TastyWaves

Some great thoughts here ! I was at the movies too... lotsa fun. I would only disagree with you on the blue stars review. I COMPLETELY understand what you mean about the patriotic theme and how its been done a "Bazillion" times, but i think thats what you want when your making your "comeback". I always say as an arranger, "Write for what you HAVE, not what you WISH you had". Some corps are out there biting off a bit more than they can chew so to speak. I think they are giving their kids something fun, entertaining, accessable, and achievable. It does have some "meat" to it, its just not overdone. It looks like the kids are into it and they do a fantastic job with it! Maybe next year or down the road they can beef things up a little. I think they are on the right track! Mr HArring, In Warrington Pa, there were 2 or 3 real small "glitches". The sound (and video on one occassion) kinda flickered, but the glitches were over before you could even finish reacting to them. Tony

Hey bro, I was just at the Saturday show at DCI east and i was pretty impressed with the drummin thats goin on! Lotta good stuff out there on that night alone. I really wish i could have been there friday night. In fact, from the feedback of alot of people i know on tour, there seems to be alot of "well. -------- corps has a great drumline!" . Even from corps ranking a little bit lower overall. But saturday night... Crossmen Some awesome moments!! You just gotta try not to grade them against their former selves. Its totally different stylistically than early and late 90s crossmen, but pretty swingin in some places! Some minor clarity issues and a pretty unexposed quadline at times, but very fitting for whats goin on around them. They have a very nicely designed feature, and some nice exposure throughout. JSU I was very impressed here! Alot of simultaneous demand going here. They play on the move alot, and they have some very demanding syncopated rythms and jazz interp things that they achieve at a very high level. They def have one more level in them for madison tho so i hope they reach it! Pit plays with some real confidence! They really go after it. The battery has some great "let loose" moments. Blue knights They do have alot going on, but not in terms of a drum "solo". I saw alot of their media on "YouTube" and VicFirth.com (in the lot stuff) so i was expecting them to rock out in the show, but i guess most of that stuff was backfield. They had a few small moments of nice exposure, but it would have been really cool to see em come up front and just lay it down. I dont know if it would have been appropriate for their concept, but it really is a solid drumline. Show em off! Madison Scouts Definetly have some exposure here! alot of nice solo type passages and again, they have given their battery a great deal of visual responsiblity! Very cool stuff goin on. They rarely just stand there and play. A few times they just kinda give it to you, but most of the time they are on the run, or doin some really cool body movement during the demanding passages. I think its a great total package drumline! Snare/quads play alot of fast stuff, alot of rrr llll and even some rrrrllll with great control and clarity. Crown. Not the drumline to make you jump outta your chair, but you will be impressed with thier dynamic playing and musical sensitivity. Nothing to call a "ram" tho. SCV Jammin! Lotta "run and drum" happening here. Loved it! BlueCoats Man... lotta demand and exposure here. Some licks that you will just have to laugh at! Super fast and super clean rolls, some amazing bass runs even with a bass drummer out that night (hopin he makes it back! what a line!) and a great pit. They make some awesome sounds happen! Definetly dont want to miss this!! Blue Devils Every year they are my favorite (or one of) This year is no different. They have such presence. They make you just go "wow....." alot! They play lots of demand. Both in segments and as an ensemble. They also have a great deal of environmental demands placed on the players. Playing from tricky formations and great spreads and still nailin the #### out of it! they also just have that "Attitude". Pure west coast! From the minute they walk out on the field they just own the place. You can see it in their body language. They hit a little dirt here and there sure, but hey, if your achieving 96% clarity with that much demand compared to lines achieving 99% with a third of that, i will take the 96%!! ANYTIME!! So anyway, thats it. If you cant make it to any shows, or the Movie theater, i would suggest checkin out www.youtube.com LOTS of great media there from the lot and the field from throughout the summer. Tony

PERNA! PERNA! PERNA!! PERNA!!!! Tony

YO BRIGS!!!!!! It was so awesome to see you guys in Binghamton!! Im glad i got to talk to some of you guys and if nothing else many heckled me as i walked by to warm ups. I couldnt look tho because were "hardcore!!!" lol Anyway, the show was cool! Im so glad i finally got to see it. Quads rule! (no change there) Perna and Rod are lookin sweet as #### in the uni!!! (keep drummin it coach) and the colorguard..... (wow) i would break me off a piece of that!! lol Anyway, have a great time the rest of the season. I hope to see you again! I know your coming to our show and of course there is the Big Weekend! Talk to you all on the road!! Tony Perez Brigs 04,05

Mr. Mason, I mean you no disrespect here, but what does Non-Judicial punishment have to do with drum corps. Im assuming the Article 15 reference was to the article on Non-Judicial Punishment in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. While i disagree with Ssgt Warners remarks, i dont see how this would apply. I was on active duty in the Marine Corps for 8 years and never was I punished for having an opinion on a drum corps show. As a former member of the "Commandants Own", I can tell you it was a very diverse collection of musical backrounds. Many from DCI Corps, DCA corps, alumni corps, college bands, and even many with no drum corps experience at all. In fact, most of the leadership of the D&B has no drum corps experience outside the D&B in the Marine Corps. So needless to say there are always many Different opinions around the "BrownBagger" area every year when civilian drum corps seasons get going. And as i said, all of us spoke our minds very openly about corps and were never punished for him. I think its very nice that you decided not file a "Formal complaint" against Staff Sgt Warner, although ihave to admit i have no idea what grounds you would have for doing so to begin with.

Okay.... I marched with Dave Warner for about 7 years. We were not friends then, were not in touch anymore since i left the service, and to be honest I thought he was kind of a geek. but why does he not have a right to his thoughts? Why does he not have the right to express his views, even aggressively (like SO many other here do?) I mean we all have to sit here and listen to Jeff and his new jetta and everyone else with "Strong" opinions on other things, but you dont see 8 pages worth of people flaming him for it. At least Dave (unlike jeff) kept his personal opinion short and took less than 20 pages to express them. But just like Jeff has the right to go on and on and on and on and on and on with his opinion WHATEVER it may be, why doesnt he? Further, one only has to read DCP or Google Groups, RAMD or whatever and 99% of it is DCA/Alumni corps personel trashing DCI groups. So one person comes on and has a negative opinion of a DCA show and suddenly hes Satan? Comon guys! Especially with someone commenting about how "DCA people have more class" or something to that effect... Some people live on these various forums just to trash some form of drum corps. so why not him? Some people dont like amps, and singers and dancers, and some people dont like corps with 15 members who rehearse once a week. So what? If you like it, you like it! if not, you dont. And we all have the right to come here and talk about it. Further, why are we calling his boss to complain about his feelings on drum corps? He didnt come on here and speak for the Commandants Own, he came on here to speak for Dave Warner. Yes, his signature thing says USMC, but everyone has thier resume posted on their name. I dont think any of us come on here claiming to represent our entire corps... So are we calling everyones bosses to tell on people for not liking a certain drum corps? Are you guys gonna call my district Manager at American Eagle because i didnt care for the ------men this year? (thats a random name! im not actually talking about a corps there) truman crawford was my boss for 4 years too.... and he had some opinions of his own on many corps... DCI, DCA, and Alumni. We ALL do! because were human beings and we in this activity are very opinionated. So just let it slide! I dont agree with anything Dave Warner said either. I havent since 1994 but hey, thats him. In any case, those of you who loved the show, Go back next year! and see more this year! If you didnt like it, move along! aap "these arent the droids your looking for"

Some very interesting perspectives bro! thanks for the thoughts. Although i disagree about the level of difficulty in Phantoms show. Dont mistake "notes notes notes" for neccesarily being more difficult. Phantoms books is alot more about control and musicallity which is very hard to do. Alot of syncapation and lower end dynamic level playing which i know from teaching lines the last 13 years is very demanding. I think the book is perfect for the show its written for. I think this is what seperates the top 5-7 lines from the 8-15 lines. Sometimes percussion authors go for the "notes for the sake of notes" route as opposed to writing to compliment the ensemble. I think Phantom is in the elite class with lines out there when it comes to that. BD, Cavs, Bluecoats, can all say the same. As for tuning in a dome, i have never heard a line master that! lol... I wonder who will be the first. Other than the A/C cranking and the sun off your head ive never been a fan of dome shows. I marched alot of drum corps shows inside and the listening environment is ####! thanks again for the review man! aap "Phantom good horns and drums. not so jammin guard. didn't care for the bondage stuff. the drum book was not the hardest thing i saw out there, but it was perhaps the cleanest. Didn't like the tuning of the quads. I couldn't tell what was clean in the dome as the tones take over each other and sound like mud. "

Very cool review man! Just food for thought tho (in response to your quote below) , I have several friends and former students in the Cadets, and i can tell you they arent over there wishing they didnt have to play thier show. I agree, its pretty out there.... dont know if Im a huge fan, but they are diggin thier summer. I just spoke to a good friend of mine in the percussion section two nights ago who is loving his season and who told me that basically the whole team has decided already to return in 07. just some thoughts! Again, thanks for yours as well. T "I feel sorry for the kids who have to perform this show. It is not their fault, and not George Hopkins' fault, according to Brad. It is the show designers (Marc Sylvester, etc..) who are to blame. Marc has "gone off the deep end" design-wise, imo...I only hope he can regain his brilliance next year...And, it's not ALL bad, either. There were some sparks of drumcorps that I enjoyed in there, but not many at all..."