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??? How is it that you support the exclusion of guys in Phantom but don't support the exclusion of women in Madison and Cavies. Both instances are of corps remaining true to their identities.

I know she's quite busy at hone.... AND We used to see Nanci in Harrisburg! When there was a SIB.... (unhappy that it's gone)

I thought this topic was about confirmed staff changes.

I actually enjoyed touring with people from all over the country and the world. Wouldn't change that for anything.

SCV had a Brit march with them in '89, and he almost made it to Finals Night too. ( inside joke... long time'ers here know what I'm talkin' about.. haha)

I agree. It's a design choice, and I have no problem with the Phantomettes. In fact, I enjoy that they are all female. I think it makes them stand out a bit from the co-ed guards, and they hold their own competitively.

Yep - BD the is the only co-ed guard where only males can be rifle and females can be sabres. If you ask me - it's no better or worse than an all male or all female guard. It's more about the show design and technique than the gender. Later, Mike

If only there was a button to start a new topic based off of the subtopic started inside a topic. I click this to see news on mew staff not the most recent draft picks of marching members from different countries.

lol, you made a funny. I also like how you contradict yourself by saying Madison and Cavaliers are archaic for remaining true to their roots, and Phantom excluding guys in their guard is not. Also, it's very choice of you to talk about Madison and Cavaliers not being competitively successful due to the gender of the corps, when many coed corps and guards are not on the same competitive level. But keep going with those cute posts, they're delightful.

Don't forget the taped bit he did with one of the corps. He asked what would he have to do with his 3rd valve to be able to play in a corps and the members yelled "CUT IT OFF". Chuck looked like they suggested he cut something else off. Funny as Hades and had to be worked out ahead of time as all the corps yelling the same thing just could not have been spontaneous. As for CMs quiet personality, he played at my college about the time "Feels So Good" came out. College has a large music/music ed department and balcony was jammed with music people and CM fans. (Balcony had the best seats for acoustics as place was build during the Depression to give people work and acoustics are bizarre.) We were just going bat stuff and CM would smile, nod and go back to playing. After the concert a reporter for the college paper interviewed CM and the band (5 piece combo?). From what I remember they all were blown away with the crowd reaction and said it was one of the loudest crowds they had ever heard and really appreciated it. LOL way CM and the band acted during the concert you'd think it was another day at the job as they never really showed any emotion. As for really enjoying <can't say phrase I'm thinking> Finals I have to go with Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge, Rod Stewart, etc. Ol' Carmine was getting into it so much he was tuning out Reliable Rondo. "That was great wasn't it Carmine..... Carmine?"

Chuck Mangione was a big supporter of his music being played in Drum Corps. He never balked at it. His voluntary appearance to sit for 3 and a half hours in the booth at Finals and give commentary throughout speaks to his support of both the activity itself and his music being played by Corps. Do not confuse his naturally very quiet demeanor and layed back personality as any indication of less support than Maynard Ferguson. Ferguson was a ball of energy and never at a loss for words. That was just his personality. Mangione and Ferguson were both equally supportive of the activity and of their music being creatively altered for the environment of a Drum Corps competition. Its a shame we don't have similarly well known brass musicians and well known music composers of today being as freely willing to support the activity at DCI Finals as these 2 well known musicians and composers did back in the 70's, 80's at Finals.

I always got there early to see every show,never once when going to prelims did I miss any corps .But one has to wonder why more people come in so much later ? Many years prelims was the only show I did go to.For the fact of seeing everyone haven't really had an interest in staying for finals .

Maybe with all the departures in their staff that are public either through personal pages, or announcements that are pending, they should take a look at leadership and consider a change. It's clearly time for a new program coordinator yet that seems to be the constant. As for the all-female guard-there's plenty of talent out there, good members, good design and instruction will help more than making the guard coed.

In any event, you have to give a tip of the hat and much appreciation and respect to those in the Class A groups. They may not have the numbers that the Open Class corps do, but they've sure got the heart.

you rang?

Who says no to a youth organization that encourages music education?? That's just insane.

Over time, there seems to be movement away from diverse instrumentation in hornlines towards just having one instrument per "voice." For instance, the latest trend seems to be replacing baritones and euphoniums with a hybrid instrument. Do you think this impacts the sound a corps produces? I remember watching Crossmen in 2004, when they had a full flugelhorn line, and thinking that they had a very rich sound compared to some other corps. When was the last time anyone fielded a flugelhorn line? What other instruments have we lost (I know that there were quite a few in the G bugle days)?

It's time to teach drum corps fans and designers basic lessons in production decision-making. Let's start with the very most basic lessons of show coordination-- Music and Theme Selection - Avoiding Disaster. MUSIC AND THEME SELECTION - AVOIDING DISASTER QUESTION ONE: Which of these musical selections would most likely be inappropriate for a drum corps show? a) William Tell Overture b) Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag c) Nirvana's "Moist ######", lyrics by Kurt Cobain ANSWER: Clearly it's C. No matter how it's reinterpreted, cleaned up, re-contextualized, it will never, ever be anything other than a pornographic-titled grunge song by Kurt Cobain. The title alone simply makes this tune impossible to play for a 4013c youth activity, regardless of how stark and brilliant the song is. It's just common sense. QUESTION TWO: Which of these visual interpretations would be inappropriate for the musical selection? a) Mozart's Piano Concerto 6 portrayed as a Hollywood farce. b) Hot Butter's "Popcorn" portrayed as a modern DNC convention. c) Music of the Holocaust Era portrayed as a couture runway. ANSWER: Use your head. One of these has an inescapably heavy historical context. The context of its original tragedy is unavoidable. Any interpretation other than its original context would simply be regarded as offensive. QUESTION THREE: Which of these themes is unsuitable for drum corps style production? a) Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's Ten Stages of Death and Dying b) WatchMojo.com's Top Ten Songs to Strip To, featuring Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me c) 10,000 Audio sound effects library d) TV Jingles for 1950's Diaper Services e) I Don't Like Mondays - music and lyrics by the Boomtown Rats Of course, all of these are awful a) Too heavy, although likely to be performed at some point by the Blue Knights b) inappropriate adult theme c) non-musical d) frivolous e) way way way too heavy a topic. Use your common sense. QUESTION FOUR: Which of these uniform and flag color palettes would be an inappropriate pair for the show listed: a) Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Songs - Polkadots and glitter. b) Beethoven's 9th - Grays and bruise/puss colors. c) Shostakovich's 10th - Neon. d) Bruce Springsteen Retrospective - Pink leather chaps and rainbow colored confetti bombs. You're learning. These are all just egregious. Color should spring naturally from the original piece. If your interpretation strays too far from the original intent, especially if the original intent was politically charged, age inappropriate, or tragedy-related, you're in a danger zone. Fundamentals and common sense. Now that we’ve explored how to avoid disaster in selecting themes and music, let’s assume you’ve chosen music or a theme that won’t cause a media firestorm because of its inappropriateness. Great. You’re ready to move to the next level in selecting music and a theme. SELECT THEMES THAT MARCHING MEMBERS WANT TO PERFORM REPEATEDLY FOR SIX MONTHS QUESTION FIVE: Which of these drum corps show themes might depress your marching members if they played it for six months? a) Your Last Breath – exploring the images of life that pass before your eyes in your final moments before death. b) Gamma Rays – how Gamma rays affect the natural properties of various elements on the periodic table. Encore: Principles of accounting audits. c) Alone – Depression on College Campuses That’s right. All of these themes are burdensome a) way too on the nose b) too sterile a subject or c) maudlin. Unfortunately, these themes are not too far away from themes that have been chosen by corps and WGI units in the past. Ug. Instead, select themes that audiences want to see and that kids under 22 want to perform over and over again. Avoid depressing topics, avoid scientific micro-theory and other inanimate objects that can’t be dramatized, and avoid downer subjects that are lugubrious, joyless and one-dimensional. After all this is a pageant art. MATCH YOUR THEME TO THE MUSIC, THE MUSIC TO THE THEME QUESTION SIX: Which of these themes and music combinations fit together? a) The Old Man and The Sea – La Mer by Claude Debussy b) The Composer’s Subconscious Mind – The Music of The Books c) The Sting – Music of Scott Joplin d) Suffragettes – Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” Clearly Jimi Hendrix’s misogynistic story is inappropriate for the subject matter of women’s suffrage, including the lyrics: “Uh, hey Joe, I heard you shot you old lady down, you shot her down to the ground. Yeah!” If you try the route “I don’t know that most people would notice” then you’re fooling yourself. The judges will notice, and your score will show it. Carefully select your music to fit the theme. Carefully adjust your theme to fit the music. BALANCE YOUR PRODUCTION A drum corps production works best if it displays a range of tempos, emotions and moods. Unlike in a symphonic concert setting, if you select a piece of music that has a single tempo and voicing for a twelve minute period, the audience and marching members may tire of it. Also, a single-mood piece may not display your skill at handling a range of material. Twelve minutes is just long enough to require a range of emotion. QUESTION SEVEN: Which of these musical selections would most likely require an extra attention paid to adding variety and a range of moods? a) Koyannesquatsi b) Monotone-Silence Symphony by Yves Klein c) Poema Sinfonico by Gyorgy Ligeti, a work for 100 metronomes Ug to all of these. If you select these pieces, make an extra effort to instill variety of mood and tempo, somehow. You’ve only got about twelve minutes. Best to avoid pieces that lack variety, brilliant as they are in a different setting. Next, we’ll explore staging with, Building an Understructure into Your Show (A Dramatic Action). Now that you have avoided the amateurish pitfalls of selecting inappropriate music and themes, you’re ready to select substantial music, build an understructure into your show, grow your theme, and support it with socko set pieces. BUILDING AN UNDERSTRUCTURE INTO YOUR SHOW (A DRAMATIC ACTION) Once you have selected a theme based on your music, or selected music based on a theme, you must develop that theme using the music’s flow, drill sets, movement, and characters to create patterns (and even full-blown stories) that satisfy the audience’s need for drama. The pattern of events in your show comprises your dramatic action. The dramatic action grows and transforms during the show, providing a stirring, heightened, universal and unique visual musical production with a solid, satisfying ending. To create the understructure of your show use all the elements available to you in the theme-maker’s toolbox. THE THEME-BUILDER’S TOOLBOX Drum corps shows have grown from jukebox-like collections of random pop tunes, military marches, anthems and show tunes, to carefully crafted themed productions. Shows are more sophisticated now. A show’s theme conveys meaning that lies under the surface of the performance. The theme symbolically alludes to underlying social issues, philosophies, and other areas of universal human interest. Even if the show has no narrative elements, the music and drill motion provides patterns of action and emotion that grow and build in a meaningful way to satisfy the audience’s need for emotion and drama. Whether they do it consciously or not, audiences look for a through-line when the drum corps show begins. It’s like watching a TV show or a film. As soon as a performance begins, audiences automatically ask themselves the following thematic questions: • “What are they playing?” • “What style of music is this?” • “What’s this about?” • “What does the title mean?” • “Is the show a strict interpretation of a musical piece?” • “What is the point of focus on the field?” • “Is the show is narrative or non-narrative?” • “Does the drill tell a story?” • “Does the show have a central character?” • “Does the show follow a story timeline in a linear or nonlinear way?” • “How do the selected musical pieces fit together to form a theme?” • “What do the uniforms or costumes convey?” • “What does the flag design symbolize?” • “What patterns is the corps developing overall?” • “What is the thematic argument, overall?” • “How does this theme apply to my own life and to the lives of others here?” • “What’s the universal, unique message that’s being conveyed that comments on some aspect of the human experience, triumphs, trials and the way we live?” • “What’s changed or grown by the end?” Audiences can’t help but ask “why” about the production. It’s a natural instinct. Whether they realize it or not, the audience subconsciously absorbs these elements. Show coordinators use these elements to form the show’s theme, all carefully planned and orchestrated. Viewers who claim they don’t try to “figure out” a show are lying. It’s a natural and sometimes even subconscious process. QUESTION EIGHT True or False? a) Whether you consciously recognize it or not, the color scheme of guard uniforms is typically tied into the theme of the show. T or F b) Flag design is typically tied into the theme of the show. T or F c) The theme of the show is tied to the music. T or F d) The music in the show is tied to the theme. T or F e) Drill sets are typically tied into the theme or music. T or F f) Characters that appear in drum corps shows are typically tied into the story, or are typically tied into the theme behind the music. T or F g) All design choices are typically tied into the selected theme or the chosen music. T or F Of course these are all true, and incredibly basic questions. Don’t be embarrassed if you never realized it-- every single drill set, every color, every choreographed move, every character, every musical selection ties into the selected theme in some way, or vice versa. But don’t claim that it’s not true—show coordinators carefully construct and design themed drum corps shows around that theme. (At least the good ones do.) HEIGHTENING THE PATTERN/PROGRESSION As the show progresses, the audience looks for the arc or “game”. The audience wants to know what the pattern is. How are these various elements of the show growing and changing by the end? Does the show have a logical understructure where we see patterns building, heightening and resolving to a satisfying end? For example the Velvet Knight’s 1992 show lampooned cultural and entertainment memes, first presenting pop icons from American culture, then mixing and matching the characters, and finally at the very end the frivolous pop icons literally ate each other. This is a perfect example of a heightened theme with a social commentary, and a satisfying, hilarious ending. In other shows, the music provides the simple but profound understructure for the production, and the drill movement simply interprets the underlying piece of music which grows and builds for dramatic effect. Heightening the dramatic action is important. A twelve minute show is long enough for the audience to want a transformation by the end of the show. The audience wants to see the emotion change. They want to see characters (if any) develop and grow. They want to see the circumstance or setting or activity change. They want the pattern to evolve. They want the story to progress to a conclusion. They want to experience the music heightening to a logical conclusion. They want to see a payoff. Sometimes productions can avoid a theme that builds throughout the show, and instead simply conjure a last-minute set piece and resolve the show in a satisfying way. Even though there might not be a theme to the entire production, at least the ending provides some satisfaction based on visual trickery, a gymnastic move, repeating a previous device, or a high impact GE drill movement, even though it doesn’t necessarily tie into any other part of the show. QUESTION NINE Which of these shows had no thematic understructure, but relied on a last-minute show-stopping set piece to satisfy the audience’s need for a heightened resolution? 1) Cavaliers – Softly as I Leave You 2) Santa Clara Vanguard – Bottle Dance 3) 27th Lancers – Danny Boy Company Front 4) Bluecoats – Tilt - Pitch Bend/Jumping off the Platform Of course, all these theme-free shows relied on a final set piece that made up for a lack of thematic through-line. (The Bluecoats show did feature various elements that tilted to one side, it can’t be considered a fully developed theme because the concept of tilting was a simple visual attribute unrelated to underlying meaning of any kind.) QUESTION TEN Which one of these shows had a strong theme that escalated and heightened for dramatic effect, and whose high impact ending indeed tied into the theme and satisfied the audience? 1) Carolina Crown – Triple Crown - Horse race photo finish 2) Madison Scouts – Band of Brothers – Eulogy/You’ll Never Walk Alone 3) Phantom Regiment – Spartacus - Overthrow 4) Blue Devils – Felliniesque – Presentation of director’s chair 5) Carolina Crown – Inferno – Beatrice climbs out of hell All of these shows had strong, thematically aligned final set pieces. USING SET PIECES TO SPICE UP YOUR THROUGH-LINE When designers create a show, they heighten the dramatic action with “set pieces” which are strong, memorable visual and audio images with a high-impact action that ties into the theme. In the Blue Devil’s Felliniesque, the design team created a series of character images from Fellini’s films, and strung them together in a lyrical, flowing way, and then at the end, wrapped up with a tableau of the characters presenting a director’s chair paying homage to Fellini’s life in art. The visual set pieces were character-based, separate, non-linear, but matched to the music, loosely strung together, and gathered at the end in tableau. Often screenwriters create a series of set pieces on a single theme and string them together to form a story or through-line for a film. Drum corps shows can be created the same way, providing a loose understructure for any show. The set pieces form a pattern in the viewer’s mind. The set pieces link together based on the theme to strengthen the underlying dramatic action. The audience wants to know what comes next, based on what’s come before. These set pieces help set the audience’s expectations about how the show’s dramatic action progresses, heightens and resolves. QUESTION ELEVEN Which of these shows used clear “set pieces” which spiced up the dramtic action? 1) Blue Devils – Ink - 2015– Characters pop out of lifesize storybooks, various tales are retold with modern spins, and a young girl beckons us and encourages us to listen to our stories again. 2) Carolina Crown – Inferno - 2015 - Dante encounters the sign “abandon all hope”, wrapped in a river of blood Dante tries to escape and free Beatrice, Beatrice triumphantly escapes to heaven. 3) Phantom Regiment – Spartacus- 2009 – Slaves are beaten, rebellion, coup de tat. 4) Phantom Regiment – Juliette – 2011 – Juliette woos Romeo, grieves at his passing, defiantly takes her own life rather than live without him. Of course, all of these shows used effective “set pieces” to grow and build their show’s dramatic action. Note that each show included a final transformation which provided a satisfying ending. But not all shows need narrative story elements in order to convey a dramatic action. In many effective drum corps shows, the dramatic action springs from the music. QUESTION TWELVE Which of these non-narrative shows built a strong through-line using the music and marching formations alone? 1) Cadets – Appalachian Spring 2) Cavaliers – The Planets 3) Santa Clara – Fog City Sketches Of course, all of these shows successfully built a through-line using the progression that’s built into the music. The shows simply relied on style of movement and repetition in order to create a pattern to satisfy audiences’ need for a thematic through-line. Now that you’ve selected music, a theme, and developed that theme with set pieces, it’s time to step back and examine the universality of your theme and thematic argument. The more universal your theme, the more it will move the audience, and the higher your score will be. The next section addresses your show’s universal and unique message. THEMATIC ARGUMENT - BUILDING RESONANCE AROUND YOUR UNIVERSAL AND UNIQUE MESSAGE The key to a winning depth of concept score is to follow these guidelines: 1) The show theme impacts the performers themselves, and changes the way they live their lives in some small way. 2) The show theme springs from these performer's point of view, it represents the performers themselves, and it's a good fit. 3) The show theme perfectly captures the essence of something universally human in all of us. 4) The show theme is told in a way that is unique and never done before. 5) The show theme fits in this medium-- drum and bugle corps competition in large scale venues, rather than, say, a wall hanging, or a ballet, or radiator cover design. First, the show must impact the performers and change them. When the Blue Stars performed the circus theme this year, guard members portrayed conjoined twins, literally sharing the same body and forging a new path, a new way of being. The performers worked closely with one another all season and became one, like circus performers do. In a weird but real way, these performers captured the essence of drum corps camaraderie, and had a profound insight into the outsider's mind, performance artists' point of view, and their issues of social and personal acceptance. Second, the show should spring from these performer's point of view. For example, the Velvet Knights were well known for shenanigans both on and off the field. Their 1992 show lampooned cultural icons and satirized drum corps memes. The theme of their show seemed to spring from the corps members' comedic personality themselves-- their own voice. At the end when the shark ate the Valkyrie, the fat lady sang, literally, something magical happened. The entire corps elevated itself to the strata of great performers in time who perform for kings and lampoon cultural icons-- that Cique du Soleil feeling of unmistakable human joy, satirizing the way we live and embracing the absurdity and comedic beauty of the human experience. These traveling performers transported us into their ridiculous world, and it turns out, they know more about us than we do about ourselves. Third, the show theme should capture the essence of some aspect our humanity, in a big or small way. Some beauty or incongruity of life on earth that comments on the duality of our experiences. The pain and joy, the beauty and horror of our lives, the triumph over the elements, the joy of victory, the agony of defeat. Fourth, the more unique a corps production is, the more memorable. VFW shows in the 1960's and 70's became so redundant, so almost indecipherable from each other that the art form risked extinction. During these years only small, almost imperceptible risks differentiated productions, and corps shows were restrained and dominated by onerous rules of military bearing and marching and maneuvering. These rules provided both a joy in precision, and a high-pressure emotional containment, but also strangled the corps' range of expression. By the time military-style units were playing the theme from The Exorcist using military bearing and formal M&M maneuvers, the activity appeared to be almost absurd and comedic, splitting its own pants, and ready for change. Fifth, the best shows fit into an outdoor, large scale music performance medium. Molecular science might not be the most fitting theme for a large scale venue. QUESTION THIRTEEN: Which of these shows resonated with audiences for their universal themes? Madison Scouts - Band of Brothers - The horrors of war, and the triumph of loyalty. Phantom Regiment - Spartacus - Slavery, and the fight for freedom. Cadets - Appalachian Spring - Spring awakens. Santa Clara - Les Mis - The classic novel of revolution and redemption. Answer: All of them. CREATING THE BEHIND THE SCENES STORY - DEVELOPING THE UNIVERSALITY OF YOUR SHOW Many shows in drum corps history were missing the final component-- universality (the human component.) Everything else was in place-- the great set pieces, music of substance, even a topical theme, but they simply lacked meaning on the level of the human spirit. Audiences said "So what?" or "That's curious. I wonder what's on their minds?" Often show designers think that a historical theme, or a novel reference, a visual gimmick, or a music genre is enough to vault them to the level of profundity. In rare cases it is. But to add true depth of concept, the show designers need to simply add an element of story linking the content to the performers, either behind the scenes or in the show itself, which adds universal depth and richness. The depth of concept increases when the members own the material and become one with its philosophy. Could Santa Clara's Scheherazade have benefitted from a behind the scenes activities of corps members with Muslim backgrounds, especially young women, exploring the theme of powerful Middle Eastern women in history? Could SCV have invited Malala for discussions behind the scenes? Could BlueCoats' Tilt have benefitted from some behind the scenes research about how these composers want to tilt the landscape of modern composition? Could BlueCoats have promoted discussions with these composers about their trials and triumphs, their struggles for industry acceptance and quest for legitimacy? Public forums on artistic innovation, risk and reward, building some substance to the shallow idea of "Tilt"? Could the Bluecoats have invited Bob Dylan to talk to them about the 60's, Leonard Cohen, and how America's image changed from within, relating to their show To Look for America? Could the Madison Scouts have changed their repertoire the year they helped local flood victims in Wisconsin? Could they have created a production around volunteerism during devastation? Could the Cadets have benefitted from a discussion with any local conductor regarding their interpretation of Shostakovich's Tenth? Or maybe talk to the Russian lady down the street who fled her homeland during the 50's and what the music means to her? Could the Bluecoats have benefitted from incorporating images from various Mr. Maps vidoes, or at least a public forum with The Books on avant garde music, sharing ideas about the nature of music, rule-breaking and innovation? The greater the universal message, and the more it directly relates to the performers themselves, and the more uniquely it is conveyed, the more the show transcends its medium-- an absurd, ridiculous performance art form where young brass and percussion musicians and color guards gather in abandoned football stadiums to perform music of substance.

we've always seen late arrivals.

How about a coed corps going with an all male guard? I'm not advocating that but I think it would make heads explode.

I knew, just knew, even before clicking on the link, that it was written by Ken Mazur. Mike

Just to be clear, it is your opinion that organizations/teams/competitive activities need to be inclusive of both genders in order to "come into the 21st century"? Would you prefer that there are specific competitive classes based upon gender? I guess there would be three then: coed, male, female...... Please don't reference a Jenner. It has been a good Wednesday, & a Bruce debate is not on my docket!!!! btw All Girls dci is a great history

Dont remember a certain sex being a pre req. for having a good guard . Or that BD wins because they are co- ed. ridiculous. Now dont they also beat alot of other " co- ed " guards?

Don't have that, but would refer people here for a (slightly current) list of winners) - http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/index.php/topic/73289-spirit-of-disney-winners/ Mike

Bringing this up again because I feel like we've actually seen a shift away from this in recent years. Bluecoats especially come to mind (with 2014 and 2015) as examples of maintaining integrity in a drum corps arrangement of music from another medium. Ironically, now that corps have other throwaway effects at their disposal (topic for another day), arrangers don't have to rely on twisting the music into various effects, as opposed to letting it just be music.

Jeff's a drummer with experience in helping those electronic doo dads work in the pit from plugging in to finding the right sound. and even as a drummer, I can tell when something is doubled with a patch that sounds well...like the hornline. that wasn't my issue. my issue was just one of volume, specifically for Bucs seemed loud from start to finish. Knowing that crew, it had to be a glitch. They pay way too much attention to detail to let that happen for an entire show. I remember at Dtown there was one moment where it was really loud and it was adjusted right away. if you want to hear samples of the hornline being played at the same time, listen to Bluecoats. you'll notice the difference between that and what Bucs, Cabs, and most corps do

I had premium seats in Atlanta this year and the four seats next to me stayed empty until the final 6 corps took the field. I don't know how long they'd been there in the dome, but they didn't bother to sit down until BK took the field. They get counted as "paid attendance" but they're only partially there.

Just as well too. It's better not to say much at this point until everything's a done deal.

Or sitting in the stands..... (just signed up)

I guess I could share what I think would be a good solution. Have two sets of medalists at Finals. Before the normal scoring retreat, have a "Fan Favorite" results, and let the audience be the judge, to be voted through noise. The Top 3 corps with the most decibels from the audience will win gold, silver and bronze. This way, both Blue Devils AND Crown can win every single year, and all those who dislike BD can say "Well at least they didn't win the gold for Fan Favorite!" but I doubt the BD would care...at first. But I'd bet within 5 years, they'd win that one, too, and then everyone can be happy. Goodnight.

A class has always been a must see for me!

One of Garfield's flag members in 71 became a guard captain in 27th a few years later. We had a member from Kansas march with us in 71, actually. So while not really the nnorm, there was some movement even back then.

We helped her out....operator error....all good and she is ready and good to go. :)

I'd argue that it's not the composition of the guard that keeps them from breaking new ground...it's the composition of the guard writing. I was still waiting for them to do slams, etc. I don't think I've seen modern writing since Sage was there.

If the median was 38, and the average was 186, you have some extreme outliers. For those who haven't had several semesters of statistics, the figure in the middle of the list is the median. That means half the results were less than that and half were more. To have a median of 38 and an average of 186, roughly 5% of attendees drove more than 1000 miles to see a show.

I honestly don't mind their all girl guard. It gives them a specific look. However - they do need to stop designing shows specifically around what "girls" could portray (Juliet, Asian Princess, Fairy Tale, Holly Go Lightly) and use the guard to portray the music or theme at an other level - not just around the idea that the theme is "female specific so our guard is all girls". Later, Mike

I secretly think this thread is a response to BD winning and is now cloaked in a desire to change the entire metric upon which guard is judged and its influence on the sheets. But I necessarily have to leave the guard discussion to you and Ream. From a business standpoint I'll take a firmer stand. If it's not possible to identify specific things that DCI and/or the corps did to affect the attendance growth in 2015, why on Earth are we discussing changing something that is, apparently to hear it here, a fundamental change in the performance metric? The logic makes no sense. "We don't know what we really did to produce stunning attendance, so let's change something!" If DCI can't identify what it did, it shouldn't change anything! Even if it means <gasp!> BD wins again. From a business perspective, do NOTHING to change anything in the product or how it's presented or judged. Now, if one can identify that the current guard metrics are holding back ticket sales, the discussion is well-timed. Otherwise, it's not. Similarly, If one can identify that design/execution judging parameters are holding back ticket sales, the discussion is well-timed. Otherwise, it's not. DCI needs about three or four years of doing nothing but selling tickets to cement its balance sheet and give it some benefit of stability from a financial cushion. Change, with this year as the guide, is NOT what should be on the agenda now. The economy seems to be a tailwind. If it's a delicate balance or a confluence of events, don't change anything. The MM's execute the show that's given to them to the best of their abilities. Gotta go eat.

Thanks Scott - going to try and get the car away from Gwynne long enough to slide by. Pat

Not in Open Class. (fun fact, only 7 current corps have ever placed top 3 in Open, and all of them went on to eventually win a championship. Bucs, Hurcs, Sky, Cabs, Sun, Bush, and MBI) It has happened three or four times in Class A, depending on how you count it: Generations in 98 (tied with Heat Wave) Skyliners in 99 (They had medaled in Open, but technically not in A yet) Grenadiers in 2004 Chops in 2005

No appreciation for his ability to convey a cryptic message in such a succint way huh?

look i'm not saying they will or won't.....there's 3 other great corps there in the way. the drums have been strong since day 1. The brass has a tendency to hang out til finals weekend, and now the guard went from bad to good to holy ####! so the key is the brass....and the staff. in 2013, the les Miz show...at Reading they wowed me and many others. then they had the crap kicked out of them at prelims and laid an egg. Finals was a better run, but too little too late. the brass set themselves up Saturday for great progress, especially with I'm sure some good rehearsal time down here until they leave. the key is not to kick the crap out of them Saturday. I rule nothing out after last years craziness. they're young kids. IMO the key is the kids...and the staff.

Werd.

that makes perfect sense. Surf is not a freshman Corps, they have been around a while, just wondering why they are where they are, they should place higher thats all Im saying...Your gonna tell me that some "Surf'ers look at a Corps in the top 5 and not want that success? Time to step out of the box and take Surf'ers along, I would like to see someone different rock the apple cart other than the usuals..

First time back for the Erie Thunderbirds since 1984..............and as Matt said, it feels good to be back!

Thinking of that too Ray... only time we would see Nanci face to face was Ro-cha-cha....

It was pretty special having an all-Class A lineup for a show. Has that ever happened before? It just feels like that's one thing that really validates Class A, pulling off a successful show without any Open Class corps in the mix.

T'would appear that our Queen has abdicated!!!! I hope all is well Nanci.

If you are going to have a weak section in the Corps, it can't be Guard. Make it Brass. Make it Percussion. Guards drive the themes, as much if not more so than the Brass, Percussion. In an era where the Visual is so important, make your Guard your strongest section. Within your pecking order.. top, middle, lower tier, having a better Guard will probably pay off over your placement rival in that pecking order in the end. Not always. But most of the time. Now, who would've thought Crown would have had such an outstanding Guard this season. ? Not Me. I was surprised a bit by how good their Guard was this season. And it almost helped put them over the top. Cadets ?. I guess we should have seen this coming. Early on their were indications that this year's Cadets weak section link would be their Guard. Sure, the Cadets had an outstanding Brass line ( and Percussion line ). But what did I just say about the importance of Guard ? ( are yall paying attention ?.. haha!)

They are putting them out on 33 1/3 LPs this year.

A few thoughts about Phantom Regiment that I’ve been working on lately. Yes, I provide criticisms of 2015 (and a couple years previous), but I try to do it in light of what I think needs to be fixed in 2016. As you’ll see, I take a very selfish “entertain me only” view. Let me first state again that I’m not hung up on the placement of the corps as I am “having a good feeling about how things are going.” Seeing Phantom Regiment on the 1993 PBS broadcast is one of the major reasons I follow drum corps today, and I’ve seen them in good and bad, placement-wise and “my feeling”-wise. What affects “my feeling”? Conceptual design, individual caption design, performance. I’ve also stated in this forum that I have thought that Phantom Regiment is generally a fifth place corps. This was when Crown was surging, Cavies were top four, and Coats and SCV were competing to get into the top six. I may need to update that a little, but what I mean is that I think that talent will keep them competitive in the top six, but forces (whatever they might be) will hold back the competitive aspects of the corps (integration, sophistication to some extent). Occasionally, they’ll find a sweet spot (along with other corps maybe having an off-year – seasons don’t occur in a vacuum), and occasionally they’ll have an off year. But so long as I have that warm and fuzzy feeling, I’m perfectly content. Why did I have a good feeling about some years? I thought there was an extreme amount of competence in all aspects of design in certain years: 93-97, 05-07 are a few examples. Look at the designers from 05-07. The brass arranger had previously only arranged for BAC a couple times. The percussion arranger came from a lower placing corps (and one that didn’t make finals the year before he came to Regiment). The guard designer either left or was not invited back to SCV. And the drill writer came from a less-than-stellar Scouts design (though he was highly competent elsewhere before that). And what happened? Excellence that may be achieved by this corps only every few years. Should we expect that year-in and year-out? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean they can’t put together a group in 2016 that gives me a good feeling, ######. Given the years that I have watched them, 1993 to present, what may have kept them in a fifth place average? For several different years, I thought it was the drill aspect of the visual program. 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 – those were some (to me) abysmal seasons of drill. 1999-2001 weren’t great, but weren’t bad. So, I would argue that drill design would be one lagging area for the corps over the last 20 years (and constantly rewriting drill impacts other areas of scoring). Generally speaking, in years not heavily involving Tony Hall or Jamey Thompson, the drill has been weak. So, how does 2015 stack up? It’s not great, but it’s not that bad. Certainly no worse than par outside of a few particularly special years (93, 94, 05-07, 12). The drill doesn’t have to be flashy, but it needs to make sense (e.g., the opposite of 2002). As such, I see no reason to make a change at the drill writer spot, though I hope there are some lessons learned. With regard to tech staff, I’ve heard anecdotes about less-demanding visual tryouts in camps and less-effective manner of running rehearsals during the season. No idea as to the validity of those comments (but they come from people I trust), and if true, it would seem that visual instructional staff could be a concern worth looking at in 2016. I can’t really say much about guard, other than I thought some guards in the 93-present history have been really effective: 93, 94, 96, 05-08, 11-12. In 2015, they seemed good to me, but they also generally lagged in scoring. Did they deserve 13th in semis? Probably not. Did they deserve 6th in finals? Probably not. But they’re probably somewhere in between, and that’s probably okay. Design-wise, my issue with the guard design is more of a programmatic issue. If the show in 2015 depicted a weekend visit by an American (supposedly Holly Golightly) to Paris, then I can see how it could relate to the American in Paris theme (though I didn’t like it at all and felt it lacked sophistication). However, if the American in Paris theme is indeed what was being represented, there was a big flaw in the ballad, in my opinion. I ended up liking the sunflower dresses and flags during Claire de Lune and thought they were pretty, however, how does that represent a weekend in Paris? The sunflowers were painted in Paris, but that’s it: you don’t see sunflowers in Paris, you can’t view those paintings in Paris art museums. To me, this is a flaw in design, and that’s something that should be fixed for 2016. It’s a general lack of sophistication relative to what’s going on in top corps. Brass has always been a strength of the corps, not just performance but arranging. Many have lamented about the power built into the brass arrangements of late (an arranger issue). I have lamented how it takes the entire season for the brass line to really perform of late (perhaps a staff issue). I can’t speak to percussion, other than I thought they would’ve rebounded a bit by now post-Rennick. My percussion friends have not been impressed with the Regiment’s use of electronics for years, so I hope that improves in 2016. What years did I not have a good feeling? 1998, and 2013-2015. Drill rewrites plagued 1998, and that had an effect on other areas (e.g., you spend an hour re-re-re-learning drill, that’s an hour of time not spent elsewhere). I will never forgive 2013 Phantom Regiment for the witch. And 2014 never grabbed me, and I thought musical selections were weak. Scuttlebutt is that the brass arranger and visual team won’t return next year. I have no way to substantiate that other than waiting to see if an announcement comes. To me, the larger issue lies in program conceptual design and music selections, then stems from there. I don’t like to see people get fired, especially after just one or two seasons. I wish I could say “hey, make me have a good feeling again,” and they respond. What do I want to remain the same in 2016: I hope the members max out whatever they’re given and have a great time doing it.