cabalumnidrummer

This may have been asked and answered before, but what year did the practice of awarding gold medals to the winners of DCA begin? I think it's a great idea, personally, and I wish it had been in place, "way back when." A very cool memento of a tough achievement. Just curious.

I'll give it a try. And if I need help, I know a few people . . .

Fran was a little busy last night! I doubt he was taking any calls! LOL

Nanci, I'm guessing it's okay if I reveal the GW subject now in view of your "Bueller???" posting, so here goes. It's Mr. Doug Tenis, Busines Manager for the Caballeros Alumni and Commander of Legion Post 199 in a little North Jersey town called Hawthorne. I hope you're feeling better, Nanci. Sorry to hear you recently were 'under the weather,' but I haven't been on here too much lately.

That's one of the more polite things I've heard him called from time to time!

Ahhhhhh!!! I know! Professional sport, played on a court . . . It's Benny Basketball!

It's not all that unusual, although with the type of shows corps do today, it may not be as easy as it once was. Now, this may seem like "ancient history" to some, but I recall changing an exit number in 1966 in mid-season. I believe the drill didn't change, so it was an easy switch. However, 1969 was a different story entirely. We acquired a new horn arranger/instructor and a new drum instructor in mid season of that year. Larry Kerchner and George Tuthill gave us essentially a new second-half with two new songs -- a new out-of-concert and a new production number. The exit remained, but the drill had to be changed. Extra rehearsals accomplished this in time for the Dream contest. Scores improved, but we were not in contention for the top spot that year. Of course, 1970 was a different story.

Go here, Harry. Fleetwood re-issued it as a CD. http://www.fleetwoodsounds.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=22 The 1970 recording is from the DCA Finals in Rochester. My favorite track is the 1971 studio recording we did especially for this album in the spring of 1971.

You are absolutely right, Frank. Let's face it, you and I both know nothing has changed dramatically over the years with regard to the way the corps operates. Two things that can and do change periodically for all corps are staff and the recruitment of members. Recruitment is only within your control to a certain, limited extent. Let's face it, recruiting quality membership is every corps' aim, but it's not always as successful as each corps hopes it will be. I think it has improved at the Cabs in recent years, both in numbers and quality, in my opinion, a big plus. Also, those who return year after year also 'change' via experience gained. The 'winter program' has always been there and been solid, but you still need the talent to work with, and this year's corps seems to have more than the recent past. (I can hear the great Jim Costello saying over and over, "I can't teach blanks!") And of course, success on the field begets more success in recruiting, which bodes well for the future.

Regarding the current 'Guess Who' subject -- Why am I suddenly reminded of London's 'Old Vic' theater when viewing this? Oh, and welcome back, Tony W.!!! I hope our card has arrived by now.

Great review, W. If you don't already submit material to Drum Corps World, I think you seriously ought to consider doing so. Your reviews are balanced, fair, unbiased, thorough, and entertaining. I hope you continue to do more.

Just as a point of comparison, look at what the Top Secret Drumline from Basel, Switzerland do with actual Swiss national colors during their show, not facsimiles: Interestingly, this year they are using the official City of Basel flags instead: Enjoy.

With regard to the show running on time -- I'm not so sure C2 was ready to set up, even if the preceding exhibition ran long (which I don't believe it did). The keyboards were all rolled in quickly, but one of the small vehicles pulling the other pit equipment wouldn't start for the longest time, down on the track right in front of where we were. I was beginning to wonder if they would be in danger of a penalty for taking too long to set up. The Sky Alumni were finished and marching off, and that thing still hadn't started for them, then it finally kicked in. We felt bad for the girl driving it -- she looked panicked.

With so many young members in C2, I suppose there is even the potential of losing a few members for this very same reason, no? Just a thought.

I disagree. Not so ridiculous. From what I witnessed last night there were a lot of inexperienced members out there, not Cadet veterans. This was quite obvious in the last part of the show, which was quite poor compared to the opener. Lots of phasing, folks out of step, tubas/contras looking like they had no clue as to where to go to end the show, etc. They made a great first impression in those Cadet uniforms, they looked like 'The Cadets,' but the 'Cadet quality' just wasn't evident. At least not last night. I thought they would finish behind Fusion. Of course, this could all change as the season progresses, but let's wait and see.

I agree totally, Liz. This seems to be an ever-increasing problem with each passing season. Sure, we all were in corps that made additions and changes as the season progressed, but you show was always done by the beginning of June for that first contest. This no longer seems to be the case. I'm sure the practice of have a completely new show every year has a lot to do with this. No one repeats any part of a show any more, and I think that's unfortunate. But I'm really old school, so what do I know?

I agree in that I felt Fusion should have beaten Cadets2, and I thought both Sunrisers and Windsor Regiment were better than Bush. Sun and Windsor appeared to be far more prepared and polished than Bush, who put on a valiant effort. Too bad Sun doesn't have a bigger guard. I have to believe that's hurting them. With Cadets2, I felt they made a great first impression, the opener being their best piece of music. As the show wore on, inexperience and perhaps much uncertainty with just-finished drill became very, very evident. The whole last minute or so was quite poor as compared to their start. There is much work to be done, for sure. The big question, to me, is: Will their experienced staff be able to overcome the apparent inexperience of much of the membership, especially in visual? I see great things ahead for Bucs, Cabs, Hurcs and Fusion as they continue to improve. It's shaping up to be an interesting season.

With less than 24 hours to 'Grand Prix Day' I thought there would be more activity here. Looking forward to tomorrow's big show -- possibly the biggest and most memorable Grand Prix in several years. Something for everyone, including a mini-corps, a DCI junior corps, some of the top DCA finalists and the competitive debut of a brand-new Cadets2 (and some pretty respectable alumni corps too!). Should be a great evening of drum corps entertainment!

Caballeros Alumni are at: Eddie Mayo Field , 1100 Clifton Ave., Clifton 07004 if you are looking for old folks.

And a full stadium makes for happier corps who seem to give a little more effort when the crowd is bigger. (Also makes for a happier host/sponsor!) Just my opinion!

I can't ever recall eight DCA corps at the Grand Prix, but then, I haven't been to every one. I do remember eight to ten corps in the early years when it was a combined junior and senior show. I attended the first as a spectator, and marched in seven of the next eight as a member of the corps, but in those days we did exhibitions as DCA hosts did not compete. Also, how many folks recall that the 1969 show was juniors only when it moved to Clifton from Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson?

Amen to that, Bob! I am really puzzled/amused by those who started making finals predictions after the first show in Wildwood. We should all just let the season play itself out from week-to-week and let the chips (or corps) fall where they may. Predictions may be fun, but how can folks make predictions for corps they have not seen yet, and at least one who has never yet performed even once for a DCA judging panel? Beats me. All I know is, the Grand Prix is going to be one great night of drum corps. Eight competing corps, good exhibitions, and back in Clifton! If you're in the NY metro area, you shouldn't miss it.

I think this is a point that is all-too-often ignored. I constantly have this conversation with bass drummers who complain about the sound of their drum up close. Inevitably, I make them walk at least about 25-30 feet away, and then I play on their drum. End of argument at least 90% of the time. The same is true for snare drums, in my opinion. They may ring too much to your liking up close, but that is exactly what makes them project outdoors on the field. Basses and snares that are heavily muffled may sound great to the player, but their voices can be lost to the spectators -- and judges -- in the stands. At least, that's my 'old school' understanding. Modern percussion experts may very well disagree. I muffle bass drums with the peel-and-stick foam and attach it to the shell, projected just a bit past the bearing edge so that the head will touch it. I only go about 2/3 of the way around (on the bottom, primarily for aesthetic reasons). The big benefit to putting it on the shell is that if you break a head, you don't have to re-muffle, just put on the new head. I haven't tried any of the pre-muffled heads yet, but they sound like a good idea as well.

My Prediction: The biggest winners that night will be the spectators, getting ten great performances for only $5. Oh, and I agree about the highest score thing too! (Jeff has a perfect record with that prediction!)

Thank you for including the two exhibition corps in your review. And thank you so much for the kind words about our corps and our drum feature!