Michelle

I agree with Bluecoats 05. Thanks to Hector it wasn't so silent on Finals Night...but he's still cool. Note: Hector is a friend of mine :P

1. Santa Clara Vanguard 1992 2. Star of Indiana 1991 3. Cadets 2003 4. Cadets 2001 5. Phantom Regiment 1989 6. Santa Clara Vanguard 1989 No order: Bluecoats 2005 Carolina Crown 2004 Phantom Regiment 2003 Cavaliers 2002

Kiwanis, Magic, and Teal Sound will be in attendance. I'm not sure if it will be a scored show, to me it'd make more sense to be an exhibition. Last year it was slated to be at the Lee Civic Center, but it was cancelled by Kiwanis because it is their first show before leaving on the full tour from their move in site. I would hope it's not at the Lee Civic Center this year. With about 14 high schools in Lee County, surely there is a high school football field to hold it somewhere. My next best guess would be having it held at North Ft. Myers High School due to the band director's involvement with Kiwanis in the past.

I'm sorry if you took it as, "I don't care about the 70's because." I don't have an opinion because I haven't been exposed to that many shows of that era. It's hard to run by copies of videos from back then, and I'm too poor to spend over $700 on the DCI Legacy Collection. If you'd like to loan me the money, I'd buy the entire collection in an instant and lock myself in a room to watch 1972 all the way to 2005 :P :) I'll let other people do the voting so I can see what the fan favorites are. When I watched the Classic Countdown last year I loved watching how the shows evolved over time. I think one of the coolest things from the "old school" corps are the colorguard because of the movements and coordination. One of my friends whom I convinced to come at the last minute especially loved the 27th Lancers. Edited to add after rereading a few times: I do want to learn the history of drum corps, where it evolved from. Though, as explained above, I haven't had the means to do it. That's why I don't have any shows to vote on from the 70's because the only ones I've seen are the ones from the Classic Countdown last year and 79 Bridgemen.

I have no opinion for the 70's because those shows predate my existence... 80's: - 89 Phantom - 89 Star - 87 SCV - 83 Cadets 90's: - 92 SCV (personal favorite show of all time) - 93 Star - 96 Scouts - 95 Cavies 00's: - 03 Phantom - 01 Cadets Yes, I do realize I put corps more than one. I'd use that as a voting strategy to get more votes for those shows.

I've always been a DCP lurker, but I feel a need to respond to this thread. I've never gotten to participate in retreat; 2005 was my rookie very in DCI. That said, I don't have anything to compare my experience this past summer against. Personally, not having retreat had some serious pros and cons, and I feel it had more cons. Pros: - Being able to watch other corps shows while not in uniform My corps wasn't one of those that performed later it shows, so not doing retreat actually played to our benefit in that sense. While I was a corps member, I was a fan at heart to even dive into this activity. I loved getting to see the Bluecoats and Cadets nearly eight times throughout tour from the stands or on the side. I saw how the shows progressed and evolved into their final products. - Meeting people from the corps we played AoC with I enjoyed talking to members of Colts and Crossmen. I also made friends with two Memphis Sound lead mellos one night because they were going to play AoC with Cadets that night. They didn't know the music (which was a recurring theme in all corps), so I just happened to have my music in my purse I was carrying. I let them see the music before they went out to play it. I still talk to one of those mello players :) The other two corps we played AoC with were Cadets and BAC...I didn't expect any "gobbling" from them. Cons: - Leaving shows early! I detested it. I didn't like it at all because I have friends in other drum corps. I recall spending maybe a minute with a friend in another drum corps before being herded back onto the buses. Those friends are the ones that helped me make it through the summer. There's more personal feeling to put behind this con too, but it's a bit more selfish if anything. I did not like leaving San Antonio and Indianapolis before the night show. I would've appreciated getting to see the top 12 of the regionals because you could see what other corps are doing. - Staying late if you did play AoC and/or do encore If I played AoC, sure I'd get to stay at the show until later, but my friends in the other corps had already left by then. Basically it was either I leave the show before them, or they leave the show before me. It would've been much nicer if all corps left at once. In conclusion, I'd appreciate not having retreat a whole lot more if I didn't have to leave a lot of shows early. It was that fact alone that killed me inside because my friends in other corps mean a lot to me. Hopefully this summer will be more bearable because of the corps I'm marching with. I'm sure I will grow to appreciate DCI's decision then :)

I reaffirm that it is, "GO HECTOR!!!" from some of his buddies from another corps. El beasto sexy.

I'm marching this coming summer, and I'm a senior in high school too. As I understand it, most colleges don't have orientation until after the season is over seeing as they start in late August. If not, make arrangements with the corps to see if it is possible to miss a couple days of tour to go and come back :)

It's just a public Florida high school that chooses to have its marching band program only march brass instruments, thus calling itself a "drum and bugle corps". It is the only high school drum and bugle corps which is an honest mistake by a newspaper reporter. In other words, I wouldn't consider it a big deal :)

BAC is closer to Ft. Myers than both Teal Sound and Magic besides Kiwanis right in town.

2003 Finals Night in Orlando; wonderful experience for a first show.