Leaderboard

I’d agree with that for 22, but I believe J. Robb’s 23 production had a lot more life in it than we gave it. We were just plagued by injury all throughout the season due to poor off-season prep and that ruined any chance for us to really do meaningful cleaning of the show. We’d clean drill with 10 holes, then 3 people would come back in having not marched in weeks and it would end up dirtier than when it started. This year I believe they intend on getting one of those marching health guys to do a required off season fitness course for us, which I hope will prevent a repeat of that.

I know where I'm going once the deposit hits my bank account...

That’s just what George Zingali said when he told me to stop ####### up his drill.

Sounds to me like, as the Corps was younger, likely with a fair percentage of rookies, there may have been some who didn’t realize how physically demanding Drum Corps can be. Hopefully this will be emphasized during auditions & camps

Three steps: turn on stream issues turn off

As a member coming back for a third year… this design team is very exciting. Hope this year is more enjoyable than the last two.

Never play with laser pointers if the battery is up on props. They WILL chase them. "Oooooo...shinnnnnnyyyyy!!!" **thud**

We had two incredible PTs, headed by a PT who returned from the 22 season, Dylan Lynch. Wonderful guy, did his best to keep people cared for. The killer injury for us last year was concussions, we had more than a dozen, maybe more than 2. The concussion protocol put into place by Dylan and the corps was great and helped get people recovered and back on the field after concussions, even on tour. There was just way too many of them. Not sure who our PTs will be next year, but I hope they’re as good as the past two years. Funny story: we had one of our trombone soloist’s moms come in for a day or two when Dylan left. It was a younger corps, and I think many did not understand the rigor of the activity enough to prep themselves properly beforehand. This year will likely be a younger corps as well, but I believe staff, after how the last season went, will probably make it much more clear the importance of off-season physical preparation. Even if someone doesn’t care at all despite that, there’s going to be required workout assignments. They’ll at least be doing that, at the bare minimum.

On September 27th, the King Cobras Drumline, a program of Cavaliers Arts, Performance & Education, Inc. sponsored by the Village of Rosemont, took their talents to Northside Learning Center. Here, they put on an energetic and lively interactive performance with Northside students. Northside Learning Center is a specialty school within Chicago Public Schools serving students […]View the full article

That is so cool. I lived about three blocks from Northside Learning Center. It’s a great facility. Thank you King Cobras for making the trip there.

Yeah they raised their prices to $1.25 just in time for this. 😈 I call it “dollar and a quarter tree “.

Y'all sounded great! Awesome brass & percussion both with strong books. Just need some great design & strengthen the guard? But the live performances that I got to see were intense. Y'all received a standing O at both prelims & semis! Have a great season & I'll see you in 2024! P.S. That's from a semi-retired band director with (2) former students that marched Madison as well as several of my college buddies.

Good. I hope that they put together a program as exciting and memorable as their 1995 program.

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/06/1202625059/extreme-heat-marching-bands While the article focuses on marching bands, it's certainly applicable to drum corps as well.

I did, that’s why I’m returning for a third season. I just hate ending every year with a handful of regrets.

So much for that argument that placements don’t matter because all that matters is the kids are having fun.

I knew that giant cat toy was evil

Certainty you’ve followed the Madison Scouts thread, right? On that thread the BOD apologists like to say, in an attempt to dismiss the poor placement year after year, that the kids are having fun, and that’s all that matters. That’s what I’m referring to. I thought it would be obvious. No one said it on this thread. My bad.

Maybe I'm confused....I hope that's the case. Both quality of the performance you put out there, quality of the learning experience AND having fun matters. Did the OP mention placement? If placement is all that mattered, we would only have a top 3.

Some of the Saders mentioned in the corps newsletter from 79 are still involved with DCI. file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/Sader%20Old%20Post%20issue%201979.pdf

I've been away since Finals, but did anyone post that Crown is having a West Coast Percussion Audition on Oct 22? This was posted on FB but I can't share the link and having issues sharing a screenshot.

The 12 Steps? Is there a Flo 12 Step Program?

Show us the money!!!

We're at the nexus of "quad players and low brass players" once again.

She became a veterinarian, not a mortician. Veterinarians are for contras.

I think her experience working with drummers paved her career path.

Ok, I will play as much as I am able, though it pains me not to give medals to at least 6 corps and put at least 12 corps in the top 6. My guesses are not that exciting, because last year showed a significant scoring gap between the top 4 and the corps in 5-8. 2023’s top 4 were phenomenal. Until 2023’s 5-8 show the caption strength to score in the top 4 in more than one caption, it is hard to see them moving into the top 4 soon - I think it could take at least 2 years, but it is coming. Cavies may have the most solid base to build from with 2023’s percussion showing, a little like BAC led with its guard to build into a medal winner and contender. We are truly fortunate to see the shows these corps bring to the field. 2023 had such high quality, and I expect 2024 to be at least as good. 1-2 Blue Devils: until it doesn’t happen, I can’t pick against it. It seems like another corps has to catch lightning in a bottle against a less-than-peak BD show to take gold. 1-4: Bloo, Crown, and BAC. It still blows my mind that only two of these corps medaled last year, and that I am predicting only 2 medal next year, even if I logically understand why it generally has to work out that way. Just superb in this tier. 5-8: Cadets, Mandarins, Phantom Regiment, and Cavaliers. This will be another crazy battle, with the first 3 riding so much positive momentum and Cavaliers making changes to improve to match up with their percussion strength. 2023 has to help all 4 with recruiting, with Cadets and PR looking like they are back on the path to former glory, Mandarins being the hot “new” rising corps, and Cavies having given us a demanding and satisfying anniversary show with some staff changes aimed at making them more competitive. Even if it isn’t time just yet for any to crack the top 4, these strengths combined with exciting 2024 shows will keep them ahead of rest of the pack. Within the group, anything could happen. 9: Blue Stars. Last year was a bit of a competitive and creative misfire, but they still have the fundamentals and talent and will make sure to give us a show that highlights their talents to maximum advantage. It won’t be easy though, so they better bring it. 10: Santa Clara Vanguard. The toughest to guess, but either here or 12th. Legacy and really strong creative and caption teams help the returning, likely young corps, to make a creditable return to competition, but they find the experience and depth of the field just too strong to make the competitive statement they might like to. 11: Troopers. Hoping Troopers take a big step up with color guard, which could be enough to enable them to jump the Colts, as they continue with their popular “Dark West” shows. 12: Colts. This seems insane, as Colts seem to be doing everything right just now to organically build and grow. I expect their show and talent to be better than 2022 and 2023, but others have “easier” opportunities to improve by addressing specific areas. For the rest, I haven’t followed their staff changes to make a full and fair assessment of whether they could make Finals, but it wouldn’t shock me, even if would require a big step up. BK seems like they are making changes to stay in Finals, Crossmen were knocking on the door in 2023, and Spirit and Pacific Crest bring a lot of positive momentum.

https://reddit.com/r/drumcorps/s/SMz9uoYeIE

That's our goal.....on all fronts! Thanks for the nod. Working hard to make our alumni proud every day.

Run while you still can!

I honestly can’t even remember how we got that high. On the guard side I think it was mostly people getting hit by rifles/flags right in the head. We had like one ball injury. When we workshopped our final closer, the guard messed up catching girl that dove off of the “GE” ball at the end of the production and she got concussed. Brass end was just people doing horn snaps/horn moves with incorrect intervals. At least 4 of those concussions were caused by people who were out of shape and were constantly in and out, but sometimes it was really just bad luck. One guy snapped his bass trombone into his own forehead in Missouri and didn’t get back in until Allentown. Unfortunate stuff.