4181jay

I've seen the hashtag thing on twitter and the facebook posts relating to the 'growdrumcorps' thing. what strikes me is that grow drum corps just seems to be targetting an audience that possibly already knows of Drum Corps within the USA.High school bands and suchlike. Wouldn't it be more fruitful to try to make more people aware of the activity and possibly buy merchandise and media online from outside the USA? The cinema shows that DCI puts on, season previews and finals week stuff would,I'm sure, be quite well attended in select venues in the UK, Netherlands and Japan. I've been informed that rights would have to be secured and other legal stuff but wouldn't it be a good idea to try these things, if only for a year or two? Nothing ventured nothing gained?

Oh....and if BD wants to remain kings of 'chop n bop' why don;t they tackle this one...listen how chopped up this is....yet it still follows a very distinct musical line Especially 4:35 - 5:49 Oh..and to the OP...your post reminded me when I took pen to paper and sent BD (WD and the show coordinator) hand written letters to ask them to return to playing hard-hitting jazz shows....still waiting for a response back... we (northern alliance) played this in '89. We called it 'why not' I think. It's on youtube, 2nd tune of part 1. Great tune!!

It's interesting to know that since it's formation 10 years ago DCE has allowed any instrument, any key, including woodwinds. Now it allows amplified guitars and synths too. I'd have gone years ago if Corps took to using woodwinds on a large scale, but they didn't so I've had many great weekends at DCE finals This year may be my last as I don't really get the electronic thing. If their use is widespread, I'll be gone.

I pitched an idea similar to this to a TV programmer a few months ago. my idea was- follow 7 or 8 English kids through the audition stage. human interest stuff at the forefront at first. watch the joy and heartache of being accepted/cut. moving to the USA and rehearsals. on the road competing finals week coming home There was a heck of a lot of human interest stuff and big scope for laughter, tears and tantrums. it was a good, well thought out and presented pitch to the commissioner from our 5th biggest terrestrial channel which has a tiny portion of the market. End result- wouldn't attract enough viewers to justify the (extremely small) financial outlay. Drum Corps and mainstream TV just aren't compatible. There is an Arts channel over here that I'll be speaking with in the New Year in an effort to do something though. Watch this space!!!

I've sent you a pm. jay

Why does the latest scores bar on the right of the screen not show scores from competitions outside the USA?

Just got back from a great weekend of beer and Drum Corps and felt I should put my thoughts down! Another well run show and great fun meeting old friends and new outside the stadium. Still the best location I've watched a drum corps show in! Besana- Maturing each year. Really like the way the Corps members project themselves. First appearance in finals and won't be the last! Small Corps but quite enjoyable! Millenium- I usually love this Corps! I will confess though that they almost lost me this year. I'm not sure why a corps with 18 brass and 8 guard members needs a pit with 7 full size keyboards, 5 timps and a full drum kit. Please bring back the in your face passion next year! The 6th- Half way through my wife leaned in to me and whispered, 'wag the flags and throw the rifles, I dont like this drama stuff.' I have to agree with her. A small guard shouldn't take a performer out to solo dance when a full unison flag twirl would give more effect. First time I've seen the 6th. Love the uniforms and the members gave a good account of themselves when we saw them in the stands later in the evening. Starriders- always a treat to see this class act from Germany. Smaller than I've seen them but still very entertaining. Percussion had a good groove going on and the show projected well with the crowd. With more numbers I could see Starriders challenging for higher places. Nice to see a small, size of Corps appropriate pit too! Black Knights- I dont know much about percussion but this group of drummers has a serious groove going on! 3rd year running BK has gripped me and entertained like only they seem to know how. If you had said 2 months ago that the show that entertained me the most would feature music by GA GA, Black Eyed Peas and Biffy Clyro I would have had you checked by a Doctor but BK continue to impress me with their catchy brass arrangements and grooving drum line. all of us in my group were seriously impressed with the Corps from Gravesend! Well Done! Dutting from the drum line was far too loud though, watch the Drum Major for timing please! Beatrix- Huge guard! Love the Corps uniforms and the guard uniforms complement really well. Nice brass line. My attention was drawn to the 'dead contra player' at the back of the field too much though! Good energy! Snares set at an angle look absolutely spot on and very effective. Sloppy feet everywhere cost them a place at least. Jubal- Stepped it up performance wise for finals after having a flat prelim performance. Show tailed off towards the end but the men in orange deserved their placement. I'd like to see more passion next year though. Still got the best t shirts in Drum Corps! Orange flags would work better for the guard, in my wifes opinion! Julliana- Small Corps giving the other 2 dutch powerhouses a serious run for their money recently. Lovely high brass sound and hornline very tight all round. Well drilled unit with lots of class. Kidsgrove Scouts- Large! Look amazing on the field and performed the show to within an inch of its life! Brass sound big and full. Percussion smoking hot. Guard clean and effective. Drill was clean and all over the field. Very effective show that got the Jubal 'orange army' to its feet with excitement! The Company- Very, very clean. Very, very technical. Flute, 3 synths, bass guitar and vocalist? Not my cup of tea I'm afraid. I found the whole show quite clinical and lacking emotion. Couldn't tell if the sounds we were hearing were made by brass players or synth players. This Corps have all the talent to wow audiences and I'm sure that they would have got a much better reception without the 'toys'. The show is designed to win and thats what they did however I think the members work hard enough and are talented enough to deserve having the crowd go wild for their efforts. European fans appear to like their Drum Corps less clinical and more emotional which leads me to.... Jubal Alumni- Very large! Big hornline with some screamers laying it out for the crowd! Musical choices were recognisable and energy packed. With the home crowd going nuts they were never in danger of being golf clapped but what a reaction! I wish competing Corps would take a leaf out of the alumni corps and give the fans what they so very obviously want- power, pizzaz and massive doses of excitement! All in all quite an enjoyable weekend spent with good friends however I think that next year may be my last trip if the competing Corps continue to choose 'concepts' that require explaining. Over the past 2 years the excitement level has gone down quite a lot as more Corps try to emulate the top DCI corps and tell stories instead of showing emotion. Not enough Corps appear to try to stay true to their own identities and with 1 or 2 exceptions, the top 10 could be described as 'DCI lite'. Also there are not enough soloists! I know that every Corps has talent so I'd love the arrangers to let some of it shine with a blazing solo or 2! Full ensemble work is all well and good but give us something to talk about! Biggest shocker of the day- NO HIGH BRASS AWARD! DCE has high percussion but no high brass! What is going on in the world? Its also a bit upsetting that buying tickets 5 minutes after the box office opens and paying for premium, top price seats only gets you sat between the 30 and 35 yard lines. After complaining to DCE reps we were shown the printout which showed that 150 tickets around the 50 were bought by 1 person as soon as the box office was opened! It still doesnt explain how a further 500 people managed to buy tickets closer to the 50 than us in 5 minutes though!

Despite being one of my favourites over the last few years at DCE, Jubal could not compete in World Class. They would place last. They are a highly entertaining Corps with some of the most vocal fans in the world and each year they get my heart beating faster with their show but lower placing corps in DCI world Class have much more rehearsal time and would score 5-6 points more at finals. Despite this you will love Jubal when they come over. They leave everything on the field and always leave a good impression. A fine Corps! Jubal do have the best T Shirts in Drum Corps however. Pray they bring their booster stall when they come over!

As your post was your first in this thread, I didn't make the connection that you were talking about posts in another thread. I presume this is where he made up a quote allegedly from you? I've just re-read the posts and it still reads (to me) that your defending charlie1223 as if it is yourself. I'm sorry for misunderstanding your post, I guess i must still be in shock at agreeing with you both about your views in this thread. It's not often I have the same point of view as you two!! Good luck with this venture to all at The cadets!

My favourite sounding hornlines were blue devils 83-86. Even after listening to them on cd 100's of times they still get the heart racing. I would give anything to go back in time and stand in front of any of them. PR at semis last year touched me like no line has done since the early 90's.

Page 12. You replied to brasso attacking charlie1223 as if he attacked you.

I was just wondering why mikeD felt the need to reply to a post attacking you and writing it as if he had been attacked. Logged in wrong account? On topic- I hope this works for the cadets, I've not liked a lot of stuff instigated by GH in the past but weekend only drum corps for local kids seems to be just what the doctor( and many posters here) ordered. I'm sure if there were viable local junior circuits to enter the cadets would have joined them. As it is, the only option open to them is dca. Gives me more of a reason to come over for dca finals in 2012!

BRASSO, on 27 April 2011 - 01:18 PM, said: I havn't read a single post on here from any poster that said that George Hopkins " wanted to kill DCA ". Has anybody else ? We don't bring ourselves much credibility or glory when we just make up things on here, charlie1223. That's funny, because you made up a quote from me that I never said, and even put it in quotation marks as if it was copied and pasted from something I said. is charlie1223 your alter ego mike? sure goes to explain some of his more 'out there' thoughts!!! ;-)

completely agree with the Op. great ideas from somebody who obviously knows his stuff. I'd keep FN. It would act as a full library of DCI history and a place to see live streams. I'd only put incomplete shows or single tunes on youtube and suchlike in order to get the attention of the casual viewer. If DCI wants to keep the attention of the casual youtube viewer, it has to persuade the arrangers to put a product on the field which either gets the heartbeat racing or tugs at the heartstrings. I fully appreciated what BD did last year and they were worthy winners however if child/adult 'A' from sometown happened across a segment of the show on youtube how long do you think they would last before moving on? On the other hand if somebody typed 'happy days are here again' into youtube and clicked on a good clip of BD 88 I'd bet a sizeable chunk they would be intrigued enough to last for a full 2-3 minute clip.

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Love seeing the stuff everyone does! I'm a police officer ex pro rugby league player, still play the occasional game and love watching all levels. Riding my motorcycle (pocket rocket zxr400, you'll have me on the straights but 'see ya' in the turns!) X-Box travelling almost an average skier after approximately 70 weeks on the snow over the years. mountain biking bmx (30 years and counting!) hanging out with my wonderful wife! Stupidly just signed up for a white collar boxing match against the local fire brigade so the next 5 months will have all the above on the back burner!

yes. or they could play trumpet, mello, euph, contra/tuba or percussion. they could even flag wag. but no trombone please, even though I love them elsewhere.

cant speak for others but i didn't renew my friends membership this year due to getting 'top class' seats OUTSIDE the 40 for finals last year.I was led to believe the seats around the 50 were reserved for friends members and looking at the numbers now I wonder why I was so far out. At the time I just thought that there must be a 1000 or so friends so I just lived with it. Now I'm quite ticked off! Knew a couple of people who were nearer the 50 for finals who bought their tickets really late too, without friends membership. The 'newsletter' sent out is a small e-mail with not as much info on as the normal DCI e-mail. All in all just not good value or service for the lower level friends member. I would have renewed this year if it wasn't for the above points as there is a chance I may venture over the pond again to catch a late regional. I'll just spend my money on merchandise from the corps websites instead.

I'm led to believe no new board members could be found when the last members finished.

yep, i'll compare the 2 jim! DCI- fantastic experience as I'd never been before. Performance level of the corps off the scale. A lot of Corps being very technical but whatever emotion the 'kids' put in to it seems to get lost between field and stands. Lots of obviously taught 'grooving' in evidence from the pit performers. Very sterile atmosphere in the stands, not a lot of warmth in evidence. It was only when iI went down below for BD winning encore I actually heard the drum snippet from 'legend'! The dome seems to swallow even the loudest corps. My friends of DCI tickets bought for a total, including 'friends' bronze, of $1050 for the 2 of us for the 3 days plus open class prelims. Quite a high price when you find I was sat outside the 40 and around 100 metres from the front line. People appeared pre-occupied and rushing everywhere. Indy as a city we found to be very good with everything you would want but lacking in character. The blues bar down the road from the dome was amazing!!!! I find i love pulled pork sandwiches! DCE- The venue is second to none in europe for drum corps in my opinion. The stand is packed out to such an extent that people are sitting behind the end zones. This full house produces masses of noise when cheering the corps and the corps respond by giving it all they have got. The programs put out by the corps are not as technical as at DCI but you can FEEL the emotion put out by the performers. Lots of mistakes on the field but you forgive them as you can see they're giving their all. Lots of banter between supporters in the crowd meant that a healthy, fun atmosphere was evident throughout the day. Tickets cost 25 euros for the full day! Great food and drink at reasonable prices. My wife is dragging me out of the house for a weekend in scotland so i'll continue when i get back!!

can't believe some of the early posts were spelled correctly considering some of the attitudes! The folding of DCG is sad but as DCE is thriving so much at the moment in the great scheme of things it is not as bad as it sounds. European Drum Corps will continue and due to the closeness of the countries the German Corps will just pop over the border for contests. Not too dissimilar to Cavvies going to Indy for a contest. DCE is oversubscribed again this year with Corps being told they cant compete at Finals due to time limitations. That isn't a sign of a dwindling scene is it? Have to say it, the standard of production isn't as high in Europe as the top 12 DCI but I had much more fun and entertainment in Kerkrade last year than in Indy.

whilst not at the standard of North american WC Corps performance level wise, you will be thoroughly entertained. Last couple of years have been good for Jubal shows. Very enthusiastic performers and great fans. Pray they bring their booster stall, best t shirt designs in drum corps without question!!

Dagenham? Senators? Any news?

When I think of 'dark' my mind takes me to many British brass band arrangements and the warm sound these ensembles produce. With the any key any forward facing brass rule, has any corps considered utilising cornets or making forward facing tenor horns? I think a few of last years shows would sound darker and warmer with cornets, tenors and a line of flugles. It seems that corps don't utilise the rules as much as they could brass wise but simply follow the formula of trumpets, mellow, Bari/euph and contra. I'd love to see/hear more variation in instrumentation( brass only, drop the synth!;-) )

If you could just hire the bus, count me in for driving! I'll do it for free as long as I could get time off work.