centersnare04

i think stef's got it right. people perceive that it's visual before music because they're not used to seeing the two actually go hand in hand, rather than the traditional way of picking music and building your visual program around it. which is fine, there's nothing wrong with that. that being said, i do feel as if they put a little too much emphasis on the visual from 01 to 03. last year was a depature from that mold, and consequently i liked that show more than any other since 2000. not to say they weren't great from 01 to 03 (obviously 2 wins in 3 years), but i came away last year having really enjoyed their program, and found myself paying attention and catching glimpses here and there, whereas the 3 previous years, i was completely disinterested.

i have to agree with this. look at the top few corps. same top few that have been around for the last several years now + coats, - vanguard. and are the vocals really such a big deal? it only seems more noteworthy because of the use of power. case in point, bd started using drum speak in 03, and last year the whole guard had to come to the 5.1 recording at TOC JUST for the vocals before the train section. nobody's said anything about those vocals, then again, they weren't mic'ed. i myself am not a fan of power and singing/narration in drum corps all that much. it seems much more fitting in the WGI arena where it's more of a theater setting. i am however pro-"anything that will advance the activity." if it wasn't for change, we'd all still be high marktiming whole shows and marching timps. (no offense to the old dogs.) if it serves as a means to help enhance a show, then great, but if you're throwing it in there just for the sake of being trendy, then it's a waste of everyone's time. i just hope that it doesn't come to the point where as stated above, it becomes "required material" to be competitive.

after the last two nights, i really can't see anyone other than cadets taking it this year. although my biggest props have to go out to phantom this year. they're doing a bang up job.

and they could put it on the INSIDE. gross! haha.

have to love the ayala drums, which aren't just indoor by the way. plus my girl esther is in one of those pics. downright scary bass chops on that one. haha. 00 cavies drums were nice. this year's cavies too (anything with black chrome hardware is pretty sick.) blue coats this year has some kind of interesting gray silver sunburst thing going on. last year's SCV drums were really nice too. of course my default has to be the 02 bd drums. too many popped casings according to paul, but they looked good. as for historical, how's about 89 vanguard with the individual tenor scoops. yeehaw.

how spoiled are some drum corp fans getting these days that they're complaining about what stadium finals is going to be held in? haha. i've got buddies i marched with who, now a year or two aged out, would give a kidney just to be able to afford to go and watch finals period. regardless of the venue. they're stuck watching cinecasts and/or waiting for PBS (now ESPN2.) i have to say my pick would have been san diego too, after TOC and WGI. but like it's been stated above, nobody really knows what went on in negotiations and what not. i don't think anybody from west of denver should be complaining, because now they can take all the money they would have had to spend on travel and get super premium A+ bells and whistles seating (top row for sure at this point).

none of these are the biggest in history for sure, but some of the most memorable in my experience... the whole madison thing at DVC in '02 with the entrance was bad, we could see it all the way from the staging area. and the crowd was LAUGHING. it sucked because it was billed as "the first time madison had been west in how many years blah blah." i was talking to a snare player after the show and he said the whole show went south after that. there was some sort of other messup on the front sideline with a contra falling down and really bowing a formation because members were waiting for him to get up or something like that too. in all the uniforms mentioned, i'm surprised nobody's pulled out a certain tour-de-france reject guard uniform recently donned by a certain all-male corp that's won quite a few championships recently. ouch. the bd tenor player thing from last year was something to see, but since it was technically after the show was over, it's really not that big a deal. as i understand it, there was a level change there and well...he didn't. while we're on BD tenor players, this one is hardly a big messup but in the "surprise" tag ending of BD's 2000 show, a certain unnamed tenor player whips out his sticks ON the horn trill, realizes he's early, and goes into "oh s***!" mode. that one cracks me up EVERY time. i've only seen it on video, but the mandarins color guard wardrobe malfunction in my opinion is more a testament to the extreme devotion and concentration of the performers involved. a bunch of my friends were in the stands for that and they said people were ooh'ing and ahh'ing, taking pictures and video (my friends included), and she stood the there the whole time. now THAT is hardcore.

i suppose it's a little late to chime in on this seeing as how the topic really no longer has anything to do with vanguard's show, but i have this to offer on the subject. i'm generally a fan of vanguard, and the russian show, so i found it pretty hard to believe when some instructors and alumns (yes vanguard, who will of course remain nameless) told me that this year's show was particularly weak and deserving of the 9ish place range. after seeing the show the other night for the first time since it was still being learned, i hate to say i have to agree. the show generally drags, the horn score doesn't have a lot of different levels to it in my opinion. there are issues here and there, with the guard for example, and also the drill. obviously, the drumline isn't what it was last year (while we're on the subject seriously murray, how much lower can drums be?). do i think the show should be that low. after watching everyone above them last night, i'd have to say yes. but let's not forget that there was a period in the early-mid 90s (before my time) when vanguard was pretty much in the basement as well. only since the late 90's have they had the kind of success they started out with, and everyone has to have a down year sometime. we should also make note of the fair number of staffing changes that were made this year. you can't say that's the reason, but it certainly could be a contributing factor. i'm sure they'll take this year as a wake up call and bounce back next year.