well, but Blue Star and Colts were heads and tails above them at this point in the year. So Scouts may be sitting in the stands come finals. This could be a heck of a year. PS, not ragging on the Troopers, just an honest assessment. Unless they change or drastically clean up the last half ofthe show, they will not be in the final show. Good luck to all.

[Lancerlady]

I watched Scouts practice from 10-4pm today, then went in for the show. I'm a huge Scouts fan, so I can't help but be a bit biased. I can see, however, why the scores are low. I thought the placements tonight were exactly how they should have been.

There were some definate phasing, marching out of step, etc... problems in rehearsal today. I attribute this to a few things. They are really spread out quite a few times. Other times the battery is way in back and there is phasing with the pit. Bad feet - well no excuse for that, especially June 22nd. Nothing that can't be corrected with some hard work. That being said, this could be a great show. I saw 2 runs in rehearsal, then the show.

Troopers are for real though. After they went on, I seriously thought that they might beat Scouts. I believe the last time this happened was '73, when I was a 1 year old. Then Scouts came on, and performed the best they did all day. My brother, MJN on DCP, will post some pics on Saturday.

One funny note. There was a point in rehearsal where they were running the closer, and a staff member said "I'd take that tonignt. That was good. The problem is when we get to this point in the show, I don't get that same result you just gave me. If you give me that...." then someone in the corps said "we'll get a 62." Everyone laughted while the guy dropped for pushups.

Good to now that they haven't let the scores, or negative comments get them down. It was a great show. First sunburst I've seen since '91, I think. Scouts got the biggest ovations. The opening to Scouts show is amazing. I'll post more thoughts in the morning.

Yes it is good to know that they aren't letting negative comments get them down! I can't wait to see both shows!

Thanks for saying this this. I'm happy for Troopers as well.

[stoods59]

Last night's show:

My wife and I were there before 7:00 and good seats were gone. They are putting in new aluminum seats at Horlick. Yes, they still sell beer at the show as the drunken women in front of us were proof, with a pitcher between their legs and their plastic cups gripped in their teeth while they clapped.

Now, for MHO- I really enjoyed the show from top to bottom. Troopers are indeed back! Very nice dynamics from the horn line. Their marching score was low because they are cleaning-lots of phasing problems but hey, it was only July 22st! I see this corps getting cleaner and better.

Madison's horn line was again good. They are much younger this year, as are the Troopers. It took a few moments to realize that when they took the field they were actually still warming up. The ending doesn't work but I have it from a good source (thanks Bill!) that they are working on changing it already.

Kilties were entertaining as always, Capital Sound has a drum line as large as their horn line and Pioneer had some good moments too.

I'm not here to slam anyone, just wanted to let you know what I saw. Very entertaining evening and a large crowd, which I'm sure went away feeling pleased with a good early season show.

Gary Stoodley

1980 Schaumburg Guardsmen Soprano

[GGarrett]

Last night's show:

My wife and I were there before 7:00 and good seats were gone. They are putting in new aluminum seats at Horlick. Yes, they still sell beer at the show as the drunken women in front of us were proof, with a pitcher between their legs and their plastic cups gripped in their teeth while they clapped.

Now, for MHO- I really enjoyed the show from top to bottom. Troopers are indeed back! Very nice dynamics from the horn line. Their marching score was low because they are cleaning-lots of phasing problems but hey, it was only July 22st! I see this corps getting cleaner and better.

Madison's horn line was again good. They are much younger this year, as are the Troopers. It took a few moments to realize that when they took the field they were actually still warming up. The ending doesn't work but I have it from a good source (thanks Bill!) that they are working on changing it already.

Kilties were entertaining as always, Capital Sound has a drum line as large as their horn line and Pioneer had some good moments too.

I'm not here to slam anyone, just wanted to let you know what I saw. Very entertaining evening and a large crowd, which I'm sure went away feeling pleased with a good early season show.

Gary Stoodley

1980 Schaumburg Guardsmen Soprano

Umm, Gary... we need to talk about your place in time and space here on earth a little bit...