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Dear vets: Please, for the love of all that's holy, do what YOU want to do. Do what's best for YOU. Maybe you want to stay with your current corps. Maybe you don't. Maybe you think you'll fit in better somewhere else. Don't let anyone talk you into staying (or going) if it's not a decision that you are comfortable with. Maybe you have a dream. If you do, chase it...or you'll never forgive yourself. It's not about the ring. It's about accomplishing your goals, and setting a tone for the rest of your life. Your DCI time is finite. Make the most of it. Signed, Someone who stayed when he shouldn't have, and then left while he still could

You know it's interesting...like I am sure is the case with all drum corps, I, and all of the Blue Devil Alumni, have accepted this little girl into our hearts as a family member along with all the Blue Devil members this year. That's what drum corps people do. I KNOW she was dotted on, menacingly protected, and loved as a little sister would be in any family. After all, she already was in the BD family as a C corps member. We in this activity all take these family ties seriously. Through all of this experience over the last week, so many people have been blinded by their personal hatred that they forget to stop and realize what their comments might be doing to a 10 year old little girl who might, and I'm sure will, read them. What about what this girls character represented in their show. The wonder and amazement we all felt when we were exposed to this activity for the first time. The unbridled joy of performance. Isn't that what ALL of us experienced at one time? I think this little 10 year old uncovered all the years and decades and layer upon layer of competitive angst and reduced it all down to what we came to this activity for. I think that is the most powerful message that could be sent...this year and any year that I can remember. Kudos to the Blue Devils...Kudos to Scott Chandler...Kudos to my new little sister Clara...Kudos to everyone else in the activity that were able to see the world through a child's eyes once again. Dan

Phantoms percussion was young, and from what I hear the snares are all coming back. Clarity wise, it's their best percussion effort since Rennick left, but to make the jump, they need a better show to work with. The key at Phantom is retaining that Regiment aura without taking a trip back in time. But if they are going to revisit the past, as they seem to want to do, there's a show from 89 they haven't hit yet

Crown's 2016 program: "Another Second Chance".

Crown introduces the 2016 show: KickA##! Hell hath no fury like a drum corps scorned!

Sometimes "families" are dysfunctional. I stayed with my corps every year, nieve enough to think that the ONLY thing holding us back was member retention. I saw what was going on behind the scenes later and realized that there were plenty of other things holding us back. If the only reason you are given to stay with a corps is "family" (as if none of the top corps offer that same spirit of comraderie), then caveat emptor. I always tell kids "go for the experience you want." If you truly want to build something with an up-and-coming group (that has its #### together), go for it. If you want to aim higher, that's also cool. I'm sorry, OP, but leaving your first corps isn't abandoning your family.

Thank you, Mr. Trump.

that Prosperie tape for Bloo is the most fun I've had listening to a judges tape in years! I love when a judge lets their personality and fandom come out!

For goodness sake, this is such a terrible situation all the way around, and keeps getting worse. Thanks, Tresona! On the bright side, hooray for early and complete communication! DCI - pay attention. Mike

That depends on how you define demand. The Bluecoats had a vastly more challenging show in terms of music ensemble, and their tuba feature alone was simply bananas (it may very well have been the single most challenging moment on the field this year). If fast and technical is how you define demand, sure. But there's many other types of "hard".

I would think to 06 myself. and I taught a kid who marched there. someone else said in this thread...the problem with Phantom runs far deeper than who writes the shows. oh and for Crossmen, they need to find someone who can be the person that makes they never have heart attack penalties again on semis day

Dear Vets; If you can’t make Blue Devils quit Love, Cowtown

Which will now give us Cappyclara.

OP I hope you might consider that the decisions that these "adults" are making in terms of how the limited amount of money DCI has to spend (like limited panels) is indeed in the best interest of THEIR kids. Those decisions just might be helping to keep the activity going. I think it a bit unfair to say those people are being unfair and not respectful to the marching members. Believe it or not there have been a few corps FOLD over the years because the "adults" failed the kids in regards to financial responsibility. That is the ultimate in being unfair to the marching members.

Nothing does hath the fury like an angry band momma who can't see her babies show. .................my momma was one of them.

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and MikeD's regular plea for Janacek. :)

A lot of people seek second opinions on medical matters merely because they don't like (or can't accept) an initial diagnosis. Heck, I've seen people seek third, fourth...even FIFTH opinions when all previous opinions have agreed with the first. Yet, as soon as one comes along which is palatable to the patient, it is suddenly THAT opinion which is the "correct" one. 2 full panels is fine and good....until there suddenly becomes public consternation over THAT result. What will we demand then....a third panel???

I marched one year in a finalist corps and three with the Blue Devils. I wasn't chasing rings. I hated my first summer and was basically talked into going to BD after being told how different it is from other corps. That was the closest thing to a family I ever felt. I feel like so many groups throw that word around so superficially, as if the more they say it the more it becomes true. All I know is I didn't feel like part of a family until I was a part of a group that treated me like it.

Couldn't get the song out of my head, so I went ahead and found/downloaded it off of iTunes. It occurred to me as I drove to work this morning - this might be the first DCI show entirely built around a single "mainstream" music tune, and it's the *Troopers* that did it? That's very cool. I can't wait to hear what the staff comes up with next! Mike

Remember...it is the corps that make up DCI. The corps directors have agreed that they would rather have the funds that might be used on full panels go to other NEEDS for some of the shows early on. If the outcry for full panels came from the directors...there would be full panels. And FWIW... I have seen baseball games get by on less than a full compliment of umpires. I would also point out that for major games (such as NCAA Championships) and for MLB Playoff games is when baseball goes to a FULL PANEL of 6 umpires.

Or they can just choose the best thing for themselves based on a huge number of factors, many of which you don't know about

Nonsense. The Blue Devils (you might as well say their name if you're going to slam them) present the most professional product, year in and year out, and the high level of demand is an integral part of it. They're just not stupid enough to allow themselves to perform poorly by making the show *too* hard to pull off. That's sort of "show business 101", and the Blue Devils understand that perfectly. It's kind of like a great broadway show, or a smoking jazz concert, or the New York Philharmonic for that matter. None of these *professional* ensembles allows any dirt to enter into their performance, and neither should a drum corps (in the name of "a beast of a show" or otherwise). The main objective is to put out the *best* show possible. Not the "almost coulda!" but give us points anyway 'cause we really, really tried! The Blue Devils put out the BEST show, more often than the rest. Deal with it. I'd much rather see a professional show performed flawlessly than an overly difficult show performed at a sub-par level.

DCI should RETURN to the days of NO electronics, no vocals, (sorry) NO trombones/F-Horns. A MAJOR CHANGE needed in order to promote QUALITY and fairness during finals week is ALL scores earned during Prelims, Semi and Finals should be used and the WINNER determined based on the teams with the highest average scores. I for one am NOT willing to support an activity in which ONE panel of judges is allowed to make the call. The GRAND Champion should be based on the most consistent team during FINALS WEEK!

Crossmen will be hiring a staff member whose sole duty will be to prevent the corps from incurring semifinals penalties.

I expect you to be honest and just come out right and say that you think BD's championship is illegitimate because you think they were over the member limit. But rather than do that, you stick to the tried and true DCP formula of spouting conjecture to stir #### up without a single shred of evidence.

Check out www.bushwackers.org/tickets On Saturday August 22nd, 2015, there is a giant Drum Corps brawl going down in Clifton, New Jersey. 4 Alumni Corps, 10 DCA Competing Corps, and the Late Show with David Letterman's own AL CHEZ AND THE BROTHERS OF FUNK Big Band will be performing throughout the night. Returning to their North Jersey roots, the Bushwackers Drum & Bugle Corps is hosting this late season, all out fight-to-the-finish Drum Corps Competition at the historic Clifton Stadium. This is the largest Drum Corps show of the DCA season, featuring a top-tier lineup of six world champions and perennial DCA finalists, including: Reading Buccaneers Reading, PA Hawthorne Caballeros Hawthorne, NJ Fusion Core Lake Hopatcong, NJ Cadets2 Allentown, PA White Sabers Dansville, NY Hurricanes Seymour, CT Sunrisers Long Island, NY Skyliners Scranton, PA Excelsior Albany, NY Your Hosts: Bushwackers Drum & Bugle Corps Princeton, NJ Performing in Exhibiton are: Saints Brigade Port Chester, NY Reilly Raiders Willow Grove, PA Skyliners Alumni New York, NY Caballeros Alumni Hawthorne, NJ with Special Guests AL CHEZ and the BROTHERS OF FUNK Big Band Joining us will be the voice of DCA, Fran Haring, manning the microphone. This show is only two weeks away from the 2015 DCA World Championships, so expect sparks to fly and spectacular performances all night making this a cant-miss drum corps event! Online Tickets are ON SALE. www.bushwackers.org/tickets

I'm personally, not a huge fan of how BD is completely relaxed and going crazy during the whole retreat. I don't find it disrespectful or anything, just seems a bit TOO casual..........not my place I guess.

2015 finals guard judge retires from DCI

That clip shoots full of holes the argument that the battery can be judged equally well from the booth. Those who know Prosperie's lingo understand the depth of playing that would be lost if he were forced into the booth.

Troopers 2016 program "Cowtown"

I'll be honest... 23 years have passed so I am certain the "corps loyalty" statute of limitations has expired on this one... I tried out for Blue Devils in my age out year (92). I would have made the line. I listened to everyone else though and went back to Freelancers and aged out with my "family". Whilst I enjoyed my age out year and take great pride in the fact that we made finals by .05, to this day, I wish I had stuck it out with Concord. I know they did not win that year, but a part of me really wanted to see what life at the top was like. I wish I had experienced that. If someone marching in say Troopers feels that way, why shouldn't they chase their dreams? Our time in DCI is limited by age. You are only 22 once. Chase your dreams.

John Adams or Philip Glass would be cool. I just want to hear something I haven't heard before, not cliche classical pieces or other pieces they've played. new brass arranger Keep percussion arrangers, the writing was excellent!), but maybe someone with a reputation as caption head for the battery to keep them clean on the road males in the guard! I know people will disagree, but I want to see some rifle tosses that get me out of my seat. I don't want to see hornline members dancing with the guard as the 'male' anymore, it's ineffective. Imagine what spartacus or faust would have been like without males! It seemed like a backwards move to me to go back to all female, although it worked great for juliet. At least let the decision be in the hands of the guard staff, NOT management. If it's from higher up, that's a problem. most importantly, a coordinator who can put together a good show. Concept has seemed very 'bush league' the last few years. They can move up quickly, I know it!

Regarding Finals judging panels. I think the only fair way is to use ALL the judges from Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Let Thursday and Friday continue the way it's judged with 2 different panels. Just combine all 3 panels for the final judgement. I really think this would help make things much more fair in every caption. So if Marie C doesn't like Cadets guard, maybe Deb T does. The same can be said for every caption. Let ALL the judges judge the world championship. Certainly this would put an end to the arguments as to which judge screwed who wouldn't it? 3 judges per sub caption, average score of those 3 is that sub caption score.

Just an informational post for those who might not have seen it, but on that site that shall remain nameless, there is a new posting of the complete 1989 SCV show. Search for "1989 Enhanced Version". What you do with that info is completely of your own doing! ;)

I guarantee you that 99.991% of fans (and not 99.992%) have no idea of the full/partial panel debate. The snickering would be so quiet you couldn't hear it through a tissue.

The answer to your question can be found in examining who has the greatest influence over how judging criteria is created and applied. Right now, creative designers and corps executives that favor the style BD embraces hold sway over how the performances are adjudicated. This philosophy minimizes the "cost" of mistakes. It does this by 1) simply telling the judge a mistake should not be construed as a "tick", thus directly affecting score, and 2) giving greater reward value to individualized performance design. So, for example, the tight flag block or rifle work in close proximity is adjudicated to have less demand than what may be "easier" work but at a greater interval with random facing. To put this into context: BD won the guard caption at finals even though they had several drops. Their performance was adjudicated to be superior even though they may not have had as many "powerful" unison statements. Like it, or not, that's the current system. Personally, I don't have any problem with success. If BD keeps winning because they understand how to maximize their show based on the current judging philosophies, more power to them. I don't believe there's any "conspiracy", or "this judge has something against that corp" going on. If the goal is "winning", then organizations should adopt the design philosophies more similar to BD. For me, Crown, Coats, and SCV had the hottest shows. I also stood in front of Cadet's horn line for quarter finals warm up and about cried like a baby and crapped my pants, all at the same time! It's super cool when BD invites all the fans to sit inside their horn circle. All cool experiences.

Actually, the home plate umpire analogy is a good one to use in the field judge discussion. Imagine trying to call the pitches from the announcer booth. But, to your point, I absolutely do not think that a circuit, a group, a cabal on the west coast that finds a way to pay for full panels and requests same from DCI should be penalized and prevented from doing so simply because other corps/groups/cabals choose not to or are unable to do so. For DCI shows, they choose with approval of the board which shows have full panels and not. I would only object to west coast full panels if they asked the other corps to help pay for those full panels. They are not. Not enough of the other directors care enough about it to vote to prevent fully-paid-for full panels, so should we care?

If you dismiss System Blue as a sponsor, you're going to have to dismiss YEA and US Bands, as well as CrownTICKETS. be careful what you wish for, or you'll quickly end up with another G7 situation.

Except by other minors, in the courts of pinky swears and double dog dares.

Hang around DCP for a few days (hours)....releasing the tapes would indeed promote something...but transparency isn't it :-)

That sounds expensive and complicated. Not only that, DCI already has a pretty incompetent digital crew in my opinion. The way they've handled their new streaming service, their redesign of their website, posting scores early multiple times at competitions.. Heck, they even screwed up the Awards feed which you pointed out as well. I think your idea is good in principle, but does not seem practical.

1) Bluecoats 2) Blue Devils (Wouldn't have even been in my top 12 a week ago). 3) Santa Clara Vanguard 4) Colts 5) The Academy Honorable Mention) Cascades

Wait Phantom's Color Guard went from to 13th in Semis with George Oliviero judging, to 6th in Finals with Marie Czapinski judging?? I thought Marie has been dumping Phantom every chance she gets because she bears a 30-year-old grudge against them, long after everybody left. I'm pretty sure I've read that on DCP many times, so it must be true. Of course judges should call the show they're judging, not base their number on the other shows earlier that season. I don't know that the same people who say that now complain that the results are inconsistent from show-to-show, which of course is how it is in real life when you're dealing with artistic performance by young people. Some nights are up and some are down. Some judges like you more than others. That's life. The people who do complain expect a consistency that just isn't real. OR if they are the same people, wanting it both ways, they're only mad that the corps they like best didn't finish where they expected.

The DCI judging community has been told, rightly, to "judge the show of the day". Now that it's happening with greater frequency, and because the performance levels of the corps don't vary as widely as they have in the past, you're going to see more movement. And isn't that what drum corps fans have been clamoring for for years? At least here on DCP. I guess it's a case of "be careful what you wish for".

Don's been given more than enough chances, IMO. Also, a good arranger can take any of those pieces, if we want to refer to them as rehashes, and put a quality product out there. Look at all that were skeptical of SCV using Scheherazade last year thinking it couldn't live up to 2004, and the show was great. I also think for PR, things run much deeper than brass arranging.

Dear Lord : Please forgive those who post on here their open letters to anonymous people they do not know, and who know not them. They mean no harm in their open letters to anonymous people. Yes, we realize they used this site to avoid postage stamps too. But they are simply expressing their frustration that the same corps win all the time, and I'm sure even you Lord find vexxing that nasty Blue Devil from time to time. So heres hoping you will understand where this frustration is coming from, and if you should find it in your power to have a penalty at Finals next year at Indy instead of the Quarters for that nasty Blue Devil, we would be eternally grateful. Thank you Lord.

Did they hit her parents with the tour fee before or after the show?

For Sale: Yard Line Markers. Perfect for confusing the living hell out of the other team.

I predict Crown will be the crowd favorite (again), the brass staff will return to an amazing hornline, the percussion staff will continue to develop a possibly elite drumline (I always thought The People's Front Ensemble was smokin' hot) and of course the color guard will assert their dominance over the field. As for the show? I have not a clue. They swept me off my feet with Inferno and fielded my favorite piece of music ever, Symphony No. 9. Maybe next year they can field my favorite band piece, Lincolnshire Posy. If anyone should do it, it is them. Scores be ######, this corps is the true People's Champ.