Phalanx

If that's how you're reading it then we can assume he fell asleep after the Marine Corps D&BC at finals as well. This wasn't a review, simply a run down of the administrative success of the weekend. Great job to DCA for a successful weekend!

Love this deal! It's been the only time I've ever been able to convince non-family, non-drum corps friends to come to a competition. "Want to see something you have no clue about? It's only $5!" goes down a lot smoother than the same statement with $22-$30.

Any thoughts on making the plumes a different color? There's a lot of black on that uniform, it would be nice to see some contrast (maybe white?). Regardless, looks great anyway!

I attended the Brigeport show last night, sat around the 40-yard line towards the top of the stadium. When I watch shows, I primarily watch the hornline, so I'm sure you'll see that bias in here. However, typically when I do notice another section, it's because they were exceptional. As such, how I perceive each corps in terms of ranking, and how they usually end up is pretty similar. I'll start from the top. Les Diplomates - Decent sized corps, and I'm glad that they finally made it down to Bridgeport after last year's border fiasco. They struggled at time, corps seemed out of tune, and not very well balanced. That being said, they were an exhibition corps with a full field show. They played recognizable tunes, and given more time, will be quite the joy to listen too. Westchester Brassmen - What an unexpected treat! They came out with a huge drumline for a standstill, and a loud, powerful hornline. They played many tunes that are staples in drum corps, including several memorable tributes to other corps (Georgia on my mind, mag 7/mariah, etc.) They really got the crowd going, and set the crowd up well for the competitive portion. Fusion - I'm not sure specifically about numbers, but I believe they were in the low 20s in terms of horns, decent sized drumline, and a relatively small guard. Everyone in that hornline can play, and it shows. For a small corps, they were clean, had dramatic impacts, and memorable soloists. Good use of screamers mixed in with the corps. The Africa theme was pretty cool, had some solid drum beats, but seemed to be a little hectic. Overall, I agree with their placement, however I thought the spread between them and Cabs was a bit too much. Bush - Very small, I think 13 horns, 3/3/3 from the Drumline, and 5 guard? Everyone always writes in their reviews, "Oh they'll be fine... They'll make a late season push." I don't see it happening, and I do not think they're fine. They performed well, but it's hard performing a demanding field show with 13 horns. The demand on the individual is too much. Stronger players stick out like a sore thumb, and it becomes tough. Great job by the performers, but I worry. Park City Pride - As there was no formal intermission, I took this time to go attend to 'other' business. What I did see was well performed and well received. The cymbal line and the colorguard are always a blast to watch. Cabs - Were a mess. I sat around a group of people who believed, after it was all over, that the Cabs should have won the show(which appears to have been a common sentiment). I wholeheartedly disagree. The nature of their music is exciting, and really gets a crowd going. That's just the nature of the music though, it was performed to varying degrees of excellence. The hornline was loud, but at times it just sounded like everyone was playing different rythyms at full volume, which just blends together to form I don't know what. Also, the drill was a mess. The rotating company front at the end is something that was executed much more effectively by their alumni corps. The guard was solid and well staged throughout. The guard uniforms I wasn't so sure about, but they grew on me throughout the show. Personally, I think they should put their main guard performer in a more distinct dress. She performed extremely well, but I lost her amongst the other guard at times. Lastly, where's the beef? and by beef, I mean drumline. Very small drumline, that got swallowed up by the rest of the corps. I know they've made some personnel changes in the drumline, not sure how well that's working for them yet. Overall and contrary to the people around me, I agree with the placement and believe the spread was appropriate. Bucs - Left me shaking my head. Shaking my head because they were stupid good and it didn't seem fair. I noticed ALL sections of this corps, and ALL performed extremely well. They did ALL the little things right, and had powerful, talent, and tight execution in all sections. I was a big fan of the dancing theme. It had many recognizable tunes, which were well played. For this earlier in the season, the drill was ridiculously clean and demanding. They appeared to get a little tired at the end, but only in comparison to themselves at the beginning of the show. Them at their worst of the show, was still better than anyone else at their best. I do not think that this is the year that Bucs will be beat, unless MBI comes out with something crazy. As you can see from my first couple sentences, the problem is that "ALL" are contributing. Every section is too good. They lost colorguard, but their colorguard was still #### good, while the rest of the sections were great. Overall, I agree with the placement, and think the spread should have been more. Corps will say, "It's just 3 points," but that 3 points has to be made up by ALL sections of another corps. Empire - The other group which everyone loved and, if not the Cabs, thought should of won. They came out with a hornline comparable in size to the Bucs, but I was a little dissapointed in comparison. They start the show backfield, and when they turned around before their big hit, I was expecting to get my face ripped off. I was sorely dissapointed. It was loud, but not what I was expecting. The drill and guard work was a bit slow compared to others, but well performed. I didn't enjoy their arrangements of the Michael Jackson songs they played. However, this was their first show, and if anyone knows how to juice a show, it's Empire. So for THIS show, I was a little let down, but I believe that with practice and tweaking of the show, it will be the same crowd-pleasing GE-fest it always is. Their drum major was also a treat to watch, he was AMPED. Overall, I agree with the placement and the spread. But I think they have more upside potential and will end in front of the Hurcs by the end of the season. Hurcs - Strong showing with their Gershwin theme. Their hornline had a great sound, but the tubas tend to get a bit honky at times. The sound also comes and goes a lot more than other corps, indicative of people dropping out at the wrong times. They have a smaller hornline than the other top corps, so they can't get away with things with that. I thoroughly enjoyed the Mag 7 tag during their opener, and it brought some cheers from the crowd. The drill was a bit slower than prior years, but well written, especially in terms of guard staging. Their guard was INCREDIBLE, and it almost makes the other sections look bad. The drill was a bit fuzzy at times, and individuals stick out musically and visually. I've noticed this is a chronic problem with the hurcs of the past few years. They always come out strong, but don't improve consistently over the season. I hope they have a plan for that, but I think it just comes down to member commitment. Everyone has to be on board. I wish them the best of luck, as I long for a corps other than the usual suspects to break the top 3. Overall, I agree with the placement, and spread, but I think their upside potential is lower than Empire. Cabs Alumni - I'm getting a bit tired of typing, so just pretend I wrote what everyone always write about them. Good and loud, a treat to the crowd. Encore - Cabs Alumni came out with their cabs competing corps, and played the same exact same iconoic song that the alumni had played minutes earlier. Took forever to set up, and wasn't really anything special to me. I much would've rather had seen a Bucs encore. Was this planned in advance? Everyone around me sort of looked at each other afterwards and said, "Wait... That's it? Are the Bucs coming back out?" One last thing, the $5 ticket price was fantastic to me. I don't know how it shook out financially for the barnum festival, but there were a ton of people around me that "haven't been to one of these things in years". I even brought 3 people that never go to shows. The $5 is a much easier sell for those uninitiated to drum corps than a $20 show is. That was a bit more than brief, but I hope you enjoyed it. As usual, these are just opinions blah blah blah, but feel free to light up the barbecue and flame away.

So I just spent 5 minutes reading different fiery diatribes about the sheer outrage of the uniform change (which apparently was before they even knew what it would be), and then I finally flip ahead to see what the change actually is and all I can say. Are you kidding me? There is 57 pages of discussion because they changed around the colors of the uniforms? Really? I'm dumbfounded... and a troll... but mostly dumbfounded.

Now the real key is getting the word out to people who would normally not go to this show! Telling my non-drum corps friends (which I did!), "Wanna go to a drum corps show? only 5 bucks." The 5 dollars alone is worth the tailgating you'll do before hand. Spread the word!

As a marching member, I always absolutely hated retreat (sounds like I'm in the minority though). Anything to make it shorter is always welcome in my eyes. Lining up took forever, marching on took forever, all the pre-score announcements took forever, scores went quick, everyone marching off took forever. After I performed the show, I just wanted to be done. So I'm a big fan of both the new retreat format, and the jumbotron improvements.

Baby steps my friend. As long as it doesn't look like VHS from the '80s, I'm happy. I didn't order last year, because of that reason, but I am going to this year. Go Box 5!

This is awesome news! Funny how it comes on the heels of that giant cluster-f of a threat about the parking lot shows. I think this is a big win for the entire drum corps community. I think it will help spur growth of the entire circuit. It now costs the southern corps much less to travel to finals. All the northeast corps, save a couple, have about the same travel distance or less. The major airports make it cheaper for western corps to fly out. Great job DCA!

Newborn babies, sick people with days to live? Really?? Anyway, I agree with whoever said that management should be finding a way to still carry out this tradition somewhere else that night. It IS important to the membership, because it's for THEM. The actual rehearsing and performing portion of the season really is not that fun. I don't think I've ever been to a corps' (that had an intention to seriously compete) rehearsal and seen smiling faces. A few laughs here and there, but for the most part, it is not fun. The end of the year concert is what helps translate all that hard work throughout the year into pleasant lasting memories. People underestimate the impact that little events have on the overall picture. It is a big deal. People keep saying, "Is it really that important? It's only 11 minutes at the end of the year. Big deal." It's the only 11 minutes during the whole year where you don't get yelled at, aren't getting judged, and can just let loose. Maybe it can't be done outside the stadium, but corps' management needs to figure it out. At least until a friendlier city submits a good bid.

No. Because it's the membership that ends up suffering in that scenario. It gets filtered to directors who probably won't let there corps know until after finals, and then it's just a huge dissapointment for them. The parking lot run thru was the thing that I looked forward to most on finals weekend. It was like finally being able to perform for YOURSELF. A last hurrah for all the time and hardwork you put in over the entire summer. Some might not think it's not a big deal, but it is to the members. All because some #####y residents are up a little late on a night where they don't even have to go to work the next day. Disgusting.

Since I know better than to discuss drum corps on these forums, I'll discuss pronunciation. I disagree on your analysis. The desire sound comes from the OO, think fOOd. It's not fued. You BloW up a baloon. THe W is a big difference.

I could care less about the scoring disparity, my opinion doesn't do squat to change it. I just wanted to comment on your "golf applause/standing O" analysis. I've always cared about crowd reaction more than anything, so I always look to see how everyone else besides the judges take in the show. From my perspective, Hurcs got the biggest ovation (most people standing up after 5 seconds of the show ending) than anyother corps. Bucs only got the back few rows to stand, and empire about half the crowd (Both of which I was surprised about). Empire definitely got the most applause DURING their show than anyone else though. Again, just my persepctive of the evening.

Can we just close this thread please? I'm getting tired of checking this looking for reviews just to find people complaining about the ONE review that is on this 9 page crap of a thread. Can we just open a new thread to debate the efficacy of Reading's show, and the on-going battle between crowd's response and perception, and that of the judge's? I also apologize for contributing to this mess.

1. Yes. They play similar stuff because that's they're identity. Just because it's true doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Just gotta risk that some people are going to not even give the shows a chance because they'll assume its the same. 2. The Bucs are a saving grace of DCA. The Bucs are the gold standard that everyone is chasing. When someone finally beats Reading, there are going to be posts along the lines of "Thank God for _______, they saved DCA!" ... and I always ask, "Is it going to be because Reading got worse?" doubt it. People and organizations rise to challenges. 1 Great corps' and 22 good corps' is a lot better for the strength and longevity of the activity than 23 good corps'.