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The consistent comment I heard about BK's corps' percussion voicing for 2019 was musical, musical, musical. As a non-drummer it was great to hear something other than aggressive banging working out testosterone over-dosing coming out of a corps' battery. Wherever the dynamic duo lands, I hope their summer efforts of 2019 set a new direction for DCI percussion.

With the blessing, none.

This is what happens when you have too many boilermakers.

Fair question. I know that there when I was there, there were not many UW students (in the marching band or in the School of Music... two almost completely district pools of students) that marched DCI. I know of three in the last decade, although I bet that number is slightly low. That may change going forward with the regime change in the UW band, but the most consistent source of Scouts from the state of Wisconsin in the last decade has been UW-Eau Claire, not any other high school or University. And yes, there are auditions held there for the last few years. My larger point is that this fantasy of a viable top-tier corps drawing on local talent, playing the old hits, rehearsing at Madison East HS... it's a vapor in the air. It's as far from reality now as the days of one-handed bugle hold were from the time when the Scouts started to become mostly non-local in their membership in the early 80s.

My Drum Corps World show recap is out! https://www.gaminnet.info/?p=5939

The color guard design/show in 2005 PR was one of the most beautiful and interesting things about the show. Everything the color guard did was "wow" - art deco-style flags/umbrellas based on chevrons, multiple period-style costume changes (where every new costume was better than the one it replaced), equipment work that was cheeky and so much fun. And then that closer with that head dress and the incredible orange color. One of the best color guard programs ever put on a field.

The cavaliers brass caption manager also does brass for Aimachi in Japan. While he’s over there I believe he holds auditions. For years the Cavaliers have had many members from Japan in their membership.

You dislike talented performers from other countries performing in an 'international' competition format? Ok....

Can't reward content if there's too much dirt to even get a read on the content

The 2019 Boston Crusaders beg to differ...

I have many fans on DCP, But I must say Sutasaurus and Continental are my biggest ones 🙂

If one wants the Madison Scouts to be a top-competing DCI corps, the membership that the corps draws from can't be totally, primarily, or even mostly drawn from local Wisconsin programs. This is not inherently a criticism of Wisconsin band programs. Students from there, however, when compared against students from many other parts of the country and world, do not *on average* bring the same skillsets of marching and playing that students in other regions do, and do not tend to turn out for auditions at the same rates as in other regions, and that strongly affects a group's ability to compete.

I love Love LOVE that show!

One hurdle in dealing with HS band members and DCA is the "drivability" of the DCA corps from the potential high schools. Being weekend-only, it is not just a couple of camps and then move-in for the summer. There would be a lot more schlepping between the home town of the potential members and the corps. More akin to the old days, actually. The band I taught actually had one member play snare with C2 and now has been in C1 the past seasons on snare, but I know the first year entailed a lot of driving for him and his parents. Which adds another wrinkle...HS kids are a lot less mobile than college and older members. They need parents willing to drive in many cases. Even kids who are driving age are barely driving age, so parents may not be willing to let them drive X hours to rehearsals all year. It does shrink the available pool for individual corps, but at least in my area there are so many schools it still leaves a good number of potential members from just about any northeast DCA corps. Figuring out the best way to tap into that market is another matter.

I wouldn't bet too much if I were you.

BD then the rest

He has an intense dislike for drum corps that don't solely recruit locally. I'm assuming he also just generally hates the concept of globalization

Why? It is Drum Corps International.

Unless I am mistaken, Jeff is still under contract with Carolina Crown. That would mean in order for him to take the job with the Cadets he would most likely have gotten permission from Crown to sign with the Cadets as a consultant for the upcoming year. Honestly, I think this means very little in terms of his involvement with Crown. In fact, I would go so far to say that having Jeff back in some capacity with the Cadets is not only good for the Cadets and Crown but drum corps in general.

Please no story telling

Judging by the reffing in the NFC Championship, that first statement seems false

Idk, for me inferno didn't have the member talent and insane music book and visual design that Power of 10 had (in terms of cleanliness and music book difficulty/achievement) nor did it have the conceptual depth/complexity that Ink had. Had it not been for the fact that the Cadets had a director who basically self sabotaged the show with those black unis, I think the Cadets would've taken the silver that year and possibly the gold. Inferno had the audience appeal much like Tilt did, but it takes more than just GE to win a championship.

Meh. Off season banter and something to post about as we goof off at work. It's a harmless thread.

Is this a poem?

Guy who got hit must have never been in corps. You NEVER stand close to the bass drums... s/ horn player who rode drum truck for 5 years (driver lived close by)

Good point.

True. It was the best description I could come up with at the time.

Bluecoats recorded the highest score in corps history.

You love giving Cappy the business lol. You guys need a podcast. I would totally tune in!

That is a hilarious gaffe. I guess now we know why the Bass crew get the boiler helmets.

Everything about that show was flat out fun.

way too early guess based only on last year's trends and announced staff changes: 1. BD - visual/GE/guard 2. Crown - high music 3. Cavaliers - brass 4. Bluecoats 5. SCV - percussion 6. Boston 7. Cadets 8. Mandarins 9. BK 10. Phantom Regiment 11. Blue Stars 12. Academy Don't hate. Just complete guesses on my part. As things continue to get more competitive in the 7-16th groups it gets harder to really base this on much Mandarins seem to be heading up. Cadets seem to have a better team as do Regiment BK could be a wild card - I'd peg them anywhere from 7-11th so I just went to 9th

I mean everything is understandable. He has a life outside of DCI and sometimes you gotta step back. Sometimes you have artistic differences and your WGI groups are your way of doing it (Mapes and Grom). Either way we still get the different approach in the winter!

Terrible uniform. Just awful.

I didn't say that, you did. A Japan tryout session just seems like poor ROI. I mean how many kids are you really going to recruit from Japan to justify the cost of the trip? The new recruit hit rate would be much higher locally in the USA. I just think that drum corps have strayed too far from their local communities and would like to see more local effort and involvement.

That narration ruined the best performed show of the year and robbed a magnificent membership of a championship.

Everyone is welcome to their opinions, but I've yet to figure out comments about a corps "peaking too soon" when their finals night score is the highest in the corps' history????

IMO Vanguard has benefited the most from staff changes. With their talent level the gold is definitely within reach in 2020. I’m not convinced any of the other staff changes effect individual corps placements significantly if at all in 2020 with the exception of perhaps the fourth tier grouping which is always a toss up year to year. There’s no reason to believe any of the top six from 2019 will not be the field of six again in 2020 unless one or more of them rides in on a horrible design concept, which has been known to happen. All six will be auditioning exceptional talent.

He is focusing primarily on Broken City (his WGI PIW group) for now. I assume this is true for Kevin Shah as well.

They certainly need a cohesive approach - however I personally felt 2019 we saw this trend waning and music more at the forefront in design/relevance Hoping in 2020 music (with marching) is once again the dominant design trend - songs with a beginning, middle and end. Totally agree though MikeN - not time for a retro/greatest hits show (as tempting as it may sound) Cadets 2020 should keep it simple - good music with good visual design. IMO

Who cares.

We need technology to upgrade old drum corps video to modern standards.

Not sure what to make of this topic. Judges are horrible at specific years and on finals night? Or people are just mad someone else won? Doesn't matter. As judge Judy says on her show....I don't care what you FEEL!!!!

This place needs a dislike button STAT!

The biggest travesty for me was 1989. Granted, SCV’s Phantom of the Opera was a beast of epic proportions, but Phantom Regiment got robbed by .4 points, mainly because SCV played much of the same music from the year before. You can disagree if you like, but my judgement is beyond reproach, according to the post guidelines! 😄

2015 Blue Devils (Ink) -- At the time, I was unfamiliar with Into The Woods. Now having seen multiple productions, I have a much greater appreciation for this show and see why it bested Inferno.

In the beginning, there was m-m-m-man... Dada is still alive (still alive, still alive) Now she must burn!

Gonna go ahead and predict the predictions in this thread BD haters will ignore the obvious talent and strengths of the corps and say that BD drops to 3rd place or lower next year Along the same lines, people will underestimate Bloo and their crowd-winning shows and say they too will drop Optimistically thinking Cadets, Cavies, or BAC will medal. Phantom/Madison gloom and doom. People somehow letting SCV out of the conversation.

The era of New England DCI dominance officially begins with a Champion in both Open AND World class (didn't wanna do BOTH in 2019, so this year was just phase 1) 😉