mfrontz
-
Posts
2,764 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
7
Posts posted by mfrontz
-
-
-
30 minutes ago, Musicman1084 said:
People thinking this is a "gift" to fans rather than a way of saving money by using uniforms they likely have stored away from the early 2010s for an unlikely 2021 season ...
They'll be back to the current trends once the activity/organizations have recovered.
True. But it can be both.
-
2006 Phantom - Ave Maria
-
Nm...see Jeff's comment above
-
Michael Boo was a tireless promoter of the activity, always enthusiastic in his writing for DCI's program notes, liner notes for audio recordings, and the DCI website, including, of course, the famous recap analyses. He was a valued participant in these forums and his self-deprecating humor was always a joy. Memory eternal.
-
3
-
-
From a direct e-mail:
'More than six months after we canceled the 2020 DCI Tour we are still facing the reality of the coronavirus pandemic. DCI leadership and the participating organizations have been in constant communication, meeting weekly to discuss, plan, and work through a myriad of challenges which are often compounding and changing on a daily basis. Since early in the onset of the pandemic, corps directors have split into a number of committees and subcommittees to strategize and plan for a number of different scenarios on topics ranging from health, wellness and safety, to corps housing, to required changes to longstanding logistical procedures.
As DCI continues to observe, research and learn about the fluid state of potential new policies and procedures at various venues in a number of states across the country, we are working diligently to ensure the safety of the corps, fans, and venue staff for all future events. In order to ensure ample time necessary for these safety protocols to be fully defined and executed, we will continue to delay a schedule announcement and ticketing information for the 2021 DCI Tour until a later date. This includes details on Super 3 and DCI Eastern Classic ticket packages and memberships in the exclusive Friends of DCI program.' -
I sang Franz Biebl's 'Ave Maria' in college, and played it in a brass ensemble, arranged by one of my fellow students. Phantom Regiment's presentation of this piece is one of the most powerful and subtle arrangements ever done for the football field. 'Faust' is on my short short list of 'would go back in time to see live' shows. Yes, the Cavaliers won with 'Machine,' and probably deserved to, but Phantom stole my heart that year. It took a while for them to give it back.
'Godfather, Part Blue.' Every now and then the Devils do an angry show. 1995, 2000, 2006 leap to mind. While they don't win, there's no Devils like angry Devils.
The Cadets swung and missed with their Zone, part 2. It seemed that for a while there was a 'curse of the even-numbered years' similar to the Star Trek 'curse of the odd-numbered movies. Their talent, of course, was off-the-charts, but the show was everything and the kitchen sink and it just didn't work.
Honestly, I should know more about this year, but I really don't. I know I'm neglecting Bluecoats, who placed fourth, and what no doubt was a great 'Moto Perpetuo' by Vanguard. I'll leave it to you to fill in the gaps.
2006. So much has changed, but it wasn't that long ago. In more ways than one, this is true.
-
2
-
-
Crossmen name Tim Fairbanks 2021 Visual and Drill Designer.
-
2005 took DCI back to Foxboro, MA, and the Cadets put it all together with 'The Zone.' Cavaliers with a tribute to Chicago (I loved the baseball scene) and Phantom Regiment branching into American music and Gershwin with positive results. Blue Devils with a rare miss in programming but an amazing hornline...(you thought I was going to say it, didn't you?) Bluecoats caravan their way into the Top 5! Madison back in the Top 6 with a very special guest performer.
Crown's Angelus was on a scoring island, and then three corps (Santa Clara, Boston, and Blue Knights) within half a point of each other at finals. The 'Vanguard' roar in RCM was amazing! Glassmen and Spirit rounded out the top 12.
What did you see, what did you like?
-
1
-
-
Crossmen design staff:
Lee Allman, front ensemble arranger
Lee Beddis, battery arranger
Drew Shanefield, brass arranger
https://www.crossmen.org/post/design-team-additions
-
4
-
-
-
This was a very interesting year for DCI.
Finals in Denver was a week earlier than usual. This was to accommodate the 'Tour of Champions,' an end-of-season tour which took the six competing corps which had previously won a DCI championship (Cavaliers, BD, Cadets, Phantom, Madison and Vanguard) to the West Coast for several non-competitive showcases. I believe the goal was to assess the feasibility of a West Coast DCI championship, which happened in 2007. The corps played their shows and then came forward for an 'instant encore' which consisted of a classic corps song played by the hornline, while the next corps was setting up. This worked fine for the Tour of Champions, but never caught on for future competitions. The participating groups enjoyed playing for each other and the West Coast audiences were enthusiastic.
This was also the first year for the quarterfinals theater live broadcast. An amusing anecdote was when the 'sideline' reporter asked a Cavalier 'how can I become a Bond girl?' and his quick-witted response was 'Um, I can show you later.' Laughs in theaters all around the country. 'Big, Loud, and Live' celebrated 15 years in 2019.
Finally, the big change was the addition of electronic amplification, limited at this point to pit percussion instruments and voice. Carolina Crown and Boston Crusaders(?) made use of the 'human voice' rule and some fans walked out on their performances because of it. Other fans quit DCI, at least for a time.
Oh, yes. The shows. Cavaliers won with a crowd-friendly show of James Bond music. Vanguard had a hit with 'Scheherazade.' Bluecoats broke into the Top 6, and Crown was right on their heels in 7th, their highest placement to date as well. Two future champions turning heads in a year which celebrated the champions of the past and present.
Talk! 2004!
-
1
-
-
Crossmen announce Mike Hardiek interim Director of Operations and interim Corps Director.
-
1
-
1
-
-
On 8/31/2020 at 1:42 PM, Hrothgar15 said:
Of note: August 9, 2003 marked the last time G bugles were used in DCI finals competition.
Which corps played G's that year?
-
The Cavaliers were trying for an unprecedented four-peat, but were overtaken late in the season by the Blue Devils and 'Phenomenon of Cool.' Cavaliers' esoteric 'Spin Cycle' placed second. Hot on their heels was a tribute band, the Cadets, weaving 'My Favorite Things' through a collection of drum corps classics, including their own 'Rocky Point Holiday.'
Phantom Regiment was the corps to talk about in 2003. They really made a big step forward with 'Harmonic Journey,' wowing crowds across the nation and barely beating out a talented but perhaps outwritten Santa Clara Vanguard at finals.
In the next block were Boston Crusaders with another classical collection, this time of Spanish music. The Bluecoats began a journey which would take them to the top 13 years later with a sophisticated show, 'Capture and Escape.' Madison Scouts returned to finals, to the delight of the fans.
Crossmen continued their jazz collection programs united by a slapped-on theme with 'Color,' featuring awesome Chuck Naffier arrangements. Carolina Crown rang all the bells with 'Bell-isimo.' Magic of Orlando presented 'Silver Voices,' with some complex classical music. Rounding out the top twelve was Spirit from JSU with meditations on 'Time,' including time-related song titles and varied time signatures.
Just outside of finals were Blue Knights and Glassmen (out for the first time since 1993).
I was in Giants Stadium early season - never again. What a lousy place for drum corps. The Eastern crowd was not particularly receptive to the Cavaliers. Then Hornell, NY where I fell in love with Phantom all over again. (Remember when people used to write drum corps reviews?) Two nights of Allentown and wow, Blue Devils.
Are the judges ready? DCP proudly presents...2003!
-
1
-
-
-
I'm sorry I gave the impression that I thought that the actual G7 was in play. That ship has most likely sailed, though I'm not an insider.
My idea was that if DCI could not find a way to make its traditional tour happen in the future (because of costs, housing issues, lack of show sites, insurance, health concerns, etc.) there might be a small group of corps who might see if they could try something different. Such as what almost happened in 2010-13 when a group of corps thought it might be a good idea to leave DCI. The new thing would undoubtedly be partially sponsored by the musical instrument companies, etc. who need advertising for their products. I can see a scenario where this could be not field shows but instead a combination of individual/small ensemble/full corps performances. It could involve entertainment venues trying desperately to make new things happen in a post-COVID world. This is just where the OP's post led me - for whatever reason. I have no idea how likely this is.
I prefer the DCI tour. There would be so much lost if the long tradition of the American drum corps competitive summer tour went away. It is indeed part of our American culture. But many things which were part of our culture are no longer.
Much depends, as it always does, on the DCI Executive Director. Can he herd the cats in a similar direction? I happen to think that Dan Acheson has done an incredible job. Certainly he has not done everything right. But under his leadership, DCI has survived and in some ways thrived. We all would like more corps. I have confidence that Dan is doing his job. But this situation is probably the hardest he's had to face, and he's had to face some really tough ones. It may not be solvable.
-
It may be that COVID-19 is the seismic event which finally makes the 'G7' concept a reality - the departure of the 'big corps' from DCI and their coming together to create their own 'stage' which fits their needs and aspirations. They might think this is a risk they have to take if the local community infrastructure in the country cannot or will not support a traditional drum corps tour. In their view, the important thing will become to save their own organizations and to allow them to continue their mission. A noble goal to be sure, but one which doesn't have the goal of maintaining the 'activity' in the form it is in now.
It would be a great loss in many ways - firstly, the loss of the tradition in many communities and in the drum corps community as a whole that links the current drum corps experience with the past in an unbroken chain. The talent pool would be negatively affected, because the disappearance of the DCI tour might well mean the folding of many smaller corps upon whom the big corps depend to develop their talent. People would have to travel farther to 'drum corps' shows and pay more - the activity would become out of reach financially for far more students and fans.
But the corps involved may believe they are saving the drum corps activity in many ways, or, again, at least being able to save 'their corps.' They will count on the idea that young people don't want to 'march DCI' so much as they want to be in the Vanguard, Blue Devils, Bluecoats, Carolina Crown, Boston Crusaders, etc. (Ironically, in my vision, BAC is part of the G7 and The Cadets are not.)
If DCI cannot mount a 2021 tour in some form, I would be very concerned that something like this could happen.
Even if it does, there will need to be some person or group coordinating summer performances. This becomes the new DCI, or the cooperative arm of the member corps which coordinates their activities, gets 'stages' on which they perform, decides the format of the shows, decides on whether there is adjudication and what kind, etc. etc. In that sense, as Voltaire almost said, if DCI does not exist, it will have to be invented - and funded.
-
2002 Championships were in Madison. Nobody came close to the Cavaliers this year. Their show, 'Frameworks' should have been unmarchable. They went undefeated and hit a 99.15 at finals, which, if I'm not mistaken, was the highest score to that point. More to the point, they nearly two-pointed the second-place corps, Blue Devils, who also had a fantastic show, 'Jazz: Music Made in America.' No one will put the Cadets' 'American Revival' at the top of their all-time favorite Cadets show list, but they won drums anyhow. SCV placed fourth for the third straight year with 'Sound, Shape, and Color.' America (BAC) and Russia (Phantom) tied for fifth at finals, and Ohio was seventh AND eighth (Bluecoats and Glassmen). Crossmen put their signature on 9th and their sister corps Spirit of Atlanta made 10th. Magic of Orlando placed eleventh and Seattle Cascades made finals for the first time. Missing from the Saturday night lineup was Carolina Crown for the first time since 1994, (and the last time until today) and Madison Scouts for the first time since the first DCI World Championships in 1972.
We just had @DrumCorpsRadio's thread recounting his 2002 Tour Diary with Crossmen, but there are far more things to say about this year. So say them!
-
On 8/10/2020 at 2:39 PM, George Dixon said:
Good, the design last two years hasn’t been a strength
Sure, what's making finals anymore?
-
6
-
-
I wouldn't want this thread to end without paying tribute to 2002 drum major Joseph Kempf. I did not have the pleasure to meet or know him, but he graduated from my high school and thus his marching career began in the same HS marching band in which I was formed. He was a drum major for the Reading Buccaneers in 1999-2000, marched Crossmen in 2001-02 (and as previously mentioned, served as 2002 drum major) and was visual staff for Reading in 2003 and Crossmen in 2004. He was killed December 19, 2004 when a car hit him as he was assisting victims of a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania. He is a posthumous member of the Crossmen Hall of Fame, and April 29, 2007 was declared Joseph Kempf Day in Pennsylvania. Had he lived, he would have influenced many more lives as a teacher, first responder, and as a staff member in drum corps. His death was tragic and needless, but it seems he made a difference in the 24 years he was given. Requiescat in pace.
-
2
-
-
It seems there's no thread safe.
Kudos to the 2002 Crossmen.
-
2
-
-
-
5 hours ago, DrumCorpsRadio said:
August 7, 2002, 10:31pm ET - Tour Day 76
Columbus, WI
Rehearsal days are over. They were grueling, but we finally had the chance to really break things down for cleaning. We also spent time getting our secret stadium entrance ready for its first public viewing. Compared to the past few days, the rehearsal time the next three days is practically nothing. All of the work we’ve put in all season has to pay off over the next few days and I think it will. I expect the finals’ run will be over in a flash with all the excitement surrounding everything. I can’t wait to take the field at Camp Randall, especially on Saturday night. I’m really glad that my parents and girlfriend will be there to share in all of it too.
(Next post is August 9.)
'The Signature Series' is a great show in Crossmen history! Thanks for sharing your journal.
-
1
-
The 1991 Thread
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted