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“When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on... ...or you will be taught how to fly.”

2007 cadets ...

What is your one favorite drum corps photo? (Not two, not three, not "Well, I couldn't decide, but it's definitely one of these...") If you had to frame one picture and put it on your wall to remind you of how great/cool/amazing/educational/inspiring drum corps is, which one would it be? For me, it is this photo, which was taken during the Cadets encore performance after finals in 1998. It's a visual staffer looking for ticks... during the performance after the finals performance where the corps scored a 10.0 in field visual. Why? Because it reminds me that everything can always be better.

Good Day, Everyone! If you haven't had a chance to see the changes going on in our little irish part of the world, please check things out! New show announcement, staff advancements and additions, a MIDI of the opener for the show, and much more! www.pioneer-corps.org One of those changes is my role with the corps; I have been asked to assume the role of Director of Operations. In this role, I'll be working with expanding our social media footprint, grant writing, general fundraising as well as assisting members with sponsorships, day-to-day logistics, creating and implementing a handbook, organizing and editing our curriculum, and changing how we use technology in our unique learning environment. I'll still be teaching on occasion, but the Caption Head position is now in the able hands of Jon Gifford, who returns to our staff for a second year. In an effort to increase our presence online, please check out our "Splash Page": http://about.me/pioneer_corps this link takes you to our social media sites, and will be expanded on in the future. Check out the website for more info, and please let me know if you have any questions, interested students, etc. Recruiting has been pretty good this year, but we could use a few more in brass and guard, especially. Thanks again, and stay better every day! Lansing R. Dimon

Is YEA trying to rewrite the past? Small but tacky..

Okay, I'll play. This is a photo I shot of Spirit of Atlanta back during the '80s.

No disrespect to the home team, but I find myself watching BD '12 on the FN more than any other. So I guess that's my favorite.

2011 Cadets, Angels and Demons. Last one before that Phantom 2008 Spartacus. Before that, Cadets 2000. Shows that I actually enjoyed that won but weren't my favorite for that year: 2001 Cavies Four Corners, 2002, Cavies Frameworks, 2003 Blue Devils Phenomenon of Cool, 2004 Cavies 007, 2005 Cadets took a while to grow on me, but it is one of my favorites, 2006 Cavies Machine I thoroughly enjoyed, Winged Victory by BD was okay, but by far not my favorite that year. So these are all shows I was still entertained by, just not my favorite of that year. Then 2009, 2010, and 2012, the winner was not on my favorite list at all. But overall since 2000, the champion has entertained me.. except for 3 years.. and they are more recent years, and the same corps. And the only reason they weren't my favorite in 2003 was because of Phantom Regiment stealing my heart...

2012

Blue Devils. 2012

Cadets 2011 "Between Angels and Demons"

2012 Blue Devils

The last one? Angels and Demons.

:thumbup:/> 4 of the 5 @RhythmXBassline will be in the 2013 Bluecoats bass line. The bass drum section leaders of 4 of the top 5 finishing world lines this year were from the 2012 Bluecoats basses.

Lol...Hopkins was younger when he was a corps director of a DCI champion. We're just getting older. I am thrilled to see the mix of experience and youth as we take a bigger bite of the apple this year. :) Chuck

Travel to Greece, NY for a contest that could feature.....Greece Cadets, Tri-Town Cadets, Black Knights, Gauchos, Royal Coachmen, Squires,Alpine Girls, Syracuse Marauders and an exhibition by Rochester Crusaders. On the same day a show in Binghamton, NY featuring......Purple Lancers, Mark Twain Cadets, Mello Dears, Barons of Stuben, Southern Tier Grenadiers, Magnificent Yankees and the Ambassadors from PA. Ahhh the memories!

I don't know sometimes a solo person out there works if it's what the show needs. Depends on the show I think. I know what you're saying though.

Love this picture. Shows everything that is still good and right about drum corps

2008 Spartacus for me, and before that 2002 Frameworks

Only one judge DIDN"T have them with perfect scores. One of the performance judges had them with a 99 in comp and a 98 in performance. I suppose someone had to keep them from getting a perfect 100. I'm so glad they started the tradition of having the concert world winner perform between PIW finals and awards. The concert classes don't get nearly enough exposure, and my students pretty much lost their minds when they saw Woodbridge last year.

I see what you did there. Fixed.

BTW-- The Crossmen are performing at the Battle of Flowers Band Festival in San Antonio tonight. I believe it will be a mixture of alumni and current members doing some classic Crossmen music. Info here: http://www.battleofflowers.org/band-festival.aspx It's all part of a larger Fiesta that occurs in San Antonio every year. Kudos for the corps to participate in a local community event.

1999 SCV 1983 Garfield Cadets

May I point out that the second corps you mention is from the region of the most-dammed river in North America, and not a certain South American country...

I thought they did some pretty cool stuff visually. Not sure about fan favorite, though. I'd say that belongs to Matrix, but I'm a bit biased.

In IW, yeah.

Ignoring the shows that I marched in (of course), I find that I'm convincing myself more and more that it was 2012... Before that it would probably be Spartacus, though that was a 1A on my favorites list...

2006 Machine

2011 Cadets.

Indeed. Just to clarify, my last comment was very much in jest. If the Cadets ever abandon their look, I'll personally drive over to George Hopkins' house and... eh, nah, too much work. But I'll definitely complain about it on DCP.

If you looked the totality of my suggestions/observations over the last several months, you'd see that i mention the Board of DCI as much or more than Dan Acheson. Dan's done a good job of keeping the doors open and the boat afloat, but despite a growth in gross revenues, there's been no growth in net revenues, and it's net that matters in the real world. The organization needs a Board whose members have experience in produce bigger events with bigger fish, and that Board will make the call as to what kind of executive team can best achieve the goals. All I can at this point is that right now, there's no one in the organization who has the experience of cultivating major sponsors at other events/sports companies. Getting someone on the team who knows how to do that will require a headhunter to find them and a commitment to paying the eventual candidate their market value. Guys who can bring in $200-300k sponsors can't usually be hired for $50-60k a year plus all the drum corps they can eat. It's going to take an investment all the way around.

I must admit.... this thread / you people .... are extremely entertaining!!

I'm with ya on that one...

I've been watching videos of them for the last few weeks, and I still don't know what I think about Aimachi. I think that in a sense it is innovative and different, but the fact that they never once wore a drum and marched traditionally seems like maybe a slight negative. I don't know; I've really been struggling with that. Maybe if they marched/danced & played cleaner I'd feel different. Taking guard-style choreography demands and putting them on drummers (who traditionally are not accomplished dancers) just doesn't look clean visually. And while it was innovative in one sense, it was also one-dimensional in another sense: it sometimes felt like a cool gimmick that was exploited nicely and then got a little old-hat by the end. BUT... It was very cool, and it really was unlike anything I've ever seen before. It is the closest I've ever seen to a perfect marriage between percussion & guard WGI, and the use of color guard mixed in with the drummer's choreography was perfectly blended! It's really hard for me to figure out how I think of it, and if Aimachi executed at a Top 3 level maybe I'd feel more excited about the direction. But often I felt like I was watching drummers trying to emulate world-level guard choreography without the expertise or fundamentals: being blunt, it was like drummers trying to dance and doing it OK, but really dirty. I was never able to separate myself and think "this is masterfully pulled off" and instead kept thinking "dirty - that really is a bunch of drummers trying guard choreography." I will be curious to see if it catches on. It might, but most units don't have someone has creative and outside-the-box thinking as Gaines designing. It's weird, but I think if Aimachi carried their drums for maybe the last 45 seconds of the opener and the first 30 seconds of the closer, and did the choreography as performed in Dayton, I'd feel different: they'd be at least demonstrating traditional execution of drill as well as non-traditional. I don't know; I honestly don't know how I really feel about that show. If other groups emulate it, take it to the next level, etc. we'll know it was the next thing. If it's a minor fad or one-time gimmick, well, we'll know it was a one-time gimmick that was executed well enough to be Top 6 but not well enough to contend for a medal.

Don Warren has said that he LOVES seeing Green Thunder, because it reminds him of why he started Cavaliers...back when it was a local organization created to give local kids a chance to do something with their time. I love what Cavaliers have become, (and being in the corps changed the direction of my life), but it's become quite different than what Don Warren envisioned in those early days. The mission of Green Thunder returns Cavaliers to their roots.

Yes, people did have this conversation since Drum Corps started.... just a lot more of them were having these discussions. The focus now however is not on having this conversation and whether or not the " conversation " may or may not go away. The focus now is what can DCI do now to prevent the "activity " itself from going away. There was always " conversation " in previous era's, especially in the 60's, 70's on whether or not fans liked the rapid and wholesale changes taking place. Some did. Some did not. But the " conversation " rarely focused on the fact that the activity would cease to exist altogether if we continued on the current path. What is different about today's " conversation " is that among fans and now Corps themselves, we ARE having this serious " conversation " about what the activity needs to do to survive now. Thats the stage we now have arrived at. This " conversation revolving around literal survival is long overdue according to many, and " change " needs to happen now I think we all agree. What Changes are needed to attempt to save the activity is what this thread " conversation" is now all about.

Agree that some of the content is more "out there." But I also find there is much more variety in the programming ideas and presentations in WGI perc than there is in DCI. Of course, the format itself my lend itself to more risk-taking as well.

I can only assume people have been having this conversation since drum corps started, and I don't think it's ever going to go away. People will always think that drum corps in their era is better than everyone else's. Guess people can either grow up and still support the corps of today, or find a different hobby? I still find drum corps entertaining, but I've only been around it for 10 years now. Maybe after 40 I'll feel different, but I still know it's a bunch of kids performing for adults and kids in the stands. Maybe that's what is the most important, not just what we individually want?

Vanguard's 2000 ballad "Adagio for Strings", dead silent too without screamin in it.

Dancer in the Dark

Green Machine fall under the parent umbrella of The Cavaliers, but I would bet that the membership on the floor in Dayton for Green Machine last weekend are not the same membership that will be on the field for The Cavaliers this summer. In previous years Green Machine was looked at as a developmental group for The Cavaliers organization, and at least in previous years it was looked at as something for younger, local percussionists. I wouldn't be surprised if some members went from Green Machine to Cavaliers, but the majority of them likely do not, or at the very least the majority of Green Machine members do not march in The Cavaliers. Also, yes, Pioneer Indoor is affiliated with Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps. I don't know how many of Pioneer Indoor march Pioneer Drum Corps.

Once again - I am in complete agreement with you.

Please allow me to add that there are several Bluecoats (alumni and active) and staff associated with Rhythm X, who took home the gold. :thumbup:

Support all of the corps? Seriously, bear with me through this. If people started showing up early and supporting every corps, then we'd see more entertainment. Right now, the lower corps usually perform in pretty empty stadiums, which sucks. So they see that the top corps are winning with shows that can be deemed less exciting, but are scoring well and are performing under the lights in front of big crowds. So the trickle-down effect happens, and the smaller corps think a less-entertaining but more judge-oriented show will get them in front of the big crowds and under the lights. So.... by supporting all of the corps instead of just the top ones, it allows for more diversity in show design. If not every designer is gunning to beat the Blue Devils or whomever is on top that year, then they can stretch the creative muscles and do something that people will enjoy, instead of just keeping up with the front-runners. At least that's my thought. I still think every show has entertaining qualities, but I'll check back 30 years after aging-out and see if I still feel the same.

Wool kilts can be toasty enough. Nice in decent weather. Hot weather, your "junk" gets saunatized.......... :cool:/>

They are a drum corps, but they teach so much more than drum corps in that program. They always have!

As a person who wore both helmets and shakos... I liked the helmets more from a unique-tradition standpoint (and foolishly, selfishly complained when we switched... I feel badly about that), but the shakos CERTAINLY are easier to make look good. And, yes, I would like some more blue. But MOSTLY... I just want the team to do well, put on a great show, and have a great experience.