Anyone else going to the live quarterfinals being broadcast at theaters around the country? Oh - this is tomorrow (Thursday 8/7) from 6:00 pm Eastern Time (# on the US West Coast)
Himself was actually in a DCI Drum Corps when he was younger - regrettably, that particular Corps is now defunct. He gets the DCI emails, but I may forward him your link, just to see if he wants to try to do this tomorrow night.
Thanks!
Freelancer’s 87-89 here
I’m currently posting from a hotel room in Bloomington; I’m going for real (also to semifinals and finals on Friday and Saturday). 
My dad goes every year because he’s an obsessive fan, and he takes the rest of us every so often; the last time I went was 2005 in Boston. This year is especially exciting for my family because my brother is in Phantom Regiment, and they have a shot at winning. (Also, their show is ridiculously badass and I love it.)
Son was with Phantom for 4 years and Blue Devils for his last year. I had 3 glorious years of working on Phantom’s Food truck.
It is being broadcast at a theatre here. Would love to go. Wasn’t able to attend a show this summer, so this would be as close as I’ll have the opportunity this year.
Ohhh, glad I checked the link - it’s at a different theatre this year that would not require dealing with I-10 traffic BONUS
I saw them in Denton.
Have a friend with the Bluecoats. Loved the Troopers, and the ones at the top, will watch them when they get to ESPN if I can. Maybe theaters on a whim tonight.
Growing up in Illinois, my hometown had Drum Corp Competitions every year, and you could hear them rehearsing about 5 miles away! Seriously! We would sit in the backyard and could hear almost every note and drumbeat.
It was always a huge event and people would drive in from neighboring towns and the crowd would absolutely nuts! Sorry I won’t be able to watch the show tomorrow (have to teach classes all day) but I still have fond memories of those fantastic shows and am sorry they no longer broadcast them on PBS anymore.
That’s the primary reason I’m going - I want to see full shows - and the ESPN2 coverage just doesn’t cut it.
I would love to go - but 5 1/2 hours in a theater with a 10 year old is probably making that unlikely…
Madison Scouts! Madison Scouts!
We saw one of the competitions live at Camp Randall, can’t recall if it was quarter-finals or regionals or what. SOOOOO good, that was a BLAST!
::looking up listings:: Thanks for the heads-up!
I only saw the last 2 hours, but the Phantom Regimen alone was worth the price of admission! Ye gods, they blew my mind!
What’s up with the Madison Scouts? They’re not a powerhouse anymore?
Oh my God, did Phantom Kick Ass. I don’t care if they came in third in the final ratings for the night - they were first to most of the folks where I saw it. ErinPuff, your brother has good reason to be proud of this show.
And what was with that stupid, ass “…Pursuit of Happiness” crap? Narration? Sure, technically the corps played very well, but it wasn’t a very good show.
The "Tour de France’ show and the ‘Finis’ show were also great.
Also, do corps not wait for the announcer anymore? It seems like at least three of them just jumped when they were ready, leaving the announcer to try to find a good spot to announce them. Does anyone think that this hurt anyone’s scores?
The first time Phantom did the
assassination of the drum major
was last Saturday at the Allentown show. My brother had told us they had a new ending, but he wasn’t allowed to tell us anything about it. I’m glad it was a surprise, because it was awesome. Yesterday, though, the head of the guy in front of me was blocking most of the action (I guess that is one disadvantage to seeing it in person, at least if you’re as short as I am).
lawoot, I don’t like the Cadets’ show (“blah blah happiness blah blah”) either. They keep revising the narration, but it keeps being lame. And yeah, they play well, which is why I wish they’d STFU.
Amplification (of pit and voice) was only legalized a few years ago. It shouldn’t be a surprise that George Hopkins, the director of the Cadets, was behind it. The only show with narration I’ve enjoyed was 2006 Crossmen, and that’s mostly because my brother was the main radio announcer, so I had to like it.
About starting before the announcer - I’m pretty sure there’s a new-ish rule that lets them do that, but I don’t think the pre-announcer intro is considered part of the show (i.e. it’s not judged). I could be wrong about that, though.
I wondered about that, wondered if it was a new innovation for this level of competition.
Tell your brother that people in our movie theater, hundreds of miles away, were standing and shouting, they were so amazed with the Phantom Regiment! Big, big applause for them. They should’ve won, IMHO.
I liked the Cavaliers a lot, the way the band moved around and used their instruments as props, like a flag corps.
I couldn’t tell why the Blue Devils won. Maybe there was some aspect of their musicianship that didn’t transmit well? Their field work wasn’t as interesting as the Cavaliers’.
Phantom Regiment moved up to second place tonight! We’ll see what happens tomorrow…
I’m still pumped about that show last night. Phantom Regiment was so amazing, I really want them to win tomorrow.
The way they took the action out of the field - has that been done before? They totally broke the fourth wall.
I can’t find any video of Spartacus, people are guarding the copyright closely, but I’m dying to share my experience with my music-loving family. That $39 simulcast is pretty steep, given that my computer screen ain’t all that. They’ll probably sell a video, though, right?
I SO hope one of my kids joins a Corps someday.
BTW, now I know why I love the Scouts so - we happened to see them in '96, doing Malaguena. Then, for the encore, they did it again. I still remember how good that felt.
Yeah, there’ll be a DVD set of finals. Looking at the DCI shop, though, last year’s is $79.
What year? :dubious:
Used to be back in my day it was not unknown to write drill for the"1 min warmup" and basically have DM turn, do his salute to the judges/announcment etc, and keep going.
If anyone would like an “Ask the DCI Drum Major” I can probably get my old DM to pop in, I’m still in fairly regular contact with him…
1996