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Everyone: Tone down some of the body movement. It's gratuitous and can (and often does) distract from some really great musical moments. Sometimes less is more. If it must be done, then it's time to evolve to something other than the inward knee bends and leaning your torso one way or the other. Make it matter. Movement for the sake of movement is silly.

Everyone needs more contra

Everyone needs no synth doubling

He said the equivalent of haters gonna hate. Are we gonna act like you don't do the same in the crown thread like a guard dog?

get all of your #### you've been holding back in there and clean the #### out of everything. if you aren't adding more, just clean the #### out of everything. that message applies to every corps everywhere

You are concerned about the 'what'... I'm concerned about the 'why'. The day that the organization stops seeming to project its victimization in its program material, will be a very good day for the Cadets.

I don’t understand the hate for Scouts. They have significantly improved over the past few weeks! Well done.

I’m sure there will be none of that. 🌝

Flo is fine. Can people stop whining yet?

Wow! thank you so much for posting this - I needed it and ended up watching the whole thing. When did we lose our sense of humor in drum corps? I loved it.

I followed around a division II corps for five seasons. They all deserve love.

I’m glad these corps got to shine tonight! 💕💕💕

For Crown supporters, just about everything we put out here that in any way offers a modicum of support or optimism for what remains of the ‘19 DCI season, is invariably met with push back, skepticism, and on occasion outright hostility. No walls on DCP, and I embrace posters’ rights to express their thoughts on whatever thread they wish. Dunno. Been a fan of the activity [DCI] since it’s inception, Crown fan for 10 yrs, and a seasonal denizen of DCP for the better part of that. Not once in that time, have I felt compelled to rag on another corps. Hell, I recall being on both the Tilt and DS Up bandwagons and totally blown away with Felliniesque. My loyalties are with Crown, but I’m mindful of why I was drawn to drum corps in the first place: the insanely talented folks that produce and execute a musical production on a football field that rises to the level of an art form, unique in its own right. I’m sure this Polly Anna(ish) diatribe will open me up to broadside or 10, so sound General Quarters and standby for incoming. And, as always, Go Crown!

Thank you for the kind words everyone. It's been a lot of fun in our first year of DCI Open Class competition. We have a small group of hardworking, dedicated kids who strive to be the best they can be. Ya can't ask for any more than that!

Ah yes, the heady days of the 60s and 70s where every corps recycled the same ten tunes over and over and over again, often times many years in a row. Here's your trophy for the worst idea expressed on DCP this summer. The competition was fierce, but you outdid them all. It's a tremendous honor.

last year worked because, in a year they needed to celebrate everything "Cadets", they did it with tweaks right up to the end. But then again, having to do serious rewrites last spring given the, uh, other issue slowed them down. Going forward is the design team needs to A) be on the same page from day 1 and B), not have defections in the spring. Oh and C....stop having serious rewrites early on.

More cowbell...

Well, I'll have to make a judgment for myself next year on it. At least 6 of us abstain from voting on that right now, me and the other Five Guys.

Blue Devils: 7 Golds and 5 Silvers in the last 12 years. Keep doing what you are doing. You are giving us dominance we may never see again in our lifetime. Don't listen to the outside noise that really doesn't matter. With the success you have achieved, some will not like what you do regardless of what you put on the football field. You could come out and march a entire show at 230bpm with break neck drill ending in a massive company front with the horn line achieving volumes that push the stands off their foundation. Guess what........some will still find something to complain about. So who cares what they think. If they don't like your props, or staging etc, they know how to logoff flomarching and not watch your show. Stay the course, stay true to yourselves, and Do it up Devils.

The crown thread the past 3 years has been comedy gold

nope same old ending to tour....Indianapolis, again.

Good run by the boys who used to be green.

I actually enjoyed this evening. I know the show to the north is probably more exciting but it was good to see these corps show what they've got ... and they gave it their all. And I noticed some positive changes for Madison and Spirit. Now I have to go pack ... Katy tomorrow and San Antonio on Saturday ... I can't wait!!!!!!

Love the show! posted from the DrumScorps app

Some will hate me but I am annoyed by a show titled neon underground with literally no neon. Not even when color is introduced. Still muted.

Music city should sell packages of cheese at their souvirs booth just saying

Cute show, MC. Imagine. Very nice! 👏👏👏👏 🧀🐭

the lack of new performance videos since July 10th weekend is hurting my soul

While I cannot pretend to know the stresses and time management involved in producing a show that is highly competitive in 2019, I do have enough time on the drum corps design and teaching clock to have some opinions as to what some corps need to do now in order to perhaps best elevate their shows knowing that such time for change, balanced with cleaning time, is now crucial. What is your advice for certain corps? My offerings: BD: Make prop movement and uniform change produced and not perfunctory. Year after year of you doing this has gotten old, frustrating. Could be seen as ego-driven and not at all artistic. SCV: Make the styles pop more, especially the funk/rock moments of your show. Add more moments that communicate emotion and not simply headiness and angst. Bloo: Though nearly a seamless and super entertaining show, is there one more notch up at the end that uses some velocity and drive that makes a ring guaranteed? Boston: The ending is the crux for me. The Goliath character and his death comes across as silly, and not a highly produced moment. It is hard to get past. Crown: Bravo. A brilliant show from top to bottom. Stellar, actually. Checks all the current boxes. Is there room to add something that represents an attempt to push the activity forward? Cavies: A clever show, well performed, that seems to need more visual variety and a bit of push toward innovation. BK: This is a stunner. Best since 2015. Fix the balance issues between Front ensemble, battery, and brass and history will be made. Cadets: Your drive is evident. The finesse and clarity of the show narrative is not. The new ending is better but not enough. "Do better" comes across as cliche and bando. PR: Clean, Clean, Clean. Crossmen: Your best offering in a long time. It is hard in 2019 to move up. Cleaning will help, especially on the percussion caption. Mandarins: It's a good one. Your best showing ever. Moving up in 2019 is tough. The public hanging is in poor taste. Really poor taste. Comes across as an immature and shallow decision. Blue Stars: Keep fighting in critique that your are super unique and fresh, yet accessible in the activity. Clean, Clean, Clean. SOA: Cool show. Clean. Emote. Enjoy the experience. While making finals is possible, the overall summer experiences more important.

Can not wait until tomorrow lol

If you can’t be with the one you love then love the one you’re stuck with. Love 💕 you Flo!

For anyone who wants to see what the new ending added to the Velvet Knights' 1992 show, this is the video link to their semifinal performance (need to unmute the audio to listen to it). The famous "crocodile" had not yet made its debut. But, after watching this I realized that the "King of the Monsters" was yet ANOTHER finals night addition. Given that VK missed the cut for finals the year before, and were far from a sure bet to make it to finals the following night, how the hell did they manage to hold back two of their best gags until the finals performance? VK 1992 Semifinal - Magical Mystery Tour III Seeing the irreverence of the drum majors during intros and the whole setup with the pit dressed as airport runway workers brings back just how much audiences loved this corps. They were silly, but also dead serious about entertaining and winning over the crowd.

I'm gonna try to get the crowd to do it as the corps enters the field in Allentown instead of the standard blooooo. maybe if we try this at enough shows it will catch on before finals

So now back to the topic of Denton. Not licensing, not Flo, not griping about streaming. It's a big show. Talk about that. Start a separate thread for Flo complaints. Maybe also look at the Wildlife in the DCP thread and see where you fall in: Are you The Know It All? ThreadEnder perhaps? Maybe the Hijacker? Let's try for Topic Follower.

Bluecoats - The ending is like the icing on a sweet, sweet cake, but a part of me still can't help but feel like it's not quite enough. Not so much the way that it ends, as much as the fact that the little tag ending is very, very short. It's like the audience has just had a chance to sit back down and finish clapping, and the tag ending is practically over. Crown - I know it's too late in the season to change, but the lack of contrast in the guard and corps proper is such a poor choice. It's especially disappointing given how well integrated the guard is in the drill at points during the show, but it's hard to tell because of how muted their presence is due to the plain color palette. Boston - MY SHOT MY SHOT MY SHOT *mumblemumblemumble* MY SHOT MY SHOT. Enough, guys. Regardless of what you add to your show (which is otherwise pretty tremendous as-is), certain changes need to be made with voice-overs that are currently coming across as a bit juvenile in an otherwise fairly mature show. They were smart enough to make some changes in 2018 (live vocal of Amazing Grace to pre-recorded helped significantly), but in both 2017 and 2019 have missed the mark with voice-overs in some regards. 2017 was the cringey "nooooooooooooo" yell, and 2019 is the extreme over-use of My Shot, especially hearing the extended incoherent rambling of Lin Manuel Miranda's voice during the tenor feature. If you can't even make out what's being said, is it relevant? Also, the David vs. Goliath battle could use some clarity - sound effects don't make sense. The Cadets - Pacing in general is awkward, so I'm not sure there's a way to fix that at this point other than work on transitions from segment to segment. Do Better is just an incredibly awkward take on New Era, and the chanting could probably go and wouldn't make a difference. Blue Knights - Hurt is a bit awkward. For a show that's so layered in every other respect, the bare-bones ballad solo falls flat (and it's by no means the member at fault). Spirit - One uniform change too many... I don't understand why there are three uniforms, and the all-white ones look really messy on the field. Groove and electronics need to be addressed during "You and Me." Falls a bit flat at the moment. Color Wheel is fantastic. Phantom - Please record a new voice-over for "I Am Joan" that doesn't sound like an angry teenager finding out her local Starbucks is out of Pumpkin Spiced Lattes.

And double up on contras

I disagree with this sentiment. How well did not listening to outside advice work for the Cadets after a decade or more of dominance? Cavaliers? While a BD fan, I too grow tired of the rock back and forth go-to-body we have seen for five or six years, the numerous scatter transitions that are under produced, the over balance of the intellectual versus the emotional, re-using musical devices that are too similar to past year's, needing a detailed pamphlet to get the show arc. If you are a defensive BD fan, you won't agree that any of these things are negative but perhaps "signature" Devil-isms. While one could make that argument, such doesn't change the fact that others of us want to see the corps evolve more than it has.

If “your” once elite corps was in 16th place last year and headed for 17th place this year, yeah, I can understand the crankiness. On the other hand, flushing your longstanding executive director and staff and basically starting over, while still remaining well within the top 12..... we should be breaking out the frisbees and beach balls and having ourselves a party! Now, if only all these corps could be done with their obsession over the ridiculous looking body contortions, that would really be a big step in the right direction. Whoever made up the notion that this is necessary should be hit with a sock full of pennies. Rhetorically speaking of course. Simultaneous demand my azz.

Little 🧀-y

Very nice, Genesis! 👍👍👍👍🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌

Umm no, OBVIOUSLY they used:

Sound way more mature than Surf of the past couple years.

I am about to spend the evening with some friends at my favorite brewery... sooooo.... GO CAVALIERS!!!!! SPLOOIE AND WELCOME TO TEXAS MEN!

Happy to see MCDC tonight! posted from the DrumScorps app

yeah the article was wrong, because Bluecoats beat BD last year in Katy Texas. and no, it is never over until finals night. we will see if BD can catch Bluecoats or if Bluecoats can do enough to stay on top.

Phantom needs to part ways with Pitts, his arrangements are suited more for BOA and lets face it PR has not been able to get back on track since he has been there. Nice moment in 2008 as a DM, but time to go..

it's already beating BD head to head, and they haven't even added the changes they are currently working on which I hear are fantastic.

That is the world today. Everyone is angry and offended by everyone and everything. Everyone is worried about everyone else and what they are saying and doing. Social media can surely be blamed for some of this. I have always told my kids to worry about yourself, your family, and your friends. Don't worry about what everyone else is saying and doing. Its non-productive. My name is FlamMan and I approve this message.

I had occasion to chat with a couple of judges a few weeks ago as I shuttled them to and from a show. Both made the observation that many designers are doing things simply to show they can do them rather than making an artistic statement. The result is actually counterproductive, as the density of "effects" means nothing really stands out. In this regard, less is more. A great example of how to do it right comes from SCV's ballad in '18. The hit towards the end of "My Body is a Cage" is the single most powerful and emotional moment I've experienced in 35 years of being in and around drum corps. All they did was put their horns up. But that simple move had a devastating impact, swinging the hammer before nailing you to the wall.