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I think you mean Harvey Weinstein. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing Michael Feinstein has been accused of is making cheesy recordings of Broadway hits!😊

For anyone “worrying” about a low audition number at a satellite camp don’t. Seen the same thing with other top corps and trust me, Boston will be loaded!

I wanted to mention this, but wasn’t sure how to work it in to a DCI World Class discussion. Marian Catholic has made Finals at Grand Nationals for 34 years in a row (up until this year when they came in 15th), while winning 7 times (three of which were in a row). The streak of 34 years in a row making Finals, considering there are about 100 of the best bands in the country that start out in Prelims, is a streak that is unparalleled in any organized activity. Factor in that they are a private school with the high cost of a Catholic education (I don’t believe any of the Finalist bands this year are private schools), and lower enrollment and budget compared to their competition as a result, and it is even more amazing. Marian’s enrollment I believe is a little over 1000, while this year’s Grand Nationals Champion, Carmel High School from IN, is about 5000. Marian’s tuition is probably close to $10,000/year, while Carmel’s is free. So it becomes difficult to ask Marian’s parents to contribute more financially to their children’s band activities. I can only guess at Carmel’s budget, and would say that it easily is nowhere near Marian’s. Someone suggested that these top national public band programs’ budgets could easily be in the $250k/year range. Suffice it to say that Marian probably won’t be using 10 giant video screens any time soon in their shows. Greg Bimm, the director at Marian for all 34 of those years (and more) is a legend and a master at what he does. He does have a couple of assistants as well, which are brilliant in their own right. One of Greg’s past assistants that he had for a while left to take another high-profile national job at Wando High School in South Carolina - this year Wando came in 6th. Congratulations to Marian for being one of the (and possibly the) best band program in the country - because their success isn’t limited to just marching either - for all these years.

Me too !..They're going be in Texas then. We'll get to see them when they're back in Florida for the entire Corps ( Guard included ) April Camp, God willing.

Hopefully had a good turnout at PASIC this weekend., I get the sense they are moving fast toward next summer.

I have mentioned this. State certification lists need checked and credible reports need to be investigated. Guys like Moody and Atchison were mentioned on here years ago, but the background checks cleared so they stayed until enough of a stink was raised.

I knew someone would be thinking along the same line (I'm sure many do.) Let's face it, the man is a malignant narcissist. I wouldn't be shocked if somehow a claim of NPD was brought forward. In this case (if I remember the way the specific law works,) NPD is still considered a "Character Disorder" which wouldn't offer any protection from a legal perspective. Many of his so called "apologies" from the old "yeahguy" blog site seemed to certainly point to this type of character flaw. His messages always seemed to be devoid of actual empathy and had that air of "sorry (not sorry) if your feelings got hurt but you have to accept me as I am." Malignant narcissists are only fearful of being caught....it's the only thing that tempers their control tactics. I guess in hindsight, he must have felt safe since, until this story broke, he was continuing to get away with his actions from his rants all the way trough to the allegations of sexual abuse / misconduct. I'm glad the victims found the voice to come forward. I'm certain there will be more.

Yes, but. Consider how many bands at Grand Nationals were from Indiana or adjacent states... Of 12 bands in Finals, 3 were from Indiana and 1 each were from Illinois and Ohio. That's 5. (The rest divided up as follows: 2 were from Oklahoma, and 1 each were from Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas.) Of 37 bands in Semifinals, 11 were from Indiana, 4 each were from Illinois and Ohio, and 2 each were from Kentucky and Michigan. That's 23. (The rest: 3 from Oklahoma, 2 each from Missouri and Tennessee, and 1 each from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.) Of 108 bands in Prelims, 33 were from Ohio, 14 each were from Indiana and Kentucky, 6 were from Michigan, and 5 were from Illinois. That's 72. Expand out one more state and there were 8 from Tennessee, 4 from Missouri, 2 from Pennsylvania, and 1 each from Iowa, West Virginia and Wisconsin. That's 89 out of 108 bands who hailed from within two states of Indiana. (Here's how the rest fell out: 3 each from North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina, 2 from Arkansas, and 1 each from California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, and Utah.) In other words, Grand Nationals is overwhelmingly a Midwest event, with a very modest dash of bands from other parts of the country.

Wes was the Dean of Drum Corps Announcers. Standing on the starting line as he gave your corps' introduction was an uplifting experience. At that moment, he made you believe you were the most important people on the planet. You were what was happening. The confidence boost was palpable. It takes a special individual to achieve that. Wes Hobby was a Drum Corps giant.

Sad news. I first discovered Wes Hobby’s voice listening to LP drum corps albums in 1965. Had never met him, but he seemed to be a part of all the major event recordings. I needed to have him! Years later, I had the good fortune to hire Wes to announce our Allentown event. I remember my initial telephone call to his home. I knew right away that was Wes on the other end of the line! It was surreal for me. Cool thing about Wes, he could also speak French. Came in handy with Les Diplomats and other Canadian corps who made the trip to Allentown. We had a good time during those earlier days. May he Rest In Peace.

I like seeing where they have rehearsal days for layering the show but it is a pretty steady flow of shows. Eat em up Boston.

There is thread above on the recently released 2019 DCI Tour Schedules for the DCI Corps. Here is Boston's 2019 Summer Tour schedule ( from their website ) :

Far from fretting my third from the left friend in my latest profile photo. Back to my latest Joseph Finder novel.

You can do something about that. Buy a ticket now for a quick getaway weekend.

I still wish they were in Florida in February. ::pouting::

Good observation Ghost. You are astute to notice this change.. Boston will compete in 24 regular season show competitions this summer... 27 in total, counting Indy Championships. This is purposefully down 5 shows this summer from last seasons scheduled 32 and for reasons already cited by you others ( R & R, and proper spacing time to practice, and perfect the show as needed before Indy, and so forth ) BD, for just one example, has rarely had more than 30 show competitions in a season the last 10-15 years or so either. Its usually in the 26-28 total shows range as well.

Not to fret, Ghost. Boston 's overall auditioneer numbers.. all sections... that have registered so far to attend one of the Corps newly expanded national site locations and/ or make application thru a video submission for staff's evaluations this off season, is reportedly going exceedingly well so far.

They have great turnouts in Florida. Just saying. Love me some BAC and wishing I was seeing them in February.

A little CrownGuard action

The quote you answered in this post is attributed to Tim K, not me. I'm not nearly that smart.

I'm not sure if this is an accurate analysis. Of course the "local bands"can attend annually while other bands from further away may attend every other or every fourth year Perhaps taking a long view would provide a more accurate picture of attendance at BOA. Some local bands go every year - pumping up those #s As far as "best of the best" I would argue that tends to be the most competitive competition each year - not every top band is there, but many are

Thanks I get the names confused...

The entire old website was much better. As for 2019, Winston-Salem and Flo for me. Maybe Lexington, SC. We'll see, I'm not a huge fan of driving four hours round trip for a 5 corps show.

Dam, this is getting good! This should make up for the corps Code of Silence most Winters.

So I was looking something up in the program for the Ohio Music Education Association state marching band finals I attended two weeks ago, when I belatedly noticed an ad for this. The Contemporary Youth Orchestra, an organization based here in Cleveland, has a concert starting in fifteen minutes that features "Mesh!", a concerto for drumline and orchestra, written by Mike McIntosh and featuring members of the Cavs drumline. I can't make it myself, unfortunately.

PFFFFF!!!!! Was it a Shoebox card???

The different reactions is a big part of my training every year. That's why if someone feels uncomfortable they have to let someone know be it the person making them uncomfortable or someone higher up. After the other person finds they are doing something objectionable they have to stop. Yep one person has no problem and another does. Duty of the person who finds it objectionable to make their feelings heard. And the big piece is what to do if the person you are supposed to report to is the person causing the problem

That is a difficult question to answer. Two people reacting to the exact same stimulus may have different reactions, from being angry, uncomfortable, to brushing it off to even feeling happy, depending on the stimulus and how they individually interpret it. A person who does have a negative reaction...made to feel uncomfortable, should be able to make that known to the person who making them feel that way, but we all have different mindsets and experiences. I just wrote "Of course, I am not talking about obvious harassment", but I deleted it because what I may think is "obvious" someone else may not. How neutered do we want interpersonal interactions to be as a society, let alone in drum corps? If a person DOES feel uncomfortable with how they are being treated, they should be able to state that without fear of reprisal or being made fun of. The person who made them feel that way needs to understand the differences between people as individuals.

If a person is doing what GH did in secret (obviously), and as they happened none of the victims ever made a report, then there would be nothing a background check of any type would uncover. There needs to be some sort of public evidence for a check to uncover something. Esp going way back to the 80's, my guess is those victims were horrified, ashamed and just unable to come forward. Heck, they did not come forward by name as early as this past January. That has to change, and if the @metoo movement does anything good, it is a chance to change everybody's approach to monsters like GH.

during the ballad maybe - the rest of the show will be FAST

So I was looking at pictures of IWU's stadium on their website out of curiosity, and guess who made a cameo on the track behind the new stadium...

Now I look at my work travel schedule to see if I can pop in to a show somewhere. Thanks for the grid. It shows where good lineups are so much better.

I sent him a card and told him DCP was thinking of him in his time of struggle 😂

Nice job on the spreadsheet. I think it is missing Orlando on July 6th for Crown, right?

He’s not a punchline now. He’s a cautionary tale.

Boston held it's first audition camp this weekend. Any updates on attendance or success of the camp?

"This Corps is made of Giants..." ❤️❤️ | ❤️ | ❤️❤️❤️

What a great interview with Michael Townsend at marching round table....this gave me a new found appreciation for color guard...and how to get students to achieve at such a high level...Well worth the listen IMO... https://www.marchingroundtable.com/2018/10/25/754-creating-a-competitive-color-guard/

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.

I don't see the need for major changes. They are in the right direction in terms of design. They are going to be amazing!

I was at the Indy airport on Sunday after finals and awaited my flight home. I was seated at a table with three open chairs and offered one to a jacketed Cavalier laden with luggage. He mistook the dark green (Jets) shirt I was wearing as a Cavies alum-wear. He sat down anyway, tour tired and all that. We chatted about people we mutually knew in the organization while he was soon joined by four other Cavie mms and new age-outs. By the end of the time, ten Cavies had passed through the table conversation and Evan from Box 7 ministries had also joined. It was a most worthwhile hour or so which I wished I had taped. After the backstory season admins at all corps have had this summer, they should relish in what I heard. Unprompted except for the question I asked: "what did you like best about your season?," all ten readily and immediately chimed in about how each had grown as a man from the beginning of ST to banquet, how they felt changed and challenged, how they felt obligated to keep the growth moving forward and how that obligation had to echo in their community generosity at home, at school, and in the larger community. (I am deliberately here choosing words which they used and echoed often, not scripted but pivotal from the heart.) They joked about putting up Kevin LeBoeuf for canonization for his leadership with humor, how they learned White Heat Playing techniques from the Martins, how they were pushed to maxim by the percussion staff. In the end it wasn't about placement or rings but maturity and being a gentleman. Several spoke about how the first four days of ST and afterwards challenged their spirituality or lack of, their attitudes about others, and their respect for family and authority. As an educator who has worked for churches and schools as well as drum corps, I heard the life-long lessons any teacher dreams will be the success for our students. Well done, Cavaliers. May this be repeated in 2019. Isn't it one of the major goals of drum corps? And as I said to the Green Team mms as we parted, thanks for their candor, their enthusiasm, but mostly their honesty and self-searching. They are better men for it. Move it forward.

. Why wouldn't George cross the road? There were no hash marks.

The punch line comes from a two-part video that went viral amongst us DCP denizens maybe three years ago...the one with the two cartoon bears where someone could enter their own dialogue and see the bears move their lips and recite what was entered. The answer for all sorts of questions was, "George Hopkins." Check out 6:35 through 7:12.As for the bad rap part...I think it's because George has been willing to say, write and propose things that many other directors wanted to say, write and propose, but didn't have the guts to do so. George is quite passionate about throwing things out there and seeing what sticks, in the belief that in doing so, things more forward. He got a lot of grief over proposing amplification and then electronics, but those were things many others wanted, but didn't want to stick their necks out. However, those proposals passed and even some who voted "no" at the DCI Rules Congresses were hopeful they would pass, but voted "no" for a variety of reasons...such as to not honk off their fan base. I've written this more than once...If George Hopkins didn't exist, we would have to invent him.

Although this is pretty #### funny

You just opened Pandora's box.