oldguard

That was Vision Elite from Brooklyn, NY, a very talented corps of kids whose staff is doing a great job. According to their website they have over 50 members: http://www.brooklynmusicandartsprogram.org/visionelite.html Very true. :)

This is good news! Emerson, Lake and Palmer have played out well on the field over the years, particularly in great Blue Devil style in the 80's. In my opinion, Blue Devils B was a very under-rated corps in an very competitive field at Finals in 2006 and I am very much looking forward to their show this year. Have a wonderful 2007, BDB! See you in August. :)

Thanks. I know it sounds a bit strange, but when you think about it ... one of the the things Div II/III needs is more tickets sold at the gate. There are always empty seats in general admission seating in the outer areas where the corps kids sit after they have performed. I figure I've paid for a couple of them to sit down and take a break. I have even been known to call a sponsor of a Div II/III show ... it's some school trying to raise money for their music program and they are good people working hard to raise a few dollars by sponsoring a small drum corps show ... and buy a couple of tickets and tell them to hold them at the gate. Last year when I did this at one place, I got the same person on the phone whom I talked with the previous year. She surprised me by saying, "Hope you make the show this year." I said "Huh?" She said "I see you are from out-of-state. I still got an envelope here in my box for you for last year." I said something like, "Well, I'll do my best, but. you know, if you're at sell out and I'm not there yet, feel free to sell them again." She just laughed and said, "Thanks for your support." It's a small thing and it helps people who care about kids and corps.

Absolutely! Although it is always disheartening to hear when a corps, whose shows we have enjoyed and look forward to seeing, will not be fielding for a year, sometimes it is for the best for them to take the time to re-evaluate. Those of us who are are fans, who are inclined to do so, can try to help the process with a donation, if we are able. Otherwise it is best to just wish them well, follow their official announcements, and hope they will be back soon. With new corps, we can help if we are in a position to do so, maybe see if they have an online store or fundraising effort. Otherwise, we can just follow their progress reports and , most of all, look forward to the day when we may see them on the field. There are many good things happening in Div II/III all the time for us to enjoy, applaud and support. Edit: One of the things I do sometimes to support a Division II/III corps is to look for their Home Show information on DCI's Event Calendar. If tickets are available online or through the mail, I buy a couple ... they're a few bucks and I know where the money is going ... even if the show is across the country or on a date I cannot possibly attend. I'd be there if I could. If I know someone in that area who can use them, I stick them in an envelope and send them off. Think of it as Christmas in July. <santa> Yeah, I know, I'm a crazy old guy, but I'm one who loves drum corps.

This post makes my day. <santa> Thanks, Teal Sound. Happy Holidays of every kind to everyone at DCP!

This is very sad news. :(

Good news! Best wishes to Stockton Buccaneers. May you have a great summer. See you in Pasadena.

Some great researching here. Interesting list. Thanks!

Yeah, my memory went haywire on that one ... so I've since been re-reading some of the old corps history stuff on corpsreps.com. One of the most interesting is for The Cadets: http://corpsreps.com/corpsreps.cfm?view=co...orpstype=Junior I really enjoyed the part where the corps went out an bought their own uniforms and borrowed horns and paid their own travel expenses in order to compete when they lost their sponsor. The anecdote about being run out of one town by gunpoint was pretty amusing, too. The Cadets are hard-corps. Some interesting reading on all these corps on corpsreps.com. It does say there of Dutch Boy that "The corps was inactive from 1994 through 1997." I have no idea what may be true ... and if I knew I might forget anyway ... not that I am getting too old (looks in mirror ... nah, best not go there ...) (my spelling skills seem to be lacking these days, too ... no, wait ... that's never been so good anyway)

You are right. Thanks for catching my error.

80th Anniversary in 2007 ... quite an achievement, Racine Scouts! :) Last year Blue Saints were introduced as the oldest, continuously performing corps from Canada which formed in 1952. This would likely make them the next oldest to Racine Scouts in Division III. 1955 would make Spartans the oldest corps currently in Division II, I think. In the current Division I, Madison Scouts, since 1938, is the oldest corps, I believe.

I, personally, am really liking these choices and I agree completely with your comments on each one ... particularly the mention of Jim Jones, whose role and influence on the history of drum corps cannot be overstated. (No, I am not a former Trooper. ) I am thinking, though, that to try to find common ground, if actually attempting to pick the "5 most influential shows," we would also have to give a nod to more recent events. Would it be possible, I am wondering, to pick one show from each decade, 50's through '90's for the "5" picks and then choose one for "2000 and on so far"? For experimentation purposes, let's try it ... I'd go along with: 1950's: St Vincent's Cadets, early 50's ... (though I am thinking others might nominate other corps) 1960's: Casper Troopers '64 and/or '65 or Boston Crusaders '67 ... ??? ... (I had these on my personal list originally before I started whittling it down to try to pick only five) ... Other nominations from the '60's out there? 1970's: ? One show? It's getting tough here ... 1980's: ditto 1990's: I'd really want to go with Star '93 And the sixth one for the 2000's ... I think I will let the new generation of marchers figure this one out, if they could. I am really enjoying the thought process of trying to reduce this concept to only the "5 most influential shows of all time." :)

Yes! Thanks. How could I not include that one? I was trying to remember which Cavies show I needed to put in there. But then ... what to take out? It is really difficult to pin this down in so few shows ... in reality, it is likely impossible.

BD 76 ... Garfield 83-85 ... even Cavies 02 ... and many of the others mentioned above ... ... all very influential and easy to put on a list of the "5 most influential shows of all time." In my list, I felt I had to include at least two shows prior to the formation of DCI, because to do otherwise is to not give credit to the driving influences which fostered an organization designed to promote creativity in drum corps' programing. The roots of the wonderful aspects of drum corps we enjoy today are there. My marching years preceeded all of these shows. It was as a member of the audience that I gazed upon Troopers '70 and Scouts '71 and SCV '73 and knew I was seeing something which would forever change drum corps as I had marched it. Had these corps ... Garfield Cadets needs to be on this list somehow ... not taken those intial steps to break from tradition ... planting the thought in the minds of their directors that they could not continue to grow and evolve under the old CYO, VFW stuctures ... drum corps would likely not even exist as a performance art form today. Just my thoughts ... (edited for accuracy)

In historical order: 1970 Troopers ... "dance" with hoedown between guard/hornline members 1971 Scouts ... "story" or "theme" & "costumes" for Wizard of Oz 1973 Vanguard ... "music" for Young People's Guide to the Orchestra 1980 Vanguard ... "free form drill" (see above post) 1993 Star ... enough said already (see above) ... just my thoughts ...

Some interesting reviewing starting to go on in this thread ... I like it.

This sounds wonderful ... two composers whose works I much enjoy, both of whose music thus far has translated well onto the drum corps field. I am looking forward to learning what pieces will be selected. I think this is a great choice for this corps and has the potential to become my favorite Memphis Sound production thus far. Looking forward to seeing you on the field next summer, Memphis Sound. :)

1-3 ... Phantom Regiment (oh, to have still been young enough to march that show at finals) 4-6 ... Bluecoats 7-9 ... Carolina Crown 10 - 12 ... Boston Crusaders Why stop here? 13-15 ... Crossmen 16-18 ... Mandarins 19-21 ... Seattle Cascades 22-23 ... Pioneer Why stop here ? 201-203 ... Spartans (easiest one) 204-206 ... Oregon Crusaders 207-209 ... Teal Sound ... (this is the toughest one to choose for me) Why stop here? 301-303 ... Revolution 304 - 306 ... Yamato 307-309 ... Dutch Boy ... (this is another tough choice) 310-312 ... Spirit of New Jersey 313-315 ... 7th Regiment 316-317 ... St John's (only if they'd let me play one of those drums ... otherwise Blue Saints hornline) Corps who did not attend Madison ... Mystikal I am just a member of the old guard.

This pretty much says it for me. I see as many shows as I can, read reviews for the ones I can't, take in all the media files on the DCI website that I can gather... the earlier the better, the middle, right through to the end ... I like to see where they start, how they progress, get to finals and watch them bring it all home ... hear them breathe after they play that last note ... watch them march out that last time ... Div I/II/III ... it's all good drum corps.

Hmmm ... I have to take some of this back ... two good moving clips of Memphis Sound in action ... and as I have since checked the list of corps at Indy's night show ... almost all the corps ... no Revolution ... would have been nice ... still a fun clip to watch though ...

Thought of the Day: I wonder how many of you are reading this who are in corps whose staffs have told you not to post on this public forum ... or even not to read it ... to stay away from here ... that it is not a good place ... to not get involved in the drama ... to spend your time practicing and focusing instead ... to represent yourselves and your corps better than this ... You are all intelligent young men and women with a need to communicate and to express your thoughts, ideas and feelings. Some of you, I know, write carefully worded posts. Some of you write me private messages. To one of these I'd like to say, "You are very welcome." "Words don't hurt anyone. Thoughts don't hurt anyone" I think your instructional staff and corps directors are telling you otherwise. I am reminded of one of my own instructors from so many years ago who taught me: "Corpsmanship begins and ends with what you think about yourself and others."

Awww ... sorry, SoonerFan04. :( When you can, get to a computer where you can bring it up. It is well worth the effort. They cut footage from the Indy Show into a montage with a Dave Matthew's song playing. There are at least three good moving shots of Memphis. None of the corps' music is actually played, but it nice to see them give equal video footage to all the corps.

There is also a very nice feature on Impulse! Click on the "Video Clips" box at right and then look to the bottom row/middle. Click on the smiling Impulse kids to bring it up. Sorry, I have not been able to get a direct link to only the Impulse clip to work.

I found this link posted in a Div I thread and since it has included some nice shots of Memphis Sound in the footage, I am posting it here for those of you who may have missed it: http://www.dci.org/media/theater.cfm?bctid=155876670 Enjoy!

Thought of the Day: By the way, if you are annoyed by my posts then stop reading or use the "ignore user" feature as I suggested that you do previously. I assure you this will not in any way do me any harm. I figure that this feature has been provided to us by the good people at DCP for a reason, so why not utilize it. Thus said, I wish to reiterate the point that, in my opinion, I still find it inapproriate for a man of my generation to say in a reply to a young woman of the guard of today, who has just made her first post on this public forum, that "Some people in DCP are just too sensitive." I have a great respect for the strong young women who perform in today's demanding guards. I am sure they are really not "too sensitive" and really do not need me to defend them as they are more than capable. I just find it unacceptable and feel my generaton could better represent ourselves.