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I agree with this. Drum & Bugle Corps is, first, a music activity. It sprouted from a musical activity and is still music first. The visual (be it drill, flags, sabres, props) are there to enhance the music in real-time. It's the music that touches us the most, with the visuals adding greatly, but to a lesser extent. The scoring system has to better reflect excellence in music performance (achievement), excellence in music construction (what the kids are given, content and artistry), and excellence in demand (the difficulty of that content). Music GE should be given greater weight over Visual GE, and Visual GE should be more about how the visuals enhanced the music and less about having the latest, greatest, most innovative show ever. None of this matters when the show is a snoozer and the choppy, unfocused music leaves everyone wishing they had gone to the British Open for tea, crumpets, and the excitement of Phil Mickelson's polar golf game. :-) Choppy Phrasing One of the things I checked was Show Design, but it's not so much about entertainment. There are many types of entertainment to be developed and experienced by us, the fan. I don't expect every corps to be Madison Scouts-like, and I don't want to see all the corps copying each other. The problem the activity has, at least in terms of show design, is with building and managing phrases and musical thought. I don't have to like every show I see, but if I see something that is well developed, well planned, makes musical sense, and keeps the viewer/listener attached to the show for the full 12.5 minutes, then I think that is a success. Too many corps have tried to put so much music into their shows that the arranging is short, snippety, even gimmicky at times, and the sense of good musical phrasing that would help to build to climactic moments is simply not found. The notion that you can just put some loud chord anywhere for instant impact (GE) is false. For years people often gushed over Phantom Regiment's ability to connect with an audience (and for good reason). People always thought it was because they played classical music (in a loose sense of that term for my music scholars out there), but in reality it's how they arrange their music with big, sweeping phrases that pull us into the show. To some extent, music is emotion (it can be many other things as well), but the emotional front will fare so much better and draw fans into the shows at a higher rate when phrasing is dealt with. Too many shows of today feel like sound effects reels with visual chaos taking place. It's even worse when you announce your theme to the world (in marketing, programs, DCI website, etc.) and after viewing the show we still can't tell what your show is about.

Well, Bawker already said what I would say. I didn't vote in the poll because the reality is that the designs that bug me the most are in response to the judging system we have right now. So, my most wide-reaching change would be: More emphasis on member achievement and less emphasis on design choices. (content) Find a way to reward shows that are challenging AND entertaining. Stop rewarding designers for "innovation" for innovation's sake. Actually hold corps accountable for over-use of electronics to the point that the sound of the brass and/or percussion is covered up or overly enhanced. Stop allowing instructors or non-members to monitor and adjust amplified sounds - force corps to choose to use one of their 150 spots for that position, and if they want someone in the stands to be allowed to communicate with that person, it has to also be part of that 150 person ensemble. Lastly, ALL sounds must be generated by an individual in live performance - no pre-recorded singing, no samples of songs, alternate instrumentation, etc. We have winter drumline and color guard already. We don't need it on the summer performance field, too. How about rewarding corps for being fully self-sufficient and NOT using electronics to create more bass sound, or a wind sound, or bells, or alien spaceships! The more we use acoustic instruments to make these types of sounds, the more creative members will be when faced with their own limitations in the future. Electronics are easy to use to make such sounds. It's much harder to do it acoustically. Don't get me wrong - I love the use of electronics in other avenues. I just think it's a crutch in this particular activity and I wish it was properly judged and not ignored. So, those are my 2 cents.

Just a small attempt at some humor...please peeps, let's not freak out. Their love for each other was so profound that no words were needed to describe it! Finally, she spoke... John thinks: Awe, I was just starting to get into the touching bodies thing! "Do you love me John"?, she asked. John thinks: so much for the profound no words needed thing...he answers in his most convincing voice: "You know I do darling, you are my sun, and moon, my world! My life is nothing without you!" That seems to satisfy her. John checks his email and messages on his phone. She speaks again..."How much do you love me John?" John thinks: Really? Why do I bother? Didn't she hear the sun and moon thing? Next she will probably ask me if those purple pants make her look fat! He answers: "Infinity babe, infinity times infinity! Now come back over to the bench and let's get busy!" Impossible you say?

Electronics and the changes in show design they are enabling are the major problem these days. Every year since 2009, I go to shows, and talk to the folks around me, and some have been around for ages, some have never been to shows before, and some know "drum corps" is something they like but don't really know any particular corps or their history. No one has ever had anything positive to say about the synth usage*, and most people are just confused and annoyed by vocals. But everyone loves cool drum features, awesome brass lines, big visual impacts, incredible challenging drill, and awesome guard tosses. So why put on shows that make people in the audience go "huh?" and "why?" when you already had an amazing product that people love? All the synth has brought to DCI is to water down that awesome product that the activity excels at with some gadgetry that costs a lot of money, annoys the audience, and that honestly they don't use well at all. Focus on what you're good at, at what makes you unique, and you'll go far. * The one exception is Crown 2011, when Nick Starr pulled off some truly virtuosic piano playing comparably impressive and straightforward to the performances of traditional percussion and brass. It was everything that sampled singing, movie quote samples, string pads, gooey bass, and theremin patches are NOT. And Crown didn't use it to give the brass a break from playing, which is what a lot of synth ends up being used for these days.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHH61V-mkBY[/media] There's some Rolling Thunder in here, their parade tune (I think), and a couple of other things. I have to say, those guys at the beginning have some serious singing chops. Great arranging too. This video just goes to show how great these guys (as well as any other ensemble that performs at TOC shows) are at performing, no matter what the task (drum corps show, small ensemble, singing quartet).

While "Tambour" is a somewhat relevant musical term, I'm almost completely positive the word you're looking for is "Timbres:.

As someone who has been around the corps more than 30 years, (and served as a drill tech for 6 of those years), I think it is critical that we don't start second-guessing staff (or management, for that matter). The current staff is one of the best in DCI, in my view, and many of them cut their teeth in a world champion drum corps. Sometimes, vis techs have to prioritize their focus. They WILL get to everything. With as much new drill as they have, I'm sure their plate is full. Besides, one only has to look at the recap from Minn to realize that when you consider three corps within .55 of each other, that show could have gone either way, despite BAC's new drill. Furthermore, the corps just ahead of the three of us is known for peaking early.... When the drum corps is in the middle of tour, a thousand miles from home, it is more important than ever to rally around them. Eat'em Up, Boston!

I think the main problem with DCI show designs lately revolve around the fact that they are taking elements which have been used and accepted in BOA (and other high school marching bank circuits) for a long time and bringing them to drum corps. The problem though is that many of these elements (badly done voice overs, horrible synth string sounds, thunderous goo, etc...) are used to mask the deficiencies of high school groups, yet sound completely unprofessional when paired against college music major-level DCI musicians. The designers and judges have come to accept these as part of the sound of the activity because they are also so involved in those other activities. Us that mostly just pay attention to DCI really hear the foreign elements, and how much they don't fit. Just my 2 cents.

By Gum, that'll show 'em.

When did "world class discussion board" become "fan fiction" board? Also, ew.

So an ex Boston instructor judges last nights show. Guess he is still holding a grudge. Reason y judges and instructors should not b allowed to go back and forth between these positions.

I don't blame the G7 for trying something new with the voice encore. Maybe it wasn't a success... And they didn't play a drum corps classic in a traditional way... So what? They tried something new, good for them... Why are ppl so anti-experimentation? You need to fail in order to succeed.

Make that 4. I can't count.

1=Empire --------------83.90 2=Cabs ----------------82.10 3=Fusion --------------78.30 4=Hucs-----------------72.50 5=Windsor ------------68.30

Oh, I heartily disagree, and I wonder if you really get Crown's show yet (keep watching, you will). I intentionally did NOT do any homework prior to this season. I didn't know EOTB (even though now I realize I had heard the opera in the past, and probably dismissed it), I only knew E=MC2 and the obvious reference, and the love story. Yet, the point of the show was obvious to me at the outset, and I'd bet you a cheap lunch or stadium dog that the judges "got it" on the first viewing. And in this case, the narration during the ballad gave they key to the real meaning of the show even if one hadn't gotten it in the symbol usage and love story. Love was the only thing that Einstein's science couldn't prove. Yet, love can be never-ending. "Impossible, you say?" The basic concept is so base human, and the choice of symbols and music is so clear, that there's almost no way that the show doesn't sell even if you'd never seen EOTB. All of the elements in Crown's show (except percussion execution, so far!) are perfectly matched to the theme, or message, or point of the show. It's a brilliant design that's as simple and accessible to any viewer as we've seen since Angels and Demons. And the most remarkable "element" in the show is that rotating 3D triangle pyramid. That thing will go down as having changed drill design as the Z-Pull and cross-to-cross. It's one of the most amazing drill designs I've seen in 40 years. And it fit the theme of the show perfectly.

This hornline is so smooth. Their sound just seems so effortless. Bloo has several days off in a row before their next show 7/19. I don't know about you guys, but that makes me very excited to watch them in the webcast this weekend.

I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket. And, there were all these aisles and there were all these bathing caps that you can buy, that had these kind of 4th of July plumes on them. They were red and yellow and blue. I wasn't temped to buy one but, I was reminded of the fact! That I had been avoiding the beach!

As with any organization with the same leadership in place they become stagnant, which I believe DCI has become at the executive level. It should be run like a business and it doesn't seem to be. Recycled ideas. Lack of vision. Afraid to change. Lack of corporate sponsorship...I'm sure some who marched DCI are in positions of influence at large corporations, develop and nurture those relationships...fund raise. Bring in some fresh ideas and perspective on things. I can't believe there isn't an organization out there that wouldn't want to sponsor DCI...Walmart, Papa Johns, FedEx, UPS, Apple, Microsoft, marching drill software company, and so on. There needs to be money for advertising, to draw in more people. Summer time family fun night, come out to the stadium to see the worlds best in your own backyard. Imagine drawing in 20-30k on a regular basis instead of 300 or so at small hs stadiums. 15 regional shows across the country instead of a couple. This can absolutely be done...it takes vision, leadership and a plan to get there.

Actually, they are indeed tossing little tiny rifles inside the props, but the cover on top hides what they are doing. They DO tell the judges what is going on just to make sure they get credit for it. :lookaround:/>

Part of the disconnect with the story is that the "enchanted forest" has no reference to a dragon. There are scary trees, guard, percussion and horns but no reference to a dragon in all the time they spend on that section of the show. In the Nimrod section, Zena gets her sword and gets brave. After Nimrod and a few minutes of drill (which I can't equate to the story) she then slays a dragon? Where did this dragon come from, what reference to the story was it up to this point and where did the scary enchanted forest go? The story has more holes in it than Prometheus.

2002 Blue Devils...no amped brass required!

Is DCP gonna blast someone for having an opinion? Yes I would have to agree with this quote. "Side x Side" may be pretty darn clean in some aspects, but some of the basic show designing and such leave me unsettled and not in a good way. And then the color guard... I'm hoping Minnie was just a bad run... But seriously, MEDEA and Adagio together makes me feel really sick to my stomach (arrangement, not the playing). Kudos to the Corps for pulling off this program, but in my opinion, some of the design leaves much to be desired.

Crown > BD > SCV > Cadets imo /hides

Unless the reason you were there was to listen to brass and percussion.....

2013 is one of the most exciting DCI seasons in years, with compelling shows and high levels of energy, composition, and performance from 1 - 15 or so. And the judges are doing what no one in the world does better, adding their own perspective to help the world's greatest staffs get it even more right by the end of the year. No one on DCP can truly say that he or she knows who DCI champions will be this year. I guarantee you it will be the corps that deserves it. The hoopla over multi-keys and electronics is just about behind us, and for good reason (and I'm a dinosaur with 50 years of drum corps experience). Acheson et al. (it pains me a little to say this but I'll include George in this statement) have done a good job guiding this activity. Love it to death. All my opinion.

I'd prefer no electronics but as with G bugles, that ship has sailed. I can live with electronics as long as corps are in effect penalized score-wise for obvious balance issues (thunderous goo) or glitches (painful electronic feedback--corps are not punished for these issues now), but I have yet to see a drum corps show where I liked amplified singing or more-than-split-second or post-warmup narration. To me it is a huge distraction and is very annoying. It dilutes the message that instrumental music delivers better. I would like to see a portion of GE judging go to entertainment value rather than the weird envelope- and conceptual-pushing that passes for GE judging now. Give part of GE scores to innovation, but if the designers chloroform the audience and get golf claps, that ain't GE to the audience and shouldn't be scored as high as the corps that pulls it all off.

To your typical brass snob, I'm sure it was hard to listen to, but the majority of ticket holding fans loved it based on the sheer volume if nothing else.

After watching the DCI MN performance live, I have to admit I felt very shortchanged on the show. Not on the content of the show, but some of the design choices; We all know that much of any show design works towards the Finals performance. I think we get that it can result to acoustics in a dome, or staging elements from a press box vantage point. But I was put off a quite a bit by the "access" of Cadets' show. I enjoy sitting in the lower tier so I am able to grasp some of the performance elements up close from the individual members and connect to their energy. Many attempts have been made in the last decade to define the field with large props, scaffolds and stages. But with Cadets giant towers, I think it was the first time that major portions of the show were not even visible to me. The opening statement (since I was sitting on Side 1 and not Side 2), the drum feature on the back hash, the emergence of the orange flag backfield. Even sections that were happening directly in front of me masked everything behind the columns. On and on - several major moments. I guess I felt cheated and am wondering if anyone else has felt as much on live viewings? Especially in smaller venues that are not a major stadium like TCF. Sort of like buying a high end ticket to a Broadway show. You are at least told when you are in a seat with an obstructed view. Judges comments will not likely ever mention this. But for any audience person in the lower tier - there are major portions of this show that aren't visible unless you are in a cushy seat center in the press box. This will also include Lucas stadium in Indy. Thoughts?

Carolina Crown - 88.15 Blue Stars - 77.45 Troopers - 75.45 Crossmen - 74.45 Colts - 74.05 The Academy - 71.1 http://www.dci.org/scores/index.cfm?event=08d2d2e0-7b12-4ab8-986d-f09df771d330

Almost always vodka for me. On a side note, anyone ever been drinking and thought, "do I drink too much?" Nah, me either.

I just noticed that are have no shows scheduled for Thursday and Friday. I expect they'll use that time wisely. If they do and I expect they will, Saturday at the Alamodome could be a good day for Troopers. :smile:

If you were at the show and you heard the way the amplification was used, did you really need to ask the question here? Or is this just your way of saying you don't like it?

There are more timbres and tones than the sound you get from wailing your brains out to project over the rest of a hornline. Amplification on solos exists right now so those mellower tones are maximized. If it were a question solely of volume, then any good ensemble can play quiet enough to allow a soloist to come out.

OK, back on topic here - I predict: The Mrs. & I will thoroughly enjoy the great fish & chips sold by the local athletic boosters at the stadium. Many participants and fans will reminisce fondly over their days spent marching at the old Manning Bowl, even those who never actually did perform at Manning Bowl. Lots of people will stop at the Cabs' souvie tent and spend gobs of cash (or bring your credit cards!) Sunday morning, some of you who made predictions will be making excuses why you were wrong, and some of you will be gloating over being right. So here's hoping for safe travels for all, a great run by all the corps, and a full stadium

Troop, Crossmen and Colts tonight! Ooohhweeee! This is gonna be good.

If I had full control of DCI....hmmm. Well here goes. LONG…sorry Bring back prelims and finals at regionals. Hello…more money making capabilitieshere. Don't tell me the kids can'thandle it or it takes too much time. Idid it as did many others here. Sure itwas hard, but who amongst us that marched doesn't like to perform and showoff!?!?! Fans, who are the bread and butter supportersof DCI want to be entertained. Think Gladiator. Give me the 2 shows where I'm sitting in thestands all dang day. Prelims for SanAntonio start at 9am. All corps compete,scores read after following corps. Keepscores on the scoreboard in the stadium. Put up recaps on the new DCI APP (we're making this, it doesn't exist,at least the one in my mind) Only the top 12 corps make finals. Take a 2 hour break between prelims andfinals. Fans offered to keep same seatswith combined prelims and finals pass. Only one 20 min intermission during Regional Finals. Gotta keep the speed of the show going toallow the encore. Do a 12 corps Encore,all on the field, drums, horns colorguard with same flags or a few differentcolors only. Have the corps members wearthe same t shirt and shorts, but relative to their corps so as to becomfortable. Make encore 20 min long, 4songs min. DCI needs to be aggressive in attaining dollars from muchbigger companies and people. They needto take a stand to these potential investors and share with the experience andwhy/how they can make a difference in kids lives. People love music, that is a fact. (see music below) there are many people/organizations thatcontribute to whatever causes, why not DCI? We just need people that can sell our product. Go back to Div 1, 2 and 3. We gotta keep it simple. If wechange it every so many years people get confused. No more "World Class". How many corps from overseas are there in DCItoday? None. Only Canada. No more names divisions, Soundsport, open class ect. I could go on, but am running out of timehere. Lol DIV 1 – North American touring, USA and CA. Would be required to make appearances at DIV2/3 shows. At least so many peryear. They must have proven certifications that theyhave financially stable organizations and can maintain that balance of stabilityfor so many years and have to annually update DCI with propercertification. This ensures good togreat DIV 1 corps are not lost to financial stupidities, I.E. only 1 personrunning the ORG. This isn't fair to anykid in any DIV any way, shape or form. Each DIV 1 corps will have a DIV 3 sistercorps, in financial and organizational respects, they will sponsor these corpsand will be available for help (not required financial help) at any time. DIV 1 corps will be paid per show as per theirplacements from the previous 3 years average. DIV 2 They would only be allowed to compete in certainsections of North America depending on their home town. If they were financially stable and couldprove they would be for years to come, DCI would allow National Tours fromthose corps but only with approval. Theywould be allowed to do shows on their way to finals week. They have to show many of the same financialrequirements as DIV 1 but to a lesser degree, though they could exceed thatdegree if they wanted. DIV 2 corps canbecome DIV 1 if they score well enough at Quarterfinals and have a proven DIV 1financial status but to remain DIV 1 would have to score well enough for 3years straight. (Some questions here,not enough time to answer today) DIV 3 – local touring only. Within a so many miles of radius of their hometown. If you wanna move up to div 2, you need toscore well enough at 2/3 finals week. Plusyou have to prove that you are a financially stable organization. DCI will cater towards these organizations asto helping them with developing a stable financial organization. During the off seasons these orgs will be requiredto attend how to run you ORG and be successful meetings throughout thecountry. These meetings will be paid byDCI. Make required elements…give the judges something real tojudge. Then they could compare corps toeach other. Such as: Each corps withineach division has to hit a certain DB level at the box measured by judges. Amplification used during this part can onlybe set to a certain level. If a corps isfound to misuse this they are DQ'd and lose the money they got competethere. The penalty has to be harsh tomake a corps think twice about abusing this to gain a higher score. Make each Division have differentrequirements catering to the level of experience per DIV. These requirements to be decided on by eachdiv respective corps director and caption head at NFL style "Winter Meetings". MUSIC – As much as I HATE to use this here, as American Idol4th runner up Chris Daughtry said, the reason he was successful onIdol is because he played music ppl knew. I know this is vague and broadand I know every has different tastes but this applies to our ORG. I don't care how you arrange it, but dear Godcan we please have music I can hum to in the stands? Think of it this way, how many of you havebeen to a rock/pop/whatever concert and just stood there…didn't hum or sing 1time…maybe clap every once in a while?? Exactly! I get we want to be different and I get we want to bring new music drumcorps style to the people. But some ofthe music today…really? PhantomRegiment today…BORING! Phantom Regiment1998, AMAZING! Madison 1991/2 City ofAngels SCV Phantom of the Opera (almostany show here) BD 1998!! Crown this year! Crown Rach Star. Cadets West Side Story! I know I'm missing a lot for sure, these aresmall small examples. But don't playsomething most people won't know/get or understand. More on this too but I'm running out of time. Make a scholarship program that allows a kid to march evenif he can't afford it. Monetary awardsbased on annual family salary, just like college scholarship programs. The more you make the less, if any, you willget awarded. Just because a kids familycan't afford the tuition it takes to march doesn't mean he or she should getpunished by not marching. Lots more herebut time deficient. Send judges to school. Develop a SCORING system where there is very little grey area's Judges have to be certified by DCI. Every show will have the same amount of judges. Make scoring different. Fan response would be a score, period. How many times did the majority of the fansstand? Is the majority of the crowdentertained? Develop a DCI APP that allows fans in the stands only to vote onwhat they saw or felt in the performance, not necessarily who should win, maybegive them a few options to choose from. Fans get a code to enter in the app as they enter the stadium. A way would have to be developed so as a fancould not share that number with his friend at home watching FN or DCP tovote. FN would have a separate vote I think. Bring back after shows all corps retreats, every #### showweather permitting. Allow all the losingcorps walk in front of the crowds on their way off the field after scores havebeen read while playing a 1 min excerpt of their show. Let the crowd cheer their performance 1 moretime. Give the crowd a reason tostay. They came to see a show and now weare going to give them one. Then after all the corps have left, THEN dothe encore. If we feel it's too late, wewill start shows earlier and have less intermissions. Why we need intermissions with a 5/6 corpsshow is beyond me. I know it's to lengthenthe show but if we do this, problem solved. MORE entertainment has to be a must here tobe a successful organization. and don't tell me there isn't enough time. We did it and turned out just fine. this can be done if done correctly. Change TOC shows back to their original format. Make it top 8 from last year. During encore have all corps play old schoolsongs that everyone likes. Cadets swingswing swing or strawnberry soup from Madison…something. More here too, no time. Give all high school band members free tickets – NEWINTEREST MUST BE A PRIMARY GOAL OF DCI. No more BOA kicking our butts. More here too, again, no time, sorry. Change DCI to ..? something that reflects marching and musicbeing professionally done that no other can do. I'm not sure with with one because DCI has been around since 74. It would be like changing Wal Mart tosomething else. But Bugles need lovetoo. Still have electronics but penalize if used incorrectly ordoesn't work with the show. Such as thisyears Crowns show works well for me anyways. Thanks for reading, and sorry it was so long again.

I wasn't even aware there was supposed to be a dragon in this show. Reminds me of Madison's abysmal 09 show (which doesn't actually exist in my mind). There's no antagonist for the audience to latch on to; what's the point of having a hero if there isn't a counterbalance to make the hero's experience feel relevant? Spartacus and Faust were so compelling in part because the audience got to see them fail against an opposing force. Faust even had a deux ex machina (and depending on how you look at it, Spartacus did too), but it was still much more interesting as an audience member because of the main character's struggles. So yeah,

Box 5 housing site.

The tech didn't look to see if the member's feet position was off which tells me they are not speaking up or making corrections. A bunch of "one persons" doesn't get you a better result.

That's it right there. I've been deeply involved with BOA as an adult for a decade now, and anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge partisan for the organization. (Disclaimer: No, I'm not Chuck Henson, we just share a last name and a few drinks from time to time.) But the reasons these elements you're talking about here fit into the high school shows better than they do drum corps shows are, in my opinion: 1. the broader instrumentation allows for a broader range of sounds to feel natural for a high school band, 2. some band instruments that SHOULD be heard will not be heard without amplification, especially solo woodwind voices, 3. more to your point, the level of execution is "right." Sucky execution at the high school level is in some ways excusable, but stick the same level of mediocre execution of electronic elements into a premier DCI group and it sticks out like a sore thumb. It's out of place. I have ZERO problems with electronics. I have serious problems with the current execution. The only people getting it even close are the Bluecoats, and even they have their own issues with the mix. Once this element is done well enough to sound like it actually belongs rather than sticking out and being distracting, I think you'll find much of the confusion and negativity will go away. They question is whether the current generation of show designers and caption heads have the proper technical expertise to pull this off. I doubt it.

Boy do I agree with that. While she had a nice voice, it was funny to me how they turned up the PA to have the crowd be able to hear both of them over all the horns!?!?! Yet we couldn't hear the MC? really? As for the encore, I was pretty ######. If they had done that, then rolled into another few songs without the kids singing that would have been pretty sweet. But that was it. Kinda like a quick Grand Finale on a short fireworks show on the 4th of July. That's it????? C'mon....FAIL. Here I was telling my girlfriend all week how BA the encore would be, letting her listen to America the Beautiful and O Canada from the 98 finals CD...which she thought was awesome. and then we get that...:rock:/> Madison's encore in Muscatine on Thursday blew this one out of the water...period.

I can summarize what I feel is wrong, & how many Corps people who I know feel, in 2 words... Blue Devils.

What he said. Saw you in Madison, and you had me three measures into the show. Whatever happens, score-wise, this is one helluva show, and all connected with it should be very proud. To paraphrase what I once heard about another DCI stalwart, the Troopers have discovered their brand again. Kudos to you all.

I personally loved America-O-Canada. I recorded it to disc and listen to it frequently. When garfields_kid was a pup and Dad was listening to drum corps, he would sit in my lap and watch in fascination. Didn't matter how long we sat there. He'd not move and he'd let me point things out to him to get excited about. This was before he could talk. Eventually, I'd skip to the retreat and I'd crank up sound. He'd grab my thumbs as I air-conducted AOC and "play along" through the whole thing. At the last cut off, he'd burst into applause, just like me, and yell "Yea-a-a-a-a-a-!" Yea, I liked America-O-Canada and it's a shame it went away. If garfields_kid sat on my lap today, I wouldn't be able to breath.

Move along folks.........................there is literally nothing to see here!

Just a small point and not intended to be snarky. "One Voice" is not opera. It's a Barry Manilow tune. (I heard him absolutely kill with it last year. Awesome!). The two kids singing have well trained voices, but opera it ain't. Anyway, I like it. I just wish there were more tunes. In Cinicinnati a couple of weeks ago, Cadets did "Swing, Swing, Swing," and it was just about the best encore ever!

Only the females are permitted to have facial hair this year. :lookaround:/>

ahhh old rivalries, new year. Play nice, guys. In any case, Pinwiz does an excellent job with his assessment, and I'm in agreement. We've got to beef up a few things to keep pushing forward!

The tiny bass drum is going into orbit around the huge bass drum like an electron around the nucleus of an atom. I actually laughed out loud the first time I saw it . It's a physics joke.

You " didn't see the rest of the Corps " ? Well look at the positive in that. Its 8 less Corps you had to write " boring " in your review, and 8 less times we had to read the word " boring " in your boring review.