corpsband

wow. i could never imagine saying that. guess it depends on how long you've been listening.

While we impatiently wait for an announcement, here's perhaps a small bit of what we might see from Rick Subel.

Honestly look at this list. There are two new names on it. I know a lot of people (esp. those in team Fla) would like to believe that KP./LM constituted the entire Crown design team but it's just not true. In fact it's going to be very interesting to see what that team does without the rest of the names here. Music is a huge component to the visual design. It's the canvas on which you write and can strongly affect all the visual captions -- esp. the guard. Design Team David Starnes (Design Coordinator) Michael Klesch (Music Director / Arranger) Jeff Sacktig (Visual Designer) Rick Subel (Artistic Coordinator / Choreographer) Ron Hardin (Visual Caption Supervisor) Thom Hannum (Percussion Director / Arranger) Jim Ancona (Arranger - Front Ensemble) Frank Sullivan (Sound Design /Arranger)

Questions surround both teams? Absolutely. More for one than the other? We will both chose to look at things half-full for one side and half empty on the other:-) Crown lost visual design and guard. We lost Tom but the rest of the perc team stayed. OTOH Cadets needed to reload the entire staff except the guard (who after last season have to be considered a big question mark). Basically Hop and Kristy were left :-) Anyway I think both teams filled all the vacancies well. If Crown drops to 6th this season, I'll agree with you :-)

You win the internets!

I guess the point i'm making is that arrangers work within the constraints of the design. Perhaps the design choices were poor but I don't think I'm ready to point the finger at Jay for that (and his work elsewhere supports this). IMO Sacktig/Bocook were the absolute best team in drum corps. But the supporting cast of creatives on the design team all left (for whatever reason). BK is doing what many consider cutting edge work. And we Crown honks anticipate amazing stuff from Jeff Sacktig at Crown. Because there's a great team surrounding each of them. Will the new team at Cadets produce great work? Anxiously awaiting that answer.

No indeed

yeah it would be hard to call BK stale.

I agree. And having heard some of the story from both sides, it probably was time for a change. But listening to the interviews was entertaining. It's just fun to watch the BAC homers all sit up and bark if you mention the word money. WOOF!

BD and brass band lit -- how can that possibly be bad?

What do you think the arranging at Blue Knights? Stale?

They were brave enough to do an Americana show that was not overtly patriotic. I thought it was pretty amazing.

well commenting on a uniform is not quite the same as crapping on the corps. in fact Spirit was getting pretty good reviews here 2011,12,13. just sayin'

always think of this version when someone brings up the song.

looks like you've got all the angles covered

there's some real potential in the material. ill just leave it there.

to say the least

Tekk still not feeling the love!

me too. although (on a related not) it reminded me of...

pretty funny to hear all the awkward pauses in these interviews (some on MRT and now here). Q: So why did you leave XX corps? A: <awkwardly long pause> well..er...it was...it was time for a change. yeah that's the ticket. time for some cha-ching -- i mean -- change. of course in real life it might have been more like this .

top corps being the key word. annual budgets rapidly scale down as you leave the top 6. depending on how a corps has arranged their uniform renewal cycle, the switch to printed lycra / spandex may or may not make a lot of sense. the other item to consider is durability. how many uniforms need to be repaired over the season? do you have to keep more uniforms in-stock because the damage is often not repairable by the sewing moms? lastly form-fitting uniforms can be a challenge. will corps choose to use the guideline "this uniform makes ALL of our members look good" or will we see kids unable to march due to body type? imo the issue is bigger than dollars and cents.

I don't see Crossmen dropping out of finals based solely on the extremely evident quality of their performers last season Very mature and polished compared to their nearby competitors. Unless they really mess up on design, I don't see the Crossmen moving from their placement. If anything, they could be taking a step up in the rankings. It's a very strong team down there.

#truth

the only saving grace to these mistakes will be that the uniforms are much less expensive than traditionally constructed uniforms. they're not quite disposable, but they're not long term investments either.