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2000 - The switch to Bb. I knew when they did this that the rest of this would be soon to follow and I was correct. I took 10 years off after the Bb mandate because there where no longer bugles in drum and BUGLE corps. I came back to amps and electronics. I am now ready for piccolos and clarinets because the Drum and Bugle Corps sound is now gone. After 2 seasons back - that sound I remembered is gone and I am not a fan. The Bb mandate killed the idea of Bugles ever coming back. I am thinking serious about taking another 10 years off just to see if DCI stays or goes away. This is not another one of those "Open Letters", just a fact that I like many others am not proud of the "new drum corps". I am okay with the messing around with movement and all the visuals... but DCI has f'd up sound of the music. I do wish just ONE corps had the balls to MAKE me a fan again. It's not looking good.

Chances for getting rid of electronics: 0% Done right, they enhance immensely. Done poorly, they detract. The only thing one can say for certain is that the best musical seats in the house no longer exist in the 10 rows between the 45 yard lines. Chances of getting rid of themes: 0% It is no longer acceptable in terms of guard costuming, drill design, musical continuity or "purpose" of a show to just be a random sampler of unrelated music. Even 40 years ago, "themes" were present in programming. What would a non-themed show look/sound like? We only have 11 1/2 minute shows. What would you choose to do with your 11 1/2 minutes? Chances for playing "recognizable music": 100%... if you actively listen to a wide variety of music in your day-to-day life. Significantly less if you don't. I recognized every piece of music played this summer. Others did not. Who decides what is "recognizable"? We live in a world of themes, electronics and diverse musical influences. Drum corps does not exist outside our culture in a vacuum. Chuck Naffier

I have been a drum corps fan since I saw my first McCormick how to marching video in the fall of 1975. I went to my firstDCI contest in Atlanta, GA in 1976. I have attended 3 DCI Championships (1980,1984 and 2000). I have a minor in music and I wrote for Drum Corps World from 1983-1996. With all of that drum corps fan experience up until last night I had never seen a DCA corps live. So here are some random observations: 1) The DCA corps are more fun to watch. They haven't got caught up in all the "I must play music the audience may not understand". 2) The DCA corps are not electronic junkies. My observations is the DCI corps have lost their way in the electronics. If I want to hear an electric piano I have plenty of Chick Corea CD's I can listen to at home. I go to a drum corps contest to hear brass, percussion, not MIDI music. The Blue Devils this year used mics for their soloist--I had no problem hearing any of the non-micro phoned DCA corps this evening. 3)The DCA Corps were not hung up on props. I know some of the DCA corps this year used props, but all the ones I saw were tastefully done, fit in the show and were not covering up for some lack of imagination drill design. 4) The fans of the DCA corps are more mature. The crowd was not full of high school band students. 5) I was surprised to find out that the upper deck of the stadium was not utilized for seat sales. I actually thought my ticket was in the second deck only to find myself considerably lower in the stands. 6) The DCA corps are not afraid to play loud. Nothing stirs up an audience like pure impact volume. Many of the DCI corps have cut back their volume level to sound more musical....bad trade. I don't expect a drum corps to sound like the London Symphony Orchestra. I guess the biggest surprise was the size of the crowd. The crowd was a fraction of what I saw at any of the DCI championships I have attended. The DCA corps are great! Many DCI fans maybe missing out on the best half of the activity. After the second open class corps of the evening I was wondering why I still followed DCI when this experience was so much better. The good news is I don't need to choose between the two halves of drum corps, but if I had to make a choice I would attend DCA first. I am already looking forward to attending next year. Scott Smith

Mitch Rogers and the Cavaliers are a match made in Heaven. He has created some of the most innovative, captivating, and challenging visual programs that have ever graced a performance stage, and I couldn't be more excited to see the what the Cavaliers unparalleled visual tradition will create in the wake of Mitch's guiding light. I hate to keep bringing these guys up, but some may recall that I referenced the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park's BOA programs from 1998-2001 (and to a certain extent, 2002 as well) to give credence my strong belief in Don Hill's similarly heavenly match with Phantom. This may be an even more apt analogy, though, as the band program at that time was heavily influenced by the Cavaliers through several staff members. The bicycle technique and dot philosophy were both used and even in 2002 Mitch's creative design was really the bread and butter of the PCMB's visual program, which won several BOA Nationals captions during the period as well. The last time I was this excited to hear about a staff change from the perspective of seeing amazing new material was when it was announced that Don was signing on at Phantom. For me, it's a ten out of ten. It's a very exciting time to be a Cavalier

Can we all just accept that everyone has different tastes? yes, some people are going to like BD's show no matter what they do, and some people will hate their shows no matter what they do. They could go out and do a full read of Channel One Suite, and Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor, and people would still complain. They could call in Jeff Sacktig for a year, and people would complain. (Could you imagine that match-up though?) Yes, some people are jealous that BD wins or does well pretty much every year, even without gaining the "audience favorite" position, but that really doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest. At the end of the day, as objective as we all claim to be, we all have favorites, and corps we don't care for. That's just the way this activity is. Trying to trash someone else's opinion because they like or don't like a corps though is childish. If people on here could think before they post and be a bit more respectful, things would work so much smoother on here. The Blue Devils are going to do what they do, every year, and be successful at it. They are the most consistent corps out there. They've been in the Top 5 every year since 1975, that's a streak that may never be broken. Even if you hate everything they do, you have to admire that stat right there. They have been in the Top 5 every year for almost 40 years. Because they have a system to go out every year, every day, every rehearsal, and try and make it better than the one before it. They should be applauded for that mind-set. Yes, sometimes the hunt for perfection comes at the expense of standing ovations and thrown babies, but if your'e goal is to be perfect, then that's what they're going for. There were 35 corps that competed at prelims this year. Even if you didn't like the Blue Devils, there has to have at least been one corps there that made you stand up and scream and cheer. What does their victory mean for DCI? That they had the best product on there according to the current judging system, and they were rewarded as such. Would I have liked to have seen Crown win? Sure, but they would have had to be better than the Blue Devils, and put out a better scoring product. And they didn't, so the judging system works, since the best, highest scoring corps won on Saturday night.

Sounds like a terrible place to be, this purgatory.

If you really want to like BD...like them! Don't try to force, but don't lie to yourself, either.

If one wants a drum corps to be long-term financially stable, the model of B&B (begging and bingo) simply doesn't work. Legacy orgs with established B&B pipelines have an equally difficult time year to year. The only way to start a drum corps is to start a business first. The profits of that business must go to fund the corps. And, just like Bill Cook, one must have other sources of income available to help the source company stay alive. For most of us who aren't Bill Cook wealthy - and even for him, he said himself - that means that one has to have a career during the day and "moonlight" a second business to fund a corps. As someone else just pointed out, there are tons of people out there who will field a corps - that's the least important consideration. When the business is up and running profitably, and a suffcient nest egg is built ($1 million, minimum, in the bank) THEN, and ONLY then, should one put the pieces together to field a corps.

The Troopers have announced another addition to their program team, so I thought it was time to start a thread dedicated to the 2013 Troopers. (I admit that I'm a little jealous of the Scouts and Regiment threads that run on for a gazillion pages.) I am so excited about the direction it appears the Troopers are going. They could have curled up in a little ball in the corner and sucked their thumb after last year. Instead, it looks like the leadership stiffened their spine and are developing some really great relationships! For any young person thinking about marching in 2013, it looks like it will be a great year for the Troopers! Here's the Announcement!

Annapolis was a wonderful venue. Subscribe to drum corps world for my complete review of the Sunday evening contest. Some brief thoughts from the Saturday and Sunday show. Non-Finalists Excelsior: Was expecting worse to be honest. Very respectable showing. Music played pretty well, didn't bite off much more than they could chew. Kudos to Bass 3 for fighting through show. Shenandoah Sound: Best effort ever. Thought they finished 6th. Very engaging show with a lot of pop. Well done! Cincinnati Tradition: Think they just had a rough run. Brass sounded gassed from the first note, maybe the heat. Percussion much improved from 2011. Sunrisers: Wanted them in finals. Great show. Brass woke up the crowd. Guard came a long way since Clifton. Familiar music done well. Kilties: Another fun show just lacking in a lot of depth. Entertaining as heck for sure with familiar themes. Guard keeps getting a little better each year. Bushwackers: what a difference from Bridgeport. This was a great performance and fitting end to the season on a high note. All sections improved dramatically. Finalists White Sabers: Didn't completely dig some of the musical selections but this was a solid performance. Nice to see in finals. Props a nice touch and not distracting. Windsor Regiment: Admittedly I didn't really get into this show. Heard the IUP Wind Ensemble play Angels at all-state two years ago and that ruined any other future rendition of the piece. I can say they improved two seasons worth from what I saw in Clifton and applaud all efforts. Govenaires: True showmen with a fun show. Thought guard was way underscored on Sunday but 2nd was the right call. Can't wait to see what they have in store for 2013. Carolina Gold: Deserved winners here. Felt a little flat Saturday but loved it Sunday. Total brass sound was there, great drumline and guard. Renegades: No clue why this is 10th. I feel they were herrendously underscored. Regardless, I enjoyed all sections and soloists. Great show with really neat and diverse music. Loved Uninvited. Fusion Core: Thought the beat CV on Saturday. They were on fire. Guard came a long way since early season. Fun show with great music. Atlanta CV: Wished the horns had more power. Great visual package. Didnt buy Fat Bottomed Girls and what the guard was doing. Thought it was inappropriate. Neat mixture of music though. Kidsgrove: Speaking of vastly underscored. This was a highlight reel of drum corps moves and music. Great soloists, great guard, drill was breakneck. Wish I could've seen them twice each night. Come back soon, really!!!!! Empire Statesmen: Enjoyed the show but thought it was very safe for them. The usual tricks, power and pizzazz for sure, just didn't have the elements of a top 5 show. Cant wait to see what comes next for this corps. No doubt they'll be back in 2013 guns blazing. Cadets2: Amazing improvement since Clifton. Top 5? Perhaps. Didnt really have an issue with it. Middle of the show seemed a bit boring and down but a great opener and closing sequence. Guard needed some work as they struggled. Hurricanes: Great percussion and guard. Everything else seemed uninspired. Maybe another case of a corps not doing enough musically? Something just didnt knock my socks off and cant put finger on it. Good performances, just a little blah for my tastes. Caballeros: Great show all around. Percussioncame a long way. Not your typical Cabs show but one to be remembered for sure. Loved the color guard! Backfield scream from Ponzo in ballad was favorite moment of show. Minnesota Brass: Had them and Cabs in a coin flip. Thought Brass won percussion at finals. well thought out show with props, characters and great music and movement. Took the field like the champions they are. At least we know they're not happy with just one title. Bucs: What can I say. Amazing all around!! The opening build is to die for. 1812, Dancer in the Dark were wonderful. No weak sections! As close to perfection as I've seen in DCA.

Hi all, There'll probably be an official article from the corps in the next couple of days bout the tour as a whole. But we're all back in the UK safe and sound. On a personal level as a member I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to every single person involved with the tour. From the staff to the fans in the crowd everyone has had an impact to the success of our tour. We've been lucky to have some exceptional staff on tour with us and they have gave up their free time and the work they have done with us was remarkable. We're so lucky to have people who want to invest into us and this will never be forgotten. Tom Peashey also deserves a mention for the hard work he put into helping the corps. It'll be nice to see him again when he joins us for DCE in Holland! Also a huge thanks to everyone in the crowds. The reaction we got was spine tingling, I had goosebumps all over! As a performer my number one box is that the audience are pleased and I hope that we achieved that. It was also great to have people approach us whilst around the stadium, everyone was extremely friendly and it was an honour to perform in front of one of the best crowds I have ever seen. A big shout out to The Hurricanes who we had the pleasure of sharing our hotel with. They organised room on their coaches to transport some of our members which I got to experience after prelims. They are a great bunch, they should be very proud of their production and I wish them the very best for the future. As I sit and write this it is hard to take in that the tour is over. It feels like the season is over, however the show must go on as we have just under a month left to go! Thanks once again to everyone, Sam Catcliffe

First off, performing at one DCI show hardly counts as being "involved" in DCI. However, because I know that some of the corps did a DCI show, I accounted for that, and you misquoted what I said.... Please list the 'majority' that participated in DCI events. Personally, I don't think it was anywhere near that large a percentage. As for wanting DCI rules, it wasn't because the local corps were participating in DCI, it was because even at that early stage DCI was seen as the top of the activity, so it was natural to want to adopt the rules used by the best. That's how it was in the GSC in the mid 70's, anyway. I was at the circuit meetings as an instructor and judge.

Did you see the boxing show?

I decided about a week ago to audition for Troop, these are really exciting me. :)

Keith... I was with my brother Jim in the top section near the judges. The only tear in Readings show I noticed were the numerous times they "tore" my face off in the upper deck with the power of their brass line and ensemble. I will not say this lightly...the Reading Bucs 2012 were "possibly" the best DCA corps I have ever witnessed live. DA

Without trying to speak for other Mini Corps, I don't believe that the majority would object to a "Park and Play" type of performance. This was after all, how it started years ago.

Spoken eloquently and thru the perspective prism of a brass arranger. Some might respectfully disagree however that " its still about the music ". I submit that its more about the Visual and Guard. For example, it is my belief that ( for example ) The Cavaliers do not fall out of the top 7 this year if they had a strong Visual program. Their Percussion line was fine. They had veterans and maturity in the brass line and the Corps returning veterans did not suddenly lose their ability to play their Brass Instruments in one year, and the music and brass playing sounded ok to my ears. No, it was the Visual program that was primarily, and above all else, their undoing. Had they had their usually strong Visual Program, it is my view that even their Brass and Music Ensemble scores would have gone up from what they received in scores in these captions this year. Its quite remarkable to me how this seems to work on the judging sheets. The Visual bleeds into the brass and music scores, more than the other way around. Bad Visuals seem to take Corps down further than similarly bad music or brass playing. So, no, its not about the Music, imo. Not any more. Its more important to have a stong Guard and Visual Program. A single Guard performer, for example, carries more weight on the current scoring sheets than a single baritone player. If a baritone player fracs some notes in performance nobody notices... maybe not even the judge on the field. But if a Guard performer drops a couple of equipment tosses, everybody, including judges up in the booth, notice right away. Brass have 80 in line. Guards have less than half that. Do we account for these rather large disparate numbers on the current score sheets ? No, not in my view . The pathway to a DCI Title is to have no section weakness compared with Corps surrounding you. But if you have to have a section that is a tad less strong than your competitors around you, it had better not be the Visual Program. One of the biggest " changes " noticeable from earlier decades to me is the transformative way we have moved from primarily a Musical medium to a Visual medium. I believe The Cavaliers 2012 are Exhibit A of many other examples that one could provide for this assessment and observation. Thats my take here in 2012 anyway with our judging sheets and how the activity " has changed and evolved "

i understand designers who don't want to be beholden to an audience. they want to pursue their vision and explore untested waters. that's fine and laudable and i fully encourage it. but the adjudicator needs to be able to say " i see what you're doing but...no -- you've lost the audience". if you're gonna go out on a limb, the limb needs to be allowed to break. otherwise you're not really going out on a limb at all. i ignore most of the silliness i see here with regards to taste (your plume example). but i think there's also a legitimate perception underlying a lot of the comments. interestingly enough michael gray talks about this very thing in the latest roundtable podcast with his "grand ma" rule. if granny can tell you what the show was about, you win. if she says "oh -- that was the green band" -- you failed. you can be as sophisticated as you like but you still need to address the "average fan" . ive seen many shows i don't particularly like (taste) but some of those shows still "worked". i generally despise narration (no matter how you spin it, it's a crutch !) but ive seen shows with narration that work -- really well -- even if i didnt care for it at all. taste is not the same as good design. i think dci judges are too timid. put those same judges in front of high school units and they're more than willing to say "no -- that doesn't work". but in dci suddenly boring the audience to tears is 'exploring boundaries'. in MB you might hear "that's over-arranged -- let the original music speak" but in DCI it's "innovation". 'it's ok if the audience doesn't get it -- they're just ignorant morons'. as for staging -- a stadium is not a gym. there are really substantial physical differences and some things DON'T translate. i'm all for cross-pollination -- i think it's actually really cool. but not everything translates. anyway i think using the word staging as the opposite of drill is really misleading. the absence of drill is not the same as staging. lots of great staging has "drill" behind it.

all i'll say here is they won't go away, balance issues will continue to be ignored, and corps still won't use them creatively, they'll just go for the tried and true of low end synth thats way too loud and some effects.

Great news re. The Troopers. Smith seems like a great fit for them, imo I wish them much success. I want to see the Troopers kick butt and take names once again. That'd be great.

THIS... EXACTLY THIS... Or you could find a Native American Tribe that needs a Drum Corps. You can do bingo, even a casino. The real key is the sustainable business of ANY TYPE up front before you ever consider the corps. You also have to think that the $1 million dollars minimal is for ONE year and it will be gone forever after one year. You have to replace that $1 million dollars every year in some way. So, You need a business that can make a cool $! million a year. It would actually be best to run that business for 3 - 7 years to make sure the business is secure. You can save up to three years operating expenses up for a Non Profit, which I would try to do and earn interest. So, about 3-4 million saved and about 3-7 years you can start thing about creating a drum and bugle corps. All the Millions are based on top 12 corps... yes the smaller corps would be less.

PRESENTATION... That is what I keep forgetting. Thanks Grandpa. Has anyone ever sat through a "great" PowerPoint presentation? Not many people have. A great PowerPoint presentation is very minimal with only headlines and key talking points. An APPLE keynote speech is a great example of a great PowerPoint presentation. On the other hand you have the usual teacher given PowerPoint Presentation. These have 100s of slides with every note needed for your test and you are bored senseless... WHY??? No sense of self within the presentation. There is no need to engage and think. Modern shows are taking away the sense of "WONDER" by putting to much in. By this form of presentation, the shows are starting to bore people. Put the sense of "WONDER" back into the shows by "TRUSTING" the audience and taking things away. Judges need to let the corps take things out. Spoken Narrative should be a voice in your head. Reverb effects on trumpet solos can be created by TWO soloist in different parts of the field, facing different directions, timed differently... Pipe organs can be muted horns played back field. Helicopters are drums.... Tin is thunder... The front pit should resemble a 1940s radio hour with sound effects that are man made. The designers do not trust themselves enough to take elements away and tell the story in its simplest form. These same designers do not trust that YOU will understand it. They are forced by judges scoring to put it ALL out there without sense of WONDER... And we let them.

The shows have become "twitter feeds"... lots of small elements pieced together for the sake of staying competitive. Short elements without real resolve. This removes the memory aspects of the show and confuses the audience (the consumer). These little snippets are part of that same checklist just to stay competitive. I do appreciate the Cadets being more entertaining and absolutely do not confuse it with BD. The BD show was a mix of 12 or 13 different musical selections and the Cadets show 4 with layered Christmas ideas throughout. Both shows could have been well executed without electronics. Maybe it is the short attention span of today's society. I do not know... Maybe I am not in Vogue. As Madonna use to say... "STRIKE A POSE.."

Having played at the Dock twice on Thursday, with Minne-Brass and with MBI, the idea of doing a mini corps contest there troubles me. Minne-Brass fit on the stage with a certain amount of room left over, so it's conceivable that VERY limited drill could be accommodated. Okay, we tweak the gig expectations so the mini corps don't do a bunch of movement. More notes, louder music, cool. From the performers perspective, no sweat. The far bigger problem with doing mini corps at the Dock stage would be that the area available around the stage isn't even NEARLY big enough to accommodate the size of the crowd that shows up normally to watch the mini corps. I'm thinking about the size of the crowd that was there watching Thursday night, the various trees and obstructions that blocked off A LOT of views in that area, and comparing it to the size of the crowd at the contest Friday night. I don't see any way that that number of people can jam into the stage area and have anything like a satisfying listening or viewing spectator experience. I'm sorry to dump cold water here, but I truly don't see the Dock stage as a satisfactory performance space for the kind of crowd that typically wants to be there for mini corps. Perhaps if the parking area right next to it were cleared out and THAT space was set up? I could see that maybe working. Put up a stage on one side, and bring in a bunch of chairs?

1) Well the walk/roll (pushed a whellchair) from parking was a bit far due to the location of the one gate that was open. Was there a reason that the parking lot in front of the gate was empty, is this the normal for Navy games? ***That area is normally for charter buses at Navy games. I can certainly ask if that could be handicap parking next year. Makes perfect sense to me. I think they wanted to keep that area clear to guarantee that corps buses and equipment trucks had full mobility into/out of the lot. Maybe overestimated how much room was needed for that. 2) Those blasted ramps leading to the non-handicapped seating area. Too steep for some and a railing would have helped. ***Ramps to "non" handicapped seating.. do you mean the downhill ramps/tunnels from the concourse into the general seating? Yes, I agree they are kind of steep. I will look into getting additional ushers to help those that need assistance to negotiate those ramps. 3) And the thing that we really didn't understand... Why have a family bathroom (near main entrance) and have the flipping thing locked? Locked Saturday and no one we talked to with S.A.F.E. could tell us if it would be open for Finals. They are a Godsend for handicapped who could use extra help, especially after sitting for a few corps. ***I think you are referring to the restrooms in the building immediately behind the ticket booth? I can look into this for next year. All I can say is that Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is a "modularly rented" facility. What I mean by that is, you can rent all or parts of the stadium to host an event. Each part of the facility "added" to host an event adds to the rental cost. The Class of '53 pavilion (the one that houses those restrooms, the ticket booth, and the large scoreboard) may not have been part of the rental contract. Great feedback, and exactly the kind of info that will make 2013 the best DCA weekend yet!!! Jeff

Geez, after the opener Reading could have finished out the show to a rim tap and STILL won!

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Sure, but when something is consistently a big enough problem for multiple corps to have coined its own phrase, i.e. "thunderous goo", I think it's fair to say it's not just me. Are you saying you love the overwhelming bass that just about every corps produces these days effectively rendering the lower brass obsolete multiple times during shows?

This has been happening since the beginning of time...

And for this reason, the degree to which they enhance or detract should be reflected directly on the sheets. It's time to start holding corps accountable for the disasters created by electronics, and rewarding for when they work well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5rwz_Ga_gI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfRcHlJp_6Q

Thanks for saying that those of us who didn't march BITD don't have real experience. The stands may not have always been full, but people were always on their feet when I marched.

Concord Blue Devils. F Tuning. /thread

I hope you are a world class drill designer to have such a strong opinion. Mitch's drill was what brought the pieces together for Bluecoats and propelled them into the top 6 after spending a lifetime in the purgatory of 12th-7th place. He wrote the first true visual effects and contributed to the first well-thought programs they had ever had. The Troopers only jump into finals since 1986 and Mitch had nothing to do with it? Cavaliers drill contributions from 1992-1994? I think Michael Gaines, one of his students, would beg to disagree with you. Some respect, please.

absolutely no one... my exact point.

Who needs a tour when you can drive around on a Dept of Defense sticker and ID? And they might take the grass outta my pay. Seriously no idea where the Docks area is and thinking of trying for I&E again with old metal.... found out some people are upset at me that I never went back.

it's a derogatory term used by many people who detest the overpowering application of low end synth in far too many shows, both indoor and outdoor that do in fact cover up the rest of the music ensemble.

...you'll enjoy the recording/vid, Fran, 'cuz they knocked it out of der park at the Alumni show. I saw 'em three times during the weekend; The Dock, the mini corps competition and the Alumni performance...they got better and better!

I have not read all of the stuff here yet, but I saw a lot of complaints on Facebook and in the stands about the whole weather thing Saturday. And to them I say "shut the #### up". You did an awesome job handling a very fluid and moving situation, and best of all, no one corps wise flipped out or was severely affected. Yes, it would have been nice to hear stuff under the stands, but so what? Thank you for finishing the show, making it fun for those that stayed, and best of all, ignoring the ######## who tried to arm chair quarterback the situation

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Start small and manageable. The lessons you learn while running a small $40-50k a year non-profit organization will serve you well if you ever get to the point of being a $500k a year organization. Be creative. Provide a unique service in the community. Be better at what you do than any alternatives in the vicinity. Don't worry about competing with BD or Cavaliers in any way shape or form, ever. Focus on coming up with a unique identity and purpose that makes your organization unlike anything else that a potential funder could support. If you wind up with an Open Class or WC corps eventually, ok, fine. More people saw Blast! than saw any DCI Finals live and in the fleshm so what does that say about how important a competitive drum corps can be? If you do it right, everyone else who does drum corps will come to YOUR way of doing things eventually. So out-think them. If you can't, then find something else you'd rather do and do that. Drum corps does a lot of things very well. Truly being creative with the tools at their hands is not one of them. There is room for the new on that front. In the end, the on-field drum corps aspects of this activity are the least important elements of it. The behind the scenes activities are the ones that really matter. Think better. THAT's the only competition that really matters.

I wish there was a new rule in DCI... Before every show, while the corps enters the field and is setting up, each corps is REQUIRED to do a warm up facing the audience. This warm up will no longer be a "pre-show" or part of the show theme for that season, but rather, a chance for the corps to warm up and engage the audience while playing their "signature song." This warm up MUST involve playing a tune that is significant to the corps, their history, or their IDENTITY. The corps members will hype. The alumni will cry. And the audiences will go nuts. Just a suggestion.

Some let their feet and absence do the talking for them, Grandpa. DCI attendance has been flat lined of late. Whatever changes we incorporate into DCI Drum Corps, one can not escape the unavoidable factor of national audience acceptance.. or rejection of the changes. These Corps do not perform their shows in a vacuum. None of these Corps exist without a paying customer. And when it comes to success in any Performing Arts endeavor, ultimately the customer is always right. Without sufficient satisfied customers to make the endeavor financially sustainable, the activity ceases to exist. Thus it is imperative that the customer base grow. Or else the lights go out, and the curtain comes down for good. This much I think we can can agree on here regarding any changes that DCI Corps undertake now or in the future.

Here's how I learned to love BD 2010. Mike

I'm not going to go all the way through this. I'll just leave the opinion that all drum corps experience and experiences are real. My daughter's last 3 years with 7th Regiment were as real an experience as my sons' experiences with Crossmen and BD, Boston and BD, my daughter's and son's experiences with Boston, and for that matter my own experiences with corps from the 60s through the 2010s if you count the Sunriser Reunion Ensemble (I do). Britney Spears has sold out a 15,000 seat arena in the same town (Boston) that Arturo Sandoval sold half of a 700 seat auditorium (Berklee Performance Center). Who do you think had a better musical experience? Which one would you rather see? Incredible experience from the dinosaur years through the present. If anyone had told you in 1965 that DCA would be around for 50 years what would you have said? What an experience it has been and continues to be for the present generation! Real experience? I'd say that applies to all of us.

Let me apologize for using the term "real experience". I started this topic mainly as a response to be referred as a "Dinosaur" by another poster. We are all entitled to an opinion. It is the name calling that got my goat. The use of the term real experience was not intended to demean anyone that may have not marched or is new to the activity. I will edit the topic accordingly. But any discussion about the direction Drum Corps has gone recently should not begin with insulting those of us that have been around for awhile..... nor in my case those that are new to the game.

This was a perfect example of technology and cooperation... Here's the facts: The stadium has a state of the art lightning detector that goes off whenever lightning strikes within 8 miles of the stadium. DCA contractually was required to empty the stands when the detector went off. The stands could not be refilled until one half hour after no strikes within the 8 mile limit. Since Annapolis has a 10PM noise curfew, DCA was prepared to run the last 3 corps at 9AM Sunday morning as a "prelude" to the Alumni show. The Mayor of Annapolis, waved the curfew - the show went on after lightning moved out of the area. Wonderful handling of a very bad weather situation. Anyone questioning how this was handled needs to talk to pro golfer Lee Trevino about lightning... Now, how about the good news? It was almost inconceivable that finals went off completely dry with rain both the north and south of the stadium... I asked Allen Buell to let me know what God he prayed to - it was a very powerful God... What a great weekend - Thank you Kidsgrove Scouts!

They "tore-up" the field, if that's what you mean or their big sound might have torn a hole in the ozone layer. :) Other than that it was, with out a doubt, the most entertaining top ten that I've ever seen at DCA finals.

Early 90's Crossmen shows could really be the answer to any "favorite" threads. Krempasky (the arranger... I think?) really liked playing with incredibly simple nonchord tones over lengthy durations and the end result was typically orgasmic. Sometimes the simplest things are the best. This is more Don Ellis' work than anyone who's ever played Niner Two, but I've always loved the way the progressions worked out in the main melody. Most of the chart's chords essentially just run up the scale diatonically: I, ii, iii, IV, etc. The last minute or so of the show really illustrates how slow the chords moved. I think the main melody shouts before going through this specific progression: IV! IV! IV! (drum solo) V! V! V! (drum solo) flat-VI! flat-VI! flat VI! (drum solo) flat-VII! flat-VII! flat VII! (drum solo) I (extended shout) IV (very extended chord!) V (wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) I (BIG SHOUT to the end!)