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Madison Scouts 2018


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2 hours ago, BigBadMadMan said:

I’m going to have to go back and look for specific examples of this, but I said that this year was a trial balloon for taking the corps coed and I was laughed at and told I was flat-out wrong. Turns out I was right, as that is an issue the admin is mulling right now. That will be a mistake, because it strips the corps of any unique value it has left. I’m sure @tesmusic is all for it and has his pom-pons in hand so he can play cheerleader, but this is why I don’t trust the leadership of the corps and think they need to be removed. I’ve just seen the product on the field and been distrustful of the direction. Just a gut thing. Nice to finally have my fears justified.

I’m not one who can speak about the leadership of the corps. I will agree with you that something valuable could be lost if the corps goes coed, and agree with an earlier comment you made about the uniforms last year, but as someone who has loved Madison over the years, I think the sound is the most distinguishing feature. Perhaps if I had marched with Madison, the all male brotherhood would mean more, but I love that pure Madison sound. Great sound gives a show that Madison feel, and as I look back on two of the more recent shows I have loved, 2013 and 2015, it was the Madison Sound that gave the shows their feeling.

in today’s emphasis on the visual and show themes, it’s harder for Madison than most to be true to tradition and be competitive, and I don’t have the answers,  but at this point, we need to let the season unfold. Remember too, 2016 was supposed to have the glory of 1999, even though it was darker themed. That did not happen.  In 2015, 78th and Madison was not given much credence, at least on DCP. They had their best season in ten years.

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29 minutes ago, Tim K said:

I’m not one who can speak about the leadership of the corps. I will agree with you that something valuable could be lost if the corps goes coed, and agree with an earlier comment you made about the uniforms last year, but as someone who has loved Madison over the years, I think the sound is the most distinguishing feature. Perhaps if I had marched with Madison, the all male brotherhood would mean more, but I love that pure Madison sound. Great sound gives a show that Madison feel, and as I look back on two of the more recent shows I have loved, 2013 and 2015, it was the Madison Sound that gave the shows their feeling.

in today’s emphasis on the visual and show themes, it’s harder for Madison than most to be true to tradition and be competitive, and I don’t have the answers,  but at this point, we need to let the season unfold. Remember too, 2016 was supposed to have the glory of 1999, even though it was darker themed. That did not happen.  In 2015, 78th and Madison was not given much credence, at least on DCP. They had their best season in ten years.

The Madison sound? Everyone sounds the same anymore, for the most part. Put a blindfold on and you wouldn’t be able to pick the Scouts out of a 3 corps lineup.

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2 hours ago, BigBadMadMan said:

The Madison sound? Everyone sounds the same anymore, for the most part. Put a blindfold on and you wouldn’t be able to pick the Scouts out of a 3 corps lineup.

Perhaps it’s because I have a good memory, watch more than my fair share of the Legacy DVD’s, especially those between 1976 and 1989, and as soon as May arrives listen to lots of drum corps music while I’m driving, I may pick things out easily, but I can usually pick out a corps sound pretty easily, even today. I will agree the style is not as distinct as it once was, and I do miss those days, but it still exists to some extent.

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I agree - This admin is taking this Corps into complete obscurity and irrelevance....just to fit in with the modern culture

and to try to get a bump in placement. They are ignoring one of the true problems - they are notorious for not paying staff

members s###. So therefore, they can't keep who they have for very long, and the can't get better quality staff....and therefore

they can't attract top tier talent in the Corps. But yeah, going coed will fix all that.

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6 hours ago, BigBadMadMan said:

I’m going to have to go back and look for specific examples of this, but I said that this year was a trial balloon for taking the corps coed and I was laughed at and told I was flat-out wrong. Turns out I was right, as that is an issue the admin is mulling right now. That will be a mistake, because it strips the corps of any unique value it has left. I’m sure @tesmusic is all for it and has his pom-pons in hand so he can play cheerleader, but this is why I don’t trust the leadership of the corps and think they need to be removed. I’ve just seen the product on the field and been distrustful of the direction. Just a gut thing. Nice to finally have my fears justified.

the unique value of the corps has been slowly eroded by a decade of wandering in the wilderness of knowing who they are.Even in the slimmer years Cavies had recently, you knew they were the Cavies. Outside of a few years with Mason in charge ( I'll say 10-13)....who is Madison anymore? Trying to be The Men of Madison but yet not reverting to Malaguena the 100th time has left them in a design and identity quandry. 

 

is going co-ed the answer? I don't know. it could do more harm then good. But competitive success hasn't been an issue for the Cavaliers being all male. They'll do what they do, but it has the potential to back fire too

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On 5/27/2018 at 10:16 PM, BRASSO said:

 Theres so little to talk about with ANY of these Corps these days now as most of them get ridiculously secretive in the winter/ spring months now in DCI.  I would not consider the lack of info or hype on the 2018 version of the Madison Scouts to be dispostive on anything at all.. Don't lose faith, when the Madison Scouts havn't even put half their 2018 show on any practice field yet.

I know this was written a few weeks back, but something occurred to me:  In 2018, it is like Drum Corps was in 1978 (or 68 for that matter) - no one really knew what a Corps was going to play until either it was (1) published in 'Drum Corps World' or 'DCI Contest Guild', or, (2), you saw them on the field.

Although we now have instantaneous means of sharing info, if no one publishes this info, then we get no info.   

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2 hours ago, Nine White Russians said:

I agree - This admin is taking this Corps into complete obscurity and irrelevance....just to fit in with the modern culture

and to try to get a bump in placement. They are ignoring one of the true problems - they are notorious for not paying staff

members s###. So therefore, they can't keep who they have for very long, and the can't get better quality staff....and therefore

they can't attract top tier talent in the Corps. But yeah, going coed will fix all that.

Preach. I’m surprised at how many guys I marched with in the mid-90’s are cool with this.

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1 hour ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

I know this was written a few weeks back, but something occurred to me:  In 2018, it is like Drum Corps was in 1978 (or 68 for that matter) - no one really knew what a Corps was going to play until either it was (1) published in 'Drum Corps World' or 'DCI Contest Guild', or, (2), you saw them on the field.

Although we now have instantaneous means of sharing info, if no one publishes this info, then we get no info.   

 By May 28th ( when this was posted ) some Corps were already both seen and heard in competition, illianaLancerContra. We also had ( depending upon the year ) standstill competitions in the winter and/ or spring where Corps were seen/ heard.. Corps were not doing Theme Shows back then,  so the curiousity regarding a theme was not present. Sometimes the closer might already be known, as it was more than likely going to be their signature song. Uniform curiosity generally was not present, as Corps prior to 1978 or so tended to retain the same uniforms/ shakos from year to year. Eastern Corps performed in exhibition ( and their performances recorded commercially ) in Carnegie Hall, NYC, or Symphony Hall, Boston... in January for example.  So fans really were kept engaged in the off season. Drum Corps News/ Drum Corps World/ Drum Corps Review and such newspapers were arriving bi monthly to fans mailboxes.Both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald had Sunday Monthly columns written about what was going on with Corps in the off season. So there really was a plethora of both live shows and printed info to keep Drum Corps fans engaged in the off season. The current lack of information that DCI fans receive from Sept to Move - ins in May is actually pretty unprecedented in any former Drum Corps era in my opinion. Is this the way to grow a fan base from its current fan base numbers ? No, I don't believe so.  I can't imagine how keeping customers mostly in the dark for approx 40 out of 52 weeks of the year is a Good Business Practices model that has " win " written all over it.

Edited by BRASSO
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In 2015, the Scouts went with those great traditional uniforms for 78th and Madison & beat the Cavaliers. They announced 2016's Judas theme early, which I originally thought was smart - I always feel bad for corps members when they're forced to march a show they don't buy into. I tried to like Judas, but you can't really do a dark show with white pants & red sequins. If they didn't have the budget to go with darker uniforms, they should have waited to do Judas until they could change uniforms. They figured that out last year by going all-in on the theme, and it brought them back into finals. I'm looking forward to this year's show. The level of competition in the top 12 is getting stronger. Last year, some very good shows missed finals. A few good years and membership retention would do wonders...

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