wolfgang

In terms of a percentage of budget, where does the bus rental and paying the drivers for a 5-6 week tour fall? Have corps had issues getting bus drivers, even if the busses are ready for them?

Please name the 80's BD show you're referring to. For that matter, go through 1993 or 94. We could review the video.

On this Memorial Day, thank you to all who served. As the saying goes, all gave some, but some gave all.

Not necessarily. The Tournament of Roses is what, a month, with queen pageant, but mostly the last week of December. I'm fairly certain they have a CEO.

I get what you're saying, but here is what I hope is an explanation of what many of us feel has been compromised visually. Throw 1990s Zingali Star shows, any Cavies show from 2000-2005, or vintage Sylvester or Sacktig on the field today and even current marchers would be amazed at the velocity and form transitions. I believe this is undeniable: Ballet or modern dance companies (even college) move better than a corps ever will. However, one thing the finals-level corps did better than anyone else was drill, in step, form to form in logical transitions while playing. DCI was the pro level at marching and playing. As an experiment, give me 100 randos off the street and let me show them a post-Covid show and show from mid-80s to sometime in the 2010s. From the visual aspect, clean drill, logically written especially with velocity would be the preference of these 100 randos over scatter drill/writhing and twisting/emoting by a wide margin. Ridiculously wide. Same reason the biggest winter guard responses are for clean, high ensemble unison flag or rifle tosses at the show climax: The human mind craves order, which drill (and well-timed unison equipment work) provides. There is room for visual variety for musicians and guard, but most want something the mind can latch onto. This isn't to say I don't enjoy modern shows. Bluecoats, Boston, etc. actually do have order and logic at a sophisticated level (arguably more than their competition).. but from a 40,000 foot perspective, seeing a large group doing the same thing together is nearly always more aesthetically pleasing than small groups moving in seemingly disparate ways.

In racing at smaller tracks, on rare occassions someone gets hurt bad and the on site EMS will take the person to the ER, but racing is halted til the ambulance returns. In rarer circumstances, the accident will be away from the track property but the ambulance will still leave and racing pauses just the same. With that in mind, do DCI shows require EMS people on site? If yes, and they have to leave the stadium with an patient for injury, heart attack, etc., are there DCI policies to pause until the EMS returns? Aside from DCI, what about local or state regs?

Earlier today I watched a concert video of "We Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. The very last line rings true for the corps themselves and DCI. "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss." Also, I had heard of Pete Townsend, but had no idea he could shred on guitar like that.

Case in point: The Dave Bertman Cavalier horn lines. I'll confess, I love a loud but good hornline. Those hornlines had a stricter boundary on how loud they were allowed to play. Judges rewarded them for a few years but eventually they were no longer winning brass. People inside asked "why can't we play louder?" Imo, there was some justification to the question, but the blend and intonation of those early 2000s Bertman hornlines was new for drum corps. All that to say, the unspoken rule is loud means LOUD, and it caught up with his philosophy when his loud was not what many others wanted: LOUD!!!

And along with that, why do I see 12 tubas but cannot hear them?

I think DCI judges are not unlike legal judges. Beyond obvious technical things, the back of the sheets is a living document that means whatever a particular judge wants it to mean.

What is an aspect of drum corps that everybody kind of accepts, but really should be questioned? If you want to experience this firsthand, bring a total newbie to a show.

Your thoughts made me think of a corps identity, especially visually. One issue where Elvis has largely left the building is drill, or lack there of. Yes, modern corps still march and play, but the concept of transitions with "neat" memorable drill moves has largely fallen by the wayside. Part of the identity of a corps was the drill, whether Zingali or Brazale to the Michael Gaines early 2000s Cavies masterpieces. Also, there are financial reasons why the costumes change year to year, but even with no theme yesteryear, Devils or SCV or anyone else were instantly recognizable via the uniform. Regarding themes, corps have been doing themes since the 1980s, and by the 90s almost all were. Even a show with all music by the same composer (Shostakovich or Bernstein for example) with no character-driven story is still a theme. In fact, imo the themes of corps 30-40 years ago are more accessible and recognizble to audiences than many of today's AI-generated psychobabble in corps show announcements which nobody would ever get from just seeing the show... but it feeds the program coordinator's ego. Peace.

As long as AI hallucinates, it is not ready for prime time. Ask lazy lawyers who rely on it in case prep, only to have it cite ficticious cases, which the lawyers don't check and they get slapped down by angry judges. Speaking of AI and judging, if lawyers trust it enough to use it, and some on here trust it in marching adjudication, why not try an AI judge in a real courtroom?

Regarding the generational thing, imo today's kids and marchers of each past decade would have issues marching each other's shows, based on training. Meaning, marchers of bygone eras would have to adapt to a more choreographed movement style, and arranging style if given a 2020s product. Today's marchers would have to adapt to more drill with fewer stops, and associated challenge of being in the form on the move for a much higher % of the program, plus getting used to the extra weight of the heavier G horns. Kids from different eras could adapt to different performance styles. Drum corps of any era adjust on the fly, but there are aspects of corps of any era that would take getting used to. A modern Bluecoats show has challenges to do right, but '75 Scouts, '87 Cadets or '02 Cavies also were not easy to pull off at the level those corps achieved.

Which corps do you feel had the best sound (tone quality, blend, intonation) of the G-bugle era? B flats were legazized in 2000 and for that season some corps used Gs and others Bb. I believe by 2001 most top corps if not all were on Bb's.