Leaderboard

My son gets on an airplane and heads for Mars tomorrow. He will be marching his age-out year, and I find myself pretty weepy about the whole deal. It seems like it was just yesterday when I was driving him to Jacksonville AL for his first camp when he was still 16. Drum corps, irrespective of where loyalties/preferences/tastes lie, is a fabulous thing for Thomas, and for thousands of kids each summer. He has literally grown up, one rehearsal, one run through, one performance, one bus ride at a time. He started as a boy, and now marches his last summer as a fully grown man. All of you who teach, who direct, who volunteer, are owed a great debt of gratitude by parents like me. We put our children into your hands, and you have earned our trust. I hope every single kid, no matter what judges sheet or someone screaming in a crowd or here has to say, gets to experience a summer of fun, of growth, of excellence, and, every now and then, of the transcendence and beauty that drum corps can bring into this often fractious world of ours. Good luck to everyone! Wear sunscreen! Find that quality within yourself that allows you to know that sometimes limits aren't limits, and there is always a little something more that you have deep down inside yourselves.

I auditioned for Phantom in 08. I was well prepared musically. Physically I was not in the greatest shape. I feel like I held up technique wise, but it was a huge pool. I personally thought my visual audition went really well, in fact got some good comments from other visual staff, but Tony Hall didn't like me so much, haha. Also I didn't bring my own horn with me, and used one of the corps horns in my music audition. I never played a King Euphonium except for warm-ups the night before and playing the music audition part while holding the horn up did not go well. I was also extremely dehydrated. So my music audition was not great. I just flubbed it. Which ###### me off, because my actual playing capability was far beyond what I demonstrated. I also learned after the fact that I could have auditioned musically on my trombone. The way the audition packet was worded sounded like you had to audition on a marching horn... so I was already at a disadvantage. But who cares... I ####ed up. So they send their cut list to other corps. I got plenty of emails. I even registered to audition at Surf, since they were local. I was also became friends with the horn captain at Crossmen who I went to school with. I wasn't really interested in marching there. I liked a lot of shows in the past, but I wasn't really cool with the whole Texas thing. I also had a lot dialogue with Blue Stars, and had a spot as long as I showed up to a camp and wasn't a complete #### bag. I decided to go to Crossmen's January camp, I knew a few people in the line already, so I felt I would be more comfortable. Well I didn't make it to that camp... which is a long story in its self. But I finally made it to February camp. Traveling there was a huge mess but luckily I traveled with 3 other people. And had a drum corps horror story before I was even a part of one. Didn't officially make the line after that camp. But I was told that they usually take two camps to decide everyone anyway. I eventually made the line... was supposed to play lead too... but there was a lack of bigger guys so I switched to euph, well they ripped the bari out of my hands and forced me to hold the euph. The rest is an amazing time my rookie year, and now I have family for life. My advice? Believe in yourself. Work hard. Don't ever give up. I wanted to give up, I honestly had an awful time at regiment's audition camp. Playing with 300 horns was great, but it wasn't for me, some of the staff seemed a little too proud of themselves, and that went hand in hand with the vets. That was just a first impression though... I'm sure if I made the line and went on tour I would have had a great time. And hey, they won a ring too :) But I did find it interesting that two people from Crossmen tried out and made Phantom's horn line in 2008 and went through many camps. One even learned most the opener drill I believe. But something pulled them back to Crossmen. Neither were cut. They heard the Crossmen had holes, and they just couldn't help but come back. It's a tight family at the Crossmen, and I am so glad that I ended up there. Great experience. Great friends. Might not have done as well competitively, but the whole experience was worth it all.

My Post 1983 DCI knowledge - No Particular Order 1986 Blue Devils - Channel One Suite Drum Feature to End - Clean, Meaty and Bad### 1991 Santa Clara Vanguard - The Accelerando with the Battery at end to the brilliant helicopter effects from one side of the field to the other. Getting goosebumps just writing about it 1995 Cavaliers - Mercury, what mixture of strong drumming and subtly. Great writing and execution leading to their 2nd Championship 2004 Santa Clara Vanguard - What can you say, another Casella classic and well executed by the line, Drum feature to the end, awesome! 1993 Star of Indiana - It takes listening to the original work of Bartok's "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta" to truly appreciate what Thom Hannum and this talented drumline pulled off with the drum feature and accelarando portion of the show. 2008 Phantom Regiment - Clean, Dramatic, Amazing. Well balanced. Opener and Drum Feature 1994 Blue Devils - This show brought back BD to prominence and has not looked back since. Day Danse brought together creative writing and power with culmination of bringing people to their feet at the end of Day Danse. The "Monkey Drumming" or high sticking emulated by many. 1987 Cadets - Thomm Hannum & Company took what Mr Hardimon started in 1984 with SCV and achieved a perfect score. 1983 Bridgemen - "Black Market Juggler" blindfolded, enough said 2005 Cadets - Underrated or undermentioned - What they pulled off in the ballad was simply amazing going in and out double strokes to single strokes, double the tempo of the brass section. Takes listening to the judges tape to truly appreciate it.

Couldn't agree more Fran. 6 and 6 is not the correct ratio IMO. Maybe 7 and 5. 7 Open Class corps keeps the field pretty competitive and makes a performance at finals an achievement vs. a guarantee for some. I t also keeps the Top 5 on their game when they realize they are only 1 or 2 spots away from an early elimination vs the current format. And 5 A class corps would seem the right number to keep the game up in A class. Only 6 Open class corps seems too thin. It's no disrespect to the A class corps but you have to remember the scope of why A class even exists in the first place. I was always under the impression that A class was formed to give the smaller corps a fighting chance vs being smothered by the larger corps, similar to Division II//III vs Division I in DCI ( Now World Vs. Open). That doesn't mean A class is the red headed step-children, but you have to look at the what your loosing by taking away more Open class spots in a 6 and 6 format.

Both years I marched I had started by auditioning at a top 6 corps. Got cut both times. Went out and found a place to march. Went to Cap Reg based on the recommendation from a friend, went to Glassmen because I had a lot of friends marching there (and it was REALLY close to home). Had a great time both years and met the love of my life in 09. Sure, getting cut sucked at the time, but I think I came out on top.

1980 Spirit was many things. Loud, passionate, exciting beyond measure. But having a quality sound when they maxed out wasn't one of them.

Yes... come to the USA for 3 months and not actually get to see anything. Must be awesome. lol

How about NO bus or truck breakdowns (and hereby jinxing myself on the road this summer...) Let's face it, farting is funny at anytime in drum corps.

Gosh Bruckner...it's like you know what SCV is going to sound like before they even hit the field.

Cadets '03, Malaguena... 'nuff said.

Do you want 2012 SCV to sound like Phantom Regiment? If so, I'm certain you'll be disappointed.

I agree with what you're saying here. I'd take it one step further though, and make a definitive split between A and Open all season long. Let's allow the A corps to work with the judges to write their own sheets (and re-scale numbers in the process). I think that would go a long way towards defining and refining Class A, while catering to the specific needs of the A corps. It works really well in DCI Open Class. The way the system is currently set up, it's almost as if DCA wants corps to move up and out of the class, even if doing so would not be in the corps' best interests long term.

You nailed it. Purely and simply. No corps will keep their keys to success a secret for very long. If the Cadets prove to have a winning combination, then every DCA corps should learn from that and adjust their own programs accordingly. I think we're all in it to improve our programs and help create the best possible experience for both the members and the fans. I think we should all welcome the Cadets to DCA. And may the best corps win!

INT supposedly has a bunch of locals this year...

They may or may not have inspired the show... Except our guard will not be riding bicycles.

Being that you can only really judge this from shows seen live, I have to say 2007 Cadets. Saw them three times that year, and depending on where you were sitting, there were times in their show it physically started to hurt. In a good way of course.

No, I'm talking about the trademark tunes that are supposedly mixed throughout the actual show. Supposedly, it's Pictures mixed with "blasts from the past". Did you not catch any of that when you saw them? I'm pretty certain I know what the tunes are, but I'm not going to be the jerk who spills it online before the corps chooses to do so themselves.

When I was first introduced to drum corps in the seventies, I had the opportunity to attend a show with my friends in which the Caballeros performed. We all became instant fans and considered Cabs as a standard setter. That is why so many years later when I was able to compete against them it was very meaningful. And when my friends heard that we were actually fortunate enough to place ahead of them in some contests, my friends were suitably impressed because we still consider the Cabs as a benchmark for the activity and thus to have placed ahead of them was a great accomplishment. No disrespect to other corps since this is based on my own personal background. My point is that as a performer and competitor you want to compete with the best. Otherwise how meaningful are any of your accomplishments? I welcome Cadets2 and the entire organization to DCA and hope they do come out with a strong program as most expect. So, God willing, when I return to the field in 2013 I will have the honor to compete with a corps with the level of quality befitting that organization. It is no dishonor to lose to a corps like Cabs or what I hope C2 will prove to be. The only dishonor would be to quit or not even try. Trust me, I will be ready to deserve the honor to share the field with them.

There is a reason they are called Dy NASTY. Dynasty have only themselves to blame for building such a crappy trumpet. We've been telling then for years to dis it and they refused.

My son had his heart set on marching Cavaliers. When he was 16 he went up there and it was not a great situation- he got forgotten at the bus station, his horn got damaged, and when he got there, he found it wasn't a fit at all for him. Nonetheless, he got a callback to a second camp. However, he just decided that marching DCI wasn't for him- then I got him hooked up with Spirit (the brass caption head worked here at Auburn with me). He marched with Spirit for two years, Boston for a year, and now is in his second summer with Blue Devils- and is having the time of his life. I know people might criticize his jumping between corps, but because he is a music education major, I have encourage him to learn as many different ways of teaching and doing things as possible, and he has done that in spades. My advice? There are a lot of open doors we never see, and it only becomes clear later when we look back how easily we could have done something else and been as happy or happier. If you really want to march, there will be, as others have said, a spot for you somewhere.

been around the last few years?

Thank you. Takes me back to when the guys were marching. Last year a grandson marched. The experience is like no other and grows some pretty incredible people. Thank you to everyone who makes this thing we call drum corps happen. Have a safe year and HAVE FUN! Ma

Andy, this year is actually better than some previous years, in terms of number of Open Class corps. There were 11 last year and the year before. Also 11 in 2000 and 2001. 12 in 1999. 12 in 1998. 13 in 1997. And in the pre-Class A years... before 1997... we had 1993, when there were only 13 corps total... and all 13 were taken into Finals. There were other years... 15 prelims corps in 1978, with 10 finalists and exhibitions from the 11th and 12-place corps at Finals. 15 corps in 1974.... 12 finalists. 14 corps in 1994... 10 finalists, two exhibitions. So this isn't new, by any stretch of the imagination. And this year (disclaimer: this is a completely unofficial count, just my own calculations, not based on any particular official or "inside" information)... it looks like the Open Class field this year will be larger (maybe as many as 14), and the Class A field smaller, than in recent years. So I'm not sure expanding the Class A finalist field is the answer this year.

Well said......and building up the +'s is a good thing......you and I will certainly need them later this summer!!

good luck andsafe travels to all

Right on and thats the way (Drum corp) Youth activity has been for decades.

One of my favorite among many, many, favorite drum corps moments was from finals sometime in the 90s (I think one of the Orlando years) when a middle-aged man near me in the stands stood during a quiet interval and yelled as loud as he could: My son marches bass for the Cadets. I love my son. I tear up every time I think about his obvious pride and the emotion driving it. Shouting it out might not be for everybody, but it works for me. Thanks for the shout out. HH

Jamey Thompson bleeds class. He makes me extremely proud to be an alumnus of Phantom Regiment. I was very lucky to march one year in his drill. He has the keen ability to focus on what really matters within a program, and he's a drill writer that makes the program count and is the least selfish human being you will ever meet. Jamey could have went all out last season. He can write serious, crazy, extravagant, geometric, gyroscopic drill--- BUT, he wrote drill that fits the music. No one could have written better drill with such a slowly paced program.

...to 2012! and..... Safer travels Less bus/truck breakdowns Better gas mileage (and lower gas prices) Yummy food and Great shows while having the time of your lives! See ya down the road!

wishing everyone safe travels and comfortable gym floors

and remember no matter what your staff say, it's always really, really, really funny to fart on the bus.

but only because it inspired .

North Star's '78 snare drum line (part of what was affectionately called back then North Star's " The Chrome Wall " percussion section )) where they drop to their knees while playing, then they sway back from the kneeling position, still playing. The North Star percussion line from '78-80 should be included for not just playing abilities, but for cool and innovative moves too, imo.

83 Bridgemen

It is not a list at all without "Black Market Juggler" by the Bridgemen.

Turns out, most hornlines use different people too, so they would sound pretty different anyway.

Academy had a TON of people from Arizona in 2011, except the battery and pit which were from the most part from California like me. I know 18 members from California 1 from Pennsylvania, 2 from Arkansas, 1 from Utah, 1 from Ohio, 1 from Indiana I would! They're good enough!

Actually there are TWO Rockford kids marching in Phantom Regiment this year!!!! Rockford is a very, very depressed area right now. Our manufacturing businesses have closed shop and left the town almost broke. To keep our public schools in the black, music was cut way back. When I was in high school (1969-71..... ) EVERY Rockford school had a great marching band with matching unis, a full orchestra and lots of smaller music quintets and such......now, in a lot of cases, there is NOTHING. We do have one gifted public school music program and 3 private high schools. I believe the 2 Rockford members attended one of these schools. Phantom Regiment gets little support from the city right now, but does put on some great camps at Rockford College for the local kids to attend and gain musical knowledge. I appreciate that more than they can ever know as a Rockford life-long citizen. This year Rockford has a new 'marching band' that is supposed to show up at our 4th of July parade. It will be interesting to see how it works out. I suppose this is happening in many cities right now. It just hurts more when its your hometown and you have a great home town Corps. But, as another poster has stated, the top corps are basically college aged kids that come from all over the WORLD to try out, so the lack of local talent might not 'hurt' the overall talent of the corps - just hurt the local support of the fans.

As I said before... MG doesn't work alone with coming up with visual ideas. I believe that the duties of a visual staff is to come up with drill ideas AND clean the drill during the season. Yes, MG had a lot of ideas and they were put on the field, but I am sure he didn't do it alone. Plus, The Cavaliers have won many championships with different drill designers. Also, it is apparent that drill is one really big factor for The Cavaliers.. I really don't think they would have gotten some joe blow designer if he wasn't up to the task. I have faith in the visual staff. I am very certain that The Cavaliers will be just fine visually.

It's about doing well in Captions. Cadets won GE last year. They were .2 down from the top in Visual and Top in music .1 from the top in brass and 3rd in drums. I think The Cadets learned from last year. I think they will work as hard at the beginning of the season as they do at the end.( like all corps do) Gino and his Brass crew will be at the top of their game. Colin and his Percussion crew will be kicking butz. Jeff Sacktig is always awesome! And, the guard knows what it takes to be in the top 3. The Cadets will do well in all captions and stay up there.

So after getting a better idea of what's gone on musically and finding out some things about certain corps musical selections, I will revise my predictions 1-5 Blue Devils-they know the game and how to play it. I don't see them falling below 5th (let alone 3rd). This seems like a very guard oriented show and will probably earn them a 5th consecutive guard champion award. I don't know how they'll do musically seeing as how much they are playing really chopped up versions of their musical selections. Still, they will be on top and I hope it's along the same lines entertainment wise as last season. Crown-This seems like a show I can get into from them that isn't bundled with cheese. Last time that happened was 06. Their horns will be great and knowing their vis staff personally, they will be cleaner. Ron Hardin know how to clean drill no matter where he's at. Bluecoats-Ok, so I know their music rep due to still having friends in the corps. Not saying anything about it so don't ask! All I can say is that they are playing some stuff never to have hit the field, some stuff that has by both corps that have won and haven't won. What they plan on doing visually is pretty cool and what I've heard of the hornline sounds like the old staff never left . And it's their 40th so I'm sure they're going to be pushing for something special to happen whatever that is. Cavaliers-They'll be great since the only thing changing is their drill writer. To my knowledge, the vis, music and guard staff is all the same. Show looks fun and can't wait to see it! SCV-They will be better/cleaner but after hearing a draft of what the opener is, I'm not too sold. Sounded like Shaw was trying to change his style of writing way too much. But the horns sound leagues better and drums are great. I hope they make the changes needed to make this show a little bit more appealing to the ears. 6-8 Cadets-I'm not seeing this show going very far and based off of their recent trend of medal, not medal every two years since 03, I can see them falling. Just a feeling. Phantom-As much as classic old school Phantom is great, I still don't think that this will do as well as Juliet especially if they go with the high school drill again. Boston-This show is going to be sick! If they do well enough I can see a top 5 finish for them or even higher! Love the title and the rep! 9-11 BK-With their recent success I can see them staying in this grouping but don't quite know what they really need to do in order to move up. Madison-As much as I'd like to see this group create a more competitive run towards the top, I think all these changes that are being made to them need to settle in a bit more before they actually start to move up in the rankings and getting back so rivaling some of the other teams again. Blue Stars-I can see them moving back up again since they have been up there but their design needs actually be better and not seem better than last season. Love this corps a lot and wish them the best. 12 This will be the spot that will once again be challenged for again and again for the rest of DCI's existence. Too many good corps never make it in and someone different has been here every year since 2007. I like this trend and hope it helps keeps the corps in the none finalist tier alive with members. I don't know who it will be but I'm pretty sure that last seasons 12-18 will be challenging for this. I have high hopes for Academy, Bones, Troop and PC

84 Madison (from a spectator's POV) during the push in "Cats." 84 BD final warmup (from a player's POV)...absolutely the loudest and least distorted sound I've ever produced....we scared Garfield's battery!! Bb era....2007 Cadets....JESUS, they were loud Loud LOUD...about as loud as their feet were clean (enough to eat off of)

I've enjoyed most, more some than others. As of late 2010 and 2008 are my favorites. Now 98 - 02. o.o I love those with a passion.

I'm really hoping for a great show, I'm sick of hearing everyone how boring they are (don't agree with this), it's always nice for someone to take what people are saying about them and put it where it belongs. I'm really interested to hear what Key Poulan will do with G-Men, I think he'll be a great fit. -

Amazing Pic Trumpet Solo to Start Clean Brass Sound Big brass sound Good Musical selections/arrangements They come in my top 5 corps of last year....

I would have to say Academy for non top-12.

Re-reading this post... I realized I was incorrect when I thought you meant that the championship itself should be moved to J. Birney Crum. You are talking about making DCI East a one-day event. However, I still don't agree with the "move Indy up a week" idea. And I think LOS is a "real" stadium. I wonder how many people who complain about drum corps in an indoor environment would also be complaining if the championship was at an outdoor venue and bad weather disrupted and/or compromised the event.

Marching band has replaced the local drum corps circuits for better or worse. Personally, I like it better. -You're building school pride in the kids. -More intimate instruction setting, as they're your band director and you spend all year with them. -"Create your own Tour", you can choose to go to USSBA/BoA or you can stay at home and compete only at competitions within an hour of you. Or not compete at all. -Stronger recruiting tool for the marching arts as a whole (more people at the football games than at a drum corps show) In my perspective as an 18 year old auditionee, the allure to marching in DCI is making the "Primetime". It's playing in the NFL for a band geek. Getting to travel the country playing in front of huge crowds every night and practicing all day. That's why I think that DCI will succeed for a long time in its current capacity. It's the top of the mountain for so many kids marching in high schools. I think DCI will sustain pretty well with this same number of corps, and a few extra may pop up as the demand for one in areas without a DCI corps piques. My $.02 anyways.

for the same reason the Caballeros in 93 received holy hell for changing from their traditional uniforms. and why the Yankees haven't changed since...um....ever? I can see why alumni are ###### off. I'm not sure I care either way, but I know the hell my corps caught when we were supposed to be the corps in black and blue and we were in blue and white. Now, if this hits them in the donation fund hard, lesson learned.

Well there was a time in history when Cadets did not wear the traditional uniform. I'm not talking about 2003 - 2006, but you have to go WAY back in time. Except I can't find the picture. It was somewhere between 1958 - 1961....once they broke from the Holy Name church and became Garfield Cadets, they ended up losing the West Point uniforms. So they had to wear golf shirts and shorts, if I remember correctly. You could look at them and would not think they were The Cadets we know today.