KingJoeVII

I tried to start getting something underway last year using "DrumCorpsWiki", however it kind of fizzled out after a little while due to lack of participation The best way I figure to do it would be to organize information based around show and from there you can cross-reference any data you want to highlight or research... you can still see the project in progress here at the DrumCorpsWiki: Project Shows and check out some of the individual pages here Cadets 2006 Cadets 2004 -joe

Well, I should have hedged my bets a bit and put in more of an explanation, but I was at work at the time and very tired. salad hits the nail on the head about shows and sequels. Sure there have been shows played back to back that have had very similar themes and even the same music, as salad points out. What those shows don't have is the narrative connection that spans the year. '06 took the same narrative from '05 and expanded it in new directions...that is different from say '88'89 SCV where it was basically a rehash of the same material and MS '95'96 where there is no deeper overall narrative. '06 demanded the audience remember specific things about the '05 program - -The ending drill sequence which is played back in silence at the beginning, -the sections of the '05 show resembled by the princess hat, the workman's hat, the umbrella and the suitcase, -musical themes - from the liquid theme from '05, to parts of "false mirrors" to, the kill bill motif, to the twilight zone -The mirrored uniforms, changed in '06 to the psychedelic floral print to reflect the overarching visual theme -The narrative of the '05 program wherein a girl becomes lost in several different worlds, '06 expands upon this to include the psychedelic Alice in Wonderland world which Alice/Danny first finds friends and enjoys, but soon finds that she wishes to go home (in an arc reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz - which is referenced in both the number of friends Alice/Danny meets and also seen in their skipping together at the end of "The Garden") - The ending drill and musical sequence which on the surface appears to be a rehash of the '05 ending, however with extra musical and visual elements thrown in or adjusted. Taking all of these into account, the '06 show goes well beyond a simple "part 2" show. Thus you have the most complex show every put on a marching field (well drum corps show - I'm sure some BOA band out there has an even more involved and complex show design) Interesting note about this...Hop always told us back in '06 that the judges kept saying this, saying we didn't draw the focus to anything specifically. Hop had been defending it all year saying that it was silly for the judges to penalize us for having too much effect going on. 'glory' is right that the goal of '06's effect was completely different from the Cavies show which everything was laid out in neat little packages, but I would contend that they merely represent different ways of designing a show and neither is inherently better. Personally, I believe that criticizing a show for having too much going on is akin to saying that Mahler had too many themes or that his harmonies were too thick for the melody. It is more a matter of taste than an objective criticism. I would love it if every show was so chocked full of effect that it would take several viewings to see it all. As it is I have seen Cavies '06 once or twice and it was plenty for me, whereas I would love to see PR '08 again and again because there was so much I missed the first time.

A little biased. but I would take 2006 over 2008 any day. The '06 show was revolutionary in so many ways. Of course on the surface you have the elements of voice and narration to consider, but the most revolutionary aspect of the show was in the construction and design. "Vol. 2: Through the Looking Glass" was, and remains today, the most complex show ever put on a football field. The sheer demand put on the audience to just keep up is leagues ahead of anything attempted before or since. The mere fact that it was a sequel to the year before, itself, is shttering to the Drum Corps Show paradigm.

Does anyone else think the whole idea of judging is silly? I mean it is not like sports where there is a clear winner once time runs out...it seems liek scores are based off the expectations game more than anything. Sure there are judging sheets that are supposedly objective, however everyone knows in the back of their head that it boils down to subjective judgements... I say the only way Drum corps survives in the future is to get rid of the whole silly notion that shows can be objectively rated and that "better" shows win.

yeah I have heard that story manyatime... however, The rumor I heard was clearly referring to the entire corps having a normal rehearsal several nights in a row. it was explained to me as the corps "going nocturnal" for a couple days to avoid the heat.

anyone out there in DCP world who can verify and possibly elaborate...maybe some old Vanguard alum??

yeah I had heard it was to avoid the heat of the day... ...I wonder how that would affect the corps...seeing as most shows are in the evening, would it be equivalent to waking up in the morning and performing a show?

Just a random thought I had tonight where I remembered something I heard on tour... I can't remember specifics, but I have definitely heard it said that back in the day (70s maybe?) SCV would go nocturnal some times and rehearse all night and sleep all day... ...anyone ever heard anything like that or am I just making this up?

I agree with Drumcorpsfan (wow, never thought I would say that)...post of the decade.... Maybe the Cadets should go in exhibition the rest of the year. I think a lot of the issues come with the silly "competition" part of the activity. They could then make the show as long as it needed to be showing the proper development of the story. I'm not sure how legitimate it is to put a story like this on in a competitive environment. If the narrative and message are truly important, they should not be distracted by trying to conform with the rules of competition. Going even further, I believe competition is ultimately holding the activity back. How can you explore these different forms and ideas when you are worrying about impressing some judges? I don't think in the current paradigm we will ever see anything truly revolutionary simply because the risk of loosing is too great. The focus has become beating corps XYZ and not on creating a program that is based solely on its artistic and entertainment value. Until competition is abolished, or given less importance in Drum Corps, I do not see much changing...

i think he means that corps dont just replay entire shows set for set and note for note, the way that orchestras recreate symphonies...

something I have always thought about is how to make drum corps shows repeatable...I mean there is nothing technically restricting it. Does anyone wanna get together and recreate Cadets 2000??

wow...I dont really know where you would draw the line between "art" and "not art", and even then it is entirely subjective, I personally think Cavies '06 was one of the most pedestrian and poorly designed shows of all time, much less an example of high art. I think one could even make the argument that Cavies '06 and Cadets '05-'06 represent the two extreme ideologies that exist in drum corps today. It is kind of a testament to the activity that such fundamentally different shows representing completely opposing styles can win the championship in back to back years.

most interesting post of the summer...bravo

So it takes a very special moment to give me goosebumps...no offense to anyone here, but most shows out there dont really do anything for me, so it is really cool when they do...that being said my list is very sparsely populated... cadets 83 Z pull (I wouldn't be a good cadet if this didn't give me goosebumps) cadets 87, the entire show...literally, every second is like an orgasm SCV '87 the opener star '93 the chord to the end Cadets '00 - again the entire show esp. the opening hit and the final push Cadets '02 BWBB - Gettysburg Brass Band Festival early June '02 is the reason I joined the Cadets Cadets '05 Dancer, and the hit in Liquid (still the absolute loudest thing I have ever heard during the encore at Allentown, if you were there you know) Cadets '06 Sanvean - obviously a homer pick, but much better than people give credit for so everyone can name the best moments...how about the moments that aren't mentioned here... I notice i dont see any 1998 on here? anything special happen in 98? or how about '01?

Marching band - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms marching around on a field with wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Louie, Louie" at times. Drum Corps - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms , marching around on a a field with slightly fewer wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Malaguena" at times. ____ sounds kinda the same to me...

but wait, I thought Drum Corps was completely different from marching band?? [/sarcasm] Either way, they have never been seen in the drum corps activity before... not being a jackass, I'm just curious what kind of "out of the box" ideas would you like to see?

cool cool, He told us he was very close to scraping the whole uniform for 2000 as well (put the corps in street clothes), but he would have lost a major donor in the process, so he shelved the idea.

could this be the working of Nixon's "silent majority"?

Has anyone ever thought that after 25+ years putting on shows, maybe he and some of the design staff aren't contented to throw out the same old stuff every year? Maybe after rehashing the same old Drum Corps show filled with the "Malaguena"s and the "West Side Story"s for a quarter of a century they want to try and expand the activity to see if they can create anything deeper from 11 1/2 minutes. Sure some of the stuff probably wont/doesn't work, but I would rather see a corps do something different than watching a rehash of "Young Person"s guide..." or "Candide" year after year. Hop once said that one of the reasons he didn't do West Side Story again in 2004 (which was the rumor going into winter camps) was because he knew it would be good. He told us if you know something is going to be good, then why do you even need to do it? What he was getting at is unless there is that risk that it could all come crumbling down, you will become complacent with where you are and what you do. (at least that is what I take out of it)

wow, this is the most I have ever seen anyone talk about that show (positive or negative) ever... Thanks for the kind words...though I feel like that year will be remembered more for the "William Tell" encore piece we did

Wow, I thought that '04 was just a forgotten show...I didn't think anyone could have a strong opinion of it. - 2004 Cadets Euphonium The poll is a *tad bit unfair 8 championships compared to 1, plus we dont really have the perspective on '05-'08 to make any kind of meaningful comparison to what amounts to an entire era in corps history.

"Everyone knows rock achieved perfection in 1974...it's a scientific fact!" -H. Simpson

This is the exact thing that I take great pride in being a Cadet. It seems like they barely fill a full hornline every year. They do not have the numbers that the other "top" corps have audition which means that they have to work real friggin hard every year to stay on top (not that ever corps doesn't work hard every year, but talk to someone who marched about the work ethic and reputation of the Cadets and they will tell you).

sorry, now that I got that out of my system, I am very interested in drumline movement and how exactly it differs from hornline movement. Not crab stepping, but forwards and backwards...what are some of the techniques they teach you?

Living with the past... though I would love to see someone do a "music from the future" show :) reminds me of the old mitch hedberg joke... My friend came up to me and showed me a picture and said "this is a picture of me when I was younger" ...EVER picture of you is when you were younger... ..."heres a picture of me when I was older", whatthefcuk? Where did you get that camera?