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New: Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine-Eric Whitacre

I know I'm no supposed to spam but check out this fundraiser I have for spirit of Atlanta fans. I am selling wristbands: They can be found at my fundraising website http://www.helpmemar...umblr.com/bands About me: This is my third year with the drum corps marching contra(tuba). Right after the 2011 tour I was diagnosed with cancer. My symptoms included a persistent cough all tour and at some points coughing up blood. 2 weeks after tour they found a mass in my chest, on the base of my wind pipe, and I was diagnosed with 2A Hodgkins Lymphoma. My doctors say I will be able to march and my treatment ends mid January. Due to my medical bills my parents are unable to support me. So please help me march, and if anything check out these cool wristbands!

He did so much for the UTEP band in just 2 years, that Nov. 1st is officially T. Andre Feagin Day in El Paso...

yeah. they sounded great for Crossmen 91-95ish

Was at the wake today... Dick may have marched the Brigadiers with me and been an Appleknocker at heart, but he's being buried in his Caballero staff shirt and black satin Cabs jacket...

Pluto got demoted as not being a movement either. they just called it an out take. :D

That is the most succinct yet accurate analysis I've seen on this board in a long time-- the destruction would be monumental if the 20 & 16 year olds on said night vision video were of the same gender; you just couldn't unring that bell.

Seems many of us only remember the good times when we marched oh so many years ago. I think there were alot of bad times. Here are a few of my not so good memories. My Ludwig french horm was junk and fell apart alot. My uniform stunk from the last guy that used it who sweated alot. The guy that got my solo always cracked the notes in the show. The school bus seats were hard as rocks. I was hungry most of the time since we didn't have chuck wagons. Several times we practiced in old corn fields. Since none of us could read music we had to learn it by rote, that was boring. We slept in the most god awful places and ate cold hot dogs. We routinely got beat by all-girl drum corps. The daggone drummers beat on the back of my bus seat. My shako didn't fit. We marched so many parades, I still have nightmares of stepping in horsecrap. Just trying to keep it real!

Read about it here! http://www.arizonaacademy.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=346%3Athe-academy-is-excited-to-announce-t-andre-feagin-as-caption-head-for-2012&catid=37%3Anews&Itemid=94

No offense, but budget killing is far from a cop out. You can inspire all you want, but if the funds are eliminated, you're ####ed. Sadly I've seen it happen to far too many friends in the last two years. no offense, but education doesn't work like big business. Granted, at times, they both have the same lack of common sense, but that's about it.

96... I was on visual staff that year and DCI week was hell. People forget that the 96 corps was 4th at quarterfinals. We were within tenths of BD the last shows before finals week and to get slammed back down to 4th at quarterfinals was a HUGE disappointment. That corps never gave up and killed themselves the next two days. Was amazing to see it pay off.

Not only going to make finals but going to bust thru the doors at finals :P I'm calling the Biggest brass jump in the activity!

It's about the experience not the score. well said.

drum corps is marching band. always has been.

Denver!

i dont remember many actual performances in the stadiums, i'll give it a go tho... Allentown- awesome being on the field looking up and seeing what seems like endless rows of people. LaCrosse- the scenery was pretty awesome backfield stadiums i didn't really like performing in Mile High- 2 days to get acclimated is rough and i thought there was a lot of echo for an open stadium. it was pretty awesome performing there tho anywhere there was a great distance to walk. 2010 san antonio, not the alamodome but some high school, was probably one of the worst venues i've ever performed in but thats another thread...

I won't pretend to act like I know anything about the Colts in the preseason, but 16th place is a hard hole to dig yourself out of. Could account for low turnouts.

This. The immaturity at the design level is astounding. Playing kids marching band becomes more important than being a good educator. No. It was not made big enough.

1. Denver (Mile High) - It was always the biggest Venue Early into the season and was a little overwhelming as a Rookie 2. Allentown - Vibe, Responsive Audience, History. 3. Camp Randall - History, Vibe, and having to Perform at ungodly hour of the morning for Preivew of Champions in 1991.

In other words, he was that kid nobody liked.

Because the best way to get someone to achieve the highest level possible is to make sure they have a terrible time. Some instructors and fellow marchers in this activity would be well served with teaching more and yelling like obnoxious idiots less. fwiw, I know plenty of tick boxes who now have top 3 medals.

Usually, there's a reason for it. The worst is when one of "those people" go on to make a top corps or win a ring. Well, it's good for them, I suppose. Nothing like an unbearable tick box on the field who had the chops to go chase a ring...

There were several guys that went from BD to VK back in the day.

dude( or dudette ), Just do you. it's your marching years. Don't give a #### about what others say, I marched a different corps than the one i am now a part of. I enjoyed my experience but here, at the scouts for me, is where i created a home and thats all that matters, not what others think, or even scores reflect. Enjoy Academy.

The THOUGHT of Hymn to a Blue Hour as arranged by JD Shaw is giving me shivers right now. So excited for this.

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I don't think they can hold up to last year because of minor staff changes and poor vet retention(oops)....

I'm not excited about Firebird itself (Cavies a couple times; showed up in Regiment recently), but I AM excited for Jay and Marc's interpretation of it.

I think Blue Stars are just hanging on... I think any corps from 9-12 is in danger of not making finals in 2012.

only if taco in a bag is made illegal

Well, think of my story....then think about this......The "most" categories are a means of taking the utterly unmeasurable and turning it into a half-###ed compliment (and in some cases... a dig). We see them all the time when we are sans drum corps "red meat" and looking for a filler. Opine away!

Most incredible hornline - Crown And since the title did not limit 2011 to the drum corps season....Most excitement heading into 2012: Spirit (just from the Youtube clip)

Most surprised that I enjoyed the show: Carolina Crown. At first glance I assumed you’d be too over the top. I even had my mind made up that I’d be disappointed, believing that “Bohemian Rhapsody” belonged to Madison, but the opening chords blew me away and I was riveted from that point on. Corps that made me most proud: Boston Crusaders. I’ve followed you longer than any existing DCI corps. Even in your lean years you’ve never let your fans down, and this year’s show reminded so many of us why we love you. Most robbed: Phantom Regiment and Carolina Crown. You both should have placed higher. Most sentimental corps: Troopers. Saw you first at the CYO Nationals in 1976 and have loved you ever since. Though I had to see you on a movie screen since Boston was not in your tour plans last year (or this year for that matter), as soon as you took the field all kinds of memories surfaced. Most enthusiastic corps: Carolina Crown. They love performing “Rach Star” and they loved their audiences. Most happy to see compete: Madison Scouts. Kind of wish “New York New York” was closer to 1977’s, but “Empire State of Mind” had all the makings of a Madison classic, and anytime I see you live you always make the show worthwhile. Most complicated show: The Cadets. Saw you in Lawrence a week before finals, and everyone predicted that if the show was perfected, no one could beat it. You perfected it. Corps from 2011 that I’d most like to see make the top 12 for the first time next year: the Academy. I only saw you via computer last year, but I was impressed and I’m hoping for bigger and better things next year.

Most unique colorguard....The Cavaliers

Heaven forbid that a corps ever attempts to play this crap music. It's bad enough as it is with all of the terrible samples we have to hear. I'm sorry, but most of today's music is just garbage.

I think it's a terrible idea because almost all of the musical genres you mentioned are rhythm focused, with little (if any) attention paid to melody and harmonics. Certainly there are exceptions in EVERY genre, but the majority of music in the genres you mentioned doesn't have the depth of sound to be able to be arranged and spread out to fit a 150-member drum corps. There would be too much doubling of lines and a very thin overall sound from a large ensemble. A good drum break could be fashioned from these genres, but a whole show? Nah.

TV will do nothing to further the activity... only add more expense. Also... if a single youtube video produced by BD for beer money can get 10,000,000 views... and TV could get only a couple hundred thousand (being generous) and cost about the same in dollars.... do the math. The broadcast comes out to costing more than $1 per person it reaches. Let's say that BD video cost $500 out of pocket to produce, that $0.00005 per person it reaches. When you have numbers like that.... $1 vs $0.00005.... television is highly irresponsible. If you want to get more people interested.... more kids playing music.... internet is so much more effective. What I'd love to see... Youth Education in the Arts doing quirky and catchy videos that, well... get kids interested in the arts. They produce a lot of videos... the production value is getting pretty good. Why not do something more useful with that capability? It won't cost much.... but the return would be..... um.... magnificent?

I like teal. It's a neat color.

Did you HEAR scv's hornline in 09? the improvement from 08 when he was not caption head? The sound of the hornline this year after he left? Witnessed his very passionate and intense teaching?

Tempe Town Lake!

Good for Academy. I don't know Mr. Feagin, but I believe the 2009 SCV hornline, under his direction, was one of the great SCV hornlines ever. They were stunning. I had the opportunity to watch them in the lot in Portland, OR and was mesmerized by that sound.

Calling it now: Academy makes Finals in 2012 :worthy:

That will be an excellent fit!

Doesn't famous mean the show that was most seen/heard ever? If that's the case, I'll suggest the 1979-80 27th Lancers as their show was seen by a decent portion of the world during the 1980 Closing Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid...just sayin'

For me it would be Cavies 1966, seeing them at the Dream that year forever changed my drum corps intensity level. Is that the year they had the awesome bari and contra line?

I loved every single answer. If the question is greatest (written) show I might go with 65 Royal Airs. If it's performed show - I agree with 66 Casper - changed Drum Corps forever (66 Cavies almost as good) If it's one show, one performance I have to go with 69 Yankee Rebels at the Dream (and they didn't win). My favorite written show, from every aspect - 84 Garfield, with 83 a close call. All depends on perspective I guess. My own personal just cause I loved it show: 1965 Sunrisers, and pretty much every other 60s Sunriser show.

1964 St. Kevins Emerald Knights - Dream 1966 Casper Troopers - Dream and VFW Ch. 1969 Boston Crusaders - any show

Pre-DCI: 1965 Chicago Royal Airs :-)

Interesting story about Canadian corps and DCI... at one of the first DCI's in Whitewater, I arrived to find the director of De La Salle standing at the scoreboard and shaking his head... they were currently in 12th place (making finals) and there was only one corps left that could beat them... Casper Troopers... I asked "Wow, that's a great score you got. You might make finals. Why do you seem upset?" "Yes, it's a great score and I never dreamed we'd have a shot at finals." "Then why are you upset?" "I sent the corps HOME" Fortunately, Casper was indeed capable of putting De La Salle into that "odd man out" position, but I'm sure I learned a lesson in drum corps... anything can happen and often does... oh yeah... don't ever send your corps home until the scores are ALL in...