Due to severe storms on opening day for the CLASS MidAmerica show, the EasternCLASSic on Sunday June 12th provided the first regional of the CLASS tour in Allentown PA! J Birney Crum stadium is always a great place for a show for any true drum corps fan and the night was no different as CLASS took Allentown by force!

Envision was the only Division III participant, but the corps didn’t let that stop them from making a run at the larger division II corps! Right now the corps sits in 11th overall with their show “Reflections of Earth” by Gavin Greenaway. The corps truly seems to embrace the piece and it is especially paying off in the ensemble categories.

In Division II we started off with a few newcomers to CLASS as well as an old friend from ECC returning to the field. Carolina Regiment and Sound of Indy were glad to welcome Southwind II back into competitive marching arts as the three corps stayed very tight. Southwind II was VERY competitive in the performance categories taking Brass, 2nd in Percussion and Guard with their show Mysterium Magnificum. However the Red Vests, Nastalgia Cadets and Dunkirk Patriots stole the show. Talk of division II was Nastalgia Cadets DRIVING percussion line whose jazz interpretations were off the charts and actually beat EVERY corps on the field tonight BUT Corps IBEX. However the patriots with their show “Wanted” was taking no prisoners as they grabbed up the ensemble and GE categories and took the gold by one full point. The Patriots are currently in 6th overall hunting for a top placement but Nastalgia Cadets aren’t far behind in 9th and are looking to secure a finals position of their own. The Patriots are moving up this season from Division III and seem to be doing just fine, while last year Division II finalist Nastalgia Cadets seem to be having a banner year in FMA!

With recent promotions to Division I the CLASS field in this category is the largest it has ever been! Great Lakers, First Legion and Graffiti are doing CLASS proud as they jump up with the big boys and hold their own just fine! Graffiti was the first corps to top the leader of the Division II category though with their show “Balance”. Truly that is something the corps seems to excel in as they across the board have strong scores with the performance categories being the standouts. There was a jump up to the semi-finalist level groupings next as Tiger Pride Regiment was welcomed into CLASS in a big way! The Hand of Fate had the crowd leaping up out of their seats as the guard and GE categories wowed the judges as well! It was amazing to see the corps that GE wise was second come in 6th! The crowd seemed to disapprove as they first booed the judges and then gave the corps a long standing ovation. Barely edging them out was Corps IBEX whose amazing drum line NEVER lets the fans or judges down! Quiksilver was just ahead of them as these two look to tango all season. Both corps truly want to work to keep their elite top 12 status! They may just have to keep their eye on Tiger! As the final three corps took the field you could feel the intensity building as each put on fantastic shows to take the East title. Regal Regiment had the GE Music category summed up with their show Maximum Drive. The corps certainly was hitting their groove by the time they hit Overdrive which had the audience clinging to their seats and bracing for impact! Eagle Regiment not to be outdone had a choreographer’s wet dream with their Riverdance production! The corps is extremely balanced, but there is no doubt they stand out visually! Both corps seem to be at the top half of the top 12 at this point! Of course the corps to beat was defending CLASS and World Champion Nemesis. The patriotic tribute “Let Freedom Ring” delivers some tear jerking, chill tingling patriotic moments without being cheesy. The corps has only been beaten once since season 7 and that was last weeks FMA season preview. The corps seems to have taken some much needed directional changes and put them to good use as they currently stand on top of the leader board. The corps actually missed two captions (Percussion-Corps IBEX and GE Music to Regal Regiment) from a clean sweep. The four point lead was enough to give them the first Gold Eastern CLASSic regional.

This week we have CLASS Echo Ridge on Friday 17th hosted by The Red Vests and 9th Annual Majestic Corps Invitational hosted by Regal Regiment with 30 corps in competition on Saturday! Finally finishing up the weekend is The Southern CLASS Regional in Orlando FL. It looks like this one could be a duke out between the Eagle and Regal Regiments! Stay tuned!

Great review.. thanks for the positive words for Graffiti!.. they are about one or two seasons ahead of schedule moving to D1... but they keeping chuggin along.