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but some say they went out on a limb barking up the wrong tree.

It is! It's pissing off less people year by year

Do you mean you heard some great music that will be in their program? Or you heard Boston play music that's in their program? That clarification would be significant. Great music that might lead one to think "they're not messing around" might be more than they can handle, as great as it may be,. However, if you heard great music being played by Boston at this point, then "not messing around one bit" takes on a very different meaning. That being said, they'd still need to max out performance to live up to the "not messing around" hyperbole. Hope you are right as it adds to the excitement. Not hyping as one poster mentioned earlier (with a hype train reference), just being cautiously optimistic.

The 35 performer rule isn't designed to grow or expand DCA. It's protection for show sponsors, and it's a very good rule, ensuring they're not paying appearance fees to a non-viable drum corps (which happened prior to the rule's implementation). If an organization cannot meet that 35 member minimum, there are other performance avenues available to them.

Fir real, 2017 is the root of this thread.

Gesundheit!

For anyone looking, DCI store now has BACK the Legacy years and some of the 2000 - to 2009 vids and cds...some are still missing, but it looks like they have everything available from when they closed the old online store and opened the new one. Nice to see...I was able to purchase the 2008 13-25 corps DVD to replace the one that I had (it had a scratch on it that prevented it from playing). Get all those years while you can :)

I think the same can often be said of fans are marching arts contests, maybe to a lesser degree, but I've come across plenty of rude people in our community as well at shows.

Thank you for spelling that out, John. I remember seeing a few fly-by-nights in the early 90's that appeared at a contest or two then crashed and burned due to weak management, instability as well as numbers. I've been to shows where I cringed at some of the comments coming from some of the paying audience concerning some of those groups. I can be a hard case and critical but for God's sake, I literally cringed at what was said. I'm more understanding and I wouldn't have gone there. Some of those people I'm certain had the ear of contest management and let them know how they felt in no uncertain terms about those groups as well. My guess is in the one case, some of the people making those comments were part of the show management team. When I was mixed up in Garden State in the mid-90's there were some very small groups within that circuit. Southern Illusion had 6 brass and 6 percussion, and about 8 guard, for instance and did credibly for that small a team, but I'd argue that Garden State was a circuit designed for very small developmental teams that didn't have much of an operating budget and in most cases were also extant to build character with inner city kids, and in that way they did very well-- but that's not really DCA's goal nor purview. Building character and helping kids is an indirect side effect of the DCA activity more than a main goal. People want to see effective teams performing watchable and accessible shows in DCA. Whether anyone likes it and I don't like it for the record- there's not a lot of sympathy or empathy for a group that's struggling/unwatchable. Also, if you have an under 35 team... do Minis. Do Sound Sport. Do WGI Winds. Build the program from that and grow into DCA. Those paths exist, and to be blunt, if you can't get it out of those types of venue, stay there and do well at that. No point in trying to do something that sets up the overall program for eventual failure and having people in the audience shaking their heads and remembering the group in a bad light 25 years later.

Finally was able to hear a bit of Boston's program... they're not messing around one bit.

So what is it? Hype or anti-hype? He is not "quite correct" that expectations are extremely high. They are restrained, they are hopeful. The posters on the Boston page are careful in what is said for the most part. They have been through many down years and missed goals but continue to do what they can to move forward and improve not just the corps performance but the entire organization. We'll see how this year goes, but people begrudging them for taking a big step forward and getting in the game starts to traipse into elitism. Undeserved. And if some posters want to keep saying what they see is hype...so blankety blank what! What does it matter to them?

I love SCV... probably more than most on here, but to say Crown medaled last season because " SCV just missed " disregards the fact that when it comes to Crown and SCV, SCV always " just missed ". The head to heads the last 8-10 years between Crown and SCV tells the storytline here, Tobias. And these heads to heads results are not a one off. These multi season results put to bed the idea that Crown medaled last season because " SCV just missed " last season. ahhhh.. lol!... I don't think so. Crown medaled because... are you ready for this... they had a better Guard last season that framed the Visuals better than SCV and the Cadets, That alone could not win them a DCI Title, but it was enough to keep them ahead of both SCV and Cadets by just enough, Tobias.

If what I heard this weekend is true about one of the program's musical selections, it is a good bit different from Crown's recent source music. I think it will translate to the field swimmingly, very energetic and innovative. How long was Leon May at CC? I know since at least 2006, earlier than that? New drill design is what I am most excited to see from them in 2017.

They went down a placement last year, were in second in 2015 and third in 2016

The Egg Man cometh.

Let;s leaf it alone and move to 2017 again.

Hey = I think what he meant was to "those paying attention" the drill and some of the other design approaches had become a bit stale and they "figured" some changes would happen As an outsider I personally thought the drill design and the visual approach (choreography included) had become very stale and repetitive so I personally felt some changes should or would happen

Where did he say he's pleased with no one being able to buy DCA audio/video products? He didn't say any such thing. Just that marching-music organizations are finally playing by the rules of licensing, as they should be. It really is up to a given organization... DCA, DCI, BOA, whoever... to figure out how to 1) play by the rules, and 2) still generate enough product sales to make a profit.

You wood go there with that...

I will NEVER pay for FloMarching. I don't think they are at all serious about doing it well. Much more concerned with doing it CHEAP! I was very happy with DCI's live streams last year...most of the time. Video was almost always good. Audio too soft at times.

I certainly hope that nobody is accusing yours truly of hype. For my part, I have predicted only that I thought they would eventually place somewhere between 1st and 12th, which is in keeping with their last 17 years of finals placements. I think some "hype" at this point is more imagined than real.

FloMarching had serious issues Friday with WGI. I wasn't able to watch other days but I let my feelings be known. They obviously didn't have enough capacity to handle the demand

Hate to break it to you, but this is kinda old news

That's a really Southern bias you show there. How about UMass, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, UNH, Notre Dame, Penn State, W. Carolina, James Madison, West Chester State, Rutgers, UConn, Ohio State, etc., etc. ok, Wisconsin too but they march funny. And even for those Southerners, you forgot South Carolina and FSU.

Nope!

The Southern Knights just completed another camp. We now have 54 sets of drill with visuals onto the field. That is all of Mvts. 1 & 2. About 5 minutes of the show marched and played on April 9th. This show is so much fun to perform! We do have a couple soprano spots, and 1 contra spot that just opened up. Must have previous marching experience.

As a MCDC '17 Lead Bari, I can attest to that. :P For real though, there is great improvement in this entire corps this year alone, as my 3-star (3 year vet, about to be 4) section leader is saying that the attitude, ambition, and raw talent in the corps is tremendously improved from last year. There's a lot of factors why that is, and probably the biggest part of it is staff changes. With a 5 year Bluecoat 2016 Age-Out as our visual caption head, we're gonna look a lot better than the corps did last year. Sorry for my bias-fueled comment, but I honestly felt I had to say something for my corps. :P

Speaking of Westshoremen alums...LOL... Went to see Scott Stansfield's band, the Melting Pot Big Band, here in Baltimore last night. Great show!!! These guys can play a bit, for sure. Hard to believe they're a part-time group by the sound they put out.

. Congratulations Blessed Sacrament ( Cambridge, Ma. ) ! Blessed Sacrament, a recent joined member of the Inspire Arts & Music Group ( Parent Organization to the Boston Crusaders ) medaled earlier tonite at the Winter Guard International. Championships in the World Class Division. This is Blessed Sacrament's 1st medal since 2007 in their long and successful competitive endeavors in the World Class Division of WGI. They finished 3rd earlier tonite. Congratulations to Dolores Zappala. Meg Gallagher, staff, and especially the performers for their fine year, and medals finish. Congratulations are also in order to the Pride of Cincinnati Guard for repeating as Titliests in this World Class Division earlier tonite. Boston's newly hired Visual Show Designers for 2017 ( Keith Potter, Michael Townshend ) are part of the Show Design team for the Pride of Cincinnati Color Guard. Congratulations as well to all those afilliated with Pride of Cincinnati for their Championship winning Title earlier tonite.

wow.....been a long dry stretch.......miss everyone

Hey Folks - I have figured out that you can take the survey multiple times. I'm planning on taking it every day.

Wish I had the opportunity to "experience" this Museum Exhibit upclose and personal...the Casper Wyoming TROOPERs played a significant "key" role in my life as a "24 Inch" Concert Cymbalist with the Corps I marched with from 1965-1972. Dating back to 1969? with the release of THE TROOPERS Iconic LP Cover featuring the Corps members positioned in a mountainous setting and the Cymbal players flairing out there 24" Cymbals over their heads and into the camera lens. I adopted that stance in my Corps 1971 Formal Picture of my SIMPLEX MINUTEMEN DRUM & BUGLE CORPS FROM GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS. to this day both/visuals are forever etched in my minds eye, and in the Corps of my heart. Congratulations and SALUE TROOPERS!!!!

you're a giant wgi fan, right? not surprising at all you'd like more costume-y stuff please don't think i'm under the illusion that they've been anything but costumes for most corps for decades, but bloo took it to a new level, obviously the vast majority of fans on here said that 1-2 corps would go in the same direction in a poll i started in august, so this is going to be really intersting

Hello! I'm a 20 year old trumpet player from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC where I major in Instrumental Music Ed, and minor in Sustainable Development. I'm a contract member for the Cadets this summer on the lead part. Last summer, I played upper lead at Spirit of Atlanta. This year is a little different though. After telling my family I chose to march this summer rather than take summer classes and work, they were very disappointed and dumped some bills on me they had promised to pay during the duration of my college career. Now, I'm having a little bit of trouble paying my fees. Being a full time student taking 20 credit hours (the max you're allowed to take is 18) and working 40 to 60 hours a week, paying for college, different bills, and having to pay for drum corps, I am doing everything I can to raise my dues for this summer. With this being my last year of marching because I am donating a kidney in September and that will prevent me from marching again, I really would like to be able to march with the corps of my dreams. Ever since 2012 when I saw the 12.25 show, I have wanted to march Cadets. Now, having that opportunity, I would hate for it to go away because of monetary reasons. I also have a t-shirt fundraiser going. With every purchase of a t-shirt, I get between $8 and $12 that is going to go towards my dues. The point of this post is that I'm looking for a sponsor or a donor to help me with my dues. If you choose to sponsor me, I will be sure to keep you updated, send pictures, and let you know everything that is going on. If you would like to just donate, I would appreciate that as well. I'm down about 1750, but will be paying more as I get my paychecks. Thann you for reading this. Gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/helplorhanmarchcadets Tee shirts: www.teespring.com/2017-tour-fees

Paramounts show was beautiful just now, really enjoyed it! Strong showing earlier in the day for James Bowie too. Seems their guard will be in great hands this summer.

A little bit of hell for you on this fine Thursday

BD, RE:Rite of Spring. People I know really, really hated the show, but man when they come in with the main theme of Rite of Spring I just can't get enough. Constantly listen to that show. Madison '15 was one that I really harbor a special spot for as well. Not sure how everyone else took it, haven't seen anything much about it in writing or otherwise, but it's probably one of the most catchy shows out there. I love the groove.

I really think Crown could put together a very fine Brass Band. Don't need to worry about age-outs. Don't need 80 people, a convoy of equipment, fields, schools, etc... They'd really have no problem keeping all the positions full. You could travel in Europe and compete in all the fun stuff there. It would be a great 2nd program.

The more good corps there are the more fun it is to watch.

They need to do what DCI does for livestreams. DCI even posted a YT video of it. And whoever did BOA livestreaming before (MrVideo?) did a fine job.

If only they had trampolines ...

You should have just lead with, "I am related to George Hopkins." Whether right or wrong, that would have gotten you a ton of "enemies" right off the bat!!!

"This was George Bush's fault back then "

The Russians hacked Brandt Crocker's score sheet on finals night in 2008 and 2015.

1. No one really knows what GE is. 2. There's evidence in a Fox News report that Bluecoats had only one member actually playing horn in 2016. Everything else was electronic. I know this because Trump tweeted it. 3. BD shows are snoozers. 4. Phantom did not actually perform in 2016. It was only a mirage. 5. Beacause it's worth repeating: No one knows what GE is.

Moe Knox belongs in the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame. Long overdue. I enthusiastically support the nomination and acceptance of Moe Knox as a Full Member of the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame. Moe is a man who has traveled throughout these United States, many times at his own expense, to document for posterity, the history of corps and events. He spent countless hours at field-side tables, showing his photos to spectators and participants, patiently answering all questions no matter how trite. He should be considered for Full Member status. Mr. Knox's photos and his ambassadorship at shows has "enhanced our visual understanding of the marching world through years of drum corps photojournalism". The WDCHOF committee passed over Moe in the selection process to the Hall of Fame, allegedly because he "made money off drum corps." In fact, the WDCHOF has never honored anyone for photojournalism, yet honored the owners of the for-profit journals for which they too photos. Moe Knox should be inducted.