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Billy Mays, is that you?

Hey, dude...I'm 56; but I can still rock down with the kiddies. And, despite being a percussionist, I can hear that mosquito ringtone that no one over the age of Ryan Seacrest should be able to hear. Now get off my lawn!

Honestly - I didn't think Crown's drumline was bad. They were 6th behind some fantastic lines. No shame in that.

The Kidsgrove Scouts were crowned 2012 DCUK Champs over this past weekend by .15 over The Company. Finals was the first time they have beaten The Company all season. Taking home the awards for High Guard, High Brass, and High effect! To say that I am proud of them is an understatement. I just wish I could have been there to see it live. I had such a great experience working with this group both in UK and in US. Congrats team, now its time for DCE. Good skill, Teddy

Yep. And my two cents (worth a lot less): I'm not sure drums had much at all to do with Crown losing to BD. Save your keystrokes, I understand how the scoring works. I'm just saying BD was that good, that proficient, that no corps was going to beat them without a program that had extra-special appeal. While Common Good was good, it was just too common. It took the intangible appeal of Angels & Demons to top BD in 2011. Common Good just wasn't the vehicle to win in 2012. I realize the irony of what I'm saying. BD's programs lack (generally) lack that special appeal I'm referring to. Yet their programs are made dynamic by proficiency and artistry of the performance - visual and musical. I don't think Crown arrived there last summer. As good as it was, it wasn't the same level of artistry. My opinion, anyway ... HH

When I read this first statement I thought you were saying they should fold, not that your advice was Two Fold.

My ears are ringing from all the shouting.

What's more difficult than being clean on Finals night? is it less entertaining? Difficulty for difficulties sake? Ugh.

Congrats to OC!

They didn't impress you? I'm sorry, you must be tough to impress though. I remember being blown away, literally and figuratively by that horn line and show.

My how the mighty have fallen!!! Through most of the summer Crown seemed poised to win and critics claimed DCP was slanted in favor of Crown against Blue Devils. Things have changed a bit. I wanted to see Crown win last year, and I thought they should have won Allentown and semi's. It didn't happen and it's not as if they placed second to an unworthy corps. I have thought that Crown relies too heavily on its horn line in the past, though it was less so this past year. I thought the drum line was enjoyable to watch and they were heavily invested in the show, but percussion people I know seemed in agreement that while Crown used their percussion section well visually, this matters little as far as music is concerned. They also seemed in agreement that Crown had the talent and good staff people, but the pieces didn't quite come together. This is fixable and some off season planning should solve this problem. If I could give Crown some advice, I would suggest focusing on personal best and not focusing so much on winning. In East Rutherford, Crown did a scaled down version of their show--no judges just admiring fans and it was electric. A few days later in prelims they were great, but the show had moments that felt on edge. The same was true in finals. I can imagine the pressure of finals, combined with a desire to outdo Blue Devils with a late season Phantom ready to roar and a Cadets who could easily have learned there really is a Santa and taking home at least a medal must have been immense, but a few missteps and a few missed notes which did not happen just a week earlier seemed to be a case of jitters. This again is something that can be solved. Olympians often say they compete against themselves and from what I can see, the Blue Devils feel they compete against themselves, perhaps this would work for Crown as well. Also, Crown may have to wait until 2014 for a title. Blue Devils are great at repeats, but they have yet to "threepeat."

I don't know... I would rather them have a hard, entertaining drill than an easier one just so they can win finals. It's not all about the gold, but about crowd entertainment as well.

What would we do without you, Boo?

Indeed. The land of the freeeeeeeeeee. and the home of the brave offended.

This is such a seriously overused phrase anymore. You really get truly offended/hurt/it ruins your day? What are we, a bunch of wimps anymore?

Agreed. Except that the wrath should be directed at Google, not DCP. For the rest of you, click on the ads and help DCP stay alive and thriving.

So i decided to share the recently stumbled upon documentary about radical street marching bands, and the Honk Festival which takes place every year near boston. Being involved with both drum corps and groups like these i always thought it would be interesting to slightly merge the two ideas. Maybe adding a little drill to some of the marching bands (which i've already tried to do) .. Or getting say a group of crusaders to join the jam sessions at honk, or starting a small group of their own to commit spontaneous acts of musical performance. When i moved to chicago 3 years ago i got involved with a couple street marching bands, i was surprised to find that there was little to no crossover between these bands, drum corps, or even high school/college marching bands.. But most of the members we're actually self taught musicians. Thoughts?

Topic title says it all. Oregon has moved up into World Class.

Great news!!!! Yet another corps that will be knocking on finals door in no time!

We'd see a lot more holding calls... Chuck

Not really sure why saying congratulations to OC deserves a negative click but ok.

Official press release: http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=8d48be3e-3996-4861-a0d7-aabcd1e6e986

I can't imagine what Leon May was thinking when he came up with Crown's drill this past season. Listen to Dreams (Nightmare) and try to conjure up drill for it. I can't do it. It's too frantic, it's too all over the place, it's too chaotic. I look at Crown's drill and say "That's it!" The drill matches what is being played. I also can't conjure up how the hell the corps produced the quality sound they did marching that program. I really have no idea how Crown was able to pull off that program. A corps doesn't have to win to push the envelope and suffice to say, Crown pushed the envelope this past season.

Hey, Jeff...You did a great job with the DCA review! And to think how concerned you were about finding something positive to say about everyone.

I don't really agree with this. If you are talking about visual that is. While I agree Crown might have had cleaner technique at some points of their show, it was not always the most consistent. IN fact, the really hard sections, some members completely broke down. Lower body and upper body technique was non existent. They were sacrificing technique to attempt to make the form. Overall I believe that Cadets 2011 had cleaner drill and a more consistent marching technique throughout their program. Edited to add that I also wish Sully stayed at BK.

I understand all of the various opinions posted here on thistopic. I truly understand both sides of this issue. After my sister died, a trophy was named in her honor. Sixmonths later, I won the gold medal and the trophy. Interestingly enough, it wasfor ice dancing….and I was 10 years old. Fast forward 10 years, and now I am one of the performers inSpirit that fateful night. I think our youngest member was 15 or so….all theway to 21. For many, this was their first experience with death outside ofimmediate family, or their first experience at all. I can’t speak for anyone other than myself (having cookedhamburgers with Maggie and Jim at their home prior to tour) I can say that thecompetitive aspect was not a part of me that day and as far as I can tell noone else’s either. We must keep in mind that one of our members was involved inthe accident as well as other staff who were severely injured. That performance was between the member of the corps, JimOtt and the other members of the Spirit family who were injured that day. In other competitive instances, often the athletes are olderand often more experienced with the grief process than perhaps we were thatnight. I will always be proud of my performance that night, thereasons for the presentation as such, and most importantly, sharing my soulwith my corps family, the other corps assembled, and the wonderful audience in attendancethat evening. To everyone here my highest regards and respect, Bob Clark Spirit of Atlanta 79-81

Dude, Crown's median age is the exact same as BD's.

I'm sorry to report the POPE wasn't available today... However, although Freddie is a bit nervous, he does have a picture op available tomorrow morning at the Colliseum with a Roman Centurion... He's just hoping there's no LIONS in the area...

The .15 down in drums to the marvelous Company drum machine was a huge part of the championship. I can't tell you the job these guys did in finals. Afternoon was about the same as DCA but at night? Some one lit a fire and the normally "staid" British crowd went nuts... I couldn't believe what I was watching... it was throw the babies on the field time... Nothing should be taken away from The Company... I'll discuss this in the future because it's the worst case of apple and orange comparison I've ever seen in the activity... they are freakin' amazing in so many ways... they could be the prototype of a whole new activity... BUT... based on the performances Saturday night and knowing what drum corps is... the right corps won... Watch for my review in Drum Corps World... and Teddy... Your Gold Medal will be home on Oct. 3rd... right now Freddie Farkle is wearing it... Miss you all... having a wonderful time in Rome, Italy today... was at the Vatican today but the Pope wasn't available... thank God for Roma weather... 80 and wonderful... did I mention that Mansfield Saturday night was COLD... no not just cold... it was D....A.....M....N Cold... I've judged band shows in snow storms and not been that cold... sturdy breed these Brits are... Thanks to Alan Thompson and everyone from DCUK for their amazing hospitality... off to Germany on Wednesday and then on to Kerksrade The Netherlands on Saturday for the DCE championships... Big thanks to my buddy Joe Siracuse - who has been an amazing babysitter...

First, turn off caps lock. Nobody wants to read your internet shouting. Second, why are you replying to me? I'm not advocating any staff changes. I'm simply pointing out who their existing staff is, and what their roles are.

Congrats KS!

6ABC news broadcasts a report on local football teams each week in the fall called "High School Huddle." This past week in their MVP portion of the report, the Downingtown Classic was highlighted. All competing corps were shown, as well as the Downingtown East-West Marching Band. Click on the link below and advance to the 6:08 time spot for the beginning of the report: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=8820519&pid=null&syndicate=syndicate§ion=

From Uncle Tom: Freddie Won The Gold! (click on image to enlarge)

photo of Freddie with the Pope, please . . . . . . .

And that's saying a lot! By your age, you should be nearly deaf!

1999 for SCV. Art Velarte was a bass drummer killed in a car accident following Memorial Day camp. They also spelled out his initial in the last form of the show. They also now have a scholarship or award named after him.

I think a lot of people make the mistake of overestimating Thom Hannum's role in the instruction of the program. He is the arranger, and coordinator, but they have had the same caption supervisor and instruction team for a while (with some minor changes of course). I say that not to be negative or positive, only to point out that while I'm sure Hannum's writing took some getting used to, the instructional staff has been pretty consistent for a while in that caption. It will certainly be interesting to see where Aungst lands if he decides to teach or arrange for drum corps next summer. It will be another interesting summer to be sure.

Music to make the whole world sing...Yea! Music to make a political statement...boo. (And no, not Mike. Just plain boo.)

Wait there are ad's on this site? Guess my ad blocker is better than I thought.

I like waffles.

"Often times we over rely on logic to be able to communicate what we think is the truth". This great Honker quote proves it; Mark Mothersbaugh and Booji Boy are correct; we are as a species, in reality, actually Devolving not Evolving!

Heaven help DCA should I ever become an official spokesperson!

GREAT NEWS !!

Now that I think about it, the whole episode unfolds like a slick Hollywood script, except it really happened. If you doubt it, just ask the others. They were there, too. It's the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, that most excellent event that stretches summer by one more glorious day. This time holds special meaning [...] ... Read the rest of the article here - http://www.drumcorps...-time-tripping/

some corps sell their hotel rooms out and stay at the schools, butyou also need rehearsal facilities, and that's getting harder to come by. you figure 20+ competing corps, plus alumni....thats tricky

hearda rumor today Allentown is looking to submit a bid. Concerns are: Hotels....it's the Fair time of year parking....kinda sucks already, and with the Fair, those lots are out of theability to get rehearsal facilities....schools will be in session Friday, and worse, as it is nowfor DCI East, corps are scattered up to 2 hours away...towards Harrisburg, down by Philly into NJ. I cant imagine someone with a 3 PM performance time at prelims wanting to drive up from outside of Philly the stadium....seats fine, field fine when redone this summer, but amenities suck. Plus how will DCA run the fan network for prelims when DCI can't even live stream DCI East?

My issue with today's horn aranging trends is that it is technique for technique's sake. It has really spelled the death of melody for the most part. The mold one must fit into in order to be competative has little room for melodic development. The shows have become centered around visual development with musical accompanyment instead of the other way around. That is one reason I would rather watch BOA Grand Nationals than DCI finals. That is also the main reason I have grown to love Phantom so much over the last several years. They are one of the few corps that seem to take efforts to be sensitive to the melodic content of their genre. With so many modern corps, their shows seem to be a 13 minute brass technical study instead of a musical development and performance. I know it is old school, but I miss the days of the sanctity of a melodic line. Just my opinion and I know that this view would not be a top 3 focal point. Dan

I am glad to see Madison immediately announce next years show. Drum Corp who make people swear to secrecy are just ridiculous. For God sakes, this isn't NASA or Homeland Security...its Drum & Bugle Corps.