mello916

Hi everyone, thought you'd be interested in this profile of SCV drum major Carl Huang from UC Davis Magazine. Carl is not just a drum major, but a microbiology major at UC Davis who juggles his corps duties with heavy academic demands. As an SCV alum and staff member at UC Davis, I was thrilled to see this story: https://magazine.ucdavis.edu/marching-forward/ Best of luck to Carl and ALL the drum majors who show tremendous leadership in all aspects of their lives. Enjoy!

Yup, nothing like a night of Visual and GE Corps to get the excitement going ;)

Watched the first 3 episodes of "Clash of the Corps" last night and I actually enjoyed it. Knowing this show was being produced for a general audience, I wasn't expecting the kind of drum corps minutae that most of us are used to when discussing the activity. It's basically a show that attempts to depict young people in the midst of a competitive, physical and musical activity, with all the daily dramas, life lessons, letting off steam etc. that comes with being a young person. It's less a DCI broadcast than "The Real World" with horns, flags and drums. Here are some of my impressions: * The "clash" in "Clash of the Corps" isn't so much about the head-to-head competition between BD and Cadets but a clash in their styles. BD is portrayed as this powerhouse, reigning champion unit while Cadets are shown as the headier corps that's struggling to find its "voice" on the field with lots of anxiety and handwringing - at least in the first few episodes. * That BD lead trumpter, Javier Astorga, is a beast! * The BD snare with scoliosis was fun to watch as well. He reminds me of the shy, younger guy I once was when I started marching corps - and yeah, that guy can play. * The camera likes to accent the shirtless and physical - there's definitely a "skin to win" element being used to keep attention. * The Cadets' color guard caption head reminds me of the instructors I didn't like during my marching years - I think she's being positioned as one of the show's "bad guys." * The scene of Cadets members giggling outside a door where two other members are presumably getting busy (bed squeaks and all) - someone's got some 'splaining to do! ;) * Overall, I was impressed by the talent and passion of all the young marching members. Hopkins seemed like a terminal downer ... but I feel vested enough in these young peoples' stories and the activity itself that I will continue to follow the season. Even if it's the only season ever, I think "Clash of the Corps" is good for the activity ... cheers!

My quick $.02 on last night's Moonlight Classic show in Sacto. ... spent most of my time in the lot so only saw SCV, BD and Crown on the field. SCV: Really enjoyed this fan-friendly and accessible show, but can't see them in the Top 3. Brass sound is a little top heavy compared to the last few years, and visually they have a ways to go. Watched them do some visual warm-ups in the lot and the marching was pretty dirty. As an old-school SCV alum this drove me nuts, but hey, it's early in the season so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But overall, this show is going to be really fun to watch as the summer rolls along ... also, the drumline's book is a monster out there and the Jonz sounds fantastic. GO SCV! Carolina Crown: Dear Lord, now that's some brass! Given the musical and visual demands of the show, which they seem very capable of executing at a high level, I can easily see Crown towards the top of the pack come finals. Some of the narration and amplified passages were a little grating to me at times - I call this show "ADHD Sprach Zarathustra" - and that narration of the poem from "Einstein on the Beach" needs to sound more James Earl Jones, and less Bobby Brady for it to have more impact. But hey, once that brass kicks in, all is forgiven. The corps does a fantastic job of translating Philip Glass to the football field and I'll be rooting for them at finals. BD: Not feeling it. This isn't a knock against the young performers out there, and I saw a lot of serious talent out there in the lot, but this show just didn't have much impact for me. I love the "Rites of Spring" and was looking forward to hearing BD ripping through some Stravinsky. I don't know, the show just had too much brass and percussion jibber-jabber that was technically impressive but not exciting in a drum corps way for me. I don't think I'm alone in thinking this. But hey, BD must be doing something right because they won, so all the power to them. From the chatter in the stands it sounded like most folks thought Crown won ... Overall, Sunday night was good times in Sacramento and extra kudos to the stadium folks for flipping on the lights this year :)

I paid $18 at the downtown Sacramento theater. About 5 minutes into the "interuption," some very cheery theater staff came down the aisles and distributed a free movie voucher. That was a very appreciated move. Then, when the feed started up again and SCV's show was ending, I started freaking out. I'd already missed their Sacto. "Moonlight Classic" show due to the lighting snafu at Sac State, and as an SCV alum, was getting really frustrated at the thought of missing their show entirely this year. So, I was really grateful when the announcement came that Bluecoats and SCV's shows would be shown in their entirety after BD performed. Thank you! My friend really scored. He showed up to the theater when the feed had gone down, and the box office stopped selling tickets during that time. He said, "So, how about I just get a ticket to Total Recall?" He paid $9, got to see Top 6 quarterfinals and even got a free movie voucher. Woot!

SCV beat Phantom tonight in brass ... whatever brass staff they're using now sounds like it's on the right track. Would love for it to stay that way.

Not to take anything away from Gordon's awesomeness, but my understanding is the SCV magic tricks were the mastermind of the late-great Dave Owens. Myron wrote the drill in 87, and I believe Dave also came up with the pants change idea in 85-86.

Yup, in 87 we had some UCLA members in the hornline who marched under Gordon ... great staff member

Gordon was also a rad trumpet player and used a no-pressure technique that was pretty cool to see

My apologies for the confusion! That was meant as a general comment, not a dig against you or any current Vanguard members. As always, GO SCV! :)

I marched 87 SCV and remember the idea of "the performance begins in the lot" was a huge hype for the hornline. I'm not saying we started marching in step from the minute we got off the bus, but any time we lined up - whether it was before visual warm-up or whatever - our game face was on and being in step was a big deal. (But even we didn't take this to the extreme that I saw Phantom take it the other night). Still, the idea of "work like dogs, sweat like pigs, march like Gods!" was very much ingrained. I'm not saying SCV 2012 doesn't live by this, but I didn't see that same marching intensity as I have in years past. But again, the corps' standstill blew me away and I am rooting big time for Santa Clara. Go Mr. Moto and GO SCV!

Since no refunds will apparently be given, here's one idea: One or two DCI Fan Network shows for those w/ proof of purchase to 2012 Moonlight Classic 8)

I like the Cavies, but if you want to be one, catch a flight to Illinois ... GO SCV! ;)

My $.02 on SCV - and caveat that I haven't seen the drill due to last night's lighting debacle at Sac State That said, SCV blew my hair back during the lot standstill and during warm-ups. The brass sounded full and balanced, and good intonation all around from what I heard. I am digging their music, even if I wish that chorale section from "Jupiter" was extended just a bit. I watched some of their visual warm-up and the corps could've been more on point. Members were making a few too many careless mental errors, not covering down as well as they could, etc. One of their visual instructors gave them an earfull after their visual warm-up. Also, as an SCV alum, it drives me a little nuts to see the hornline being a little too casual when marching in file to their warm-up spot, etc. Part of me wants to yell, "GET YOUR GAME FACE ON AND GET IN STEP!" I remember being told that the performance begins in the parking lot, so I hope SCV takes that up a notch. By comparison, when Phantom had members walking in pairs from their bus to start filing up, they were locked in and totally marching in step - even if it was just two of them going to the equipment trailer. In all, I'm confident that SCV will be a crowd favorite this year, a few babies will get thrown in the air during "Mars," and I will be rooting for them. GO SCV!

What an unfortunate turn of events last night - though SCV's face melting standstill in the lot made up for some of this mess. Although I'd been to the Moonlight show on a regular basis since the mid-1980s, I couldn't have been more thrilled to have this show just one freeway exit from my house in Sacramento. Some friends of mine who hadn't been to a show in 10+ years were especially bummed. Anyway, I would love to see this show move to Hughes Stadium at Sac City College, site of the old Sound Expo shows. That is, if the stadium's ready in time and can accommodate the crowd. Last night's turnout was big - anyone have a rough attendance figure?