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Whoa! So, I have a couple thoughts on these, (and yes, tonight is my first viewing of them): First of all, very modern and aggressive, YET the branding is SO strong there is no doubt who they are. Second, BAC resisted the current trend of DCI blandness..you know, the whole "flaired shoulder blouse look" to do an updated, even more bada## version of themselves. And finally, going with an actual Waldo on the front of the shako instead of the usual eagle and going back to the retro chrome buckle instead of a mirror plate, is awesome. I personally have always been a fan of the "whites" (crossstrap, drops, citation cords, etc) but this design is bold and aggressive, and makes a statement. Kudos to the uniform design team!~

***Taps the microphone*** Hello... hello... is this thing on??? Anybody home???

mid June

so...DCI beat Gaga to it! Stu, quick.....raise hell! Get Acheson on the phone!

I heard this is actually what BDs show is about (which is why Stu is posting in that thread) . 2014 BD: Gaga Vomit - Performing Our Guts Out

How ironic. You say we can't rely on her claim that her behavior is artistic beauty, but we're all supposed to rely on your claim that it's depraved behavior.

This.

It's whatever you want. Call it self-expression, call it art, call it whatever you want. It still has no real connection with DCI shows and their design direction.

Awesome job...love the traditional yet modern approach. Beautiful detail.

Stu was right alllll alongggggggg But seriously, I think the gut reaction to this uniform is strong, and bold and that's a good first reaction to have with a uniform. I like it!

I like your additions, Jeff.

Very cool look! I hope it presents well from a distance. I, for one, will be missing the white piping from their most recent uniforms. The white popping out of the red made them look HUGE on the field.

Ray ... you are the prize! BTW ... I'll be MCing the BHOF/St. Kevin's I&E in Boston on Sat ... will you be there? ... Jack Murray will ... playing with Sky's Drum Ensemble ... quite a nice lineup ... :-)

Hmmmm...."Bondage" program?

Pretty awesome. I heard the buckles will have BAC on them.

Was that an attempt at humor? I'm confused.

Close. This is how the show will open...

If it has run its course people will stop posting and it will fall deeper and deeper into the past thread line of oblivion. But again, as the OP, as long as it remains civil, I request it to remain open to make that fall into oblivion on its own.

Yeah that rig that looks like someone who is being treated for massive spinal injury with chimes dangling = REALLY dorky looking taken at face value. Or some of the stuff from before grounded pit, where there's like someone on the field playing tambourine acting like he's the featured soloist (BD 76 "Legend of the One Eyed Sailor" comes to mind) = laughably goofy. When I show those videos to youngin's it ALWAYS gets laughs, especially because their only frame of reference is modern BD/drum corps. It really is ALL just marching band & you can't take it too seriously. Imagine what modern costuming might look like in a few decades, or what 2013 drum corps uniforms might look like to 2033 pageantry fans

So anyway, my guess is John Q Public, who played 4th baritone in Harvey Seeds between 1817 and 1942. I know it's not a great picture - the water colors back then seemed to run quite a bit, but that's my guess and I'm sticking to it. I'm sure Andy marched with the guy and he'll straighten me out. John's wife, Jane Doe was quite a looker, until she walked in front of that MBTA Green Line trolley - put kind of a hitch in her step. Did I win the prize?

I'll never forget sitting in the theater during one of those DCI Fan Showcase movie events where the fans select the shows they want to see. The audience at the theater I went to, by and large, was made up of high school band kids who were really eager to watch drum corps on the big screen. It was a very large crowd overall, and I'd say those band kids really enjoyed themselves, as audience reaction to pretty much every single show was very strong. But when they showed a guy on the screen in the 27th Lancers marching around with what looked to be a set of large concert chimes strapped to a harness on his chest, you would have thought the theater was in the middle of showing a raucous comedy. The laughter was pretty loud and continued even after the camera switched to something else. And I laughed, too. I mean, what the eff WAS that thing?? The activity, then and now, can easily be perceived as very nerdy. It comes with the territory. People need to stop taking themselves so seriously about it. If someone doesn't know any better, or understand context, their reactions to something like that will most likely be different, and not always favorable. Don't be so quick to get offended. And if you stop to actually think about it, you may even say to yourself, MAN, what were we thinking back then?? (And to be fair, the audience at the movie theater I went to for the 2013 DCI semi-finals contest roared with the same kind of laughter when the "evil queen" made her appearance during Phantom Regiment's show. Nerdiness is not confined to one generation in this activity.)

Madison 1992!

I know you've asked Mike, but I'll also chime in on the difference between scholastic marching band and drum and bugle corps. My school has roughly 180ish marching band members For one, the majority of woodwinds used in our band program are student-owned: flutes, clarinets, alto, tenor, and bari saxes, some bass clarinets. We don't use double reeds (though we have for solo stuff previously at times as the show calls). A lot of the clarinets have plastic clarinets just for marching band, and wooden clarinets they use concert season. Since the majority of the ww instruments are student owned, any problems are paid for by the students. The school owned instruments (a few tenor and bari saxes, several bass clarinets) need repaired at least annually during the marching band season (after they've been serviced over the summer), some of the older instruments a couple times a season. But the majority of ww instruments are paid for by the parents/students (I'd say a good 85%, at least). With drum corps that would obviously not be the case, and I doubt drum corps would use the cheaper variety of instruments: the weather affects wood clarinets FAR more than plastic, obviously. Also, usage time is SIGNIFICANTLY more in drum corps. We rehearse on average of an hour a day during school (first period of the day), 2.5 hours Thursday night, and often five hours on Saturdays. One drum corps rehearsal day would practice longer than my school does an entire week! The wear & tear would significantly be greater in drum corps. Also, I teach in Southern CA where our weather is pretty mild. However, if it starts raining at a football game and we're not prepared for it, the majority of ww instruments will need to go in for repairs the next week. Pads come unglued in the water AND crack, dry out in the heat. Wood warps in extreme temperatures & humidity. Over the course of a marching band season it's not uncommon for screws to fall out, spring to fall out or get too worn, or even key rails to get dented. There are so many moving pars on a woodwind that are extremely delicate, it would be a nightmare to upkeep for a group who rehearses eight hours or so on a show day & 12+ hours on a rehearsal day. A group I worked with several years ago was in the Rose Parade when there was heavy rain all day, and literally every single woodwind instrument needed to go into the shop afterwards. The bill for the school alone was several thousand dollars; I have no idea how much for the kids who owned their own woodwinds. And again, this is in Southern CA where the weather is awesome the majority of the time! A summer tour that swings down south, spends significant time in the midwest & east (i.e. places with crazy humidity and significant rainfall during the summer), and instruments would constantly be in need of repair. With brass instruments, you can clean them out in the shower & with a bit of oil and you're good to go. Is there a collision and the bell or something dents? You can either knock it out, or maybe it's just cosmetic and not a big deal. With a woodwind, if a key bends then you aren't able to play that note (or several notes, depending on the key), it will need immediate repair. That doesn't even cover more common stuff like fun with reeds. If you're lined up to go into the gate and someone accidentally backs into your clarinet & breaks your reed? You're likely screwed for the show. If there is a sudden weather shift from warm-ups to the starting line? You're ww's are in trouble (and their timbre is closest to front ensemble keys, so there will be constant intonation problems between mic'ed keys & woodwinds). Check out that Glassmen video from several years ago when they're performing in the down poor. That likely ruined some plumes (if they used 'em), probably some front ensemble mallets, & some drum heads. If that were a marching band, they would've either needed to have been wearing baggy ponchos to protect the woodwinds, or every woodwind instrument would've likely have been ruined. If we're talking a small ensemble or soloist, all of that is minimized and not as big a deal. But a full on 30 or 40 member woodwind section? That would be a nightmare!

Nah. I'm putting my money on November. You'll know what the show is when the dvd/blu-ray comes out and the theme is listed on the box. Now that would be "out of this world!"

Or just ignores it completely.

Cadets 89 and Boston 88...plus Boston a few years ago! OMG...Bayonne did the Civil War...and they had the south win!!! Egads...Spirit did the Devil Went Down to Georgia in 80 and 81! How many corps have done West Side Story!!! That had murder and interracial love! horror of horrors...in VK 2010, their love story ended with the guy ditching the girl for the other guy!!

but he can't afford it despite the bluster

I probably should have been more clear. The areas to the left and right are what I was talking about. The gradient-like colors have changed from purple and red (last year's colors for the uniform) to what you see now. IMO, this is a hint as to what colors we can expect to see used in this year's uniform.

I see what looks like a picnic table with people around it smiling at the camera. They look older than the average corps member. In addition, in the photo is a roll of paper towel. At first I thought the red colored thing next to the paper towel might be a squeeze bottle of ketchup, but then again it looks like a tall glass. I am lead to believe it must be a fruity drink due to the smile on the person at the right of the photo. I'm sure it's because the fruity drink has not spilled and as a result, they have not had to use the paper towel. Saving paper towel is important. As a result, I think that this photo clearly shows that their 2014 show is about saving the environment. The less paper towel one needs to use, the less trees need to be cut down to make paper towel.

For those of us who miss subtlety, can you be more explicit as to what you're speculating on as far as uniforms? I see a picture of shirtless drummers in rehearsal, and while I think that would indeed be a very interesting uniform choice, I doubt that would be their uniform. What specifically ware you talking about?

This thread needs to be locked. It has literally nothing to do with World Class drum corps except that Stu has said the words "drum corps" several times.

I'm OK with live poisonous snakes, but only they are not mic'ed and make noise in the Key of G

I believe that something else should be considered with respect to the adding of expense discussion. A year or so ago there was talk of the “7” and wanting to move the number of those performing to 200+. There was discussion then about the costs. (Bus leases, food expenses, additional insurance liabilities, additional staff, additional instruments, additional vehicles and the fuel and maintenance with that, etc.) From what I have heard, Hopkins was heard to say in the room after the recent passing of the brass rule, words to the effect of “next year it will be woodwinds.” That notwithstanding, the combination of the two (wind instruments and personnel) would not necessarily mean that the additional bodies and instrumentation would be woodwinds based. I suspect that the addition of guard and more brass would be the goal (as the some have pointed out recently in the discussions about the visual aspect of the activity). The expense issue still remains. This brings me to another point. Most of those that wish these changes are not always the ones with the fiduciary responsibilities incumbent with the bylaws of a 501© (3) organization. The boards of directors of those organizations are. Last year, the Board of the Boston Crusaders extended an invitation to members of all of the Boards of DCI corps to meet and discuss best practices as it applied to the activity and to share ideas from the fiduciary responsibility of their situations. I spoke with two people who attended and at that meeting; many of these board members had no idea what had transpired only a few months before with regard to the demands of the “7” at the time. Few knew of MiM, and fewer still had heard of the Troopers response to that power play. This group has agreed to meet again this year to discuss best practices. One can only hope that these discussions regarding their fiduciary responsibilities might steer this discussion. As I recall from the 990’s thread from last year, only two corps are truly in any position to do anything other than maintain at this point and adding another bus, woodwinds, insurance, staff, food, fuel, vehicles (you name it) is not going to change those numbers no matter how it might be presented or cloaked. Just my thoughts.

So... Can someone who believes in an ""absolute truth"/"i can project my beliefs onto others", live in such a society and correctly live by their own philosophy? And here's a fun little video for you. Start at 5:53.

But nobody has those views in any pure way except sociopaths.

See here's what I don't get about the people complaining that drum corps has become nerdy and bando with all the recent changes... This, while awesome, is sooooooo nerdy it hurts.

I can't seem to make it embedded, but... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q57xDoy-6Xg