Ron H

To me, this has been a terrible loss of a tradition. Not so much for the audience as for the performers. When I was involved with MBI we really looked forward to that "final performance" that was for ourselves and not for the judges. It was an opportunity to simply play for the joy of playing the show to cap off the memory of a season of hard work. It was the moment to say goodbye to your friends and celebrate the fleeting incarnation that was the corps for that season. Another fun aspect was to be able to wander to other corps' parking lot performances and finally hear your fellow competitors perform live.

Exactly right. But if you compare BD to other DCI corps the point is valid. So, now jump to DCA. The point is still valid even though the level of complexity and execution is below that of DCI. Again, it's all in the strategy. Whether a corps competes in DCI or DCA there are arguments that favor both "move around as often as you can" vs. "more stop sets but make it work musically." Two differing styles of presentation. Corps A gets credit for perfect execution/communication of the musical book but not visual during a park and blow segment. Corps B gets credit for perfect execution of visual but not music during a difficult drill move. Of course the goal is to perfect both movement and book, but it's more difficult to do that in DCA. I was with MBI for most of my life but frankly, I agree with you and a lot of people that the Bucs will end up on top this year. And more power to 'em!

Oh, no worries, I'm not upset with your or anyone elses's comments. :)

OMG, Pat, has it really been 40 years?? Man, you are old! :) I'm proud to call you and your wife Gwynne, as friends!

I think Cadets2 will be a major game changer and they will be in the final mix in the top 3 in sub-captions. But I do think the title will again be between MBI and the Bucs. The edge goes to the Buccaneers. MBI wins best hornline again. Bucs wins best percussion again. But the decision goes to the Bucs for best effect. Cabs will be a close 3rd to MBI. Maybe even a toss-up.

So, 'ahem', no comments?

Being intimately involved with MBI for many years I can say this is not unusual. I told several staff members at the DCI Minnesota show that the corps REALLY needs to lock in the Bonnie & Clyde narrative and have it all make sense for the audience. But they were way ahead of me and understood the concerns. They had a similar challenge with the "Valhalla" show last year. That show changed a lot between the DCI Minnesota show and DCA finals. While MBI is suffering a bit with a lack of performance opportunities this year, they are using those weekends (and weekday rehearsals) to clean and streamline the show. For example, tomorrow night (Wednesday the 31st) they have 4 hours of rehearsal. Thursday has sectionals. Friday they leave for Racine. Show & camp on Saturday and Sunday. They return to the Twin Cities late Sunday night. Between now and DCA they only have August 11th & 12th off. Otherwise every weekend and every Wednesday (plus an additional weeknight for sectionals) they are rehearsing and/or performing. Minnesota Brass has decades of experience dealing with scheduling problems in August and they've been pretty adaptable. Even in the days of Drum Corps Midwest when there were shows available every weekend, the shows dried up after DCI championships. Still, MBI adapted. To be honest, I don't know if this year's MBI show can overtake what I've seen of the Buccaneers' gorgeous show. But they will be in the very top of the mix. Keep in mind there is no reason why MBI will not capture the horn caption again. They sound beautiful. And their 2011-winning guard is always a late bloomer. Yes, they surprised everyone with their win over the Hurcs last year. But there is good reason for that. The depth & layering of the writing and the sheer athleticism of MBI's guard is very, very good. And it's the same staff again this year. It's just gonna come down to cleanliness. (I also see the athleticism playing a part in C2's guard. They are gonna surprise a lot of people!) Percussion may be another toss-up with the Bucs. MBI has been among the best percussion lines for many years now (and winners of two titles). Here, I think, the Bucs have the edge. But I also think, as many of you probably do, that the scales will tip with the visual caption. MBI tied with the Bucs last year. This year it seems the Bucs have the edge from what I've seen. But what the hell? We won't know squat until prelims night. In terms of the overall design, frankly, I had to watch MBI's DCI Minnesota performance several times before I really understood what they were doing with the Bonnie & Clyde show. I was skeptical, but MBI may be much, much closer to defending their title than many believe. I guess we'll just see in Annapolis! :) What I do know is that if the Bucs top MBI this year, it will be because they are the best in class. And bravo to them!

Yes, there is a fair amount of stop time. And it's intentionally done to emphasize the musical book. I know this because I've been intimately involved in their design decisions in the past. This is a philosophy that MBI has had for years. If you don't care for it that's perfectly OK. Go back to the DCA videos of 2005 (That's an MBI show that is VERY underrated in my opinion!) or earlier to see what I mean. Count it out for yourself. The stop times that MBI employs are rarely more than 16 counts. Most of the time it's only 8 counts. Sometimes it's 32 counts. And it's not because they can't play and move at the same time. Watch the shows carefully. They play difficult parts on the move as well. It's all in the total package of the design. And pay attention to the large amount of sequential movement. That's also part of MBI's hallmark and that may contribute to the impression that there is more "stop time" than there actually is. I dunno, maybe MBI's shows don't follow the usual expectations of traditional DCA drills. They certainly don't follow the DCI "move constantly and quickly" formula. There really is a valid reason why this corps utilizes "stop time" to convey the emotional intensity of the music. That's part of their style. And in those moments Minnesota Brass uses a LOT of body movement compared to other DCA corps. (And that too creates it's own cleaning issue!) That's their unique approach to the art of drum corps. By the way, I hope people recognize that MBI's show this year utilizes an interesting drill trick as part of the narrative: The 1st minute of the show is identical to the last minute. Only everyone is in different positions.

With all due respect, The Westshoremen did travel approximately 3,000 miles round-trip in 1996. But so did MBI. (A round-trip to the Kiltie's show is more than 700 miles for example. And the round-trip to Rochester from Minneapolis is more than 2,000 miles). And this does not include all of the fairly local travel. And in the Upper Midwest "Local" means anything within 100 miles. :) To put that into perspective, the Caballeros and the Empire Statesmen are closer to one another than MBI and the Kilties.

I'm surprised that some people want to weigh the scores when at the same time many people also say that the score at each show is what actually counts. "Whoever is on top at any particular night is who should win" is right. But it's also completely contrary to the idea of an historic weighted score. I think there is merit in using an average score for seeding purposes. But that's as far as it goes in my opinion.

So maybe it's time to close this thread?

I second that! As a resident of Glen Echo, Maryland I say stay off the Beltway!!!

Thanks, I didn't notice that! Great news, so I take back everything I said.

I doubt this thread will survive for much longer. Shame that Drum Corps Planet is so afraid of copyright issues and will likely close this thread. DCP doesn't even seem to want to look at the "Fair Use" protection clauses that covers these videos. Therefore...Copy and paste to your heart's content!

Times change I guess. I remember when padding your corps with DCI age-outs was considered practically immoral. :) I think the infamous "Bushwacker Rule" revolved around the ideal that the existing DCA corps were here to establish themselves as competitive organizations AND, with everyone on the same page, create the best possible show with what they had. When a corps would add members - the word "Ringers" comes to mind - other corps who strove all season to work with what they had would suddenly find themselves at the losing end because another corps decided to call in its chips and fill out their ranks with members that would boost their score at the last minute and potentially lay claim to a title. Call me old fashioned. I still think it would stink if a corps adopted that tactic today.

That's what I thought. As DM for Minnesota Brass way back then I also distinctly remember a DCA official counting the uniformed bodies as we entered the gate at prelims.

So did anyone watch the DCI fan feed of MBI?

So the big mark Cadets2 made in the show was beating the Cabs in percussion and coming quite close to the Hurricanes according to the recaps.

Wasn't there something in the DCA rules in the '80's-90's about the number of members of a corps at the beginning of August vs. the number of members at finals? And it was percentage based? And wasn't it put there to guard against the very thing people are assuming about the Cadets2? Is that rule still on the books?

There are 3 hornline members who will "die" in the planned gunfight during that part of the show. Minnesota Brass still has 7 weeks left in their DCA season so there are a lot of changes/tweaks that need to be put in. It's just that the limited rehearsal time makes it difficult to put in all the changes. The all-age corps are still in the early part of their season.

Seriously though, has no one who saw the show have an opinion to offer??? Please? Honestly, I sometimes think DCP forumers are nothing but armchair critics who never actually go out and see a show. I'm being deliberately provocative, LOL. It's only because I want to nudge people into actually giving their opinions.

DCI Minnesota is this Saturday, July 14th. 26 drum corps. The first time all the DCI corps compete together. Held in a spectacular venue designed specifically for great acoustics: the TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. As I understand it Minnesota Brass goes on last just after the Cadets. Yikes! The 2011 DCA Class A Champion, The Govenaires, will also be there. You can see it on the DCI Fan Network. I'd love to hear opinions from people who were at the Bridgeport show!

True. But those are usually intensive "Camp weekends" for the Midwest corps. (Don't know about the others.)

Yes, anyone there?? I'm only about 25 miles from the show but could not make it there tonight. Thoughts? Reviews?

That's a really interesting and instructive story. It points to the heart of the Buccaneer's organization, which I have tremendous respect for. A parallel event happened with Minnesota Brass in that era as well. MBI lost the Drum Corps Midwest championship to the Kilties in 1997 for the first time since 1983. That helped propel Minnesota Brass to their first 5th-place finish at DCA in 1998.