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Would it be possible/probable for DCA to go to some of the other sites that submitted offers and create a regional for the next two years. Part of the reason why Rochester has the "best" offer every year is because they have done it more times than anyone else. It makes it easy to plan when you already know how everything is going to work out. I realize that is the point, but let's face it, finals attendance in Rochester is not spectacular and I do not see this year being any different. What if you contacted the runner-up site that submitted a bid and offer them a regional option. They could help build a base of fans over the next two-three years and then submit a bid for a Championship event after that time. They would probably have a much more accurate read because there would be (or not) an established fan base by then, plus all of the kinks would be worked out. Are there any reasons why this could not happen? You make that event attractive by advertising that every judge who will be at the regional will also judge either Prelims or Finals so you know you are going to get a great read. As a corps director that knew of this in advance, I would try everything I could to get that read.

" with the purchase of the premium package from DCI's Fan Network, subscribers will have access to all the archived DCI Finalist show performances back to 1974".

Not to be an a-hole about it, but PT is an important part of overall health and wellness. I don't know about a lot of drum corps except Cadets and I know the pit absolutely has to participate in PT. Just because you're not marching doesn't mean you should neglect your overall health. I am willing to bet there is no way to avoid PT altogether, so if I were you, I would look online for some beginner PT programs to assist you with getting into shape. You can also PM me and I can give you some tips as well. Good luck on whatever you decide. Physical Training.

" Teal Sound will be the next new DCI World Class Division Finalist qualifying Corps. "

"After a wildly successful record-breaking audition turnout, this corps is SERIOUSLY moving up the ranks this season!"

"Don't worry - last year's financial issues are behind us, and the corps is on solid financial ground this season!"

" our demands are not negotiable on this " ( PowerPoint Presentation from the principal 2 architects of the G7) In hindsight, we can agree here it seems to me that statement turned out to be bogus.

Animal Farm will help move the Crusaders up the competitive ladder and entertain fans

As I recall, it involved some form of skidmark in a Dadaistic setting.

Yea, I don't believe that for one minute.

Of course, that would automatically make him a Troopers' homer. :-)

I did a spit take when I visualized this with the Absolutely Fabulous cast. The VW bus opens (and HUGE wafts of Colorado Smoke escape); Edina/Patsy spill out onto the pavement; Saffron can't attach her drum to the harness; Gran forgets her flag on the bus. Wow, TV writes itself!

In mid-May "XXXX corps folded yesterday; they are sending us a bus filled with 14 brass, 12 drummers & 10 guard" Turned out to be a VW bus with 2 horns, 1 drummer, and a guard member (she did not last 2 rehearsals).

" As a marcher I really don't care about our Corps scores or placements ..... and I did not select to audition there to attempt to make a spot because they are successful in scores and placements. "

Don't worry, the cranky old guys on DCP really mean well and want the best for you

I'll apologize ahead of time for the rant that is about to follow, but I feel like venting about something. I always appreciate it when an eastern corps makes the trip out west to start the season, like Crown and BAC have recently (and The Crossmen this year ... although they are based west of the Mississippi). But lets be honest ... these corps are only doing something once every decade or so that BD, SCV, BK, etc. do every single year. People claim that it is too expensive to have all the eastern corps travel to the west coast each year, but that is exactly what the western corps do every year and they don't seem to be struggling more than anyone else. When I lived in Virginia, I attended the DCI show in Salem where I could usually see six or seven corps, including three or four corps that were likely to be DCI finalists for $30. Last time I went, I saw Crown, The Cadets, and BD in the same show for $30. Salem is near Roanoke and there are about 300,000 in the area. If I couldn't attend that show, I could travel a few hours in the other direction and attend a similar show in Northern Virginia. Now, I live in Utah, and for the same price as the Salem, VA show I can see a show with a SCV, BK, and several open class corps and world class corps that are unlikely to be finalists. BD is even skipping the Ogden show this year (they will be in Illinois on the same night). I don't mean any offense to the corps that will be at Ogden this year. I am very excited to see them perform and am happy to pay $30+ to see them, plus money spent on concessions and other souvenirs. With that said, I would be willing to pay even more to see the corps at the very top of the activity. Ogden is near Salt Lake City on the Wasatch Front where over 2,000,000 live. I've been to the Ogden show for two years in a row before that, and it is always packed. High School students come from as much as 2-3 hours away, or more, to see the show. The next closest show is in Denver, which is 8 hours away. The first year I went to the show, I didn't get tickets until about a month before the show and all the best seats were sold out. I had to settle for tickets on about the 20 yard line. Last year I ordered tickets as soon as they were on sell in order to get closer to the 50 yard time. When I bought tickets in the first week, the center section of the stadium was almost sold out already. This was during the height of the recession. I just checked if there were still tickets available to the show this year (next week) and was able to buy four tickets right next to each other in the same row on the 50 yard line. Clearly tickets are not selling as well this year as they have the last couple years. I don't understand why DCI neglects everyone west of the Mississippi. There are a lot of fans in the west and several storied drum corps with a long history of success in the activity. California is the most populous state in the country. The population of other western states is growing rapidly. The handful of shows that are in the west are well attended, and that is without a full lineup of top corps. It seems to me that DCI is leaving a lot of money on the table, and missing out on a large potential fan base, by refusing to support any major shows in the west. The claim that it is too expensive to have corps travel west does not hold water, as the western corps travel to the east coast every year (including non-finalist corps like The Academy and the Mandarins). There should be a major DCI show (where nearly every corps attends) in the bay area and Denver every single year. I know this will cause some of the early eastern shows to go away, but so much more will be gained by having a true national tour. It is just common sense. If we could still give thumbs down, I would welcome as many thumbs down as you want to give. I know this post is annoying, but it is the one thing that I feel the need to get on my soapbox about. I love nearly everything else about drum corps.

I really struggle with PT, I'm trying to find a corps that doesn't make pit do PT. What corps do not make pit do PT, open or world. A list would be great

That very simple idea never dawned on me.. Must be getting senile..That might be an incentive for the "Runners-up" to have a shot at showing their stuff, and possibly become a way to re-establish an opportunity for some of the outlying corps to try and raise funds to make an extra trip to somewhere "out of the ordinary" or possibly to get an expansion of the fan base. I'd still like to see who else actually "submitted a bid" for '16-'17. Just to find out who else thinks DCA can bring in an event for Labor Day weekend and make it a win-win for the circuit and the community. Pat

Not only is that possible, it's actually a pretty reasonable estimated cost per uniform.

Especially since Annapolis hit the ball out of the park in almost every respect. It's far and away the best championships location I've seen for DCA.

Any corps in the top 12 can win it.

I imagine many corps today would offer a position to Barbara. To the best of her abilities, she used her left hand to assist in supporting her mello and probably did most of the cardio PT.

Thurston at his best. We also had a set of timbales that he tuned so low that the heads were almost wrinkled. He dubbed them the "floppy drums". I have one of the floppy drum heads hanging in my study at home.

Les Eclipses Polish Falcon Cadets Avant Garde Southern Tier Grenadiers Florida Wave Knights And Pioneer...........simply because they've stayed around all these years.

What is PT?

This! And Cadets are out of the top 6.

Chas, Yeah, man, I get it. The cat was all about melody. You and your mom were hopeless romantics. FD

Street Dancin never got enough credit

March 20th - 22nd East View High School 4490 E University Ave Georgetown, TX 78626 Schedule Friday 6 PM - Registration opens 7 PM - Rehearsal Block 11 PM - Snack/Shower Midnight - Lights out Saturday 8 AM - Wake/Breakfast 9 AM - Rehearsal Block 1 PM - Lunch 2 PM - Rehearsal Block 6 PM - Dinner 7 PM - Rehearsal Block 11 PM - Snack/Shower Midnight - Lights out Sunday 8 AM - Wake/Breakfast 9 AM - Rehearsal Block Noon - Show & Tell 1 PM - Depart camp This will be our FINAL camp for snare, tenor, & bass drum auditions. A pre-screening video is required in order to be admitted to camp for all snare/quad students. New brass and front ensemble students are welcome at camp with no pre-screening! To register, please visit: http://www.guardiansdbc.org/#!register-for-camp/c1363

"Hey guys, I recently went to a bluecoat camp and well, I hated it ... I ended getting a callback for the January camp, but I email the caption and told him that I wasn't interested in marching this season." Actual true quote, not intended as a joke, from a player whose sole DCI experience was with a mid-level Open Class corps.

" I don't read what is posted on DCP and nobody I know cares what is posted there"

" The DCI Division discussion side of DCP is made up of mostly readers and posters that are older than the average age of the DCI judges and World Class Division Corps Directors average age ". ( boy is that one a whopper )

Former" Star of Indiana ". Blast. " theatre show will never succeed playing Drum Corps Classics like Melaquena, Simple Gifts. Officer Krupke , Bolero and Chuck Mangione tunes, etc I give the show 2 months tops before it folds due to bad attendance."

Ah yes. I played for the premier in March 1661. Of course, my sackbutt was a lot smaller then...

Finally, some good news in this thread!

RPT Percussion has 2 sets of Yamaha quints for sale. Sizes are 6-10-12-13-14, copper sparkle fade. Excellent condition. Used sparingly. We aquire 4 setup let's and need to sell. $650.00 each plus shipping. Drums are in Leesburg Fl. Contact me if interested

"it's all because of the change from G Bugles ..."

" Yes, Open Class Corps can sometimes be entertaining and not all that bad, but let's get real here, none of these Corps could really compete well in the World Class Division if they were subjected to the judging at the WC level " ( overheard several times before such Corps got their chance to prove such assessments as ultimately inaccurate).

Back in 80s it was Bob Hope died. Star fell for it hard in 87.

Like "BD only won in '07 because finals were in California." A statement which conveniently ignores their previous eleven wins in Philly, Denver, Birmingham, Montreal, Madison, Foxboro, and Orlando.

Oh man there are hundreds of things i could list, all of which come from this forum. That's what makes DCP fun though.

Probably not a consensus on that. I think Blue Stars french horn was changed to mello during finals week. Am I remembering correctly?

Tarpon isn't going to WGI - which is a real shame. Would have loved to see that show live !

Well, another year of junior drum corps is done. I was there with a friend who played in the Watkins Glen Squires to witness it from the 50 of the oil can as drum corps fans have dubbed the reverberation chamber known as Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Certainly not the type of venue or programs which we grew up with, but which I found almost uniformly enjoyable and often awesome. We had the pleasant opportunity to connect with Steve Rondinaro for lunch and were treated to some inside stories of DCI today. I also had the pleasure of meeting Dennis DeLucia for the first time and sharing memories of the Muchachos and Bridgemen. I have not posted on DCP in sometime, but I enjoyed the show so much that I felt compelled to share my viewpoints. I welcome your responses both pro and con. By way of introduction, this is my 50th season either participating or following the activity. Forty years ago I had the wonderful experience of playing in DCI finals with New York State's only finalist, the Auburn Purple Lancers. But enough about me, on to the show... 12th place- 86.225 Crossmen- they played gypsy inspired music complete with very authentic costuming of the guard. I found their performance stirring and full of mystery. They are very strong musically with great solo work. This is the strongest which I have heard the corps since their move to Texas...seriously good! 11th place- 87.575 Madison- their book was one of my favorites, a jazz oriented show complete with the intricate rhythms of the late, great Don Ellis. It was old time screaming Scouts (at least in the second half of their show) with a trio of amplified trumpeters worthy of any big band lead trumpet section soaring above the roar of the synth bass. I understand that they offered scholarships to attract the kind of players they needed for the pyrotechnics...it worked! You have to hear the finale of their show to believe it, a solitary trumpeter playing tasty licks leaping to a sweet double G as the crowd roared its approval. No pressure there! 😳 well done young man! This was the eleventh place corps. Hard to believe! 10th place- 88.950 Boston Crusaders- this was a bitter pill for me to swallow. I saw them several times throughout the season yet the show remained an enigma to me. It was based on the political satire, "Animal Farm". Very dark with the guard's faces hidden behind animal masks and a lot of emulation of animal behavior while the horn line was locked in a minor key the entire show. The fact that they beat two very good corps is testament to the strength of their performance with a book which was very difficult to sell. The one highlight for me was when the corps created a G7 formation near the climax of their show. This was a clever wink at drum corps own brand of politics referring to the so called group of 7. This is the George Hopkins led break away group comprised of the top seven corps in DCI which have begun to sponsor their own shows and are agitating the status quo of DCI. I am sure that Boston had hoped to break into this group, but not with this years show! 9th Place- 89.600 Blue Stars- this show grew on me over the 3 days of championships. Initially I felt the whole homey theme complete with a house blueprint laid out on the field was overdone and not particularly interesting. However, the great sound of the hornline and the joy which they communicated eventually softened me up. 8th Place- 91.150 Blue Knights- the surprise corps of the season moving past Boston and Madison. For a show based on narration, I was surprised how well I liked it. The narration was minimalist and served to set up the flow of the music well. It was a pre-recorded female voice which was both pleasant and compelling. Entitled That One Second, it was a tone poem about your whole life flashing in front of your eyes. The narration would make a thought provoking statement about life then back away and let the corps paint the picture with the music. They are a great sounding corps and communicated the changing moods well. 7th Place- 91.425 Phantom Regiment- Show was entitled Swan Lake and was based on the old Good vs. Evil fairy tale with a prince trying to save a cursed swan queen. Phantom is usually one of my favorites, but not the past couple years. I did not find that the beautiful musical performance communicated the high drama that I am accustomed to from this corps. 6th Place- 93.675 The Cavaliers- Wow! Now this is the kind of high drama that I expected from Phantom. Entitled Immortal this show was a superb performance of dark vampirish selections. In fact the guard was costumed as ghouls and one of the members disappears into a coffin at the finale! This easily could have been a very cheesy show, but the strength of the musical performance and the clever visuals prevented that. The wild dance with a skeleton by a guard member in La Danse Macabre had to be seen to be fully appreciated. A big step up this year by Cavies. The fact that they could not break the top five is telling of how strong the corps were this year! 5th Place- 95.675 Carolina Crown- Entitled Out of This World, a superior brass performance was unable to overcome a show which was out there. Nobody articulates the way that Crown does! At one point all the baritones and tubas picked up trumpets to create a massively articulating soprano voice which was breathtaking and unbelievable in its precision. The ballad is an achingly long crescendo which was very satisfying and demanding in a different way. I believe they would have won in many years, but this year there were four more corps to best them. 4th Place- 96.075 Santa Clara Vanguard- Entitled Scheherazade this show was a visual feast with beautiful costuming, an elaborate temple-like backdrop, an amazing flowing pattern drill, and a wonderfully performed lush Rimsky-Korsakov melody. At the finale, it virtually vanishes as the whole corps disappears beneath a giant colorfully patterned tarp and Scheherazade emerges through an opening in it center. Super job, Vanguard! 3rd Place- 96.875 The Cadets- Entitled Promise-An American Portrait this show left me a little flat despite a very crisp performance led by the #2 visual program of the night. It was heavily based on narration and replete with many historic quotes from our past presidents. At the risk of sounding like a pinko commie cynic, I found the show theme trite and lacking in originality. I agree with The assessment of many that they are in need of some new ideas. ###### if you do and ###### if you dont for this corps which until recently was scorned for its iconoclastic themes. 2nd Place- 97.175 Bluecoats- I was delighted to see them upset The Cadets. Their show was entitled Tilt and I thought that along with Blue Devils was the most imaginative and original of this season. Personally, this was my favorite show of the year. They stage this on a field whose boundaries they re-mark in a tilted fashion. The music is very contemporary and unfamiliar yet very interesting with a great sense of directionality. The ballad of Hymn of Axciom is one of my favorite tunes now. The sheer competence of the musical performance is second to no one. The final strains of the show with pitch bending and a member launching himself into the air from one of their tilting ramps was thrilling. (see the pictures I posted in our photo files.) 1st Place- 99.650 Blue Devils- Not to be denied this year, the corps returned to their accustomed position at the top of DCI after one year as the runner up. What was refreshing this year is that I actually found their music enjoyable. Entitled Fellini, it was based on the work of the iconic Italian film director. They completed an undefeated season in record setting fashion with the highest score in DCI history. They were great although I think it is arguable that they were almost 2.5 points above Bluecoats. The corps is at the top of its game in all captions and particularly strong in programming with a lot of acting done to communicate the mood of the music. The guard was outstanding as usual in taking the caption award. I loved the opening 40 trumpet double tongued fanfarewhat a sound!! So there you have it. The kids are better than ever and as different as it is from my day, the kids do a hell of a job performing their hearts out! Geoff

I think some people see what they want to see when it comes to these prediction threads. (Or they focus on the wrong things IMO) Especially those who are tied to one of the top corps. In the other thread, a Crown homer was commenting on how a whole series of posters routinely predicted Crown to finish in 6th or 7th every year, so predictable. As for the other hundred or so times people routinely predicted Crown winning or fininshing 2nd or 3rd, nobody focuses on that I guess. Much easier to focus on the handful of people who have them lower than where they usually finish and imply "isn't that prediction ridiculous??... how dare they??...don't they know who we ARE??" I haven't gone back and looked, but I'd be interested to see where people predicted the 2014 Crown to finish at this time of year last year, fresh off their first DCI title. I wonder how many picked them to finish 4th or lower (in comparison to those who picked them to repeat or still medal), and I wonder how many people ridiculed those making those predictions (which later wound up coming true). Point is, while it's rare for BD to finish 4th or lower (hasn't happened since 2005), it has happened and it will happen again someday. Someday the Cadets will finish 6th (hasn't happened since 1991). I remember when it was unthinkable that the Madison Scouts would not make finals. And then it happened. IN MADISON. When it comes to these predictions, it's all fun and games, not really meant to be taken so seriously, as I'm sure we all truly know deep down inside. And if you're a diehard fan of one of those corps who typically medals or is in a position to legitimately contend for a medal every year, be happy your corps has put themselves in the position to be so successful year in and year out. And don't worry. People will still flock to your warm-ups, rush your souvenir tables, buy all your merchandise, and forego entering the stadium when the show actually begins to watch the riff-raff perform when it's still daylight. You've already won the game at that point. Stop focusing on the few who aren't on board with full-on worship of your corps' greatness. They'll come around eventually, or they'll be mocked for being late to the party. And just remember: There are corps out there who can't get people to pay attention to any of the good things they're doing and would kill to be so good that someone predicting them to finish 4th or 5th as a BAD year would be a sign of accomplishment. (yeah, that last bit was all tongue firmly planted in cheek, but I think you get my point.) :silly:

Give me an SCV 1998 or 99 again, and my heart will burst. I miss THAT SCV.

That's kinda the crazy thing: there is a lot of solid talent (both design + membership) at the top. Blue Devils and Cadets seem like a lock for Top 3, though Cadets have been out of Top 3 twice in the last 5 years, 5 of the last ten seasons. Blue Devils have only dropped out of Top 3 once in the last decade (really, only once since 1994). Bluecoats are the "newbies" (relative) to Top 3, so it would be easy to guess Bluecoats may drop back out of medal standing. Of course, that would be a goofy assumption founded on nothing but historical stats, having medaled only twice in their history: they could very well come out guns a-blazing and WIN DCI in 2015 for all we know! SCV haven't medaled since 2004 but have been steadily improving the last couple of seasons, going 7-6-5-4-4 the last five seasons. While Crown has medaled twice, winning DCI once, in the same span. LOTS of great corps at the Top vying for a spot!!

I do not care who places where. I am hoping for a year where the top five is all within 1.5 of each other.

Hey man good luck this year! I might be headed down your way at some point if a few things fall into place!

You lost me at "the disrespect that DCI and the eastern-based corps show to fans and corps west of the Mississippi pisses me off." This is a worthwhile topic that can (and should) spur some thoughtful discussion. I'd love to see more corps go West. You've got a great cause here. But for the love of god, the tone is just such a turn-off to said cause. We, as a community, need to realize how we can come across when discussing issues we're passionate about. Ideally, we'd do what we can to avoid sounding like whiny d-bags and more like intelligent people trying to affect some meaningful change. The soapboxing hasn't led to a whole lot over the years, eh?