June 20, Otsego, MI

Thanks to Russ Hilton on AOL for these review!

Comments are only my opinion. Please don't be insulted if I say something about your 
favorite corps. Beautiful night, 85 degrees at show time, Huge crowd of 2500 +

Coachmen:	
Small and quite weak, not a Div III contender. Doing a "Great Ladies of Jazz" 
show. Started ok but got continually weaker as the show progressed. Its still 
early and they are young. Will get better later in season I'm sure. 25.9, 8th place.

Marquis:
Only ten horns and one bass drummer on three stacked drums (alla future Corps). 
Respectable drum line for such a small group. Show is "Symphony in Black" . 
Sinfonia Noblissima does not come off effectively with that size horn line. Opened 
nicely, ended very weak. Also could do more in visual design area even with only ten 
horns. 29.2, 7th place. 

Blue Stars:
Doing "Dance Pieces" including music by Alfred Reed and Holsinger. They perform 
quite well for this point in the season. The show is low GE and it hurts 
them. Their guard is very good and uses every piece of equipment possible, sabres, 
silks, rifles. They use them all well. Well designed show. But that horn book will 
haunt them as they took the Ensemble and Performance captions but lost GE to NA by 
over a point. Add some hits and it will contend in Buffalo. Tied 5th, 42.3. 

Northern Aurora:
Made the top 25 in 92 & 93 and then crashed and burned in 94, NA has re-emerged 
from its ashes with a small but solid Div III corps. Doing a "Keys to the 
Imagination" show, their Drum Major is even a Yanni lookalike. Strong 
drum line, Weak execution in horn line. All of the elements are their for Director 
Joe Kuerzi to put NA back on the map as a tiny but mighty group. The mixed meter is 
giving them fits in the ensemble area (playing 7/8 while marching 7/4) but if it is 
cleaned it will be a very exciting show. Dominant in GE over the other Div III groups 
their achilles heal may be just that. Their field visual execution was absolutely 
terrible (and not in just mixed meter.). This must be addressed throughout the show 
to make finals in Buffalo.

Pioneer:
Div II group sitting right at Ninety. Doing variations on what Pioneer 
always does... Irish stuff. The Enya closer is neat but doesnt sell. The first 
big Nice sounding horn line of the day got the crowd cheering. Drum lin is young 
and much weaker than the HL. Mellophone book is top 12 material. Soloist did not 
have a good night but the line together is dynamite! Big ending but the execution 
and endurance gave out about 30 seconds before the end. Great strides and a top 20 
lock. My bet for Div II champs. Great for June!!! 4th place, 53.0 

Cadets:
Have not heard Cadets jam like this since early eighties. Guard focused 
(suprise) the HL is almost insignificant in the opener. I'm a brass person, and my 
eyes seldom left that guard. Solid Horn Line. Trademark Mello runs were dirt but its 
their first show. Watch for 7 trap sets, And 2 1/2 minutes of no drill but the guard 
doing tap on wooden boxes. I am an avid motion fan but they don't need the drill. The 
horn line is just cranking to Swing, Swing, Swing and the guard is all the vis that 
they need. My pick of the night! This show will be top 3 in Buffalo! By the way Great 
drum line. 2nd place 69.9 with 1.6 in penalties. 

Phantom Regiment:
All Black. Get the female Asst. DM a helmet. We believe you! 
She Exists! " Adventures under a Darkened Sky" is the show and while the horn line 
is very good and the Visual execution is great, the most exciting thing about the show 
is its name. Long building intro lets you sit almost 2 minutes before even the first 
hit. The music is beautiful, but that alone will not create effect. The show turns 
static about 3/4 the way through and the concluding visual climax does not even 
approach matching the visual climax. Great corps, the show may hold them back. They 
are heading home for rewrites at the end of this week. Let's see what develops. My 
favorite corps was a dissapointing but deserved 3rd, 69.7. 

Madison Scouts:
Bull fighting is en vogue and spanish music is back. I love the opener! 
Exciting, Beautifully written (Scott Boerma at his best!) a fantasy of bullfight 
themes brings the crowd to its feet almost immediately. After that... The are good! 
Great actually, but the show gets a bit cheesy for me and I am sick to death of and 
song starting with Ma... Malaga is back, done as last year and as it was done 15 years 
ago. Great HL, Great Visual Design, and Very exciting!! But... I can't help but feel 
I have seen this Scouts show before! Crowd favorite, but not mine. Could easily win 
in Buffalo because they are soooo strong in every area. 1st place, 72.2 w/.3 in 
penalties.

Can't wait to see Scouts, Devs and Cadets Side by Side, Throw in Blue Coats and you 
will have the biggest Jam session in history! 

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