The World Class corps (and Open Class Guardians) meeting in San Antonio marks the start of what can be affectionately referred to as "regional season." Over the next three weekends, corps will compete in Atlanta/Winston-Salem, Allentown, and finally Indianapolis to reach levels of excellence never seen by the drum corps community. Each of the upcoming weekends will play a factor in the final seeding for DCI World Championship prelims on Thursday night, August 10.

If you caught the show live, or on our stream, you've probably figured out that this summer is a great year for drum corps no matter where the scores lie. But, of course, we must address that Blue Devils broke 90 in the Alamodome Saturday night. Last season, it took the corps until July 29 to break 90 -- until 7/18 and 7/25 in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Aside from that, there were some interesting shake-ups that are worthy of some attention.

Boston Crusaders Aim Higher

With a staff shuffle in the off season after last year's Finals heavily in favor of Boston Crusaders, the corps anchored in tradition and poise has adopted the new program graciously. The talent and energy coming off the field as Boston Crusaders performed their show "Wicked Games" in San Antonio Saturday night was felt throughout the dome. Exhibiting a unique display of finesse contrasted with the pure emotion it requires to perform their show, the members of this corps have taken last year's 12th place finish and reminded people just how good a couple of determined leaders can do with a talent pool just itching to be tapped. The corps was rewarded by receiving a late night performance time, going 4th from last, and took the field like they belonged there all along. The ending of their show has all of the dramatic resolution that one could ask for after sitting through their entire production. The corps earned 6th overall with an 85.625.

OH MY GOSH BOSTON CRUSADERS pic.twitter.com/iNhHezEQ4I

— Zach Ashcraft (@ZachAshcraft) July 23, 2017

Mandarins Reach Top 12

Mandarins have certainly been on the hunt for a spot in Finals this year with their show "Inside the Ink." The corps recently added large tarps representing Rorschach's ink blots that the corps marches over towards the end of the show, creating a great effect. The corps performed their way into the top 12 for the night with a score of 78.325, .3 points above the Madison Scouts who have also been drawing some well deserved attention this year with their exciting, theatrical uniforms. Mandarins' Color Guard earned an impressive 16.6, putting them in 9th place for the caption. This score, bolstered by the 11th place finish in Visual Proficiency (15.8), put the corps evenly with Crossmen in the overall VIsual caption -- some impressive company for a corps coming off of a 17th place finish in 2016. Hear from Corps Director JW Koester about the 2017 Mandarins.

Guardians Light Up The Dome

Despite it only being Guardians' second show of the season, the corps came out to San Antonio this weekend and threw down. Using a long ramp prop, the corps is able to use vertical space and separate soloists as well as features. Their show this year, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" features music from Kanye West, Paul Hindemith, and Claude Debussy. The corps brings some great pop tunes to the field with the execution and power of a drum corps performance. Representing the Open Class division of Drum Corps International, Guardians scored a 58.925 already showing improvement upon last season's performance in the Alamodome -- they earned a 57.95 in 2016. Their show was certainly a crowd pleaser and the fans really gave it up for the Texas-local corps.

Looking Forward

As we move forward each weekend en route to Lucas Oil Stadium, there will be new lineups and new seedings that determine these lineups each week. With the conclusion of the Southwestern Championship, we look ahead now to the Southeastern Championship (Atlanta) and the Tour of Champions - nightBEAT event in Winston-Salem. Similar to the way the lineup was set for San Antonio, the same system will be applied to the next regionals where the corps are drawn in random order in groups of three based on their placement (1-3, 4-6, etc). Here's the official schedule from DCI.org for next Saturday's event, July 29, in Powder Springs, GA. All times local to venue.

3:30 p.m. Gates Open
4:00 p.m. National Anthem
4:10 p.m. Rocketeers -- Huntsville, AL (SoundSport)
4:20 p.m. Impact -- Orlando, FL (SoundSport)
4:30 p.m. Sonus Brass Theater -- Prince William County, VA (SoundSport)
4:45 p.m. Atlanta CV -- Atlanta, GA
5:03 p.m. Pioneer -- Milwaukee, WI
5:21 p.m. Jersey Surf -- Camden County, NJ
5:39 p.m. Genesis -- Austin, TX
5:57 p.m. Seattle Cascades -- Seattle, WA
6:15 p.m. Oregon Crusaders -- Portland, OR
6:33 p.m. Spirit of Atlanta -- Atlanta, GA
6:51 p.m. Pacific Crest -- Diamond Bar, CA
7:09 p.m. The Academy -- Tempe, AZ
7:27 p.m. Intermission (37 minutes) and SoundSport Awards
8:04 p.m. Blue Stars -- La Crosse, WI
8:22 p.m. Blue Knights -- Denver, CO
8:40 p.m. The Cadets -- Allentown, PA
8:58 p.m. Phantom Regiment -- Rockford, IL
9:16 p.m. The Cavaliers -- Rosemont, IL
9:34 p.m. Bluecoats -- Canton, OH
9:52 p.m. Santa Clara Vanguard -- Santa Clara, CA
10:10 p.m. Blue Devils -- Concord, CA
10:28 p.m. Carolina Crown -- Ft. Mill, SC
10:46 p.m. Encore -- Spirit of Atlanta
10:53 p.m. Scores Announced

And on the following night, Sunday, July 30, 6 of the corps that did not compete in Powder Springs will all be performing before intermission. Following intermission will be seven of the top corps that performed Saturday night as well. Check out the schedule below for next Sunday's show at BB&T Field at Wake Forest University. Again, all times local to venue.

3:30 p.m. Gates Open
5:10 p.m. National Anthem
5:30 p.m. Colts -- Dubuque, IA
5:47 p.m. Troopers -- Casper, WY
6:04 p.m. Madison Scouts -- Madison, WI
6:21 p.m. Mandarins -- Sacramento, CA
6:38 p.m. Crossmen -- San Antonio, TX
6:55 p.m. Boston Crusaders -- Boston, MA
7:12 p.m. The Academy -- Tempe, AZ
7:29 p.m. Intermission (34 minutes)
8:03 p.m. Santa Clara Vanguard -- Santa Clara, CA
8:20 p.m. The Cavaliers -- Rosemont, IL
8:37 p.m. Phantom Regiment -- Rockford, IL
8:54 p.m. Bluecoats -- Canton, OH
9:11 p.m. The Cadets -- Allentown, PA
9:28 p.m. Blue Devils -- Concord, CA
9:45 p.m. Carolina Crown -- Ft. Mill, SC
10:02 p.m. Encore -- Carolina Crown
10:12 p.m. Scores Announced

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