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as far as I ever root for particular corps, I'd like to see the Bluecoats keep up their momentum. it's been quite a while since a corps has had a sustained run as 'the fans' corps.' As much as I rolled my eyes at the cavalier groupies in all their squealing brighteyes-ness, they did bring a certain energy that the discerning body of enlightened imposing fans sometimes refrain from. in the years post-Machine, I don't think I've seen one corps hold the hearts/minds of the screaming fans for a sustained period. Phantom had them with Spartacus, then lost 'em with Violin. Crown seems to win the fans in odd year, then lose them in even years. Blue Devils have always been a 'they're really good, but i like....' The cavie-groupies are still around, but they aren't the giggling swarm they used to be. The pressing horde around the Bluecoats souvie booth on saturday of finals, though, was like nothing I'd seen in terms of sudden affection. and, for the first time in my tenure, folks were regularly inquiring at the Unit about old BC shows . so I'm really looking forward to their 2015 show, hopefully they keep up the 'pleasing-but-not-pandering' style and maintain all the momentum they got from last year. things are more fun when there's a 'that corps' that has much and sustained and vocal fan-love. [above-stated opinions are not meant to praise or bury any corps, simply a reflection on the temperature-taking of the crowds as I observe and interact with them in the wild. I love all corps equally, save for the hometeam whom I love most of all in adherence to contractual agreements.]

This show has a special place in my heart. I'm Native and we are the direct ancestors of the Anasazi. That same year in March my father passed away just three months after I got married. He was my biggest fan and always came to as many shows as he could when I marched back in the day. Watching and listening to the show that Finals night in the stands was surreal, almost like my father was there in the stadium. I cried after that performance and all the memories I had with my father during my marching career from the fundraisers, to performances, to the sacrifices he made to ensure I could march, were just so clear and real again. It wasn't the cleanest show that night, but it was the show I remember and cherish most from that season. Thank you PR and to the OP, I'm glad you found this great show!

DCI has added a list of prospective corps on their website that will be undergoing evaluation for the 2015 season. http://www.dci.org/corps/list.cfm?class_id=9 Also, it looks like Thunder from Spokane, WA is gearing up to return after being inactive last year. http://www.thunderdrumcorps.org/season/ I'm loving all of the growth the last couple of seasons in Open Class after years of watching one corps after another fold. Hopefully, this trend will continue in the future.

DCPI Times Season 23 Kickoff! Well its that time again! Another exciting DCPI Season kicks off around the country and once again DCPI Times will be there to keep you updated on all the action! Before the first shows, DCPI Times went to a few corps camps and this is what we are pleased to report back: TEXAS ZEPHYRS First off to the Open Class Texas Zephyrs with Steven Silverberg. Its clear from looking around camp that many members from the past two seasons have managed to stay on for the winter season as the Texas Zephrys defend the off-season title they've won the past two years. In breakout practices the size of the guard clearly has grown as they boast a larger guard than usual--up to 33 from their usual 28--and featuring individual soloists throughout the show, both musically and visually. Sure to be a favorite once again. “The show itself unlike past years which have been more musically-focused, is going to be more visually oriented; we have to, with the subject of Martha Graham.” Steven stated. Despite the increased visual focus, however, they still expect the music to be what people remember. When asked what the goal for the season was, Steven said “This will be our twelfth competitive season, rounding out our sixth year in Open Class. Our goal is the same as it always is: try to take over the world--and also bring home our fourth open class championship.” With the record they have, will be a challenge for anyone to take another one away from them! West Virginia Sound Next up, Open Class West Virginia Sound with Danny Holderby. Musically speaking, they have had the show complete for about 2 months now. “We've moved into the phase of nit-picking and even re-writing a couple of things to make them gel better.” Danny said. We noticed that this hornline is playing incredibly well, and even though they willl probably be one of the smaller corps in Open Class with only 104 members, I think people will be surprised how much sound the horns put out. “Drill wise, we have about 75-80% of the show on the field. Marshall University has been fantastic in allowing us to rehearse in the new Indoor Practice Facility on campus as the weather has been crazy lately.” Danny added.. A lot of people think Sound is taking a big risk doing a show about Eva Peron and not including any of the Andrew Lloyd Webber score. However, the designer told me they felt that it was a risk worth taking in order to highlight one of Argentina's most renowned and beloved composers (Piazzolla) while telling the story of one of Argentina's most beloved and renowned people. “In the end, we feel like we've made the right choices in honoring the history and culture of Argentina.” Holderby said This is the corps second season on the field. They finished ninth in Season 21, (they only compete in the 'off-seasons') so their goal is to place in the top 5 at Open Class finals. “We believe this is a very attainable goal, and feel it is a good measure of our growth as an ensemble. Obviously, we would love to win it all, but it's more important to us to establish ourselves as a perennial finalist and then move on to being one of the corps in the running for the championship.” Danny added “We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to Marshall University, Cabell County Schools, and Huntington High School for use of their facilities this season. Without a place to rehearse, we don't have a corps, so it is important to us to continue fostering a great relationship with these groups. We would also like to thank all of our volunteers who have done everything from providing meals at camps, to fitting uniforms, to altering uniforms, to sewing flags, to doing airport shuttles, to keeping our members healthy. There will never be enough 'thank you's' in the world for these people. We also would like to publicly thank our parent organization, Ohio Valley Performing Arts Association, and especially our big brother corps, Ohio Valley Thunder for their assistance. We sold our battery percussion to buy a new set, and there were some delays in getting them shipped in for a couple of camps and OVT was gracious enough to allow us to use their drums until our new ones were in.” we are very excited here at DCPI Times to see where they season will take them! The Knights We finish our camp reviews a little closer to home for DCPI Times with The World Class Knights. After settling for 5th in Season 22, the Knights look to combine a bit of what has worked in their past with some fresh ideas in Confluence. Director Gary Currier said “we’ve done so many shows about or with a focus on water in its many forms. We thought it was time to take on several of those classic river pieces like Rivers Symphony, Appalachian Springs and of course our classic version of the Moldau and intertwine them with new pieces for the corps like Black Muddy River, The River Suite by Ellington and a piece we just fell in love with, Yellow River Piano Concerto which pairs so nicely with Moldau.” like so many classic Knight shows, the ending will change so many times including which piece will “win” as the final section of the show. a typical musical battle for the group, but regardless which piece that is, we know it will send the crowd into hysterics. As far as the goal of the corps its no surprise that once again it will be GE heavy which tends to have a rough start as the Knights dont like to do “easy” shows. However this year the Brass and Guard section also look like they want to play for a title, time will tell... England Marches on America-special report from across the pond By Bronwen Boothroyd, BBC America While most British children will be playing footie in the park the next few months, a select few of Yorkshire’s best and brightest musicians will be training, traveling and performing all day long as they hopscotch across the former colonies, participating in the 23rd Season of Drum Corps Planet International. We recently spoke to Colonel Eirik Bromley, Retd., of the West Yorkshire Regimental Drum & Bugle Division, the director of three drum and bugle corps sponsored by the Kirklees Council, Abrigg & Morley Wapentake in West Yorkshire, all of which will be in competition, who presented a little of the groups’ history, and talked about the shows they will be presenting this season. “Our performance groups trace their history all the way back to 1702, when they were part of The Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Yorkshire, and indeed they had prior trips to the shores of America under less pleasant circumstances. Last summer, however, we sent our corps to American to make great music, and the trip was so successful that we are going back this year. “Our highest level of corps, the Dewsbury Regulars, made up of 150 brass, percussion and guard members, competing in DCPI’s Division 1 World Class, will start their tour on January 17 in California, and by the time they wrap up their season at Finals in Lexington, Kentucky on March 14, they will have performed in 24 different states. The Regulars are excited about their show this year, titled “Mallory”. It’s a tribute to Sir George Mallory, the great mountaineer who was lost in 1924, in the world’s first attempt to scale Mount Everest. Our show starts off with the upbeat and confident notes of Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, then as the grueling work sets in, we turn to the great English composer, Arnold Bax, and the 1st movement of his 1st Symphony. As the difficulty of the effort begins to take its toll on the climber, we hear Ingrid’s Lament, from Grieg’s Peer Gynt. As he nears the summit, Mallory experiences the glory of a starry night on the mountain as the corps plays the moving 3rdmovement of Vaughan Williams’ Symphony #5. Although his body was found 75 years later, there has never been conclusive proof whether he reached the summit before perishing. Our interpretation clearly portrays that moment as having occurred, to the sounds of Richard Strauss’ Alpensinfonie. “Our middle level of corps, the Huddersfield Hundred, have as you would expect 100 marchers. They compete in the DCPI’s Division 2, Open Class, and will start their tour a little later, on January 27 in Pennsylvania. They will finish their season in Kentucky as well, on March 11, and will have performed in 20 states, as well as visiting Ontario and Quebec, Canada. Continuing our theme of honoring iconic English personages, the Hundred named their show “Lawrence”, which is naturally a tribute to T.E. Lawrence, who gained fame in Arabia during the Great War. Representing the patriotic, and a bit naïve, sentiment at the beginning of the war, we hear Elgar’s Land of Hope and Glory. We are then transported to the desert through Gabriel Yared’s excellent score for the film,The English Patient. The horrors of battle are heard in a less well-known piece by Sir Granville Bantock, called Thalaba, the Destroyer, but that is followed by the pathos and poignant longing for home ofButterworth’s A Shropshire Lad. The show finishes with the rousing finale of Vaughan Williams’ 8thSymphony, with the sound of bells tolling across England in victory and thankfulness in the returning soldiers. “Lastly, our smallest group, the Mirfield Lockmen, are competing in DCPI’s Division 3, Class A with just 50 members. They have a shorter tour than the others, beginning February 5 in Pennsylvania, and visiting 15 states through the finals in Kentucky on March 11. No less iconic than the great adventurers and soldiers of the realm, the Lockmen’s show is titled “Christie”, for the great Dame Agatha. Instead of portraying her life, the show represents the great mystery stories for which she is famous. The famous Orient Express is evoked by modern American composer Eric Whitacre’s Ghost Train, and the haunting refrain of Kurt Weill’s The Ballad of Mack the Knife let us know that murder most foul has occurred. We hear William Walton’s stirring Funeral Marchfrom the film Hamlet, as the mood is darkened following the murder, but we end with the great 1931 song, Guilty, by Richard Whiting evoking the pre-War era as the murder is solved by the great detective. “We hope that these great shows continue to showcase our great English composers and our great English musicians, to our closest friends across the Atlantic. Individually, the corps also hope to climb in the rankings this season, as they hone their designs to the American judging community. Perhaps one day before long, we will also be able to open our doors to host some American corps here in Yorkshire.” Start of Season Before we could finish up our first report and go to press, what do you know--the season started! Opening night it was Great Lakes Sound making a splash in Lisle with a very strong music score. Back in PA the Golden Panthers pulled off the highest score of the day with Schuylkill Thunder right behind them! Day one came out with some HIGH scores but they seemed to plummet back down to earth by day two. The show of the day really seemed to be in Rockford as Dark Knights had a great show with a strong GE score, it is very exciting to see where they will take their season. They also right out of the gate take the Knight Sword from the Knights who started their first show back in 3rd. Defending Champs were just barely in second as their strong visual presence really helped keep them in a solid showing! They make up for it the very next night by upending Dark Knights. Also on the 19th, Star of Jupiter had their first real competition out west and while the crowd was thrilled to have the southern powerhouse in California, it was Quiksilver who took away the trophy for the night by a tight margin. Just a day later, Star of Jupiter surprises them in Portland! These two could tango out west for the early season and it will only result in GREAT shows for the crowds! In Cedar Rapids Polaris Regiment gave Dark Knights a taste of their success by giving them a near point loss. Dune Battalion in Flagstaff was very impressive and likely the most even, across the board performance of the week. This helped them currently jump to the top of the leader board. Its early on and its always hard to tell where corps will take their shows and judges will take their scores, but we can tell you DCPI Times will be here to give you updates periodically through the season!

Was this not previously discussed in this forum this season with futile results?

While CV seems to have always been suportive of SOA, and visa versa, to answer your question, No, CV had nothing to do with SOA's lack of competitive success or with their pathetic show design in 2014. The poor, narrow-minded, self-serving leadership is to blame. That is all.

Unfortunately, Lincoln will no longer be providing feedback having been put in a catatonic state with the recent revelation of the Miss Canada National Costume at the 2015 Miss Universe preliminary contest yesterday. Why catatonic you say? This will explain it all. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01/22/miss-universe-canada-costume_n_6524866.html At the moment, rumours of Miss Canada's ability to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs have not been confirmed as her scoreboard clearly shows the game has not yet finished.

I am wondering if rumors from Rockford are true that Cappybara is collaborating with Mikey Cesario to design the headgear for Phantom '15's unis. Based on the clues Cappy shared in post #419 here, here is a sneak of what it may look like, Lincoln's approval pending. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Adult-Green-Frog-Head-Swamp-Prop-Backyard-Amphibian-Rubber-Mask-Costume/201259887213?_trksid=p2054897.c100204.m3164&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140407115239%26meid%3D184640bbfd8e47e686cfb5a4ac96aee8%26pid%3D100204%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D28%26sd%3D331216701177

This is going to come off sounding arrogant and pompous maybe but why does any corps have to provide information or reports or any kind during the off season if they choose not to? Perhaps their experience has been negative when they have done this in the past (I know this to be the case in some instances). For instance, the perception that has been stated that we at CV appear to be much younger this year are not true. We have remained at basically the same average age for the past 4 years I have been a member. Trust me, there are enough of us old guys around to balance it out. (The average age of the drum majors this year is 50!) There are many corps that choose to remain quiet to the public during the winter months. If they deem it to be in the best interests of the corps, then who are we to question that decision? At CV we have chosen to take a more "open book" approach to our marketing. It has worked well for us. That being said, our neighbor in purple chooses to remain silent...and it seems to work for them. Good for them! I am certainly not going to question their choices. I understand the need as a fan to know what is going on, but...let's just let people run their organizations the way they choose and see what happens in June. At least that's my $.02. Dan

Lots going on in Atlanta! CV is off to another fantastic start and we expect to push to even greater heights in 2015! http://vimeo.com/117398692

Just for the record...Fellini wasn't a composer any more than John Williams directs feature films. :)

The 'Micky Mouse Protection Act' from the late 1990's. A lot of the Copyright extensions are because Disney continually lobbying Congress to extend copyright terms further and further so they don't lose STEAMBOAT WILLIE to Public Domain. *EDIT* FWIW STEAMBOAT WILLIE goes into Public Domain in 2023, so expect new copyright law changes/extensions in the next several years

thanks.....I was drinking some Orange Juice and now I need to clean up my keyboard. LOL.

Off the line refers to long-ago days when drum and bugle corps were required to start their show from the end zone. It's when VFW and American Legion posts sponsored much of the activity, required uniform and equipment inspections prior to the show. Corps would start in one end zone and finish in the other. All along, the next corps would have gone through inspections, did their show, and so-on. OTL was also synonomous with what is today referred to as the "opener". Now, back to 2015!

Oh boy! (If after taking Viagra, you still have an erection after four hours, see your physician.)

I don't post on here very often, and I always get excited when I hear the new year's show music. But let me just say that this year, not only will BABIES be thrown, but their SIBLINGS as well. Also, if you're sitting in the stands, you better hold onto your seat because the person sitting next to you might GRAB YOU AND THROW YOU, TOO!!!!

To be honest, at the December open house camp I thought the percussion sounded awesome but the brass was a little worrisome. At the January camp the percussion was still awesome but the brass, man they sounded great by the show and tell. They came a long way in 2 days. Good job staff and kids. I would rather my son got to march more shows but he didn't make his dream corps and wants to march this summer and Raiders were closest. Cadets and Surf are close to where the Raiders are but once he met the Raiders he wanted to march with them. He really likes the kids and staff. We'll see I guess.

Yes it is and I like it too. Tell your daughter color guard is in the news today and 10 guards are going to perform with 10 performers in Ontario and New York in June. Very Cool! http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2015/01/21/luminato-to-premiere-david-byrnes-contemporary-color-spectacle-at-acc.html

The benefit of the system will probably be more administrative than anything pixel-specific. Legacy stuff is 640x480. That's because the DVDs are the same, and they're just rips from the collection. In season, probably not much different quality given it'll probably be nearly the same equipment broadcasting it. What you'll probably see is more along the lines of a modern, responsive, mobile friendly site. Maybe even some integration between what's dci.org and what's FN. I can tell you that the back end of their systems is "homebrew"... like, someone sat down and wrote it. The systems in need at the time were just not something you could buy. Today, they are still complex enough that it's either a major purchase, or more commonly, a service. If you want kind of the example everyone envisioned from the beginning, look at your average sports league. League home pages, team pages, integrated highlights... that sort of thing would be out of reach without either a larger web staff, or in this case, a partner platform. What you're going to see in the little black video box won't be much different. It'll be everything else.

I just think last year was a really rough transition year with some design issues. I'm excited to see what happens after a year to change, see what didn't work, ect. Regardless, I wish the best for them!

I'm not sure what brings out the aggression about this corps, but they seem to have it together this season. I competed against them years ago with Golden Lancers and East Coast Jazz. I'm surprised, in a good way, that they've survived 25 years which seems to be a rather large feat for corps that started in the 90s. Heck, that's a feat for corps in general. I think they chose to look at the schedule and decide to attend what they were financially able to. If more corps did that, instead of simply saying ok, I've no doubt that Teal Sound, East Coast Jazz, Les Etoiles, Magic of Orlando, Glassmen... etc etc etc. would still be around. Bingo isn't exactly paying bills like it used to, and NEA grants are becoming scarce for large theatres and other artistic non-profits. So I think a little credit is due to keeping them alive. They had about 30 brass this weekend and look to shoot to add another 10. Either way, the members seemed to have a good time, and they played some challenging music pretty well for a first read.

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Some people have been calling for the Troopers to find some kind of change which would make their shows more "judging friendly," yet still retain their identity. Maybe one of these years, they can go a VK route and do "Oedipus Tex" by P.D.Q. Bach.

Many changes financially over the last 2 years. Just like a couple World Class corps who had financial issues and were able to survive, so did Raiders. Revamped staff, better financial controls, better fundraising, a new way of doing things have all lead to their continued exsistance. As far as the amount of competitive shows, not many left on the east coast any more and DCI sets the tour.

Clever. Yes, when the Garfield wing of the Smithsonian opens to all who want to come listen and watch old drum corps recordings, all of my DCP friends will be charged 1 penny each for lifetime membership. Of course I alone get to determine who is a DCP friend and who is not. This is among my top lifetime business goals, and is right up there with my plan to charge to use my land line phone when the sun-catastrophe zaps out all the cell phones. I even bought a long phone cable to extend my rotary Bell telephone out to the street stand I built several years ago. Instead of lemonade I'll sell phone calls. Brilliant! As I said in some other thread, the Dutch had the tulip bubble. This cell phone thing is going to pop and then I'll be a bazillionaire, if I could just figure out who I might call who also has a rotary Bell telephone.

Well, DCI has been with us for several decades and times change. Take the Color Pre(sentation) as a example showing this change. At one point it was a point to respect national pride and demonstrate loyalty. Many corps were sponsored by veteran or other quasi-political groups. With the increase in the number of drum corps in the post WWII, post Korea era, two problems evolved: how to do the presentation in a special way in competition but different from other corps. There are columns written in the old magazine DRUM CORPS DIGEST whether certain music was appropriate. I think of a critique of the Sunrisers doing the color pre to 1812 Overture or such. Basic question was, what did this have to do with the U.S. flag??? The second problem is thornier. As the Viet Nam era brought questions about what nationalism was, how was it manifested appropriately and when, and what this all had to do with a drum corps, other questions arrived. With the arrival of Drum Corps INTERNATIONAL, a unique challenge arose with Canadian/Canadienne corps, Dutch corps, Swedish corps, etc. all having their own approach, colors, and politics. Today, any top 12 corps** may be populated with students from a number of different nations. The national colors presented in an old color pre probably won't represent on one level all those marching although the contest is highly rooted in the U.S., is being held (except for Montreal, P.Q.) in the U.S., and with different perspective. Today's DCI championships has units from several nations. New time, new issues, different generations looking with different eyes. **The Glassmen almost made it a special focus to include other than Americans: English, Italians, etc. Pioneer has usually filled its ranks with such visiting students including South Africans. Madison Scouts had members from Brittany in France, Cavaliers this season had members from Belgium, Cadets recently marched someone from Co. Tipperary, Ireland -- in addition to the more usual Japanese, Dutch, Germans, etc. Brazilians, Guatemalans, Taiwanese, and Mexicans have also marched DCI. http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/news/roundup/articles/2015/01/20/4035145-mullingar-musician-says-dream-came-true-with-contract-to-play-in-the-usa/ And then there are those from the Republic of Texas...

starting any drum corps in ANY state for dozens of reasons is the same. Back in the day it was even a struggle BUT there were many more resources at least to assist. Those are pretty much gone forever. No matter what state it is. Look at the north east with the hundreds of corps gone for many reasons, some of which you stated.

LOL - "Off The Line" from the days that corps would be lined up at the left hand end zone line to start the show. Corps would do an opening fanfare and then the first song when the corps would move. And of course the first move was off that starting line. Not sure about DCI but DCA stopped using the starting.ending line about 1973. At least I have 1972 DVDs with the lines in use and 1974 we did not use it.

I would submit that if a multi-year vet comes to auditions and rehearsals unprepared, then they are not being very "loyal" to their corps to begin with

My son liked Mike Hamilton very much as well last year, after Mike came aboard Raiders in mid-July. Curious as to what happened with Minesh Shah, though.

Interesting, and not too surprising. Court challenge means: 1) LOTS of time and money: publisher likely has more at their disposal than DCI and WGI 2) going to court could mean a president-setting decision that could screw DCI and other organizations with all publishers What seems more likely is all to come to some sort of settlement so all are satisfied.

Mike Hamilton is the Program Director and brass caption head. My son thinks he's awesome. He had the kids playing some fun stuff this weekend.

I was there too (volunteering on the food truck). The music does sound sweet and it's surprisingly sporty! 8 tubas - I love me some low brass. Can't wait for the season. The percussion sounds top notch too.. If you're thinking about doing DCI this year, consider joining the Raiders. They have a great staff and the kids all seem to be pretty terrific - even percussion! Plus for now, they're staying in a nearby hotel during the camps.

I have a theory that I have kept bottled up for 30 years and probably never would have remembered had this thread not jogged my memory. 1984: I was a baritone player in Spirit of Atlanta. Near the end of our Whitewater finals performance I felt something hang on my foot near the end of our show - when I was in the area of the 35-40 yard line on the (audience’s) right side of the field. Glanced down and saw a piece of rope with a S hook* on it which I was able to kick off my foot and keep going. Leaving the field I momentarily thought “should I tell a judge?” but then it was hurry up and get off the field, etc... Later that night the Garfield incident happens and I thought, yeah I should have told someone. *Anyone remember the Florida Wave 1984 show? They had a visual section where they lowered horns and let them hang on a rope with a hook…

From a purely "showman" perspective, I would also add Chad Humpal of the Freelancers (90-92?) to the mix. We couldnt ever keep his tempo as it was all over the place, but he had FANTASTIC hair (we're talking a proper bouffant!) and the girls loved him!