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Actually Dave Hobart did the Evaluation!! I sat on the curb and watched!! lol Congrats Sun Devils, welcome back to DCA and DCA-South

2001 Space Odyssey: Hardly original and played by many - first on the drum corps field in 1969 and the latest being Boston Crusaders in 2008. The sound will be pretty amazing though. Dark Side of the Moon - This should translate really well. I like what I hear on this one. Einstein on the Beach: Have to admit that it's a strange piece IMO. I'll keep an open mind on that until I hear it from them. Overall, wait and see. It's all about the arrangement, design, and execution. Until then, who knows? That's the beauty of drum corps!

one of the smartest comments made

Agree. DCI Drum Corps goes into sleep mode that lasts for 44 weeks out of the 52 weeks of the year.During this time, Corps become paranoid that playing (for example )simple practice chords and showing it to the public via video will result in unspeakable calamnities that will grip members into instant paralysis if such playing is criticised by someone, somewhere. It really is sort of silly, really. An activity that is crying out for exposure, goes into such secret hibernation for 90% of the year that it would make even rural bears jealous.

I miss the Velvet Knights. I think their shows were appreciated perhaps even more out of state than they were perhaps in state.

...and a business to run.

I wanted to bring a rotary phone to practice but couldn't get reception!

I am VERY happy to announce that after 2 years of making an effort to return to DCA, today the Sun Devils Drum and Bugle Corps passed our re-evaluation and have been welcomed back to the DCA family!!! Many thanks go out to all those who helped us realize this goal. I am not going to list all the names, but there are many. It feels so good to be back.

I guess we might say the Cadets are "smarter than the average bear"... :tongue:/>

What would really be cool is if the corps that are entertaining actually get spots in the movie theaters. Thought Surf's show was the most entertaining show of the year, but they never moved up in rankings. But they should be in the movie theaters because that's what normal people would be entertained by.

I wouldn't mind soloists playing whatever they like. It just adds to the musicianship. Is there a shortage of kids?

you do realize, we've not really seen any evidence adding new toys in has drawn kids or fans to the activity despite all of the proclomations it would when passed right?

This is what the guard outfits will look like. The Cadets posted this on Facebook today.

Wow, never noticed that until you pointed it out. You should be a judge!

Exactly

27th Lancers and Royal Crusaders were part of the corps hockey tournament (with Cavaliers & Madison) back in 1976. 27th beat Madison, 8-6 for the title.

This seems like pretty naive logic to me. You're saying that without a WGI-influenced judging criteria, designers wouldn't know how to judge. You think designers wouldn't know how to adapt and/or they wouldn't know how to serve up high quality design? Also, why in the world would designers shift away from WGI?! WGI is FAR more interesting and innovative than DCI. In WGI it seems like annually we have someone reinventing the activity, or at least trying something radically new. In DCI we have changing trends, for sure, but the change and innovation come at a snails pace compared to WGI!

Come on man, don't get our hopes up!!

I greatly enjoy what transpires on the the field, but must admit I truly do miss the volatility in placements. Numbers 1-4 at the beginning of the season will most likely still be in 1-4 at the end of the season. Ah, well.

Tease...

Don't care what the placements are. Just can't wait for the hairs on my arms to stand up during the Crossmen ballad this summer. Heard it's creepy good.

Please, go on. :)

I assume you had a visit from Vic did JJ have to buy the coffee? Great news ... can't wait to see you all soon ...

Somehow I think this will not be a concern...

I'll bet you $20 you can't walk away for, say, three years. Ready? Go!

Wasn't a huge fan about that either... same with BD last year. I'm somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to uniforms. The WGI type unis don't stand out well enough in big stadiums anyway. Makes the corps look really tiny.. and individuals pop out easier.

Because every moment you're dealing face to face with other live human beings you don't really know that well is a moment when you can actually learn something about them, about yourself, and about the world. Take away those moments in favor of the world of texting inanities to other people you know from your comfort zone, people who will send you inanities in return, and you've lost an irreplaceable opportunity to make yourself a more interesting, more interested person. And Hockey Dad? If I had a 20 year old who really felt the urge or need to call me once or twice a day, I would think that I had a college aged kid with separation issues. Just sayin....

I'd rather be allowed to decide for myself, not have some draconian measures thrust upon me just because one person wants it his way. This is my life, and I get to decide - I think Cadets said something about that a few years back.

But now we're starting to make all these rules that complicate the idea. Yes, the BD organization is probably fine without this "extra" money, but what about the Colts?

That is great news... welcome back, Sun Devils!!!!

But the designers already knew what the judges wanted before, pre-WGI.

Do they impose posting limitations in prison? < I kid!>

Preseason hype is awesome. There must be 12 corps gonna be in the top 5 this year. Personally I prefer a more guarded approach. I am thinking the slotting has already happened for this year.

After seeing Les Mis for the first time this week (bad music major) I am desperate for a true Les Mis show from SCV. I do not want just a greatest hits compilation. I want them to make me cry, multiple times.

Man... I would really like to see the alumni corps do that tune. To me, it's a Westshoremen classic!!!

I guess I never got the point. Just kind of a **** measuring contest between corps, who can win the most individual awards? I wasn't going to miss it at all.

I prefer the wisdom of Paul the Apostle: "When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put away the childish things." Marching and Performing within Drum Corps International, while a great and wonderful activity, is an activity for the young. Moreover, as an adult, why should I spend time wishing to relive my past youth experiences when instead I could plan on the plethora of wonderful future possibilities in which I have yet to experience?

1. Blue Devils 2. Bluecoats 3. Blue Stars 4. Blue Knights 5. Blue Saints 6-12. All the other colors.

Isn't that just more money for the BD organization?

I don't think people realize, it was really design that got Crossmen into finals. Especially visual. Their performance captions, especially music were not all that great (color guard got shafted... that guard was great IMO). Ed Devlin's drill might not look all that spectacular.. with all the curvilinear forms morphing all over the field, but it still moves. It's not that much different than say jamey Thompson (although I think he writes on a completely different level than Ed... Jamey's drill is awesome).. or even BD. It needs some work.. and honestly it's kinda boring, but the staging is there, the integration is there. Field coverage could be better, although he does get there most of the time... it's just uninteresting... and not the easiest to clean... and it's especially uninteresting for the fan after watch the ridiculous #### Rosander gave the Blue Stars to feast on... I think Crossmen can definitely move up with their current design team. I think it is limited though... just like it was in the early 2000s... pretty much the identical team... they were performing just as well as the top corps... music was great.. what hurt them? The drill (2001 KILLS me... what a great show... a shame they didn't march for most of it). And then a couple more good years.. then the #### hit the fan... and here we are again. I have the most confidence in Chuck Naffier along with the percussion designers (they ain't chop liver!) on that design team to keep carrying the corps into the upper echelon of DCI. Klesch and Chuck are my top two arrangers in the activity at this time. I'm not completely sold on the rest of the design team yet. In the meantime, Crossmen just have to put out another good design (looks promising) and all they have to do is perform it better. I'm pretty sure they have the music staff in place.. I know the brass is solid, have a new percussion caption head coming in, so we'll se how that goes. Guard will be strong, some change with the rest of the visual staff, but I think that will work out pretty well too. Lots of vets, lots of talent. This alum is gonna hype the #### out of it.

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Seriously...that ending drill was dirty from day 1 to finals day. I never saw that rotating box clean even once. Not saying it's easy...but it's gotta be clean if you want to win!

Just... no. You just did? If "fan favorites" affected scores, Jersey Surf would have won by five points. Look, I think Crown will win this year if they get even close to being clean, but my reasons for believing this are much more grounded in a bit of conspiracy theory. My point is that I just can't understand the (common) assertion that Crown should have won in 2012. It literally causes my brain to short circuit. Anyway, good luck to all corps this summer. And yeah, BD in fifth place is like Alabama losing to Southwest Idaho State Community College. Just not going to happen.

I don't know of any marching band circuit that has a limit on instruments. Does anyone know of one? In USBands, I have written parts for an electric cello in two of our shows, and I also had an English Horn solo a couple of years before that. I have seen bands in BOA with bassoons, oboes, a variety of strings, kazoos...etc. That is what DCI should also be moving to, IMO.

Competition is as entertaining as the actual shows.

Some crazy ideas... - Dedicate $1000 towards the goal of, by March 1st, getting a 2'x3' DCI poster with the summer schedule on it in every band room of every school in every city where there is a show. - Allocate $10,000 +/- to reward the top 5 school "Ambassadors" with all-expense paid trip to finals. Reward based on the number of student ticket stubs to each show site collected by the Ambassador. The more kids he/she talks into attending the show and giving him/her the ticket stub, the better the chance of winning. - Give each corps $500 for each recruit who's cut from the second round of tryouts but who then marches with another corps down the placement line. Incent the "full" corps to get auditionees to march at another corps instead of going home. - Set up a fund to pay half the cost of audition camps for those cut from the second round of any corps. Encourage kids to continue trying out down the placements until they make the cut and march. - Dedicate $5000 in marketing support to each of the non-corps-sponsored TEP shows, to be spent on local advertising for the show. Posters, mailers, radio/TV time, programs, banners, discount group sales efforts, whatever, with the charge to the show producer to put an extra 250 BITS at each show. At $25 per ticket, and net profit of $15 per ticket, that's $7,500 more profit per show. Then DCI can increase the contract prices by $500 to $600 for a TEP to host the show.

This blog made me smile. I never did laundry until I marched drum corps, and afterwards I realized it spoiled me: it really is fun doing laundry on tour, and lame/tedious in the real world

Because the members are talking to their brokers about making major stock buys or sales? Their under-executives awaiting their decisions before executing papers connected to important mergers? Nah. Look, there are a number of things about Cavaliers that make me scratch my head, but that policy always struck me as pretty smart when it comes to what drum corps is supposed to be doing. Fostering relationships with the real humans sitting next to them, putting members into situations where they couldn't call home for mommy when they felt lonely or hurt, etc, etc, etc. The kids marching drum corps now have been in a constant-contact world most of their lives, and will be again, once their seasons are done. To have a few months of being off the grid strikes me as more of a luxury than a punishment.

Has any seen the movie "Larry Crowne"? There's a scene in a college classroom where a student takes a call during class. A somewhat jaded, rather surly professor walks to his desk and tells him to repeat (into the phone) what she's saying: (I am) going to learn to care. Your bandmates need to learn to care. Everyone does today. This idea that multi-tasking was born with the smartphone and the millenial generation is stupid. It wasn't. What was born in the new millenium was a lower standard of caring. A generation ago, I could have read a comic book or talked to the cutie in the flute section during band and played my parts better than pretty much anyone there. But that would have showed I didn't care, which I did. I cared enough to concentrate. I cared enoungh not to distract those around me. This is not about what you CAN do. It's about what you SHOULD do. Care. HH

Closing this.