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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/16/2018 in all areas

  1. To add a little here....I’ve heard the powers-that-be complaining about the ever increasing yearly budgets but they never say this has to stop. They just keep complaining.
    5 points
  2. See my post regarding all for a trophy that will gather dust in a schools display case. My director was a crusty old WWII vet who refused to compete. Reasoning was we had some kids with little self confidence and being in band gave them a self of accomplishment and being part of a group. He thought building up these kids to get them ready for life was more important. Part of the conversation was “you know which kids I’m talking about” which put it on a personal level. Kicker was he knew the band parents would be the ones getting nasty if those kids screwed up. Yeah thinking of others... what was his problem (sarcasm)
    5 points
  3. My guess is that for a marching band like Tarpon Springs, a LOT of the show design and operating budget comes from fund-raising by parents/kids, not the public school budget.
    2 points
  4. Quiet is good. At least compared to the three-ring circus of recent years. LOL.
    2 points
  5. Btw I just learned that Cadets’ 2018 drum major is from Franklin, Tn High School, right in my back yard. They have a terrific band, led by a former Phantom Regiment member. https://amp.tennessean.com/amp/1132719002
    2 points
  6. leave it to DCPI to have a bunch of old farts rip apart high school kids---this post is one reason DCPI is such a horrible place to come. I dont know why I do it hoping to actually see anything positive or even somewhat informative. I watched the show live--was great--was not distracting to anyone over the age of 5 -- they sounded great too and have a real shot at winning. If nothing else it was pretty original and no first try at a new direction is never perfect no matter which band or corps you think is the best in the universe, but they are experimenting. Budget, Ill give you because that couldn't be cheap but people come on...you almost all always sound so sour about EVERYTHING here. Your mothers should have taught you, if you dont have something nice to say..... blow up all you want at this response because every time I come here I see this kind of crap that keeps me away for a good few months at least--hope you keep bringing new DCPIers in somehow tho--its here truly to support the marching arts which it needs especially now
    2 points
  7. Nope. I took 2 years off because I didn't like the shows. I know someone who made Cadets but went to march elsewhere because they didn't want to cut their hair. Kids today don't give a flying #### about doing drum corps the way it used to be done. They like that the boundaries keep being pushed, they like the technology being included, the uniforms being what they are now. They respect the past but don't want to do it.
    2 points
  8. Definitely Dindi. I need to hear that again.
    2 points
  9. It should also be noted that TS is one of those bands that kids in other bands usually flock to see perform (if possible). And lots of kids in those bands totally dig what they see and hear. And many of those kids are the next generation of DCI performers. By and large, they're not interested in looking backwards. They were wearing the costume look in their marching bands a few years before we saw them take over DCI. They were playing shows relying on heavy sampling and electronics long before the thunderous goo came to DCI. They've become more accustomed to that stuff and they want the next thing. They want that and they get excited about that, no matter how much the old curmudgeons around here (myself included, at times) would rather those things be kept out. So get used to it. It can't be stopped. For the record, I don't think TS use these props in a particularly interesting or "imaginative" way, but one can clearly see the tremendous creative opportunities they can provide in the right design team's hands. Most notably, the instantaneous ways to add and remove color to the field, to bring the viewers' eyes to the focal point (this was an area where I felt they had trouble as it sometimes created a split focus at the wrong time). All of these concepts can be done in traditional ways, of course, but not like this. Again, if used well. Like any other design method. Sooner or later, we'll see somebody really knock it out of the park with these things. It's only a matter of time.
    2 points
  10. Why won't they move into modern classical music. There is some great modern music to draw from.
    2 points
  11. shoulda been around TOB in 92. Mechanicsburg did a Beauty and the Beast show, and had the teacups etc out there. CV parents made up buttons with teacups on them with a slash thru them ala Ghostbusters. other parents around them got annoyed so the next week they showed up with buttons with CV in place of the teacups. I may complain about spectator behavior at corps shows, but band world takes the cake. thats why i rarely go to a band show unless i am teaching or judging.
    2 points
  12. Oh yes band parents squealing is now the deciding factor in quality of product lol
    2 points
  13. I do, too. My head is spinning. 😂
    2 points
  14. Dang find myself agreeing with Garfield lol. To add to the above adding more of a cushion on the break even point of finances. Always see grumbling about the close of season “need $ now to be able to continue” emails and posts. Thinking new one of “electronics got caught in rain so need...”.
    2 points
  15. It wasn't my first thought, but I do have to wonder if a drum corps that can afford to rent and transport these for a season might better use those assets to provide better conditions for the members' experience. For instance, how many housing nights in a hotel before finals do those buy? How many days of catered meals from local stop-overs while on tour? How much better design and instruction can PC or Academy or Blue Stars buy with the assets they have to spend on props just to get GE. It seems to me that, with a modification in judging criteria that directs attention away from props and more on music education and execution, bands such as Grove City and drum corps like The Academy or PC can present a better challenge to the big shots in both activities without "selling out" (my termj) to the arms race "thing of the year". My next thought was the business structure to own and lease vs. lease and, while surely feasible for a group that has the wherewithal to buy, the trick is to make it available for the activity. Thoughts on that should probably come from a new thread.
    2 points
  16. Fascinating how two people can look at the same thing and have radically different thoughts. I wondered: 1) Did they rent or buy those? 2) I hoped they bought so that they could use to rent out to public in off season as a solid revenue generating opportunity. Addressing your third thought... it is not the job of high school band boosters to solve housing or food challenges. That is not their purpose and there are plenty of government and community programs to address these issues. This is like lamenting over the fact that Beyonce and Jay-Z bought a 13th new house for themselves when that money could be better used by NASA to buy weather balloons.
    2 points
  17. Reagan is amazing this year (as usual). Good luck to you guys at San Antonio, hoping you come out on top.
    2 points
  18. Loved Tarpon's show. Would love to see them live sometime. I think DCI needs more of this...
    2 points
  19. When kids are playing at the level Tarpon does, they have already done a fantastic job with the education part and are focused on performance. This actually has everything to do with music education, in fact, they've nailed it. Listen to their wind ensemble, their jazz band, and try to suggest they don't have music education absolutely locked. This is a program that is 100% about education.
    2 points
  20. Contestant Hila Saxer mentioned on today's episode of Jeopardy that her family members are huge drum corps fans, and stated that a California corps, the Santa Clara Vanguard won this year's championship.
    1 point
  21. I am very happy I taught the band I taught for 24 years. Our parents were ALWAYS positive to the other bands, no matter who the band was. That whole over the top sort of thing is, I am glad to say, alien to us.
    1 point
  22. Interestingly, in most orgs, the two aren't connected and the pressure for designing around props and gimmicks is coming from the designers because they know, from their meetings with DCI, what it will take to win. There's never enough money, period. It doesn't matter how much the corps makes, it's never enough. That's exactly why performance adjudication should not be influenced by the dollars spent on a show designed around props and A&E..
    1 point
  23. i'm teaching my kids irony right now thanks for this
    1 point
  24. Don't make me put you on double secret probation.
    1 point
  25. The band shows I workers, especially the championships... it was like there were 20 different audiences in the course of a day. LOL. Audience members would come in for a group, or sometimes just their particular band, then leave. Next group or next band, in came the parents/fans, then they'd leave. And so on and so forth. Yet somehow, the announcer had to stay for the entire day. OK... not all the time... sometimes the day was split between two or three of us. Sean King in particular was good at making sure that happened. But man... those all-day grinds, with 40-plus bands and Air Grams... never again. LOL
    1 point
  26. Speaking for my (OC) corps only, our props = .33 hotel housing nights 2.5 *nice* catered meals 5 cheap bought meals Now to be fair, our props were just a bunch of wooden columns. Mike
    1 point
  27. Memories of catching hades for yelling out to a corps mate who was helping set up the field for another band. Band parent: you should cheer for your band me: I cheer for me friends (wasn’t even a cheer just telling my buddy he could carry equipment real well lol) kicker was later Jeff’s dad (working with yet another band) came up to watch their show and he sat next to me and my family. Man did I get the hairy eyeball for that one
    1 point
  28. Put your hands on either side of your head to keep it from exploding lol. for me might be the sound of an empty balloon popping but why take chances
    1 point
  29. I completely agree. The poor members of marching band and drum Corps are at the mercy of the creative staffs ideas which is becoming ridiculous. frustrated Broadway and Hollywood wannabes is all they have become. They have proven that they have absolutely no control and exploit every indulgence they think of without even considering what it may or may not add to a show. Not to mention expense and logistics of moving the stuff around. need more proof just look at the recent announcement Crossmen productions? Why don't we just say Newcastle films or Lions gate etc Oh please let me win one of these mega lotteries going on right now. people will see a drum Corps like none other if I have the chance. It would be a lesson in back to basics with a modern execution level
    1 point
  30. had to be here about 7-10 years ago
    1 point
  31. My first impression was that it needed more tarps. Then, use the screens to explain why there were more tarps. Win, win.
    1 point
  32. I remember initially being drawn to DCI because it rewarded the “hard” way to do GE, with innovative drill and visuals. I got into the activity specifically because I found the BOA prop arms race to be lame. I wish DCI would go back to leading the charge instead of piggybacking off of high school bands. Getting high GE scores without props is hard, I get it. That’s what used to make drum corps special though.
    1 point
  33. I didn't watch but if you mean flashing that could be harmful to those with seizure conditions it should not be allowed. Not like the affected people can get up and leave quick. Even if a seizure does not occur it can still make one physically sick.
    1 point
  34. Marching Band! Remember when the band would March and Play music we all recognized? Don't get me wrong, I like it but in my older age I keep asking myself....what is it good for?
    1 point
  35. Watching that video is like seeing Sputnik go up.
    1 point
  36. My opinion? I don’t think it added much.
    1 point
  37. All I was thinking, and I said this on my Facebook page, was how much did those cost?
    1 point
  38. Almost forgot this one, and maybe someone mentioned it earlier, but Blue Devils in 1988 doing their "Happy Days" reprise with all the trumpet soloists up front while the corps marched off the field. This actually my be my fav. Close call between this and Phantom 2003.
    1 point
  39. The complaint many have regarding Phantom and its repertoire is that it has all been done before, and when it comes to some of the masterpieces of the Romantic era, that is true, but there have not been as many “deep cuts.” For example, in 2014 they performed “Swan Lake.” True, they did it in “Winter Palace” in 1987, but instead of digging deeper in the score and using music that has never been used in drum corps, they added film music. I’d love to have some Beethoven and Brahms in shows. There is so much unexplored Dvorak. Suk’s “Fantastc Scherzo” is amazing. The world of opera has great potential for Phantom, and with props becoming the norm, it’s much easier to tell the story. Cavaleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci would make a great show with emotionally gripping music and while “Vesti la Guibba” has been a show stopper in the past, it has never been done as it is found in the opera. I would love to see “Aida” on the drum corps field, all Verdi, no Elton John and Tim Rice. “Tosca” and “Manama Butterfly” would be powerful too. These are some thoughts and probably reflect my tastes more than anything else, but the music is timeless and it could be great for Phantom to make a comeback.
    1 point
  40. I would like to know what happened after 2010?? Into the Light was such a great step towards more modern programming and a fantastic Rosander drill. Turandot was a great follow up but a bit of a step back into their shell. Into the Light was such a fan favorite I’ve always wondered why they immediately went backwards in design? Grumpy old alumni??
    1 point
  41. I had read some of that too. However, it shows why programming that sort of visual moment is just a very bad idea. It is just so very easy to misinterpret things. I've been around 1/2-time shows since 1968 in one form or another. Football crowds are not normally as dialed-in to the band as we might like. They chat with each other, get a snack, hang out, etc...and sometimes take a quick look at the field. They see realistic looking guns being pointed at a police officer and it takes off from there.
    1 point
  42. Yes, you are confused. We agree!
    1 point
  43. I suppose another credible accusation was, sadly, inevitable.
    1 point
  44. Big tactical error for the Crossmen, because when they get towards the end the season then the staff can't push them harder than normal.
    1 point
  45. 1 point
  46. Glassmen 1998 is another one that sticks out to me.
    1 point
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