Yes, I saw them live- pretty awesome. I also think of Phantom Regiment when I think of precision.
Seconded.
That was very cool - even to someone whose only experience with drum corp was the movie Drumline (movie sucked - drums were awesome).
However, I think I would have enjoyed this much much more without the head cold.
I think I’m going to lie down now.
I also noticed a dropped stick. How do they handle that situation? Reserve sticks in their sleeves?
I believe so, yes - it looks like they pull sticks out of their sleeves.
If you don’t mind a little apple-vs-orange comparison, have a look at some of the Cavaliers’ work. Mindblowing complexity, and so much better if you can see the whole thing live.
Funny how I must be a band geek by prox, as I know my kid has at least one Phantom Regiment t-shirt, and I have often heard her praise the Cavvies! 
They have a holster of sorts attached to the harness, up the sleeve would interfere with the drumming. You can see them put the regular sticks away in the holster as they’re bringing out the “special” sticks.
the youtube user linked here has alot of good stuff.
Enjoy
I saw this a couple of days ago, and I was blown away! The amount of practice to accomplish this amazes me.
What? Doesn’t DCI stand for Drum Corps International? Yes, it does. There was less drumming in that 10 minute video than one might see in a Verizon ad. I love DCI shows, and appreciate all of the elements, the pit, the horns, even the flag/rifle corps. But, the drumming is the key element, as evidenced by the name itself. There is no “horn, flag, xylophone” competition group, and for good reason.
You may find a reason to dislike the more “simple” versions of drum corps performance, but surely you cannot deny the talent involved, and the creativity of the show overall. The Top Secret guys may not be a group that competes in the US, but I’ll bet some of the top DCI corps people give them a lot of respect.
Fire and pyrotechnics are not often used in drum corps performances. The reasons why are numerous, but some of it has to do with danger, and consistency. They seem to have done it safely, and relatively consistently (pyro can never hit a cue as precisely as a drummer can).
What do you have against this group? I’m fully aware of the difficulty involved in a lot of what they’re doing, and it’s remarkable to say the least.
I’ve got nothing against them, although their flag work needs tightening up. I just think what the Cavs do is orders of magnitude more difficult as well as being noticeably more precise, and hence more impressive.
I intimately understand what goes into such a show, I respect what they do, but best ever? Nah.
Nothing personal, just not willing to call these guys something they are not. Creativity wise, the performers generally have little to do with the writing and design of the show, its just execution.
Most of the DCI footage available does not constantly focus on the percussion section, but the same type of techniques are constantly seen if you are able to watch live.
One of the things you get used to marching DCI is that the crowd is famous for sitting on their handsost of them are not just fans, most of them have been on that feild themselves.