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You can always add, but you can never cut; so, be careful what you add.

Thanks for the clarification. I don't spend a lot of time watching Texas/UIL/BOA bands because that style would get me run out of town, so I definitely didn't know.

The director should have left well enough alone and just done a slow fade into majority dance over a couple of years. My band has all three auxiliary groups - guard, dance, and majorettes - and it's a pain to design around. You also get petty squabbles between auxiliary groups, entitlement/chips on the shoulder if one does better, etc.

I wonder if the constant staff turnover and secrecy of shows has anything to do with the audition shopping? It's really hard to get a read on the culture of an organization or even what the show is these days.

I have a feeling it has to do with the lack of interest and cost of copyright clearance, in that order. People will stop and watch corn hole and cute kids spell because they can relate to it. Most people can't relate to 20 year olds in spandex emoting on turf. It's the same reason HBCU bands get airtime that corps style bands don't. HBCU bands keep themselves relevant; corps style groups have edutained themselves into a niche activity.

I used to have these sweet gum trees in my yard that constantly dropped branches. One time a huge branch fell off that would have crushed my car had my wife not driven it that day. Eventually, the trees had to go. The dead branches were just a symptom of the diseased core of the tree. Had I delayed getting those trees removed something worse could have happened. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

D. All of the above. Plus, people don't want to waste their money on a losing proposition. Cadets have had their second chance already.

You're right on. This sort of stuff has always happened. I'm a band director and have heard lots of "back in the day" stories that ended with the director just moving on to another job because the family didn't want to be embarrassed in the community, the school didn't want to be embarrassed, etc.

Nothing will eliminate this behavior from ANY activity involving minors. We've seen it in DCI, competitive cheer, boy scouts, church youth groups, teachers, social workers, doctors, dentists...... We've seen both male and female perpetrators. Our world is broken.

I'm wondering if an HBCU marching member would even have time for the fall/winter camps. Seems like there is always a classic, a parade, or battle of the bands going on. Those bands stay busy!

Spirit 1980 has got to be the ultimate.

I see it kind of like the college football landscape. So many schools fired good coaches trying to keep up with Nick Saban and then found themselves worse off. Going 9-3 every year is a heck of a lot better thank taking a chance on the "next big name" that turns out to be a dud. If you change leadership, who do you realistically get that's better? Who can you afford - admin, designers, techs - that will let you still be around in future seasons?

The 2018 look wasn't bad becauase it looked like a classic form of American male dress. I didn't like the entire look of 2017. What I had in mind when I made the post was Spirit's look from "Knock."

Headgear is part of a uniform. Drum corps doesn't have uniforms anymore; it has costumes. Headgear looks good with uniforms. Headgear looks silly with costumes. I miss uniforms.

Any Alabama show needs to be scheduled from 6am-10:30am. After that, you get heat, thunderstorm, and humidity, in that order.

I've only had one student march in high school and I think it's very important to manage their expectations when they get back. They are coming from a very intense environment where everyone, mostly, is a high achiever. There's the push of daily performances and the hyper-attention of the staff. Then they come back to high school band where you have the slackers, much smaller staff, much easier material. There's the possibility for frustration with other band members, boredom, etc. The returnee will have no problem with the band music and drill. Manage the kid well and he/she can be an asset when they come back.

That's from the classier side of the family. This side goes to Dollar General barefoot.

I also wonder what the savings cost for 128 would be in terms of food, equipment, insurance, needing less staff, fewer props on the field, etc.

Which means it would never happen.

How much would it save to drop back to 128 members?

It's even worse than it used to be because so many of the shakos are round now and not actually head shaped.

I hope those Tarpon Springs kids didn't have to carry that stuff down the whole parade route.

I hope Susan Smith means Robert W. arranging as well. Those were some of my favorite Scouts shows post-Scott Stewart-Golden Era.

As I post every time Varsity comes up, they also own Stabury and DSI (shoes, gloves, podiums, flags, poles, etc) now. Varsity goes down and we lose a HUGE segment of the products that band/corps programs across the country rely on.

I don't want CDs anymore because the majority of the shows don't make sense without the visual. It's simply not fun to listen to most of them anymore. If there's a show that I particularly want to watch again there are ways to get it.