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I think Crown’s percussion guy is young. He looks young to me but that’s practically everyone nowadays.

Please show your work.

Mine too ... Who are you again? 😂

Agreed! I revisit it with frequency. It truly does check all of the boxes for any drum corps fan --- a vague storyline that was insanely clear without being heavy-handed (and unique at the same time....how many other "death comes for the bride and then eventually the groom and they're reunited happily in the afterlife" shows have we seen? I would imagine the number would be close to zero), full hummable melodies and the use of well-known repertoire, the bizarre choice of ending with the ballad that proved to be one of the best choices they could have made, the xylobones, the beautifully written (and performed!) flugelhorn solo in Unchained Melody...ah. Seriously. I could wax poetic about that show all day long. Impeccable design choices for every detail, large & small. What I also love is that they were comfortably in Finals after Prelims & Semis; Boston was of course the corps that memorably knocked Madison out, meaning that the show is one of the few isolated Finalist events that isn't really viewed as knocking someone else out, so there's really no bad blood towards this show from anyone --- fans or members who competed against it.

Whitewater was my favorite. Even with the mosquitoes. Worst: any baseball park. Always threw my perspective way off.

I remember liking many of the ballads. OTTOMH, favorite ballads so far: Cavaliers Crown Bloo Santa Clara (does no one else like this?) Phantom Pacific Crest Music City

Cavies put out a great show

I never adjusted to the Scouts’ historic uniform. I understand the reason for a tribute and history, of course. Was hoping they would eventually switch to dark green trousers. The show itself showed regular improvement and was enjoyable at Indy (as seen on Flo). The look, however was too bland for my eyes. Honestly, my first impression of that look was telling me “Army Band from Indonesia.” Hoping for more color next year and success with coed. Coed with swagger, that is!

I think I would choose Valkyrie.

Academy 2016. Game over. Thanks for playing, God Bless you goodnight.

band and Wgi is where the experimentation takes place.

That was easy.

I think DCI attendance is already at capacity, and has been so for several years. I’m not referring to total season attendance, but ‘individual event” capacity. In-person attendance at Saturday Indy Finals is not going to increase significantly. Our events are what I call “venue limited.” to the amount of good/decent seats available between the front hundred yards. No matter what production enhancements are introduced, live, in-person audience capacity is pre-determined at every venue on the schedule. Simply raising ticket prices each year is problematic. Because entertainment needs to remain attractive to prospective fans who replace fans who drop out, the current enhancements were necessary to keep-up. A little like Country Music taking on a Rock Concert persona. Revenue growth will be found outside of in-person ticket sales. It is essential to have a showcase like Flo Marching Arts channel. But, Flo has made some bad decisions that are not helpful to the cause. Bumbling Marching Arts’ main event is inexcusable.

Oh god Academy 2016!!!! And if you think otherwise you're wrong. Not that I meant to break it to you so bluntly, but that doesn't make it any less so. I still listen to that show fairly often. It has aged incredibly well and is chock full of wonderful music. Every design decision is impeccable.

When DCI started after the '71 season and the Rules Congress's that immediately followed, the number 128 was agreed upon at the intervention of and plea of Bob Holton, at that time the director of the then St. Andrew's CYO Bridgemen of Bayonne, NJ. (At that time the St. Andrew's Bridgemen wore cadet-style white jackets and shako, gold trim, and black pants.) The idea of the Congress was to maintain a clear but full marching, manuvering, and musical activity in which as many kids as possible could participate. At the time, the usual corps was much smaller but Bob said his corps actually had two hundred members if he did not audition and place limits on participation. Don Warren, Jim Jones, Rick Maas (a judge from the Central States Judging Association) and various corps directors debated the point for a half hour. At that time, insurance also required adult supervision (read adult chaperones) on each bus of minors. Bob Holton showed that in 3 buses with chaperones and mms, 128 mms could be accomodated. The drill writers liked the number because of the way it could be subdivided evenly. The vote in favor was almost unanimous with some objection from a few smaller corps who have since faded away from my memory. I was present for this meeting and for the subcommittee, full committee, and voting sessions for the first five congresses; I voted in favor of the motion.

I marched in US Open twice. ‘76 and ‘78. We also were at the Key to the Sea show in Toledo in ‘76. I think it was at the Glass Bowl at the University of Toledo but don’t hold me to that. I remember we had a little trouble with the locals. It was always hilarious to me that six guys in an old Impala were up for messing with 128 people.

My very first show in '73 was at the US Open - I still have seat cushions with the logo printed on them. I started my marching career in '74 at the Marion Cadets - I remember the parade mile around the Marion loop around town and the HUNDREDS of buses in the parking lot bringing throngs to the bleachers in that podunk stadium. I was at Clipper's stadium every year, including the year Hopkins ignored the warning to not march on the pitcher's mound... Wow, flashbacks... A fellow snare player from Troy, OH borrowed $20 then stiffed me. I never forgave him but I admit to remembering it more than the trip to Whitewater. Heh, memory fades.

My memory is seriously faulty. 😂

Memory is a tricky thing. I am not going to trust my memory, so I went through some publications from back in the day. Evidently, 135 was the maximum size in 1975, and the change to 128 was made at some point prior to the 1976 season, most likely the rules congress held in November of 1975. Consider this excerpt from a Jerry Seawright interview by Steve Fain in Drum Corps World, vol. 5 no. 1 (April 1976), p. 11-12:

Memorial Stadium in Baltimore had the bleeping pitchers mound. Dust cloud every time someone would go over it. Aquinas/Hollander in Rochester had horrible lighting one year. We had black uniforms and people just disappeared

Best: Can’t decide between BC and Manning Bowl. Hard: It really wasn’t hard, but the 65 VFW Nationals in the McCormack Place sure as helll was different.

This year’s show felt like Cavies, at least to me. Some of the moves, especially by the guard, were amazing and looked borderline dangerous, just some of the great shows of yesteryear.

Still not afraid... 🙂 I am proud of the corps and what they have done the past few years and especially this past season. It's going to be fun in 2020!!!

Heartliners' admin/volunteers were a fundamental part of our trip to Austria. We rented their box truck and line of Yamaha horns, and one of their members filled in on cymbals. They were great crew that stuck with us during the trip and gave us lots of insight about the activity in their neck-of-the-woods.

well said. emphasis is my own.

Academy 2016 is one of my favorite shows, period!

I love how they blended the Wagner with the Zeppelin. I mean who would have thought?

I always tried to keep a totally open mind when watching PR this year. The show theme, the concept, the meanings...blah. Didn't care to get it nor did I try. From a pure is this corps entertaining me with their music, I got on board. I'm hardly an expert on design, drill and guard, but musically to me, PR seemed more like the PR I know and have loved for years, despite their placement.

I think there are multiple ways to adjust costuming to fit today's expectations and trends and yet still honor traditions. The Cavies have done this reasonably well, such as having drum majors always in a classic Cavaliers look (even if not always all green). BD does it reasonably well, too. PR struggles, though I like it when they bring back the helmets. No matter. For me, there are higher priorities for the Scouts going forward than great fussing over traditional or modern uniforms. Staffing, design, recruiting, etc. Should be an interesting - exciting, I think - year for all things Scouts. Will be great to see them take the field next June.

Ditto. Once they focused less on and toned down the guitars, I found that show much more entertaining.

Whatever corps do, I hope the copycat mindset we usually see does not become the flavor of the day, meaning: Bluecoats show was great. But I don't want to see the best of Led Zeppelin, Queen, Prince, John Williams etc., etc. I want more original shows created with whatever "theme" can be designed and developed musically and visually. I would prefer more movement integrating all sections as a cohesive visual element and less sectional "staged" presentations. Make staging more organic versus contrived. I am tiring of park and play and sense we are seeing the beginning of guard park and dance or park and toss. Do all that on the move. I want drum lines who purport to be great drum lines play more than it seemed to me they were doing last year. One top corps percussion section stayed out for over 3 minutes. Not a sound. Another was pretty close to that as well. And fewer stage hands would be nice. "Hi Mom, I paid $4,000 to push a prop around for half a show. It was a great drum corps experience". Be creative, pick great music, write great drill and entertain the he$$ out of us. Thank you. Rant over. Looking forward to next year. Overall it was an amazingly competitive year. Congrats to all, good luck to all.

They actually worked with Govies on their international trip in June to much success! They were able to bounce back, though I'm not sure if they'll ever head over to DCA again. I was marching the last time they were here; and they were friendly, and fun. Loved their airplane themed show 🙂

I also thought that Crown should have jumped past Vanguard.

Colts were definitely in my top six. I loved that show. And the costume change! I could really feel some passion from those kids. They enjoyed performing their show.

Nope.

Since you brought it up - An organization that have 7 DCI titles should not be toooting their own horn over stretching out a point and change over the Boston Crusaders in one season. In other words if that is indeed Cavaliers victory lap for the year, then the organization need to set new goals.

Other than for childlike attention, is there any reason you'd say this without mentioning names? C'mon.

I think of it like a Jordan jumper from 32' out. Nothin' but net and sweet as pie.

Same with the Southern Knights' last score. Ancient history. LOL

I think the top six will be very very close all year. Would not be shocked if Crown or Bluecoats won another title. Cadets picked a bad time to rebuild. They could be improved next year and not move up. They desperately need to reestablish their brass caption, and with six destination corps that is going to be very hard to do quickly.

STOP - ALL electronics, including miking individuals STOP - Running and scatter drill STOP - tarps and excessive props Start doing more marching and lowering score for bad marching Start figuring out a way to award MMs for good performance of bad show design (i.e. Phantom Regiment) Start banning WGI judges from juding DCI Change show designs to involve more difficult drill and no more body movement AND Form a separate division for Stage Performances AND anonthher thing, no prerecorded anything..

Would be great for Brandon to stay active within the organization in some capacity.

GIVE IT A REST Hell Decapitation, immolation, impalement Romeo & Juliet & variants Verticality GIVE IT A TRY Joy Deep genre: Blues, Latin, anything. Go all in. GIVE IT A TWIST Speaker deployment that puts everyone between the goal lines in the Blast Zone. They say it's all about acoustic "enhancement." Well, let's enhance the fan experience. Don't amplify: Expand. Make the experience on the 17 just as good as the experience on the 47.

Oh, honey.

consistent at every venue in indoor? Wow sign me up for those venues!

For about a year DCA did have access to videos of older shows. Forget what they called it but was part of purchasing DCA Prelims/Finals in 2006 IIRC. Then the copyright legal mess kicked in and bye bye to that. Saw an old link when I was setting up my laptop for DCI. And huge reason for 1993 and 2005 improvement it’s one word and one letter.... Class A

i'm for moving finals if it makes sense. I have asked dozens of times, and have yet to ever get a totally straight answer: what is the average attendance of out of NE shows? Yes, some fans will travel no matter what, but many won't. At finals ticket prices, you won't get a ton of walk up tickets. Winston Salem, a market with no real DCA history at all, drew i think 3500 people, and as many excuses for why attendance wasn't higher...yet the monster truck show across the street at half the price drew 4 times the crowd size. How do I know about the crowd size? I went, and in the Sunday morning paper, the truck show was covered, the DCA show wasn't. is the marketing in place to draw at least that many people in say Minnesota or Atlanta? hell the marketing happening now has 2/3 of the stadium not sold 2 weeks before finals. The move would probably kill the alumni show, but I think that could actually help DCA financially

I want to say thank you to the Blue Devils organization. Over the past several years, it has been my privilege to host the corps. Yesterday, while my daughter was out in San Francisco, she ran into someone affiliated with the organization. After a brief conversation, this person realized she was my daughter and bought her lunch in thanks for my hosting the corps. Even outside the season, the corps always represents with the class that is Blue Devils.

Another season is in the books. The corps administration, staff, and members should be proud. They put on a show that the entertained crowds all season. I think they were underscored in several captions, but that is water under the bridge. We all know that Finals scores tend to go down for the bottom six regardless of their actual performances being better. It's a judging thing. Their Finals score was the highest the corps produced since 2002. Their Percussion improved greatly during the season. The Color Guard was stellar and will be remembered beyond this season. DM Lydia Marshall set a new standard for Drum Majors as a thematic participant in the show. She will also be remembered beyond this season and I hope she returns next year. I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't heavily recruited by some higher ranked corps. The Design Staff swung for the fences this year. I can't wait to see what they do next year. But, stay aggressive. It suits the corps very well.

Well not just the guard aspects but WGI went away from "marching" and drill a long time ago. It's all about staging. There is movement away from traditional "drill" in favor of staging your elements.