corpsband

thought the same

Maybe. (remember MT already pulled that bit in '09 -- not sure he'd repeat it). But there are certainly lots of opportoonities for sly and not-so-sly references. Should be fun to watch.

Looks like they will be accessible again -- a good strategy to move up. So long us they don't get overly "cute" this may give them a chance to take another step forward.

on point!

yep -- Cadets had Lion King so Hamilton is the west coast reply. funny thing is , the Lion King meme was entirely grass-roots member-driven. had nothing to do with the YEA machine.

lol but this is Brad we're talking about :-)

Brad sure is a popular topic with you

Gold was dangled but they stayed.

Well not completely rebuilding it. The team that won them the Brazale caption award is still there. In effect the staff that teaches and cleans the performance is still intact (which gives Crown honks hope that if the design guys get it right, the corps will still march the design well). IMO that part of the visual staff pushed Crown over the top. Visually they had a great guard but could never march clean enough to get past 2nd. When Ron Hardin's team came n, they got over that hurdle. IMO keeping them was critical to the continuity process, especially since those 80 hornline members are the largest group of performers on the field. Sure it's an entirely different guard staff but the guard is a somewhat self-contained unit. Crown's guard staff actually had a LOT of turnover since '09. People sometimes mistakenly assume that the staff in '16 had been there a long time. Actually most of those names were just recent age-outs (as they are at a lot of corps). Talented -- but young. Guard is important but it can't carry the whole corps. Witness 2007 -- Crownguard in 2nd at finals, drum corps in 6th (and that itself is a really unusual occurrence). But you're largely right and all the speculation is just hype at this point. Guard staff is an entirely new team and so it's a complete unknown. Design staff is only half a new team; the music guys are still there and they *do* have something to do with the design . Visual is nothing without a great soundtrack to write against. All in all great names but no track record yet with this corps yet. No doubt they will need to prove themselves. Will they hit a home run right out of the gate? We'll just have to wait and see.

i think i was a careful to indicate my observations were just a snapshot. didn't pronounce impending doom! i'm not so sure about their approach to the material thematically. imho there were lots of opportunities to connect the original intent with more contemporaneous ideas but... we shall see. as for the choir, i have no idea. clearly they're going to be technically much more than competent. but until we see the whole production on the field...who knows?

I'm not so much concerned as curious. I can imagine a number of ways to go at the concept. Perhaps that's where your concern is rooted? I have a pretty solid guess about the particular angle they might pursue and I'm patiently waiting to see if I'm close to the mark. The great "unknown" if you will are all the production elements we just have no clue about (set design, staging, costuming , color palette, etc...) And that's pretty normal -- we don't get to see visual until things hit the field. The fundamental theme makes it pretty simple to understand; getting from X➾Y won't be a challenge for the viewer.

fwiw I like the book too. very meaty -- even for the cadets. and the Mass score at times can be deceptively challenging. i was not blown away by the brass. frankly they were a wee bit of mess in the technical passages. but lots of mitigating factors (long hiatus, new staff, etc...). but hey -- ST could cure all of that. we shall see what we shall see.

you and your controversial pics :-)

oh Brad had to post :-) i asked him! that said -- he really is pretty hyped about the horn book.

pm

Truth. Lots of amazing ideas that are "not fully realized" end up getting credited to a top level unit that has the horses to pull it off.

Very sad that some find it necessary to mock the present to honor the past. Loved what BD did in the past -- probably my favorite hornline for a LOT of years. I never failed to run down to the first row to hear an encore. My kid always came along just to get our faces ripped. Spent many rehearsals on the sideline just getting blown away by the guard performers up close. Heck my kid swore she was gonna march in the BD guard until Crown '07 / ''08 came along and put Carolina on her mind :-) In the past decade I may not have always been the biggest fan of their arranging style. But the excellence of the corps, the professionalism of the performers, and the consistently top quality designs just can't be denied. Want to know how to run a drum corps rehearsal? Go watch BD rehearse. They do it better than anyone. Bar none. (and remember I'm the big Crown honk). IMHO suggesting BD doesn't exist is just plain disrespectful of all the current MM's, instructors, and admin. Very silly.

because DOODILY DOOOOO DOODILYOODILYOODILYOOOOOOO

not about the lyrics at all. it's about the music and the instrument. quite honestly i could not care less about the lyrics in the case. the vocal ensemble manages to bring life and expression to music that's just missing in the other ensembles -- even the CSO version (which is far more expressive than any drum corps version fielded to date). imo it's akin to Rocky Point Holiday but in that case it was the drum corps version that brought the original to life. which is kind of why i posted this in the first place. it's always good to hear to an ensemble make a piece theirs. IMO the Voces8 interpretation soars above any of the instrumental versions. while the piece may have been born in the orchestra, it only realizes it's true nature in that arrangement. btw this is quite contrary to the ordinary course of things for me -- i usually find brass choirs to bring new life to many pieces. not looking for controversy -- just wondering if anyone else heard things the same way.

awesome. and having the corps admin step up like that is a great feeling when you're sending your kid on the road all summer.

where are you going to DS ?

FTFY!

BECAUSE BORING IS BAD!