ChicagoFan

I've always put together packages for the kids I sponsor but last year decided to make up a couple of extra boxes and send them along to be given to "kids in need." It's a great way to show your support for the corps members.

I've seen the show live three times and have yet to be drawn into the program or performance. I think the music remains the biggest stumbling block to my enjoyment of Samurai -- it simply doesn't engage me emotionally. What I hear are isolated notes and chords strung together to create interesting effects, provide a quasi-Japanese atmosphere, and highlight visual/drill moves. What I don't hear are phrases or motives that develop into coherent melodies with direction and goal. I don't want to go down the oft-tread path of accessible vs. esoteric or memorable vs. non-memorable music, but this year's musical book leaves me wanting. In fact, when viewing the show I have the distinct impression that I'm watching a visual production with incidental musical accompaniment.

Colorguard has evolved into a unique blend of dance and equipment work and, as noted in other posts, is judged accordingly with emphasis given to what is known as the TRIAD. As has also been pointed out, this forces guards to be jacks-of-all trades, so to speak. Unfortunately, few are able to master all the elements equally. When the focus is on dance and movement, equipment work often suffers; whereas strong technical skills with rifles and flags doesn't necessarily translate into dance ability. Blue Devils and Cadets have, in my opinion, been the best at balancing strong movement with equipment work, while others suceed to varying degrees, with strenghts and weaknesses in both categories. In my day, we did little in the way of dance -- though don't get the idea we just marched up and down the 50 giving absolutely no attention to musical interpretation or body movement. Equipment work was the name of the game (as far as judging went) and, as a result, we did far more in the way of "basic" skills with the rifle. We concentrated on precision, unison, angles, and other elements that were, on the whole, probably more easily appreciated by the novice or non-guard person. Almost anyone can see when a rifle spin is out of sync or when someone drops a quad and, of course, it's easy to appreciate a 10 member line making a dead-on, clean catch with perfectly matched hand positions. On the other hand, some of the more subtle dance moves performed by today's guards require skills that are harder to "see" and appreciate. And here's where the influence of WGI comes into play. Many of these dance moves, body positions, expressive postures, etc., that work well in the relatively small space of a gymnasium are extremely difficult to see on the football field. What works well for winter guard doesn't always carry over to the field. The impact of the entire rifle line of the 27th Lancers moving across the field doing perfectly timed spins during "Danny Boy" was huge; the Rockford File was a big trick staged right on the 50 yard line; the leapfrog move that was a staple of the Sky Ryders was spectacular; and the Trooper line tossing over the flags during "Ghost Riders" was thrilling. Those were big moves staged extremely well and very easy to appreciate -- much like a company front. Today, when the guard is spread out across the entire field, broken into 3-4 groups each using different pieces of equipment, and performing intricate (often subtle) body movement and facial expressions, the impact is somewhat lessened.

I think many of us older fans I (I'd like not to include myself in this group but I have to) tend to hang onto the past with a little too much gusto. We view almost everything from our generation (whenever that may be) as tinged with gold, while practically any type of change or progress is looked upon with a suspect eye. In short, many of us don't like to move outside our comfort zone -- and not just in the world of drum corps. On the other hand, many of our younger friends on DCP are quick to dismiss any opinion contrary to their own as trivial and outdated, completely ignoring the fact that many of us have devoted more years to this activity than some of them have been alive. On more than one occasion I've been told to "get over it" by some infinitely wise 15 year old who has seen a few shows on YouTube and suddenly become the world's foremost expert on show design and brass technique. It's the age-old generation gap...

Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Bernstein insult your intelligence? I can understand being insulted by Brittney Spears and the Jonas Brothers, but by some of the greatest composers in the Western musical canon....?

To answer the question pertaining to the number in Madison's guard: by my count, 22. A larger guard would certainly help the Scouts in the visual captions but numbers alone aren't going to do it. The visual package seems very conservative and the guard book does little, in my opinion, to add color and/or visual excitement.

My 2 cents based only on what I've seen live so far: Cavaliers -- are doing some amazing work and doing it quite well. The guys are consistent and clean and I only expect them to improve as the summer goes on. And if past seasons are indicative, we'll see more added to the show in the coming weeks. Phantom -- I'll need to see the show again before I'm sold on the guard. There is difficult demand in the book but it is still very dirty and, when I saw the show last, was performed in an almost "nervous" manner. I'm not sure the performers are completely confident yet with the work and/or the considerable amount of roleplaying they're being asked to do. They also spend time with props -- spears, shields, swords, etc. -- that help portray the theme but don't count for much in terms of equipment usage. Crown -- Always a strong guard but, like PR, still working out some of the kinks. Early season jitters are probably responsible for the uncharacteristically dirty performances I've witnessed. The guard -- particularly the rifle line -- tends to be staged up front for a good deal of the show, intergrated with the corps proper. While I like this type of incorporation and interaction among sections, the resulting visual looks almost frenetically busy, to the point that the excellent guard and some of the big tricks get lost. Colts -- Huge guard that adds so much color and visual effect to the show. . They're definitely well-trained and are executing nicely for this early in the season. They're very pleasant to watch, as they really seem to enjoy performing. The demand is not quite as high as that of some of the top units but this guard truly helps bring Colts' show alive. Blue Stars -- I could say almost the same things about Blue Stars as I did about Colts. These kids (and boy do they seem young) seem to be having a great time while doing so much to help portray the "bicycle race" theme of the show. Therein lies my one criticism: I'm not a fan of the gimmicky props (tires, handlebars, etc.). I realize they are in keeping with the theme but I think they make certain elements of the show come across as too cutesy, thereby distracting from some otherwise good guard work. Madison -- I think the overall quality of the guard has improved, particularly from an individual standpoint. What's hurting the Scouts right now is the relatively small size of the guard (I counted 22) which, of course, limits the visual impact. The work seems solid, if not particularly high in demand, but at this point it just doesn't add the "wow" factor I think this show needs in order to really come alive.

I'm going to have to agree with Galen's assessment of the Cavaliers. The show left me cold. There are certainly some wonderful things happening -- both visually and musically -- but when viewing the show on Saturday night I got the distinct impression that I'd seen it all before. I think my biggest disappointment was in the music. While the corps has certainly mastered the book and is producing a controlled, mature sound, I found the music to be rather formulaic and uninspiring. It felt as if I was watching a visual production with incidental musical accompaniment.

If you'll be driving through Chicago on your way to Rockford, Madison, or points north, be aware that Interstate 90/94 (Edens Expressway) is undergoing resurfacing, meaning that it's essentially a parking lot during rush hour and very slow at other times. The trip from downtown to the northern suburbs, which usually takes about 30 minutes, is up to an hour and a half or longer. We have two seasons here: winter and road construction.

Some of you will remember the years of the infamous PRIZE PATROL. In order to generate excitement in the stands, the show announcer would call out seat numbers, the occupants of which were recipients of various DCI-related prizes and merchandise. During finals week in Madison (I can't remember the year) the crowd grew rather weary of hearing Brandt Crocker continually announce the aforementioned "Prize Patrol" and began to mockishly chime in with him whenever the call was issued. In response, Mr. Crocker began to come up with different/innovative ways of announcing the promotion, one of which was "booty call!" Methinks Brandt wasn't quite sure of the meaning of that phrase.

Since you're in Chicago, it might help to know that the Northwestern University Music Library is one of the largest and best in the country. I'm almost certain the Shostakovich score would be among the holdings. Your college library should be able to arrange an inter-library loan.

True, plus I hear Wallis Simpson owned stock in an up-and-coming microphone manufacturing company. Not to mention, she's a distant relative of George Hopkins.

I blame Jimmy Carter. He should have known those helicpoters would crash in.... Oh wait, that's another topic.

Now Mike, you know DCI really was at fault. They should have had the foresight to see 7 years into the future...just as they should have foreseen the problems with Lucas Oil, the sinkhole, the war in Iraq, the Apollo 13 crisis, and the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII.

I seem to remember reading a story in Drum Corps World years ago about a VFW or AL championship that was to be held at Chicago's Soldier Field. Torrential rains right before the contest rendered the field unusable, forcing the organizing committee to quickly find an alternate site. As all other stadiums in and around Chicago were in the same soggy state, the organizers rented McCormick Place, the city's enormous lakeside convention center. Apparently, acoustics in the cavernous indoor hall were terrible, seating for spectators was non-existent (they perched wherever they could), and lines/hash marks had to be hastily drawn onto the concrete floor. (And people complain about the Georgia Dome!) Nonetheless, despite the difficulties and less-than-optimal conditions, the championships went on as scheduled. Sorta makes the prospect of dealing with a sinkhole 2 months before finals a little easier to take, doesn't it?

You're not the only one, Sue. Just this morning as I skimmed through the Chicago Tribune, I noticed numerous grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Yes, dalies are produced on an incredibly tight schedule but the lack of editorial and/or proofreader oversight was almost appaling.

I guess you gave up trying to convince the Cadets to alter their programming choices to suit your tastes, so now you're going after the New York Times. Makes sense to me. By the way, if you're going to be a stickler about grammar usage you should know to italicize or underline the names of publications, such as New York Times.

While we're on the subject of rain.... SCV's performance right after the rain delay in Foxboro was one of the most emotional performances I've seen in quite some time. The corps had struggled with the show all season and had endured quite a bit of criticism, as I recall, but on that night everything came together. By the time they got to "Russian Christmas Music" you could feel the whole crowd behind them and the energy continued to build. The ovation at the end was one of the longest and loudest in recent memory.

[quote name='Old School Contra Guy' post='2240253' date='May 28 2008, 09:10 AM' I think Hrothgar has a stake in Wiki ! A few weeks ago, I posted some negative comment about wiki, and he dang near went appoplectic ! Trust wikipedia with a grain of salt. Do not use it as a primary source of research ! I, too, was subjected to the wrath of Hrothgar when I mentioned that I will not allow my students to use Wikipedia as a primary reference.

The picture above of the Troopers' rifle line from 1981 reminds me of just how talented those girls were. They were one of the cleanest, tightest lines I can remember. They may not have done the big tricks of 27, had the power of Madison or Phantom, or the speed of Cavies, but they nailed everything. I miss that kind of precision.

While I certainly appreciate the skill and creativity involved in creating these arrangements, my initial response is a desire to hear more extended musical development. Instead, I hear a collection of familiar themes and motives. Such a collection is, of course, ripe with the requisite complexities of modern drum corps but seems to lack the emotional component that comes from a logical, gradual development of ideas. (Almost like being introduced to 15 characters in a play but never learning anything about them.) For example, the chorale theme from "Jupiter" is one of Holst's most majestic and moving melodies, but is heard here only briefly, in truncated form, and in conjunction with several other motives. The characteristic power and emotional quality of the tune is, consequently, lost or burried under the weight of an unnecessarily cluttered texture. Call me old fashioned, but I would much prefer to let Holst's tune speak for itself. Likewise, I'd like time to appreciate the other melodies/motives that are heard throughout the Crossmen's show. I'm not much of a fan of the ADD brand of drum corps arranging.

I'm not sure why I'm jumping into this rather tedious argument but, here goes: If I remember correctly, the infraction for which the member was being made to do laps was coming in a measure too soon. Such a mistake is surely just that -- a mistake or mental lapse. Sometimes, a form of "punishment" is effective in teaching a performer not to make the same careless error again. After having been made to run laps or do push-ups, I would darn well be sure to count the passage in question so that I came in on time in the future. However, punishing someone for a lack of ability or some other shortcoming is, in my opinion, counterproductive. Were I being punished because I couldn't yet execute a certain skill or hadn't mastered a difficult passage, I would likely respond in a negative way.

Now that I look closely at the photo in question, I can see that the flags do, in fact, have a "star" in the center of the stripes. And Uncle Z is right -- the flags from '79 did not. They were a fairly simple blue/yellow stripe on a white background (exchanged in the closer for mutli-colored ones of the same design). I don't know when the stripe/star flags were used.

The DC3 was a quality airplane when it was introduced in the 1930s and is still regarded as one of the finest planes ever built but, I think you would agree, it's somewhat outdated. As lionized as this aircraft might be and as interesting as I might find it as a historic artifact, I would certainly prefer to travel on a modern Boeing 777. Likewise, the Buick Roadmaster was an instant classic when it appeared in the late 30s but is hopelessly outdated today, in everything from style to function to features to engineering. I'm not always a fan of the modern "cookie cutter" uniforms but I do realize that tastes and styles have changed over the years and have moved beyond some of the quaint designs of the past.

I agree with most of what you've said here and, after reading your other posts in this thread now believe I have a pretty good idea of your position. However, I think your initial response to the OP might have come across as a bit condescending and harsh -- as if anyone who can't appreciate this "art form" at the same level or in the same manner as you is somehow flawed. (Again, I now know that's not what your suggesting but that's what I drew from the initial post.)