blazek

Blue Devils: Since they like to claim they push the artistic direction of the activity (a concept I find a little silly since 99% of all drum corps music is a repackaging of someone else's art), I dare them to do an entire show with completely original music. I'd like to see what kind of "art" they can come up with on their own.

So, I was at this show, fairly high up, and I can understand how BD is significantly ahead of everyone in terms of uniform marching technique, but from a visual ensemble standpoint, the drill design seemed extremely chaotic, and honestly it looked written to be dirty. Most of the other corps had pretty readable drill, and while dirty, it was pretty easy to figure out what they were trying to do. To me, BD's drill design just seemed like an absolute mess 75% of the time. I understand that a lot of it fits into the dada theme, but how does someone look at that and think, "wow, that's so clean!"? I've really enjoyed the innovative visual designs they've put out the past couple years, but I feel like I'm missing something with the drill this year, can anyone explain?

No other hornline would attempt the things that Crown is doing this year. Triple tonguing fanfares on the move at 196, ridiculous runs in all sections, twelve tone series licks at piano, also on the move, rapidly alternating chromatic runs and lip slurs, etc. If you don't understand or appreicate the difficulty of the "effects" that those kids are actually pulling off pretty well at the beginning of June, then you need a new set of ears. Is it perfect? Of course not. But it's gonna be pretty #### impressive come August, and I can't wait to hear where they go with it!

I think it's less about advertising DCI and more about promoting music as a whole. (the rest of this comment is not directed at anyone) Let's face it, music education as a whole is diminishing. In 50 years, if the current trends in music continue unchanged, orchestras will dissolve, nearly all music programs will be cut, and Drum Corps as we know it today will literally cease to exist. Whether we like it not, the future of art music is at stake. Personally, I'm glad to see this collaboration, because it shows that some people with at least some influence in the musical world actually do care about the future of music and the future of this activity. Sure, maybe the video isn't perfect and it may be a bit cheesy, but taking ourselves too seriously isn't going to help our cause or make anyone interested in picking up an instrument. Why do we perform? Because there is no other feeling like it, and that rush from performing is #### fun. Yay, band.

If this is what I think it is, I had a friend filling a hole for this group a few months ago. However, they did not advance and may have been rejected almost immediately. Apparently drum corps might not have been their cup of tea...I'm not sure on the details, so maybe someone else can fill it in?

Wow, Colts have it pretty good! I've never had epic music playing in the background at my all-days! That definitely would have brightened my spirits during circle drill days.

Glad somebody else noticed.

Tell that to The Academy. :P

To be fair, BK has not really given the public anything to be excited about. They're the only corps in the top 12 that hasn't officially announced even a hint to their show. It's understandable that people would count them out because nobody knows what's going on in Denver. Do predictions matter? No. Will BK show up at the first show and prove everyone wrong? Possibly. As for Vanguard, the incoming staff from both Phantom and Bluecoats is meant to address their biggest flaws - Music/Brass. Phantom 09 suffered from visual design issues, not music. The Bluecoats staff is also not used to a corps that medals, since it has only happened once, so I don't think the discrepancy of talent is as large as you might think. They're definitely good educators, seeing as they salvaged a hornline that suffered from an overly difficult difficult visual design last year, with brass finishing in 5th over Phantom. In the end, the past cannot be used to predict the future, no matter how hard we try. Wish the best to everyone performing this summer. Yay, band.

I'm a big fan of Pines of Rome and Mahler 1, so if they put out a solid product, I think the rep will carry them pretty far. That's also not that high, considering they got 8th last year. Phantom has also dealt with a lot of changes that might provide a challenge to remaining competitive, but I have no doubt they will still put out a solid and enjoyable product. Crown and BD seem to have the only concepts in the top 4 to seriously merit a championship; while I have complete faith in the Cavaliers and Cadets to put on great shows, they don't strike me as having the kind of serious connotations that could be associated with previous championships. However, the only way that Crown will win its first championship is if they make it absolutely undeniable that they deserve it over the Cadevaliers, from a design and execution standpoint. I'm skeptical of the possibility considering the number of staff changes, particularly visual, but I wouldn't count them out with the design they've recently announced.

Now that pretty much all of the shows/rep have been announced... 1st-2nd - BD and Crown 3rd - Cavies 4th - Cadets 5th - SCV 6th - Bluecoats 7th - Boston 8th - Phantom 9th - Madison 10th - BK 11th - Spirit 12th - Blue Stars

It's a really obscure piece, hardly recorded. Probably because of how ridiculously hard it is. Here's a decent recording:

I've heard the general consensus (even from an arranger that had to work with those horns) that for Jupiter: Low Brass = Good High Brass = BAAADDD I've heard some corps stay with their current horn dealers because they also get a subsequent good deal with drums/heads/etc. I don't know if that's the case with Jupiter, and since I'm not a drum guy, I don't keep up with how all the companies interact in regard to Brass.

I personally didn't think Machine or 007 were cheesy, and Mad World had a lot of serious undertones that it was easy to forget the 30 seconds of extremely cheesy music in the middle of their ballad; this will probably be the same with this year's show, and the rest of it will be pretty awesome, consisering the rest of the rep. The Cavies definitely have a way with making unusual show designs work, and this year probably won't be much different. Please don't think that I'm saying it will be a bad show, I think it will be extremely entertaining! I personally loved Rach Star and Toy Soldier, but I can understand from a design/conceptual perspective why they weren't more successful competitively; show design is EVERYTHING at that level. When I look back at past years though, usually there are only one or two shows with a "championship caliber" design. Will the Cavaliers be one of them this year? Will Cadets, SCV, Phantom, Crown, or BD have a winning concept? It remains to be seen. My money is still on Crown and BD. Still looking forward to the rest of the shows!

But, it's probably not fair to compare pop music to extremely iconic (and orchestral) cinematic music (007 is actually one of my favorite shows). However, I feel like the pop music and the overall show concept might lend itself to the kind of "cheese" that prevents a show from going all the way, like Crown '11 and Cavies '07. Pretty much all of the winning shows of the past couple decades have had largely serious/emotional undertones, which makes me doubt whether a show with much "cheese" can be very successful competitively. However, it's very possible that Cavies will avoid this trap; if any design team can, it's them. Cadets are also in a similar situation with their Christmas concept, but I hope that they avoid the "Cheese" as well. BD and Crown however, have much more serious concepts that might be more conducive of a championship, IMO. In any event, this is gonna be a #### good year for the activity.