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Christmas in May.... Went to the local Pharmacy. I found masks (10 for $13.99) as well as medical gloves (100 gloves for $13.99). They even had the large size as I have big hands. It's like Christmas. It would be cool if corps offered masks for sale with their logos on them. After all, it's this virus that cancelled the season so they might as well profit from it directly.

The Cavaliers have taken it a step further. Help the other corps that need assistance. GIVING TUESDAY NOW! As we have officially wrapped up our very successful Stimulus-72 Plan campaign on April 30th, today (Tuesday, May 5th) has been designated as Giving Tuesday NOW. We simply have one more request for everyone....do NOT donate to The Cavaliers on Giving Tuesday NOW! Yes, you read correctly. Instead, we urge you to donate to one of the other corps who need support to continue to provide a home to the young people that will grow up to be the leaders of tomorrow. If you are a Cavalier who marched someplace else before joining The Cavaliers, donate to that organization that helped in your development, donate to Drum Corps International, or pick a DCI Open Class Corps or SoundSport group in your area that needs the support and doesn't have the World Class following that we enjoy. The button below will take you to a portal where you can find all of the corps and ensembles underneath the DCI umbrella. On this day, pay it forward to support all levels of this beloved activity we call Drum Corps!

While nothing can replace a summer of Drum Corps International, the Madison Scouts are doing their best by offering a virtual program titled “MadU.” The 2020 Madison Scouts will be working on the progressive jazz masterpiece, “Strawberry Soup” by Don Ellis. This arrangement is the exact version that fans would’ve been able to experience and enjoy this summer live and in person. Hear a taste of what the 83rd edition of Madison Scouts have in store for you! Brass Score Battery Score Front Ensemble Score ⚜️🍓⚜️🍓⚜️🍓⚜️

When you consider how the Bubonic Plague was spread, buying fleas seems especially unwise at this juncture.

I drive so infrequently now, the "new car smell" is returning.

Cadets officially release new website and announce the new organization: Cadets Arts and Entertainment Inc. Exciting times for the Cadets organization. For the first time since the Hopkins issue, I believe that the Cadets are putting this behind them and moving forward! Good days are coming for the Cadets.

The answer to the Bergman trivia question: Bergman's film "Smiles of a Summer Night" was adapted by Sondheim into the musical "A Little Night Music". That musical contains the song "Send in the Clowns".

Good opportunity to try their awesome spicy chicken sandwiches, First thing I ate after a medical procedure that, um, required me to fast for 24 hours. Dang, now I really want a spicy chicken sandwich.

Just donated! Looks like they're having a good day fundraising. Well over halfway to their goal already.

Regiment's musical selections were tremendous that year. Jeff Prosperie's vision for the percussion book was killer - I especially liked the drum sticks with bells during the Piano Concerto No. 2 drum feature. The black unis looked incredible, and the frames during the Paganini section were a nice touch. And how cool is the title "Adventures Under a Darkened Sky"?

Wow! Go Cavaliers. Looking out for the good of all DCI. Hookemcavies should be so proud.

Proud member of the Shield Club here.

today i encouraged people not to ask stupid questions in a zoom sales meeting that had nothing to do with the topic and would have made it last forever.....in my own charming way

35 minutes to go in the last POWER HOUR for the Maroon & Gold Club's - Giving Tuesday event. $45,381.50 OF $50,000 RAISED Please help the Cadets reach their goal of $50k. Largest donation by the end of the hour receives a Cadets shako and plume as thanks for your support and generosity. Go to https://cadets.org/donate/

It's called a sugar glider.

I have reflux. Their treachery should not be underestimated.

The Room

Happy May, Caballero fans! What better way to share some of our favorite moments from years past than with a quick puzzle! Enjoy this easy puzzle to reveal a fan-favorite photo from 2019. Wishing you all a safe and warm May from a socially-acceptable distance! Read the rest of the article here. View the full article

It would be nice if the technology were available to reconstruct older show audio in a way that gave a better sense of how poorly-recorded performances really sounded. DCI's "essentials" videos a few years ago at least did some remixing, as I recall: they were able to make the soloist at the end of Cadets' "Appalachian Spring" show audible; it had been overwhelmed by crowd noise on earlier recordings.

ZOOMATHON FOR THE CADETS ON MAROON AND GOLD DAY! This is really cool! Check it out. https://cadets.org/donate/?fbclid=IwAR0Rz0NdT6QbZax4NVNgP7Txd0oM5qqJ3OKo3gYpEpTK2IG7pvTY1vM8akY

The 2021 BAC thread says they are looking for 500K to make up for "lost summer revenue". The Bluecoats thread talks about needing $350K for "refund obligations and to keep the Bluecoats alive and operating". Does anyone know what the Cadets' "bottom line" is to make up for lost 2020 revenue,including refunds,and any other financial obligations they may have.?

Tom & Neil are live on the website... donate.cadets.org lots of cool stories.

Can't argue with everyone's recording opinions - the '95 (and other IBM years) shows are awful next to the ones before and after. The pit is massively overbalanced and the whole thing sounds like it wasn't processed at all - just "here, have some noise." Yikes. I think '95 was another one of those years where the 1st-12th group was incredibly strong. Sure didn't feel like a 15 point spread. The Cavaliers, of course, won title #2 on the backs of GE and Visual. Their drill was magnificent, and closer to the 2000-2006 Cavaliers than the '92 one. Lots of big drill moves to jump around for, and their battery was a behemoth. I don't have a lot to add to everyone else's thoughts - it was just #### good drum corps. Cadets had a healthy spread over BD, and I felt it was really more of a pick 'em. Cadets felt stronger in GE and percussion, BD felt stronger in brass and visual. (I have no idea what the actual caption scores were - just my impression.) The Cadets were a ton of fun in '95, even with extra helpings of cheese thrown on, and the John Williams tunes kept everything bright and fast, which to me is Quintessential Cadets. Blue Devils kind of made my head explode in '95, as both musically and visually they decided to discard everything they'd done for decades in one fell swoop. Looking back on it as an adult, it kind of had to happen to stay competitive - judges just weren't going to crown old-school jazz shows - but to young me it felt like a bit of a betrayal. Musically, they were ok, though it sure as heck didn't feel like an undefeated show coming in . Visually, if there was a story, it's definitely a head scratcher as to what was going on out there. All in all, in historical context, it was more of a transition year than a statement year. And they turned out okay. Madison did what they did. It wasn't a revolutionary design, and the charts, while slightly torquing up the difficulty, didn't set minds alight. They just did what they do, but they probably did it better than they've ever done before or since. (Yeah, counting the two title shows as well.) I have a handwritten copy of the snare chart to La Danza Pasillo, and you can pry that from my cold hands. I'm very much of the opinion that audience reaction should count in GE - if you're not playing to the audience in front of you, why bother? - and I haven't heard a convincing argument yet why Madison shouldn't have been first in that caption. My *only* gripe - I don't like Concerto de Aranjuez as a song. That's... about it. Phantom's dark pivot was awesome, as were their charts in '95. Purple was a great choice to accompany the silver and black, and it looked great on Rich Stadium's bright turf. (Probably my second favorite TV backdrop from those years. Camp Randall was first - the colors always popped there.) The show has a weird double ending where it feels like you're done at about 9 minutes in, right before the closer, then it picks up again. From a pacing standpoint, either the back of the show got really twisted throughout the summer, or someone on the programming team needed a talking to. Drum feature was cool for it's literal bells and whistles, but I kind of hoped they'd be a little more aggressive throughout. Santa Clara's show was a bit of a mess. The front half was pretty neat in twisting Nutracker stuff, and it actually made sense. The back half of the show turned into a standard Nutcracker show and dropped the pretense. They didn't mesh very well. I think this one sounded better on paper than it did on the field. Bluecoats absolutely deserved their jump to 7th, and I'd have had them in 6th. This was their first real show that communicated a visual theme and story, and they hit a home run. The music was engaging and more sophisticated, the program rode all of the peaks and valleys, and that drum line was rock solid. It felt like this was they year they adapted to the 90's, and we're all glad they did! Glassmen, to me, also hit programming paydirt after their incoherent '94 show. Bach just lends itself to good brass arrangements, and Glassmen brought the hornline to do it justice. Beautiful guard (and I'm not a guard guy) and good drill program helped a lot too. Drumline was all right, if they didn't set the world on fire. Colts and Glassmen always seemed to be Finals partners during these years. This was really the first Colts show that grabbed me long-term. It was also really the first time I'd really listened to any Sondheim. As such, it has a lot of flow, but not much extended development or repetition to latch on to. There was a very stream of consciousness sort of pacing to it, and that made it memorable. Crossmen ... well, I liked the music. Both School for Scandal and Sym. for Brass and Percussion were memorable, exciting charts, and the drumline brought the heat in the closer quite nicely. It just wasn't The Crossmen, you know? Overall, though, I think I had less of a problem with it than most, because the did managed to shoehorn the battery in so nicely. Carolina Crown made their first Finals with Stephen Melillo and the largest 90's shoulder pads known to man. I'm automatically predisposed to any show that courageously includes Enya, and Stormworks was pretty cool. Can't argue with the placement - it felt about right. Magic of Orlando dropped the Cirque stuff while... not dropping the Cirque stuff. The Robert W. Smith charts were really cool, though, evoking the same feelings while putting it in a more drum-corps-ey setting. Much more complex music than '93 and '94, and they were growing up nicely - though at the time we didn't understand it. They got kind of fairly / kind of unfairly labeled as the "weird" corps. With the advantage of hindsight, they were merely ahead of their time. Other notable shows - Blue Knights zagged right off the cliff, though they recovered fairly quickly. VK dropped most of the pretense and put on a drummer's delight. Troopers felt a more distant 14th than they did the year before. Pioneer jumped onto a looot of people's radar (in a good way) with a Totally Irish show that worked. All in all, like I said a very strong 1-12 lineup. Most of the shows were just fun, while still growing up on a showmanship and sophistication level. Mike

Nearly a fifth of Wendy's U.S. restaurants are out of beef, analyst says. I suppose that could be encouraging news to those who promote vegetarianism. (And just after I posted this ... Edit: deleting the rest to avoid undue controversy.)

"Join us on May 16th for a day of fundraising and celebrating everything that makes the Boston Crusaders great. While we may not be “moving in” at Castleton this weekend, Crusader Nation will join together over a series of watch parties, exclusive content, and a live stream featuring special guests! Without a summer tour, we are asking our family, friends, alumni, and fans to rise up to ensure a successful return to the field in 2021. This year, Giving Day will replace our important annual campaign and help close our $500,000 gap in lost summer revenue. Most importantly though, this is a participation drive. With a goal of 300 donors, this isn’t about an amount, it is about participation. There is only ONE Boston Crusaders. Rise up and help us preserve this special organization." https://app.mobilecause.com/e/viG9vQ?hss_channel=fbp-146636528713632&utm_campaign=2020 Giving Day&utm_content=128559804&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&vid=7zike

A very talented corps.... This is late season. Musical and visual packages have been finalized. They had no idea that this is what would bring them to the success of 1996. This is what I love so much about Regiment. The constant pursuit of excellence being rewarded after all those years.

The 2nd show I attended in 1995 was Massillon, OH on July 22. For some reason DCI North was here in Ohio. The show was really fantastic top to bottom. Overall I think 92 was a slightly strong year for entertainment, but 95 was pretty close. Blue Devils were incredible and were clearly, at this point, the corps to beat. The Cadets thrilled the crowd with their GE and beautiful music, but visually they had issues and I forget which ending we saw that day. I do not think it was the ending we saw in August for Finals. Phantom Regiment was solid. I love their music book, but visually they were struggling to make sense of the show. From a score standpoint Phantom was actually very close to Cadets for a number of show in June and early July (if you check the season scores) but by this point Cadets were clearly pulling away. The crowd went nuts for Bluecoats, as you would imagine. I still feel to this day that this show was an indication that Bluecoats could be something more than just a 10th to 12th place corps. It was clear that they could potentially move into the top 5 one day. We would have to wait until 2005 for that to happen. They had a few down years in the late 90s and had to make some tough changes, but ultimately the program got it going. My 2nd viewing of Glassmen made me love the show even more. I love classical music. Always have, and Glassmen really put together one of the best musical packages of that summer. This is a show I highly recommend to current DCI fans. It's a great listen. I also remember being very impressed with Magic, who interestingly enough was running ahead of Crossmen, Glassmen, and Carolina Crown at this point of the season. By the end of the season Magic would fall to 12. Carolina would grab 11, Crossmen 10, and Glassmen 8. For whatever reason it seemed Magic did not have a show that could continue to grow into August. Good show though. I was very impressed with Carolina Crown. Stormworks actually got me interested in the composer's works and I eventually did a few of his pieces with my wind ensembles over the years. Scores and Recaps below: July 22, Massillon, OH - DCI North Please check Contest Summary for information on this show. Blue Devils..............89.8 Cadets of Bergen County..88.5 Phantom Regiment.........83.5 Bluecoats................80.1 Magic of Orlando.........78.5 Glassmen.................76.8 Crossmen.................76.3 Carolina Crown...........73.8 Boston Crusaders.........65.6 Nite Express.............56.1 DCI North Recap Sheet General Effect | Ensemble | Performance | |Color Corps Mus Vis Tot | Mus Vis Tot | Brs Per Vis Tot. | Tot. |Guard -------------------------|----------------|------------------|------|----- Nite Exp 11.0 11.0 22.0 | 8.2 8.2 16.4 | 5.8 6.7 5.3 17.8 | 56.1*| 4.5 Car Crown 15.0 14.2 29.2 | 11.5 10.6 22.1 | 7.6 7.5 7.4 22.5 | 73.8 | 5.8 Glassmen 15.4 15.6 31.0 | 11.6 11.2 22.8 | 7.5 7.6 8.0 23.1 | 76.8*| 7.1 Boston 13.3 12.6 25.9 | 9.6 10.0 19.6 | 6.7 6.6 6.8 20.1 | 65.6 | 5.0 Magic 15.6 15.3 30.9 | 12.0 11.7 23.7 | 7.8 7.9 8.2 23.9 | 78.5 | 6.9 Bluecoats 16.0 16.3 32.3 | 12.1 12.0 24.1 | 8.3 7.8 7.6 23.7 | 80.1 | 8.0 Cadets 18.0 17.5 35.5 | 13.4 13.3 26.7 | 8.7 8.8 8.8 26.3 | 88.5 | 8.8 Phantom 16.9 16.0 32.9 | 13.0 12.6 25.6 | 8.2 8.4 8.4 25.0 | 83.5 | 7.8 Crossmen 15.1 14.9 30.0 | 11.4 11.3 22.7 | 7.4 8.5 7.7 23.6 | 76.3 | 7.0 Blue Devs 18.2 17.9 36.1 | 13.6 13.2 26.8 | 9.1 8.9 8.9 26.9 | 89.8 | 8.9

Here is how they sound.

Had a safety sensor problem with my car and it went out again. Car drivable but no anti lock brakes, collision sensor, traction control, etc. Will wait until my next oil change to go in. Due for the change in few hundred miles which means I’ll be scheduling a few months from now..... 🙄 Dont put many miles on when food store is 2 miles away..... 😷

https://cadets.org/donate/?reset=1&id=123

And just like that: Having a mask, rubber gloves, , duct tape, plastic sheeting and a rope in your trunk is okay.

This is my favorite Bergman film. It makes the most sense to me.

Three years ago, Legends' director put out an emergency plea for help and the corps managed to raise about $100,000 in 48 hours. If a ten-year-old Open Class corps could do that, then even in these financially-straitened times, one of the top World Class corps, a fan favorite with fifty years' worth of alumni and supporters, ought to be able to raise $350,000 over a longer period of time. (Per that link, they've raised $150,000 of that so far.) If the word goes out widely enough.

I thought BD had Premiers badged as Yamahas one season, or am I making that up. Slingerland was the sad story of what happens when a family ownership sells to someone who is driven by bottom line without any deep knowledge of the business itself. The product was a little iffy by the late 70s anyway from a quality control standpoint (and the new owners weren't going to invest in new dies or molds to keep up), and by the time the Japanese brands were widely available in the early 80s, there was no reason to look at Slingy. That being said, now that DW owns the Slingerland brand, I'm looking forward to the possible re-introduction of some iconic 30s/40s/50s product, the same way Rogers' owner is slowly rolling out some quality boutique pieces.

OK - you asked for it (college professor hat on) 😎 The disease is behaving in a classic density - dependent manner as a limiter of population growth. The more closely packed the population is, the greater the impact. Although originally designed to 'flatten the curve', social distancing - by definition unpacks population density. And 'flattening the curve' has been somewhat mischaracterized from the get-go. The number of cases (the area under the curve for all you calculus fans) remains the same, it is just spread out more over time, thus lowering the chance that the hospital system will get overwhelmed. OK - back on topic - How about designing a show called "COMMONWEALTH vs GEORGE HOPKINS"? Featuring the musical selections: Jailhouse Rock, Folsom Prison Blues, Behind Blue Eyes. I envision guard-tower props on each corner of the field... Thoughts?

I definitely enjoyed 1995. Some great shows, some interesting shows, and a few tributes to the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. The recordings, as others have mentioned, were downright bad. As I reflect on that season, and mind you I have not yet gone back to check some recaps, scores, and recordings, but it seemed to me that the pit writing took a step up in terms of demand and overall use within the fabric of the show. Of course, my first reflection of 1995 almost always begins with Madison Scouts. Competition is great and all, and we all love to discuss who won or who we think should have won. If the audience had judged the 1995 season, the Madison Scouts won 100 to nothing. OK, that's an exaggeration but you get the point. When it comes to "baby throwing" shows I tend to think of the 95 Scouts show as the Holy Grail. Madison has clearly had a few baby throwing shows over the decades. Phantom, SCV, Cavaliers, and others have as well. But 95 Scouts was the DCI version of watching the Beatles come to America. I can still remember them entering the field in company front fashion (vertical) for their Finals appearance in Buffalo. They would slowly march that to the 50 yard line and the crowd was on its feet. They probably received 5 or 6 standing Os or partial standing Os during that show. The show was a musical treat that featured an outstanding brass line (they tied BD and Cadets for high brass). Percussion was solid and super fun to watch. The guard doing their tap dancing on the boxes, the bull-fighting moves, and the great flag work was awesome. Visually the show was well written. The rotating company front from vertical to horizontal is so daring, and the push after the rotation lit the place on fire. By today's standards I do think the show holds up fairly well, but many younger DCI fans may prefer something like Phantom Regiment 2008 or Crown 2013, or maybe Bluecoats 2014...and many others. It's a different activity today (and I still love it), but comparing eras is not easy. From an entertainment standpoint, Madison had a killer 1990s, and to me 1995 was the apex of that. Bluecoats had first grabbed a top 12 spot in 1987, and I still consider their 88 and 89 shows outstanding and very important in the build to what we know of the corps today. But you can argue that the 1995 Bluecoats was the best production they had done to that point in time. I had several friends in the corps (they were college friends of mine from YSU), and my girlfriend at the time was marching mello with Cadets. Ironic that both corps chose to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the end of WWII. The Top 3 My first reaction to the Cavaliers that year was they didn't have the brass book to win it all, but I knew their overall visual design would be tough along with a killer percussion section. The mallet writing in this show is excellent. At Finals I felt Cavaliers brass played poorly and could have been scored even lower. As others have said, the sum of the parts with their Planets show was greater that some of the weaknesses. When I saw Blue Devils I was convinced they likely had the best overall corps on the field (in terms of checking off all the boxes), but the general effect of this show was not very strong. It is difficult to do a dark show, and BD did an amazing job with it, but I felt GE would likely keep them from winning. Brass and percussion were solid, as they always are with BD. The guard was outstanding. I enjoyed them, but music and visual GE held them back. The Cadets were very impressive all season. The John Williams music was truly wonderful. Next to Madison, The Cadets had one of the strong musical books (especially GE music). Cadets brass tied Madison and BD for high brass at Finals. The "Swing, Swing, Swing" segment is fun and really featured the guard well. Their closer is one of the best patriotic endings I have seen and it took multiple re-writes and edits to get to that point. I think the problem I have with 95 Cadets is that they failed to clean a lot of the drill in the first 3 segments of the show. They were no where as clean as Cavaliers visual. Cadets did back-off on demand some and I thought that was a good thing. They often killed themselves with too much demand. But this show could have used a few more hose-jobs and some additional cleaning. From a music perspective this show is an Ace with a great novelty tune and a fantastic closer. With a cleaner visual book this was the show I saw as the winner. I was probably biased with my girlfriend marching mello that summer, but I felt this was the total show if they would have cleaned more and fixed a few visual issues. I didn't have a problem with Madison in 4th. I knew they were likely not checking-off the judging boxes as well as BD, Cadets, or Cavaliers. I, however, would have had no problem with a surprise win by the Scouts in 95. The crowd would have tore the stadium down. I'll chime-in later when I can review scores and rep a bit more to jot the memory banks.

YEA does the same thing on their web site.

Maybe I'm overthinking things, but it seems to be an interesting choice having Denise Bonfiglio serving as CEO, Corps Director and sitting on the Board of Directors in a director position. I know that's how corps were traditionally structured for years, but DCI has been pushing corps to establish truly independent boards in recent years. It's outlined right in their Participation Level Guidelines that World Class organizations must have an "Independent Board defined by good governance practices". Having the CEO/director sitting on the board opens the door for there to be a conflict of interest when it comes time for the the board to discuss a multitude of issues. It also goes against best practices published by Board Source (which is one of the sources DCI uses to establish good governance practices) and other organizations that guide the formation/operation of non-profits.

1993 will always have a special place for me as this was my first exposure to drum corps. Back then I was 16, jr. in High School. Back then, John DeNovi (current DCI Marketing Exec) was our marching instructor, and he brought in VHS tape of the PBS broadcast during band camp and played the Cadets 93 show. My jaw dropped. How can they march so fast? Being a tenor player, you can imagine how jarring witnessing tenor playing at it's highest level, 2 mallets per hand feature as an example. He then said that PBS was replaying the broadcast that following Sunday morning. So of course I got up early, got a blank VHS, press record and watched. I posted a YT playlist of another user who uploaded the broadcast version of DCI Finals in 1993. My first impression was the Intro, it was B-Roll of the Cadets sweating with a Curt Cowdy voice over talking about the "the fire that burns inside", basically, DCI's version of the "frozen tundra" line in NFL flims. Then followed by the intro to the Scouts, treating the broadcast like a sporting event, as a young impressionable sports fan, it got me. Quick Impressions Madison Scouts: Performing in Heavy Rain The energy from the crowd Screaming Soprano Solos in Strawberry Soup Keep in mind, the biggest drumline I ever seen in competitions up to that point would be 5 snares, 3 tenors and 5 basses, and here you have Scouts with 10 Snares, 5 Tenors, 6 Basses, 9 Cymbals, so yeah, that caught my attention. The Drum Feature, especially the snare-tom feature Blue Devils The Hornline! That cat in the goatee can play You can march in 13/8?! lol Quite a few drops from the guard, but understandable with the rain Love the different Soloist and Brass Ensembles Cavaliers Solid Show Oh my, a lot of falls Very cool drum feature Phantom Regiment Forever (even though I'm a SCV supporter) I root for Phantom Regiment because of this show Love the show The pit is in the middle of the field!?! Unique percussion arrangement The whole Corps did what?!?! (crabwalk) The ballad, one of my favorites of all time The Fire of Eternal Glory Helmets on the field as a formation during the ballad What a way to close out the show The crowd ate up the show Star of Indiana Please note that I regard this show as one of the best of all time and once I listen to the source music in college, I quickly realized the brilliance of the show, and also realized the brilliance of the arrangements from Prime and Hannum. This show is a work of art, period! (My confession - I had a bad impression of this show as a 16 year old caveboy. The thoughts below were my initial impressions) As young, immature musician, this show was over my head Why no costume for the guard? Just black leotards? Why is the corps doing body movement? Weird music "Finish it, take it home!!" Wow the corps is hyped at the end of the show I thought they were the Star of Indiana 😂 The Cadets (of Bergen County) Ah, this is more like it Man they are moving fast Jesus Christ Quads! Even I knew the snare line bleeped the bed at the end of the snare feature. Awesome ballad Great Show Well, below is the broadcast. Enjoy!

Sorry for the multi posts - final thoughts. Boston got hosed. This was a *really* tight show from start to finish, and I think they outplayed the Colts across the board. Should have been a finalist, I feel. Argh. Honestly? Troopers also should have challenged for a Finals spot. Their program was rock solid and the brass in particular sounded excellent. Finally, just as an aside, I loved VK's musical book in '94, even if it wasn't the most precisely played program ever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone's tried stuff from Nightmare Before Christmas since. Like I said, mostly overall this felt like a rebound from the '93 shows where most designers (relatively) lost their minds. A few corps still managed to push the envelope, but the evolution stalled a bit. Especially in the bottom half, this didn't feel like an all-time lineup. Mike

(part 2 - for some reason DCP does not like long posts from me...) Blue Knights knocked their show selection out of the park. Trittico had enough complexity to showcase their musicians, while the music was engaging enough to keep the audience entertained and interested. Watching them, it felt like the corps was growing up a bit, and might have found their wheelhouse. (Yeah, yeah, shows what I know, considering '95.) Crossmen went one too many times to the well. Trilogies, even conceptual ones, don't work in DCI - 3 years is too far ahead to predict. Vanguard tried that too in the 2000's by announcing their next three shows, and that didn't last either. The performers did a fine job with the vehicle, clearly, and it felt like the audience appreciated it, but it did also feel like the corps was spinning its wheels a bit. Bluecoats "Blues" show was a more sophisticated set of charts, but I don't know if the corps really broke any new ground here. That said, I'll listen to it again anytime. I love Things Ain't What they Used to Be, and they have a great arrangement of it. Glassmen - no more Tostitos-Bag-Design jackets = yay. Western wear = ... . I'd love to have sat in the design meetings for this one. The show is the equivalent of a road trip in an 80's family van. Captain's chair, full carpet, looking out the window while listening to the radio. I have to admit, even as a Glassmen fan, this one does not make my playlist. While Magic of Orlando's '94 show took the '93 concept and cranked it up, I kind of prefer the charts they played the year before. You can't argue, however, with the massive jump in quality. At the time their costuming was considered a must-see. Today we'd just say "huh. Winter Guard." They definitely earned their spot in Finals. Colts really underwhelmed me this year. The show felt like a throwback compared to everyone around them, but it's a testament to their quality that they made top 12. For me, they improved leaps and bounds in the latter half of the 90's, but we're not there yet. Mike

Neil Peart found Tama

Ludwig had to make serious strides for ScoJo to sign on

The 2020 show concept & repertoire are stored in the Ark of the Covenant. It is not to be opened until the time stated in prophesy ordained by you know who. 😇

it definitely pulled the curtain back

it's something. "Snarky" might be a good word in the finale of this Cheer series, which I saw last night - the producers were not allowed to film the championship in Daytona - the activity is covered by a streaming service pay-per-view and all the families that couldn't make the championships were back home logging in on their phones/computers. The streaming service "Varsity" is akin to our "FloMarching" service - while the cheer circuit (akin to DCI) also heavily controlled the activities message. Neither seemed particularly pleased with this netflix series the other main message of the finale was "what's next" for the performers as this was the end of the road - there is no professional next step (other than to become a tech/instructor. It all sounded very familiar highly recommend for anyone interested. If you're not - that's fine. But the parallels with Drum Corps are stark and illustrative carry on!

I was embarrassed watching. I know what young folks do on their free time (I was one once) but I really didn’t need details.

I am 100% convinced (not 99%) that COTC was the beginning of the end for G. Hopkins. The Cadet organization was utterly embarrassing. How much more interesting would Bloo vs Blue been?

I won't probably watch this show but I have a great respect for their activity...SAFETY is an issue in their activity as it is in DCI..They've eliminated moves deemed too risky for the performers because of injuries..DCI, with the prop revolution/evolution would do well to also consider "how much is too much?'...IMHO..peace