ftwdrummer

Yay, my school's popular!

Doesn't have better things to do than type in responses to this all day (for instance, drumline camp, where I've been the past three days).

Good genes, perhaps? (There's an extremely dirty joke involving Jimi Hendrix, acid, and your mom somewhere in there...nah). Will there actually be places to sit at the theater that's showing Quarterfinals that I'm going to next week?

I'm interested to see where Paschal lands among the 5A beasts in Area B, given that we have: Pro: Freakishly cool show concept and Con: An entirely new staff.

Is freakishly nice and helpful to people. (thanks for that recording!)

They're also somewhat essential to life. Will our rendition of Klesch's arrangement of "Perilous Skies" do as well as Leander's did two years ago?

Paschal's show is tentatively titled "From the Earth to the Moon." Music features David Holsinger's "To Tame the Perilous Skies," arranged by Michael Klesch. Drill by Brian Youngblood. Drumline camp starts Monday!

Is a fellow senior. ('09!!!)

Wants to break the mold and rebel against the DCI system. Ergo, deserves some variation on respect.

Says the person who wants to add the second highest-pitched wind instrument to the drum corps field. Go pick up a bari. jk. Sorry.

Because he's weird. Given that current rumor says that we're doing Leander's show from two years ago (not official, repeat NOT OFFICIAL), will our show this year be any good?

I was at Denton, too (wish I'd known you were going, borch...could've had a mini-MeetMe!). Cavies show was technically perfect...but it didn't really reach to the audience at all. It left me cold, and the three non-corps nuts with me (mom, dad, and little sister) agreed. Blue Devils, on the other hand, we all liked. Dad enjoyed it because it was stylistically similar to his college marching band (one of the few "scatter" bands out there), Mom enjoyed the concept and use of Sweeney Todd, little sis enjoyed the music and the GE (the yard-line tightrope-walking in the first movement, for instance). I liked it because the musical concept is solid, they used the concept of "Constantly Risking Absurdity" to its fullest, and it showed excellent performance qualities.

Which, the high-score record that Cavies set back in '02, and Cadets tied in '05? I think so.

Yikes. What'd Cavies get in San Antonio back in 2002? Because I want to check the plausibility of my prediction that BD breaks that record. Edit: Just looked. About a 92.55. So, unless something drastically changes from the model of that season, BD's not breaking the record. But...stranger things have happened...

Wow. Over a 2-point drop for Bones between this afternoon and tonight.

Where have you gone, Daniel-San?

Depends on what program you're using. Did anyone else other than TxBands staff go to the Dallas show last night, and if so, how accurate is my review?

Since I'm one of those poor heathens who hasn't gotten an iPhone, or any other phone with 'Net access...here's my full-blown review in one shot (minus Frontier, because I got sent ahead to hit Will Call for people, and couldn't get in before they started). Mandarins really impressed me with their sound. I was not expecting that big of a sound from them (having been relatively unimpressed with them last year), but they did quite well. Visual was somewhat off, but an impressive step by Mandarins. Next up was Pioneer. Alas...much as I wanted to like their show (our former percussion director is their snare tech this year)...I didn't. It's nothing personally against the corps; the show just...wasn't that good. Using Lincolnshire was pretty cool, but...traditional Irish music just doesn't really work for me. Sorry, Pioneer. Their percussion section was pretty good, though. Crossmen. I was going to cheer these guys wildly whether they were good, bad, or dreck, as my ancestors from the old country would have put it. Fortunately for my credibility, they were excellent. Not using their pre-show (as per the .midi file on Guidry's Web site), they simply started with a BANG! full-force into Jupiter...it was awesome to hear. Their performance of "What a Wonderful World" was absolutely perfect. All in all, an excellent effort by the XMen. The Madison Scouts got dang lucky that the color of artificial turf at the stadium was just enough off from their uniforms that they were visible. It still astounds me that the best Latin-music corps around is from...Wisconsin, but they performed it beautifully. Unfortunately, I missed their fleur-de-lis set (or it wasn't in there), but the pit playing four-mallet style with the left while playing shaker with the right was quite impressive. I was all set to enjoy Pacific Crest. The surprise story of the year, I enjoy corps that come out of nowhere to impress. Unfortunately...the show just felt...flat. It tried to reach for me...I felt the front side of its fingers grasping at me...but it never caught me. The Blue Knights were...the Blue Knights. Definitely a darker show (as they are wont to do), the show also tried to grab me. It also failed, as well. I was always watching (couldn't take my eyes away from the astounding visual package)...but it never caught me well. After seeing tonight's show, I have no doubt that the Blue Devils won't just tie the Frameworks high-score record...they'll shatter it. In all senses of the concept "absurd," this show was it: absurdly unique, absurdly well-played...absurdly amazing. The only issue I had was that the closer felt a bit off from the rest of the show; it felt too bright, too...major, as opposed to the show, which felt minor. The music felt a bit too...happy, I guess is a good word, for "spreadeagled over the empty air of existence." Still an amazing performance. SCV's show had brilliant drill. The uniforms were sharp...the corps as a whole looked impeccable. But...while the music fit, I felt that it was somewhat lacking. Probably my personal bias against Key Poulan talking, but it just...wasn't there for me. More's the pity. The Vanguard yell was totally unexpected (I was really ticked that I missed aiding it, actually)...needs a little more warning for the world. As a Phantom phan, I was ready to love Spartacus. And it delivered. In every sense of the word, this corps Performed their show. From the head drum major riding in on his slave-driven chariot, to the "live or die" killing at the end of the first movement (I personally think they need to mic the drum major for that, because I wanted to shout "Die," but couldn't hear my cue to), to the murder of Phrygia at the end of the love ballad, to Spartacus being honored by the Romans who killed him at the end of the show, this show was Performed beautifully. The music fit quite well, the new uniforms (a gold band hanging over the back of the right shoulder, and connecting right shoulder to left, instead of the traditional black sash over the right) were excellent...the pith helmets worked well...all in all, a fantastic Show, in the L.D. Bell sense of Show.

Because the world is out to get you, too. Am I the only person who thinks that BD has a good shot at shattering the Frameworks record?

In our collective dreams. Will Phantom be able to pull out the second place finish I've been predicting for them?

Thanks, Xenon. That schedule works out perfectly; I don't have to drive anywhere extra to see Phantom's rehearsal.

No idea, then...one of the things that happens when you don't have your own credit card and your parents refuse to spring for the Fan Network.

Was it at the end of the first movement? Because if so, that's Phrygia, Spartacus's wife

Anyone happen to know who's rehearsing where the day of the Dallas competition? I'm trying to figure out whose rehearsal I can drop in on without breaking the gas-budget bank any more than it already is.

No...sorry, but I detest anything that comes out of the Disney Channel machine. It's just my nature. Anyone mind helping me puncture the mythos of Crockett '93?