FTNK

Last movement of Mahler's 7th Symphony. Seriously.

Last movement of Mahler's 7th Symphony. Seriously.

Yea, kinda agreeing with Supersonic here... I called the show sloppily designed because I think it represents what a lot of shows do: Take a broad stereotype about something and build your show around the most recognizable aspects of that stereotype, pounding you over the head with the theme relentlessly the entire show. Anyhow, people with mental illnesses are a suffering minority group. What if the show had been based around broad, blatant, and outdated stereotypes of another suffering minority group? A lot of people seem to be saying that this is "just another example of political correctness gone wild," "people being offended by the stupidest things," et cetera. I don't think it's that stupid or trival of a thing. Mental illness is an incredibly nuanced, sensitive, complex subject; the marching arts, by their very nature, are at best only able express concepts with broad strokes. I don't think this kind of thing should be banned, or the group should have to change their show, but I can certainly be offended by it.

That rings...very true for me. I came to that realization in the second week of Spring Training, 2004--I wanted to get the glory, but I had no idea how much work it took and how un-glamorous the lifestyle is. Ended up marching three years by the way. But I don't think drum corps is right for everyone, and for some people, it isn't worth it. It stopped being really worth it for me after three years. That wasn't something wrong with the activity, it just was where I was and what I needed to do with my life.

I dunno...I can see both sides... This isn't the first time this has happened--I remember a few years ago people talking about a band that had some sort of "crazies in straightjackets" motif in their show. I think it is pretty shallow show design.

It would be pretty cool if The Cavaliers were in Obama's inauguration parade.

And people wonder why people get turned off by DCP.

thirdcoast has to be the most unhinged poster on DCP right now. He's not going to rival early BigSnareLine for pure singleminded idiocy or rudeness, but he makes up for it with rambling, repetitive, incoherent posts (see the SO MUCH EMOTION thread for an absolute classic). Truly an MVP of DCP. And then DrumCorpsFan27 coming in and sticking up for him. Comedy gold.

Both shows had design problems, both shows changed an immense amount throughout the course of the summer, both shows had incredibly controversial elements, and both were disappointments (compared to typical Cadets placements) from a purely competitive perspective (5th). Which show do you prefer/think is better? Please be respectful and thoughtful in your responses or I will request the posts be removed or the topic closed. For example, saying "I felt like the musical book was stronger in 2006 but the props, costumes, and use of voice really turned me off" is fine, saying "WTF was with that ####### rabbit? And I wanted Sarah Jones to die of cancer! Hopkins is such a noob! LOLZ!" is not.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Indiana University was #### near perfect. Too bad we can't have finals there again.

Copland'd! Ow my clue

If they had the skill of Prokofiev, they would deserve it

I think you make some good points, but prepare to be absolutely slammed by traditionalists.

I have to say that I don't think "1000 Airplanes on the Roof" at all pushed the boundaries of what can be played on the field. The piece is very similar in concept to "The Canyon," and PR's use of the piece wasn't much different from how SCV used "The Canyon" in 1999. Also, PR's arrangement of "Airplanes" fits into what I would describe as "fan-friendly minimalism" and thus, I wouldn't call it pushing the boundaries or challenging the audience. I think some of the stuff Blue Knights did last year would qualify, however. Beginning the show with a long period of silence (or near-silence), all the body movement, the all-percussion ballad and having the bass drum feature in the ballad? It might not have all worked, and people ripped the show mercilessly (especially in the beginning of the season) but it's definitely ballsy.

I think this is great news. Madison fans are gonna #### themselves for the next 10 months.

Groundbreaking topic here

So much for Stars being Hrothgar's new favorite corps! Whatever will they do without his support?

Will Plenk is a BAMF. Aside from the opening solo in 2003, I've never heard him play but he's a great guy and fantastic leader--I'd follow him anywhere.

Yup, Brandt Crocker is the Mizzou stadium announcer when he's not saying RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrregiment

With the DVDs- Prospective members start familiarizing themselves with the technique program well before auditions and maybe learn something that they can use even if they don't make the line, and the prospective members are probably more comfortable with the audition process having seen and heard (sortof) how things are run and Gusseck's style of teaching. And SCV makes money selling the DVDs. Less convinced about the YouTube thing.

Is the voting on this still open?

OK, here are my evaluations: 7. USC. They dropped the ball on this. I think it'll be the nearly unanimous last place for the DCP crowd. They seemed bored. One good thing was a couple of attempted dynamic contrasts, but they failed. 6. Clemson. They weren't actively bad like USC was, but nothing that really stood out. Not a great arrangement, ensemble clarity and intonation problems. 5. Florida. Clarity issues again, not a stellar arrangement, more intonation problems and "fuzziness" than Auburn. 4. Auburn. Like, Clemson, nothing really stood out. The arrangement was very straightforward and seemed to lack energy and contrast. Nothing glaringly terrible. Here's the hard part. I am currently trying to refine my vote between Georgia: I like the pit, but is that just my drum corps-based values system? Georgia seems to be the most corps-like in look and style. I thought they played well as a whole, though more problems (mostly performance-related) come up with repeated viewings. ahhhh gotta go laptop battery dying.

Do you start getting turns to spend when the season starts, or when you create a group?

And this was the inspiration for Garfield's legendary 1984 West Side Story show.