[jjeffeory]

So I was checking out the Aimachi video that Boo posted,
Since I saw them live at DCA, I've been watching the Kidgrove Scouts too.


Finally, I saw Patria from Guatemala because of the BD trip there
I know there are groups in Indonesia, Europe, and other places in the world.
It's great to see Drum Corps and the marching arts in general in so many countries around the world.

Still the question remains... What part of the world can rival the US, or at least come the closest to rivaling us in quality?
Are there groups in China that could compete here? What about Brazil?

My guess is that Japan is the closest, followed by Europe. What do you guys think? I know many of you are very knowledgeable about the marching arts around the world.
Is there a region or even a country that can rival us? Where is it? Who comes the closest?

This post has been edited by jjeffeory: 14 September 2012 - 09:24 PM

[BRASSO]

jjeffeory, on 14 September 2012 - 09:22 PM, said:

Is there a region or even a country that can rival us? Who comes the closest?

No.. we have no rival.

The nation of Canada used to come the closet, but they were a distant rival when they had DCI and DCA Competing Corps. Not really sure who would be a distant rival in terms of quality of Drum Corps now.

[jjeffeory]

BRASSO, on 14 September 2012 - 10:24 PM, said:

No.. we have no rival.

The nation of Canada used to come the closet, but they were a distant rival when they had DCI and DCA Competing Corps. Not really sure who would be a distant rival in terms of quality of Drum Corps now.

That's what I was thinking as well, but the Japanese groups seems to be coming pretty close. It would be interesting to see a full group come over here.
It's really too bad about the Canadian corps, they would have been at the top of the list in the past.

[N.E. Brigand]

I can't speak to your central question, but I also saw Kidsgrove for the first time at DCA Finals (I'd never even heard of them before), and thought they were wonderfully entertaining.

[BRASSO]

N.E. Brigand, on 14 September 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

I can't speak to your central question, but I also saw Kidsgrove for the first time at DCA Finals (I'd never even heard of them before), and thought they were wonderfully entertaining.

I agree as well. The Kidsgrove Scouts were wonderfully entertaining. They were a very pleasant surprise and the crowd loved them.

I saw The Inspires (Yokohama, Japan ) at DCA Finals a few years back, and they too were entertaining and a big hit with the crowd as well. Jubal from the Netherlands has performed over the years in DCI exhibition and were pretty good, I thought.

Canada used to have lots and lots of very good and entertaining competing Corps, but sadly most of them are now gone.

This post has been edited by BRASSO: 14 September 2012 - 11:00 PM

[jjeffeory]

N.E. Brigand, on 14 September 2012 - 10:47 PM, said:

I can't speak to your central question, but I also saw Kidsgrove for the first time at DCA Finals (I'd never even heard of them before), and thought they were wonderfully entertaining.

I saw them at DCA too, and I LOVED their show!
I'm just putting out something in the off season and this seems like a good question. I think the European corps could compete and are entertaining for sure, I'm just wondering who is coming the closest to DCI corps at the Junior level. It seems to me that the Japanese groups are doing that right now, but I'm not familiar with Chinese and Indonesian corps. Maybe they are also fantastic?

This post has been edited by jjeffeory: 14 September 2012 - 11:36 PM

[Michael Boo]

jjeffeory, on 14 September 2012 - 09:22 PM, said:

...
Still the question remains... What part of the world can rival the US, or at least come the closest to rivaling us in quality?
Are there groups in China that could compete here? What about Brazil?

My guess is that Japan is the closest, followed by Europe. What do you guys think? I know many of you are very knowledgeable about the marching arts around the world.
Is there a region or even a country that can rival us? Where is it? Who comes the closest?

I've been to a couple competitions in Japan and have been totally blown away about their quality. The ensembles were truly remarkable. I'm still blown away by an elementary school band I saw do a Beatles' show. However, it's a difficult comparison as they perform inside on a square floor. I've been to China seven times in the past seven years with my music and know of no music ensembles that do anything like what we do with drum corps over here. Music education as we know it is spread over a wide gamut. I've witnessed a number of programs in high schools where high-quality instruments were non-existent, but then the group I was with this June had a concert-clinic at a middle school in Beijing, where I did mini clinic with the percussionists. All the members had top-quality instruments. Then the full band performed for us and I practically had to pull my jaw off the floor. They were as good as just about any high school I've heard over here. They do parades, but that's it for marching.

My impression is a country's marching ensembles take on whatever form are available with the venues. I haven't seen any athletic fields at the dozens of schools I've been at in China, so doing parades is more functional.

[fsubone]

Japanese corps have come over before. Yokohama Scouts have made a few trips, and Yamato used to be split between Japan and the US. And wasn't Taipei Yuefu from Taiwan? i may have butchered the spelling, but I remember them from a few years back. I think that Japan would be the closest to us, and could easily compete if they decided to do a 150 person World Class corps and show. The quality of music coming out of that country is crazy. I've seen middle school bands better than some college ensembles.

[jjeffeory]

fsubone, on 14 September 2012 - 11:30 PM, said:

Japanese corps have come over before. Yokohama Scouts have made a few trips, and Yamato used to be split between Japan and the US. And wasn't Taipei Yuefu from Taiwan? i may have butchered the spelling, but I remember them from a few years back. I think that Japan would be the closest to us, and could easily compete if they decided to do a 150 person World Class corps and show. The quality of music coming out of that country is crazy. I've seen middle school bands better than some college ensembles.

Yup, I've seen the groupd you've mentioned live; Yamato used to be from Riverside, CA AND Kyoto, Japan ( Sorta like Kiwanis Kavaliers being from Ontario and Florida).
I remember seeing Taipei Yuefu live in San Antonio a while back too and their guard was certainly different but skillful...


I heard Yokohama Inspires got fifth in 2002, beating the American corps they emulated (Caballeros) and turned some heads at DCA ...

I saw a diminished Yokohama Scouts do well in DCI Open class in 2011 too. Imagine if they could bring their full corps over...

I saw Jubal when they came over in 2011 and Beatrix too when they came over in 2008 and 1991 ( I thought this was a different year, but it's been a while)...

I'm still thinking there are some gems somewhere in the world that we don't know about in the US. The Japanese corps could probably hang with us if they could get enough members over to be full.

This post has been edited by jjeffeory: 15 September 2012 - 12:00 AM

[Michael Boo]

fsubone, on 14 September 2012 - 11:30 PM, said:

Japanese corps have come over before. Yokohama Scouts have made a few trips, and Yamato used to be split between Japan and the US. And wasn't Taipei Yuefu from Taiwan? i may have butchered the spelling, but I remember them from a few years back. I think that Japan would be the closest to us, and could easily compete if they decided to do a 150 person World Class corps and show. The quality of music coming out of that country is crazy. I've seen middle school bands better than some college ensembles.

The spelling is Taipei Yuehfu. The name “Yuehfu” comes from the name of the Imperial Chinese government bureau in charge of compiling and maintaining collections of all Chinese musical literature.

The corps almost won the Division III Championship in 2005, but had a 0.5 overtime penalty in Finals when the drum major held the corps back when the audience applauded so heavily between sections, resulting in them missing the title by 0.15. (They had been ahead by 1.35 in Prelims.) If anyone here saw the show, it was the one with the remarkable ending with the oriental fans encompassing the entire corps.

They were going to come to DCI in 2003, but the SARS epidemic in May of that year that hit Taiwan hard was centered in a hospital that was very close to where they were based. They were a wonderful corps and I'm sorry recent audiences haven't had the joy of being exposed to them.