jacquesb

80, 83, 85

Here's a map of the Ga Dome area for this weekend:

Ick.

I'd love to see something like what was on America's Got Talent this year: Team iLuminate, Silhouettes, or the Kinetic King. But we'll probably be stuck watching color guards doing their version of Sam B :-(

I'm overage by about 25 years. I doubt that I'd help any corps given my lack of conditioning and chops at this pont

I'd try to say something similar to what you should say to someone who has an ugly baby: "he/she's precious".

Mike Back is currently the band director at Walton HS in Marietta, GA. I don't believe he is involved directly with drum corps any longer, althogh I have seen him attending shows in the Atlanta area over the years. He's an awesome guy.

I attended the Atlanta show on Saturday for the first time since the indoor rain-out of 2005 (?). I had vowed after that fiasco to never again pay to see drum corps in a dome. From my club level seats, the acoustics were just awful, and the thought of paying $50 (plus parking, food, etc) for that just doesn't make sense to me. That said, I signed up as a volunteer for yesterday's show, thinking that a) it was a worthwhile donation of time to the activity (and to Spirit as the local sponsor), b) it would be a way to see the show without paying through the nose, and c) it'd be a good opportunity to catch up with some old friends. All in all, I'm glad I did it. I'm not going to review all the corps, but I'd like to focus on the experience along with a few corps highlights along the way. The volunteer experience for this event was pretty good. The DCI folks weren't quite as "together" as I imagined they'd be, but the local show coordinator was awesome. She had everything figured out, including how to get the souvie folks out afterwards without causing the catfights that had ocurred in the past. The only SNAFU I experienced in volunteering was that we were told lunch would be provided around 2pm. As it turned out, it was actually dinner at 5:30. I showed up at 8am along with a dozen other volunteers, and we waited a little while before the DCI team walked up. Task #1 was to unload the video gear, souvie merchandies, banners, water station equipment, etc from the DCI truck. Following that effort, we split into teams. One team went to the back side to hang all the banners. My team fired up a half dozen club cars to start hauling everything from the loading dock up to the marketplace area. As each corps' souvie crew arrived, we loaded their merchandise onto the club cars and drove it all up through the bowels of the Ga Dome into the marketplace area. Dozens of trips later, we were done around 11am. Now it was time to wait, as my job was done. Around noon, the rest of the volunteers, the folks you saw wearing orange t-shirts, arrived. It think we had about 50 or so folks. Since I didn't have any more volunteer duties, I took the time to explore the marketplace and visit the Spirit alumni suite in the back side Verizon Lounge. Now for the big reveal: my seats for the show. As a volunteer, I was in the building, but did not have seats reserved. I won't say how it happened, but I ended up in the press box. The acoustics there weren't anywhere near as bad as what I had experienced in regular seating areas. Must be the walls and roof, or something. So, there I sat for the first half of the show. I was impressed by the quality level of all the corps. Even the first few to go on, the ones that some people would miss in order to get a hot dog, or even sometimes cringe at due to mistakes, weren't too bad. As the intermission approached, I was getting hungry, so I headed downstairs for the other benefit of volunteering: free dinner. They were serving up BBQ sandwiches, salad, spicy corn, and cookies. Very tasty. I found a seat with some fellow volunteers, some of whom I knew already, and other who were of a more recent vintage. Then, into the room walked the DCI celebrities for their dinner: Steve Rondinaro, Dennis Delucia, Michael Boo, and the judges. I was in the midst of stardom! I played it cool, though, and didn't ask for autographs. After dinner, it was back to the Spirit alumni lounge for a few minutes before going back to the press box. As the evening progressed, the press box got more crowded, but nobody asked me to leave, and I enjoyed the show. My general observations follow: Madison was the highlight of the evening. Awesome sounds from that hornline, with music that we all know and love. I enjoyed the 6-12th place corps better than the top 5. Pits are using way too much amplification, overpowering the rest of the corps for most groups. Turn it down a little! Amplified bugles (or whatever they call horns nowadays) are just ridiculous. Same thing with amplified voices, most of the time. Phantom's entrance and exit were spectacular, but I wonder how that works in an outdoor stadium? Several corps used gimmicks that ended up distracting me from the great stuff going on in the rest of their shows. If these comments are found offensive to you or your corps, please accept my apologies... and stop being so sensitive

I'll be working the show, doing setup starting at 8am. Not looking forward to getting up early on a Saturday, but it's a worthwhile sacrifice for the greater good :-)

Good luck. After sitting inside the 40's in the club section (and paying $50 for the privilege) a few years ago, I vowed never to pay to see drum corps at the Ga Dome again. The acoustics were terrible.

Wow... they have internet access in W Va now? j/k

I marched DCI in the 80's and DCA in 1999. When I was younger, I always had the view of DCA being the 40+ guys holding a beer in one hand, etc. When I marched DCA, it was true. Iand I loved it. I have no use for DCA being DCI-like... I want it to be fun. I want it to be loud, with 2-valve horns and mylar heads.

Kevin- I tried listening to this on my ipod this morning... once the interview starts, there's nothing but silence. You might want to perform some quality control -Jack

That's so cool... I marched with him! He's immensely talented and I'm sure will be a great addition to Madison's staff.

It may be greasy, but it's GOOD! FWIW, "The Varsity only uses pure canola oil for frying, which has no trans fats, no cholesterol and very low saturated fat."

Blue Devils ----------Housing Info---------- Chattahoochee High School 5230 Taylor Rd Alpharetta, GA 30022-6015

No pun intended, I'm sure

From The Denver Weather Examiner: "In 1986...lightning injured 5 people just north of the Denver city limits in Adams County. The victims were members of a drum and bugle corps and were standing near a metal scaffold." What corps was this? -Jack

I'm unclear as to why any corps would need it's own meteorologist. You can already get the local weather forecast for any location in America from a number of websites, including weather.com, accuweather.com, even google and yahoo. It just seems like a duplication of effort.

Got this in my email the other day: CADETS IN ATLANTA --- and STAFF FOR A DAY REQUEST? Special event July 11, 2009 Hello to my friends of the Cadets from the great state of Georgia, We are working on plans for a very special event on July 11th, At Chattahoochee High School located in Alpharetta, Georgia. As it turns out the Cadets are taking off the weekend of the 10-12 from competition, and indeed, the corps will be on site in Alpharetta, GA for the Friday and Saturday of the weekend. Friday will be a full day of rehearsal for the corps but on Saturday we have prepared a full day of excitement. 9 am – 5 pm MUSIC IS COOL! • A full day of clinic opportunities for high school students. Rehearse alongside the Cadets, meet the staff, and have just a great, great time while learning and enjoying the world of marching music. • Band director and band staff clinics featuring the Cadet’s staff 6 pm – 7 pm BAND DIRECTORS/CADETS STAFF DINNER 7 pm – 8:30 pm SPECIAL 90 Minute workshop with George Hopkins, Cadets director since 1983 - And at the same time - 7 pm – 8:30 pm MEET and GREET for CADETS ALUMNI, FANS, and FRIENDS Hosted by the Cadets And finally 9:00 pm – 10:00 pm A special presentation for all by the HOLY NAME CADETS of 2009 • The 2009 show • Other selections • And much more Details will be coming shortly but mark your calendars, and tell your friends. A full Saturday with the Cadets is something that does not come to Atlanta all that often but we are thrilled to be able to spend the time with friends. One request – to Cadets alumni or music educators who may be interested: Because of the expansive nature of the planned MUSIC IS COOL, we will require additional staff for the day? Would you be willing to help? We will need you from 9 am – 5 pm. We can give you a free shirt, food and a great, great thank you!!! Interested? Please send an e mail with a little something about yourself to Melissa at melissa@yea.org We will get back to you in just a week or so And to all others, we are excited and thrilled to be coming to Atlanta! And thanks 100 times over to the good folks at Chattahoochee High School for hosting our summer stop! Happy Spring and we will see ya before ya know it! George J. Hopkins CEO- Youth Education in the Arts Director - The Cadets hopkins@yea.org

I remember sitting in a Burger King in Birmingham around 1980 listening to some guy muttering about everybody doing rotating arcs...

Every corps should have one of these on the bus...

How about making this a podcast so that we can listen on our iPods?

If I'm not mistaken, Tom Float came to Spirit in '78 and wrote the drum books from 78-81. Dan Spalding, I think, was only there in 1977. -Jack

Nope, in '79 it was Geodesic Dances. Devil Went Down to Georgia was the solo in both '80 and '81.