JBBrass

***THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THOUGHTS/OPINIONS OF THE BLUECOATS ORGANIZATION*** Allow me to add some inside perspective as someone who marched Bluecoats in 04, 05 and 07. The Bluecoats do indeed re-audition their vets, and it's definitely not just empty talk. Vets have been cut every time I've auditioned. Some of them were multi-year vets. I don't think this ever sets much of a mutiny or bad vibe withtin the group when a vet is cut. I think almost all of the members are devoted to winning/excellence and understand that they need the members in the group that will help acheive that goal. It's always sad to see someone go, but in the end the more important goal is that of the group and the group suceeding. In your original post you said the mello tech was from U of Houston. The mello tech that year, Ryan, was actually from Akron. Unless you are talking about a visual tech of some sort but I still can't think of who that would be. And personally I don't think any of the U of H Bluecoats wouldn't deserve a spot on the line. They are all incredibly strong marchers and players and I really don't think they were undeserving recipients of spots simply because they knew someone. I also don't think the talent vs. loyalty argument really holds true to this situation either. I think both are factors when considering candidates for an audition. And truly there are hundreds of different talents and character traits that are looked for when auditioning for a corps. How well someone can play "audition etude #1" makes up only one skill out of hundreds that you draw from every day in a drum corps. The audition process is really just a small snapshot of someone's abilities. It's not a perfect science. You could've been incredible at skills that you might use during move-ins, but didn't do well on skills displayed during camp. In the end I think the staff are looking for people to prove they deserve a spot in the line. If they didn't give you a spot they probably weren't convinced. Also for those nay-sayers who say that the reason Bluecoats placed 7th in because they lacked in talent, might I remind them that the Bluecoats were serious contenders for both brass and drum titles. The hornline also went a large part of July winning brass, sometimes by substantial margins. Those are some of the most individual-talent-based captions. Rookies are somewhat of an unknown in drum corps. Someone can be great at camps but bomb out during move-ins. Again this has to do with camps only showing a margin of the skills used during the summer. Vets have already shown (good or bad) what they can do during a summer situation. It's hard to make the case for taking a risk on a rookie when you have someone you know can do the job. People from other corps also look a lot better than somone with no drum corps experience at all. The staff knows that this person has already done a summer on tour, has gotten through it and knows what it's like. They also probably have a pretty good idea of what a corps like the Bluecoats will be like and are ready and up for the challenge. This takes some of the unknowns out of the situation. Alex, the Bluecoats trumpet soloist in 04-06 actually tried out in 03 and was cut. He marched a year at Patriots and auditioned again and made it. I think it makes a big difference in an audition if the person has drum corps experience somewhere before trying out. Hope my perspective cleared up some of the questions regarding auditions. ***AGAIN, THIS POST DOES NOT REPRESENT THE THOUGHTS/OPINIONS OF THE BLUECOATS ORGANIZATION***

Just to clarify, Bluecoats fees for veterans are $1,610 and $1,710 for rookies.