jjeffeory

That's great for them! As has been wondered about here before, I wonder if training in the altitude helps them during the rest of the season. I imagine it helps them be able to blow more air through the horns and sound even better. Imagine if Wyoming could become a little spring training hotbed for a bunch of corps? That'd be kinda cool and could be a win-win for all. Of course, BD would get a Jackson Hole facility!

I certainly did! I was at the Riverside show and complained about their treatment of Happy Days Are Here Again, and also the trumpet section fracking that didn't get called out in the score, imho. I was ready to throw babies at them until seeing them at this show, but it's just cranky old me. The mirrors in 2010 were much cooler, though...

This is one of my favorite shows of the season ( 4th favorite)! I can't wait to see all the changes they've made to it. I think I will have seen them 8 times live this year ( of course 3 times at finals week). They sound great! Their show is interesting. They look good. The props are interesting. What's not to love?

It's perfectly fitting that you started this thread! Enjoy!

Love that comment!

I love this for Mandarins and Cavaliers! Oh, and look at that for PC! Go PC!

Oh my. LOL I've heard enough about the "Blue Ocean Strategy" and how it applies to drumcorps to last a lifetime. I'm the opposite. You're still here. I'm still here. Hope you're here even after your guy exits the activity when he ages out ( in Mandarins). I'm a fan of the entire activity, not just one corps, and I'll try to keep supporting the activity until I die. Hope the person is doing well, and they're probably some millionaire with more important things to do than come on DCP anymore. I love the creative name though. Plan 9 from Outerspace has been lauded as the worst movie of all time, and for me it suited them well. Yeah, I'm a little devil sometimes.

Cavaliers, Mandarins, Bluecoats

Well, there's no need to cater to them because they're casual fans. They're one-off attendees. A new batch of casual fans will come in next year because a new bunch of kids will be rolling through the activity. That's what being casual is... This is a common tactic used in business today, especially in healthcare, food, and entertainment, especially in areas where the population is sufficiently large enough to cycle through new people. It's this way in the high school marching band activity and has been this way for years, so why not in DCI too? You know what REALLY keeps the activity afloat? People behind the scenes, that don't attend shows, but got involved in the activity because they marched, or their kids marched. You know, those DCI fanatics with "weird ideas"! You know how I know this? I just spent this month talking to these people at several shows, and it has been inspiring to see how much work these people with "weird ideas" do to actually keep the activity open and available for young people to participate in them. No, the rules of English didn't change, but your interpretation of it obviously doesn't match mine, which is just par for the course. Pearls before Swine.

When I marched, we had the pleasure of running down and nipping the field ( minus 1 corps) at finals, but we were ALL trading places in the top 5 throughout the season, so it was fun to end almost at the top, but more fun after the fact to see such a stacked field where it was an "on any given night" situation any corps could win. During the season, we were just trying to hang on and do each of our own parts to make the whole corps better. We weren't really concerned about scores. We were looking at the trends and just doing our jobs.

That's going to be incredibly awesome if Mandarins can end up in 5th place! That will make the season for me.

That's your misrepresentation of what I said, which is what I've come to expect out of you. You accuse DCI hardcore fans of having weird perspectives "on these things". I see the one-time show-goers as people who are uninformed about the activity, and have no skin in the game other than little Johnny or Jain marching this year. They are uninformed and willing to accept whatever quality comes their way without comment. They help fill the seats, but they don't care. So why is it that the people who enjoy, follow, and support the activity over decades of their lives have weird perspectives? Frankly, I find that point of view snooty, superior, and yikes... It's not weird to care about something and comment on the changes whatever way they feel about it. Apathy is weird. Attacking longtime fans because they have passion about something is weird. "Pearls before swine" comes to mind, so I'm going to check out.

Familiarity with a product is a "weird perspective"? This perspective is similar in almost every activity from football to soccer to ballet, dancing, and cheer. When you follow something, you follow it. Catering to the lowest common denominator (people who come for only one show in this example) is one of the most destructive things happening to society. It makes things bland and boring. Apparently, we're both splitting hairs here though, so carry on.

I love your explanations. I don't agree with everything, but these are the kind of predictions I miss seeing from most people. Keep it up!

Nice score bump! Welcome to the 80s

Nope. I'm not the show designer, but I see a show written similarly to BD shows, and that works for them. So why not other corps? The choppy musicial issues will get worked out. The performance level is limited to the members ability and the show design.

Go all corps!

...and they're NOT. Seriously. So many haters for the Cavaliers. The most "rehashed" part of the show is the Gloria stuff, and it's NOT even the same arrangements as '89 and '90. The other stuff is just hints of things they've played, not full-out pieces. They're deconstructed melodic highlights. They're mixed in with entirely freshly written material. To all, hate on it if you must, but let's get real. The hate isn't because of the music as much as the performance level not being there yet.

I don't think they have a high-powered visual design staff, I think they have a competent visual design staff in their first year with a big-name corps. It is impossible to follow Gaines, and Henshaw always seemed to write for other groups better than this one, so that's a can of worms I shouldn't even try to go into. You also realize that a lot of their staff went to Phantom Regiment, BK, Pacific Crest, and wherever else. Those corps are all going gangbusters this year too. It's just not appropriate to worry right now with so much season left.

I hate having to come in and defend them, but here we are. You're doing a good job of it. They haven't had time to make changes to the music, so I'm sure that's planned. Everything is planned to peak at finals. They're going to be fine, and if they don't place as high as we all want ( or not), they're having a great experience. They're going to tweak and change and bring out the show vision.

I mean, they're right there with the Cadets in score. Anything under 2 points is an even match. What are people saying about the Cadets? Top 5? Top 6? I don't think it's alarm time really. This year 6-9 are all VERY close, and 5th isn't out of the question with Regiment just yet. No biggie.

Worked for Blue Devils in their anniversary show....

Not surprised. They're still ok.

Too bad they Americanized Mazinger Z to Tranzor Z! Lots of good music there.

LOVE IT!