AnnouncerMonkey

For the record, yes, I mis-spoke. Indy was FN. Akron is theaters. Ad libbing and rolled right over it. Sorry for any confusion. Dan

Interviewed in this episode: J.D. Shaw (Santa Clara Vanguard), Don Hill (Phantom Regiment), Andre Feagin (The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps), Lee Beddis (@MadisonScouts), Glen Crosby (Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps), Dean Westman (Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps) and Michael Gaines (The Cavaliers). Also interviewed in this episode, the one and only Mike Boo. Find out if he's switching teams!

The latest Field Pass, to be released today, tracks many of the staff changes that have occurred since the end of the season...including Michael Gaines departure from The Cavaliers. Me; "Are you adamant about this? I mean, if a really great offer comes along in the next couple of months, is it something that's just, no, I'm not even going to consider it?" MG: "No. I'm definitely taking the summer off. If I was going to do drum corps this summer it would be with the Cavaliers. Nope. No drum corps for me this summer. Hopefully as a spectator..." Dan

Mr. Sondheim addressed the same topic of audience involvement in a recent interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross. A riveting 40 minutes with an American treasure. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...oryId=130732712 Dan

Just to confirm, that is Bill Ives in the pic. I think Bill started something this year that has the potential to snowball into something much larger. Dan

I was the announcer at Normal. Joey's right. The corps doing pre-shows have a staff member cue the announcer (who, at premier events, usually announces from the front sidelines not in the box) when to begin each of the 3 pre-show announcements. In the case of the corps the OP mentioned, the staffer cued the first announcement and then left the announcers table leaving me to guess where the drum major and 'show start' announcements should occur. As Bob said, it's just a matter of working the kinks out of a new process. One other example. A couple of people asked me if I forgot the name of Cavies' show at Normal. I didn't. But I can understand why you might think I did. Cavaliers's designers wanted the announcement timed so that the name of their show ("...Mad World...") came from the pre-recorded, pre-show soundtrack originating from the pit. It's supposed to work like this: Announcer: "Performing their 2010 program..." Audio from pit: (w/ eerie efx) "..Mad World..." Announcer: "..Drum corps International is proud to present, The Cavaliers" The timing was fine. But, I'm not sure it had the intended effect because of the auditory disconnect caused by hearing audio coming from two sources separated by great distance (my voice coming from the stadium speaker system way beyond the left end zone and the Cavaliers' audio coming from the pit). Dan Potter

You'll hear much more on that theme (the fan experience) in the Field Pass to be posted tomorrow. It's a review of many of the ideas discussed at the winter meetings. Guests include Michael Cesario, DCI judge George Oliviero, Phantom percussion guru Paul Rennick, Crossmen program coordinator Jaime Alvarez-Calderone, Crown's brass caption head Matt Harloff, DCI OC Coordinator Dave Eddelman, Open Class Advisory chair Vicki Schaeffer, YEA board member Bill Speakman and the drum majors from The Cadets, Jersey Surf and Boston Crusaders....with music from the 2009 Cavaliers, Vanguard, Blue Devils B and The Cadets. Some of the content mirrors what you may have already seen in the Fan Net videos but there's much more too. Dan Potter PS...I think Michael Boo is corps-licious.

Today's Field Pass has been editted and reposted. Thanks again for keeping me accurate DCPers! I'm off to choir practice.

Wow. I'm having an off week. Thanks to everyone who's pointed out my tick. I, of course, know that Copland wrote Appalachian Spring. Doh! On the second reference (.."Are you channeling Lenny Bernstein?"...) I was refering to Stephanie's conducting style. Still. Ouch. Dan

Ryan, It's fieldpass@dci.org Dan

Sorry to disappoint but the announcer at Stanford this weekend will be the less-than-legendary me. I'm not certain, but I believe Brandt's doing Kalamazoo this weekend. Dan Potter

What Brandt said on the Field Pass is that he had no script at the first finals in Whitewater in 1972. Brandt and I and all announcers for DCI-run shows have scripts now. Unfortunately, I clean-out my briefcase between DCI and BOA seasons and I don't have a copy of an old script for the OP. I will in a couple of weeks though. Dan

And you can hear DCI CEO Dan Acheson, CFO Wayne Leide and Board of Directors Chairman Mark Arnold of the Blue Knights discussing the issue of rising fuel prices, as well as what's being done to cut costs in advance of the tour, here: Field Pass May 23, 2008 Dan Potter

Sorry about that. My first few trips out to talk to the manager were, umm, less than productive. After our third chat, I think the manager or projectionist decided, "They want it loud?! I'll give it to them loud!..." To borrow a line from a previous poster, they initially had the volume set on "seminar"...all I wanted was "Mission Impossible" level. Mr. Manager decided to kick it up to "amusement park ride." I hope you weren't too uncomfortable. Dan (aka the guy who does the Field Pass)