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Now I have to be careful here, because I am a Kidsgrove alumnus and I am marching next year... this is MY opinion only and I do NOT speak for the organisation... but.... Is the contest not called the DCA WORLD Championships? Furthermore, Kidsgrove works just as hard or even HARDER than most corps in DCA as A, the average age at Kidsgrove is actually quite high (average age in the hornline is probably low thirties or even higher) when compared to other DCA corps filled with DCI aged members, and B, there is no high school or college marching band scene in the UK so therefor you could argue that UK members are behind the 8 ball from the off... we simply do not have a ready made supply of experienced marchers over here. Basics in the early winter are pretty brutal to be honest. DCUK, DCE and DCA rules are exactly the same with regards to age and instrumentation. We start rehearsing in October. Once DCE is finished, the corps takes about a three week break and then we are back at it every other weekend with only a small break in the end of the summer. The members of Kidsgrove Scouts all sacrificed greatly in terms of time, money, being away from family etc... why should a European corps (or any international corps for that matter) that plays by DCA's rules, expect to take a backseat to an American corps simply because of the postcode where their mail gets delivered? They are playing by the same rules and judged on the same sheets and should be rewarded as such. If that means someone gets displaced that would have made it otherwise... oh well.

Please PROVE this statement. This post honestly SEEMS to be a garbage post by an obvious throw away account...and/or someone associated with the Cavaliers organization who is HIDING....and/or probably in violation of DCP guidelines ( multiple accounts)... In 2013 you asked: "Why would Gaines retire and the rest of the staff go to SCV. Sounds like a management issue. Seems like everyone in possesion of a clue has left."

Look how many " local based " US Companies closed up their local business operations and began " fleeing " out of the US too. Not much " local loyalty " there either. Some of it is " generational " too regarding what constitutes " loyalty " when " loyalty " runs up against other countervailing values. For example, Quick story... true story. I know a guy that lost his job at age 47 when his company moved overseas and closed down. He worked for that company after college for 25 years. One job, one company, 25 years. He went for an interview for a job then with another company and was interviewed there by 2 Human Resource Co. Interviewers, one age 29, the other 54. After the both interviewed the applicant, they compared notes. the 29 year old HR guy asked the 54 year old HR guy what he thought of him. The 54 yr. old HR guy said he was " impressed with his loyalty to his previous employer, as he worked there 25 years . Thats a positive in my assessment ". Then that 54 yr. old HR guy ashed the 29 yr. old HR guy what he thought of the applicant. The 29 yr. old HR guy responded " well, the guy stayed with just one company for 25 years, until they closed on him. He seemed to lack ambition for 25 years to me. Thats a real negative in my assessment on that point " So, things change, and with that, even how one defines the term " loyalty " it would appear.

Lol right? This thread is just a d*ck measuring contest of "hey let's see who has the most information without telling what it actually is!"

LQQKS like Boston set the standard for the ultimate hype...and then delivered the goods on said hype with actual results...a hard act to follow...just sayin'

this is quite possibly the most worthless 57 page read ever. if you know something, say it or say nothing. otherwise this thread should have just died for a month and offtopic talk gone elsewhere.

When Garfield let our great percussion instructor George Tuthill go after the 71 season, two of Garfield's snares, all three of us tri-toms and two timpani players quit and moved over to the Cabs where he was also the percussion instructor. I decided not to march with the Cabs and went back to Garfield, but not to play a percussion instrument in honor of Gaorge. Played baritone in 72. I mean. who would want to play in a drum line taught by this new guy.....Fred Sanford. I had a great learning year on horn with Don Angelica, so it was not as bad as it looks!!!!

I personally enjoy seeing other corps come in and earn their spot. Kidsgrove did just that. They came over, performed in the DCA sanctioned show in Reading and got their score. That helped seed them for Prelims then that score earned got them to Finals. If people want to complain about that, Cincinnati Tradition was placed "last" in Class A with NO DCA scored shows (it was out of their control that the shows they were to attend got canceled). They went on to WIN Class A. I appreciate the efforts that Kidsgrove put in and hope to see them come back in a couple years time and do it all over again! To those that want to throw words around that Kidsgrove stole a spot, it's just not true. They got what they earned. If that was over other corps, then so be it. That's the nature of the activity. They put on a show, were judged just like every other corps out there and were given their score. There were a bunch of corps' this year that had hardships they suffered along the way. To those that want to bash Sky, go ahead, but also take a look and see which corps HELPED them after that accident. If any corps was able to do something, they did. I'm sure someone has a list of who donated what, let them borrow what, etc... So, I'll leave to get ready for work with this: We all love the activity. As Fran said, in an activity that is judged by people, no one will ever be happy with the end results. To add onto that: It's a wonderful experience that we should all enjoy and cherish. We want to build active membership in DCA, not stifle it. We all know I'm one who's looking to start a corps (I'm crazy, I know), and there are others like me who are. Surprises will happen, hard work will happen, scores are eventually just numbers. Enjoy the creative products and efforts that we all put together and display on the field. Someday it might be all we have to talk about.

Obvious troll, don't even bother

OHH f'n Please! Yea it's just the name. Not like they work hard and practice smart. Have you ever been to a BD practice? Yea thought not.

As it is not after Labor Day yet, I am not allowed to confirm whether this is or isn't true :)

This thread is a microcosm of DCP

I marched soprano, mello, contra, snare, bass, pit, and guard for the Dixville Notches BITD.

I love that story. It serves as an allegory of the fundamentally different mindsets of millenials vs. boomers/genX. It's just the world we live in. Ya roll with it or everything passes you by.

Geez... First I see the "How did C2 jump 2 points on Finals night and no one else really moved" post on a DCA facebook page, then I see this over here... Thought we were all in this together, lol.

Actually not that many from Cadets or Crown floated to Florida/Boston. At least at Cadets, more veterans sat out the season than moved to Crusaders or other corps. To your excellent analysis I would add two germane sociological twists: a) the lack of allegiance to corps while following either staffs or rings parallels the break-up of the American family unit, the rise and frequency of divorce in American marriages, and the dissimulation of neighborhoods. If allegiance isn't learned there first, it doesn't follow through life. Look how many folks change jobs today due to personal and corporate cultures changing; almost no one retires from the same company one started with. Americans even today speak of fleeing to Canada or elsewhere rather than working out problems. Many in the mental health professions use the term "Fight or Flight" reactions. Our culture has become Flee-bag. b) GH moved the Cadets from Garfield, New Jersey to Bergen County, NJ to Allentown, PA. He sold off the Crossmen of near Pennsylvania/Delaware to far, far away Texas. Boston moved its winter operations to outside Tampa, Florida; Blue Stars and Madison Scouts did the same moving to Indiana for camps; Troopers hold winter camps in Texas. Each of these corps can claim "many good reasons" but the sum total is that (with the exception notably of Casper and with new efforts in Boston, Madison, and LaCrosse) affinity to the old neighborhood is now considered a hurdle to be overcome according to some corps' administrations. The Flee-bag culture is in the drum corps world as well. '

Just say it already.

1972-1979 76 DEVILS - the start 1980-1989 83 CADETS - influence 1990-1999 93 STAR - timeless & innovative 2000-2009 05 CADETS - complete caption domination 2010-present 17 DEVILS - favorite show of the decade so far

You're probably right, Liahona. It's a weird assertion seemingly designed to provoke. Plus, so the Cavies would have scored 100.200 with girls in the guard this year?

It was my first year on DCP, end of finals 2016 to now. My casual impression was that there was a lot of hype here about Boston's 2017 team and season. A serious study of posts might suggest something else. But again, it just seemed like a lot of attention to, or expectations for, Boston. No matter. The real point is that Boston's management and design teams, plus the members' performances, lived up to (and I think surpassed a bit) those expectations during the off season. What a cool year for them.

Too bad its the first time an international corps placed 7th, but facts have never been important for your conspiracy theories.

Haven't been on here for a long time. Would just like to say that I am hoping and praying that the alumni drum corps activity is alive for as long as possible. There are a lot of wonderful and talented individuals still involved in the activity and that is a beautiful thing. Drum corps provides a great outlet for people to excape from the realities that each of us face on a daily basis. Wishing everyone much continued success and happiness in all future drum corps activities and all future endeavors in life! Love...JJ/Muchachos/Bridgemen/Bush/Cabs/Reilly/Director-Jordan Thomas Orchestra...Vero Beach, Florida

Must see recaps

That's what I try to get across (and apparently fail miserably at) here...the only reason DCI ever caught on was that it was an alternative to bog-standard marching band, with different equipment, a different ruleset, and a different mentality. Without those things, it is what it is today; summertime marching band for rich kids.

CADETS Design Team Drew Shanefield Bobby Jones Tom Aungst George Hopkins Good luck guys!

(@ColtFoutz) | Twitter https://www.facebook.com/pages/Colt-Foutz/104498199752656 https://www.linkedin.com/in/coltfoutz/ google not working on third floor yet?

No idea. And I assume you've done the usual search steps. It's off topic, and hope you don't mind, but are you doing okay there in Houston?

WTF is THAT all about??? I suppose Sky also should not have had that accident involving their equipment vehicle that cost them time, money, and nearly the loss of the vehicle driver's life.... and was a big psychological blow to them, as it would be to any corps who had to deal with a setback like that. Good Lord, Ed... give it a rest.

This is a good assessment. Viewpoints in regards to loyalty are very generational

C2 brass and percussion both grabbed 2nd in their captions...impressive considering how strong Bucs were.

My assumption, which may be incorrect, was that the latecomers would be filling holes or additions (usually to brass) that would make the corps better - thereby being a value-added thing for the members who have "been there" all Summer. I would think it very problematic if someone came in to replace a vet who didn't want to be replaced. Did that really ever happen? How could a corps recruit future members in that scenario? Incomplete Junior Corps are very candid about recruiting new members during a tour, but in an attempt to fill their blanks. I'm sure they don't demand full (retroactive) dues from these people, if not waiving everything except pro-rated tour fees, if even that. It's the parable of the prodigal son, right?

Good point. I heard talk back then that the rule was aimed at one particular corps. Honestly, I never saw the point to any rule like that. Like you said... the negative implications far outweighed any benefit.

the hype was real, well contained and deserved. No one was going crazy. When you get Cadets music team and Crowns visual team the hype is justified it will be interesting to see where they go from here design wise - the Salem Witch Trials thing was such a natural fit for them

CT back to back Champions in Class 'A' with a larger spread than prelims over Govies. Made a pretty clear statement both days that they're the real deal. Interesting to see if they remain in Class 'A' and go for the three peat or move to Open C2 made a big finish with their best performance of the season. Very surprised with their growth over the season.

One of the nice things about DCA is that even though the Bucs tend to rule the roost (and to be honest, they are generally the best), there is genuine competition on finals weekend. Each of the last 4 years, C2 has used a strong championships to improve on their season performance.

Transitional (this is quite a different list from favorites!): 70s: 75 Blue Devils (big jazz) 80s: 82 Garfield (field coverage, drill) 90s: 93 Star (body movement) 00s: 00 Cavaliers (visual) 10s: 14 Bluecoats (sampling)

Too tired to keep reading and posting tonight. Will try to catch up later. A few quick thoughts: 1. Thunderbirds got the score tonight I thought they deserved on Saturday. Some of my favorite writing this year. 2. Caballeros' uniforms look great close up. (They didn't look bad from my high perch on Saturday, but I hadn't noticed the shimmery colors.) 3. I seem to have taken 800+ photos of Prelims. Haven't checked to see how many of Finals yet.

It's also not true. I remember the interview, he said when they decided to play it he wasn't thinking about the fact SCV had played it in 99. And once it popped in his mind it was like "oh ####" lol

DCA IS FINISHED FOR THE YEAR! LET THE INSANITY COMMENCE!!!

Very entertaining two nights of drum corps. I'm giving serious consideration to making the trip up to PA next year.

I don't drink alcohol

That sounds like it would be...very fun. Tour around with a corps from another country.

Ignore the disgruntled dino

Two total class acts, no doubt about it!!! Go Marvin and RJ!!!

Whether George is content with seventh place finishes is irrelevant. He isn't a competent show designer, and as long as he insists on micromanaging the concepts, I don't see any reasonable hope of things changing for cadets. The corps ahead of them are just better now in every phase of the activity.

We yelled for Marvin tonight!

10 - bad, dated, boring concept Stoned/Awakening - I was excited about it initially bc I thought it was a concept they could use well to modernize, but it went horribly wrong. FFF - just hated the direction they chose to go being so literal. They could have taken an approach with the same music that would have connected with young people and potential members. Opportunity lost, and not only that a continuation in the wrong direction to me. Now, who knows, my hope was that some powerhouse staff would be hired to start attracting better talent again and move the corps up the ranks, but doesn't appear to be happening. So, they will just sit in the 7-10 range.....maybe some are fine with that.

I want corps to explore movie soundtracks more. I loved Boston's take on How to Train Your Dragon, would really like to see some of James Newton Howard's works get played on the field. And I'm not sure how many Game of Thrones fans there are on here, but Ramon Djawadi has just been getting better and better every season, the 7th season soundtrack is phenomenal, plenty of music that could support a full show with a wide range of musical and stylistic variety

Unfortunate, but true. I long to hear again the dark, rich, soulful sounds that only a PR hornline could produce under Dan's guidance. No offense to anyone else, but Dan developed hornlines so mighty that their sonorous sound nearly dismantled many a football stadium, unlike any other.