You know what I love, I love it when people feel like their opinion matters, even when they weren't even involved. I for one was there.
jafar and dcimarky are two example of people who like to sit behind their computers and spit out garbage.
I had a kid come up to me after quarters from our percussion section and thank me and the staff for a great experience. He told me at the age of 17, he now knows he wants to march until he ages out and wants to be involved with music for the rest of his life. He was not the only one....
Kirk Gay was the arranger for the pit this past year(teaches at UCF), he has written for the Crossman ('92-x) and Phantom ('96-x) and Drew Tucker did a great job getting the book clean.
I can tell you this much, every summer you have your ups and downs. Magic is in a rebuilding stage, in 2004 they had only 6 vets returns. In 2005 they had 40. Next summer from all accounts it seems it will be more than last. The average age of the corps this past year was 17.7. With a great year to year return rate and some design/staff changes The Magic should be headed in the right direction.
The corps never broke down on the road. The corps ate better than anycorps I have been around in the last 13 years (steak 4 times,great meals between steak nights, and peach cobler to die for. Our cooking staff was UNREAL!). The corps was only late to a housing site 2 times all summer.
If you want the real story, and not something from people who have nothing better to do than wish they got out and did something with their own lives please feel free to send me a message here, and I will put you in touch with the people you can talk to about their experiences, and with the staff as well....
Chris Romanowski
The Magic Percussion Caption Head 2k5