troon8

Let's see, a quick Google search tells us... Basic Local Alignment Search Tool?! Hmm... Ah, http://blasttheshow.com/ . Much better. Apparently, they're touring Japan, June - October 2014. Beyond that, their US tour dates are listed for...2011-2012. Looks unlikely? Which is unfortunate - I saw them years ago, they were indeed amazing.

Oh, the good ol' Poetics, bane of so many in various Humanities subject classes... Interesting connection. It seems to boil down to: Theme vs. Story (probably including a theme as well,) vs. Drill matched to particular music in a way pleasing to eye and ear, but with no particular theme or story (i.e., the OP's example of SCV '99.) To me, this issue seems like one of the biggest tensions in show design today. The last option is all but dead. This is different then designers picking a theme and/or story, but not successfully communicating to the audience what they intended. And with the first two, sometimes we see great stuff, but too often it seems like the designers swallowed more then the medium of drum corps is capable of chewing. I really wish designers would keep it simple, and that's one thing I'll certainly give the Bluecoats 2014 show - Simplicity of the theme, or to put in in much more Aristotleian terms, Unity of Production. My favorite shows are the ones where it's apparent that the designers have asked Does this choice show our theme (or tell our story?) for every single musical and visual moment. If the answer is no, then why put it into your show?? It's like the saying about the genius sculptor who was asked how he created such a wonderful sculpture of an elephant... "Simple," he replied. "I just cut away all the parts of the block of marble that aren't an elephant."

I think you & I have very different ideas of "the same show," even relatively. What sort of change in programmatic direction are you suggesting they need to return to the "overwhelmingly bada### style of the 2000's?" If you're talking placements, they will go up. Or down. Or possibly even stay the same.

Fill in the blanks: Debating hypothetical prop usage in a show whose concept was announced in September is in itself quite a: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (I can't even bring myself to say it!) Oh, the off season...

...and at the moment at least, every single one of the nine comments on the article is about SCV, drum corps, marching band, and/or "they're not a marching band." Like the article said, "there's some serious crossover!"

Strange, it all seems to still be there when I look...

I love how he checked the "I am concerned I might face retaliation or retribution if my identity is disclosed" box while simultaneously disclosing his identity, address, and phone number on Facebook for the world to see. We're dealing with a brilliant private eye here.

Geez, if "Executive Director refuses to answer questions" is a valid reason for the IRS to investigate a non-profit, (per the complaint form image on Facebook) then I could spend all day stirring up trouble with non-profits whose directors don't have me on speed dial. Which is all of them. Good luck getting a response beyond "Thank you for submitting your complaint" to that one, Mr. Blair...

Cadets 2002 - just watch the guard. Have there been any WWI themed shows at all? I could be wrong, but my guess is no...I suppose it's a bit hard to dig a trench in the field.

...and shoving a player out of his way, no less...What a jacka**.

This already happens. Every year. Even in years when the presumptive "fan-favorite" does win, there's still a huge outcry from DCP and elsewhere. Some are taking this award so seriously! I think the award would just be kind of fun, albeit a bit silly. Corps that won it would roll their eyes a little, smile, and give themselves a pat on the back, corps that took first place but didn't win the award would roll their eyes, remind themselves that of course it's just a popularity contest, and move on with their lives. At least that's what I would do.

What does "Star of Indiana returning" even mean? I'm not just being a smart a** about semantics (for once.) Consider the following scenarios... 1. World Class Corp A folds for a year, but returns 1-2 years later, still under the name Corps A with most of the staff in place. They're in Open Class that year, as the rules dictate. I think think the general opinion would be that they are still Corps A. The Troopers come to mind, even though they re-entered as World Class, if I remember correctly. I think that most would have agreed that year that the Troopers had returned, not a new, separate corps from the one of years past calling themselves the Troopers 2. World Class Corps B folds for 5-10 years. Returns with a few of the original staff, calls themselves Open Class Corps B. Are they still Corps B? 3. World Class Corps C folds. 20 years pass. A group enters as a small Soundsport unit calling themselves Corps C. Are they still Corps C? Would it matter if they had some of the original staff? Would it matter if they carried over the original finances but had managed to erase their debt and raise enough cash to return? What if they did all those things but were in Open Class with the intention of transitioning to World in a few seasons? 4. Now let's imagine that a real, long lasting corps with well-established traditions and a distinct identity folds. Say, for the sake of an entirely hypothetical scenario, SCV. How long is the cutoff before any corps that returns under the name wouldn't be considered the same corps as they were before the hiatus? 5 years? 10? Or could Vanguard return at any indefinite point in the future and still be Vanguard? The questions I'm trying to ask with all this are what is the cutoff for a corps to retain, lose, or reestablish its identity? Is it a factor of time? The name being used? The people involved? The music being played? The non-performance traditions? The legalities of the name?

I can tell how enthusiastic you are about the word, but just because they were pictures of people you didn't recognize doesn't make them homunculi. Nor did it mean they were not pictures of "real people." (Unless you're referring to the pictures themselves as homunculi, which is a whole other can of semantic worms.)

So.......what would a holographic projection of Blue Devils 2014 score?

"Ewoks? Really???"

Cavaliers 2007 in the Samurai show as well, correct?

For Sale: One human windmill. Price: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.* *(But contact seller for VIP Pricing options.)

I'm curious how things would change with numbers managment if there was no ceiling for scores - A judge could then give out say, a 19.8 early on because well, that corps gave a 19.8 performance in their caption and they could always give a corps that does better a 22.5 if need be. I know, I know...there's some serious practical problems with this, especially assigning a caption performance in the appropriate box if the boxes in theory keep extending to infinity, just to mention one. But it's an interesting thought.

Regardless of whether or not this is something I'd like to see, (and oh my lord it's not,) consider the practical difficulties of adding another 4 min. to each corp's show. There's currently 17 min. scheduled between each performance for the championship events. Now you're talking 21 min. So you're adding at an absolute minimum... - 48 min. to Finals - 100 min. to Semis and using the number of corps participating this year... - close to 2.5 hours to Prelims (148 min.) which is already over 13 hours of performances as it is. I love seeing as much drum corps as I can at a show, but that's just......yeah, you go on and enjoy it without me. You can tell me how thrilling those 37 times you watched a successfully executed rotating box at 120 bpm with no frills was later.

I'm not of the mindset that tradition, entertainment, and creativity are exclusive of each other, in any combination, or all together.

Only if they felt bad about themselves. Which (and of course this is a total guess on my part,) I doubt they did.

I agree with you in principle, but I'm going to play (non-blue;) devil's advocate for a moment...It still depends on what's being said. Example: Crown last year. The words during the ballad were pretty concrete. The spoken word sections from the opener...rather, um, abstract. Not to mention Colt's talking this year; I don't have a CLUE what that's trying to get me to think about... But again, I agree with the sentiment .

Professional production of...what, exactly? (Not agreeing or disagreeing with your point, just curious about your wording!)

I know I'm late to the party but holy cow, NO movement in placements until you get to #15?! Has that every happened before to such a degree???

Completely agree with both the above posters. Although I'm not sure there's numerically more literal (or at least attempts at literal portrayals) & "telling" shows this year than last, the trend over the past several years is certainly going in that direction. Designers seem to be using the microphone (the literal microphones) to "get their point across," as well as some increasingly absurd props, but I wish it was only a last resort if it seemed like the show just wasn't communicating what they wanted, not a go-to built into the design from the start that they feel is absolutely critical. I fear that the direction is only going to go even heavier towards "telling" vs. "showing" as time goes by in DCI. Too many designers don't seem confident that their visual & musical ideas will (figuratively) speak for themselves any more. I'm always curious what sort of feedback the judges give about this sort of thing and if it's helping drive it.