TastyWaves

Notice these guys never submit their application to "Step up" themselves? I am sure BD would be AMAZING if he was designing their program.

Again, you are only focusing on one aspect of their performance. Do they park and blow? yes, because it fits their program. But they have more variety than that if you look objectively which i dont think you are because you are clearly suggesting that all they do is stand there and play. Perhaps you would notice the demand if it was your favorite corps performing this exact same program.

It is judged. Most people however have no idea of the scope of "Simultaneous Demand". When the results dont fit some peoples narrow views, they just say it doesnt happen.

I appreciate the spirit of the poll and its a very creative idea, but I wouldnt really want to see that. That has little to do with 2011 if it takes place in 2012. So in the end, nothing is actually settled. I also agree with the fact that ties are okay. With todays judging, a tie is nearly impossible, so if it happens, it happens. Its not like football or a head to head sport where the contest where both teams are on the field simultaneously. Otherwise, we could go to "sudden death" in the event of a tie or "penalty kicks". lol

Bucs- 90.4 MBI- 88.7 Hurcs- 87.9 Fusion- 76.2 Bush-74.1 Just fun randomness here.

yaaaawwwwwwwwwn

this is what I dont get about people. Again, like what you like, or dont like what you dont like. By why is "loathing and deep hatred" ever "understandable"? Why cant you just not like the show and leave it at that?

I disagree for several reasons: 1) What does ANY judge have to gain from "favoring" a corps over another? If General effect judge (1) in his heart feels that Corps B is the best, what would he/she have to gain by giving Corps A the higher score? Its not pro sports or something like that where there is a ton of money to be made. An NFL ref for effecting the outcome of a game might stand to make a wad of cash in some crooked shady deal, but that kind of money does not exist in drum corps 2) The "power people" in Drum Corps are spread over several corps. Blue Devils have some, Cadets have some, Cavaliers, Blue coats, Blue Stars, Scouts, Crown. Many of these people have skipped around from corps to corps over the years. Why wouldn't that implied "political favoritism" follow them around? If someone perceives that Drum Corps Designer-X gets special treatment and score favors during his 15 years with Corps-A, why would that same treatment not continue when he moved on to the next corps? Do "politics" exist? I really do not know. I haven't seen any evidence to suggest it. The only "politics" I hear of in this activity are "Sour grapes" when someone's corps does not win. Think me naive if you want, but show me some evidence. Show me some cash transactions or some shady emails between judges and drum corps directors. If those things exist, they can be found. Just ask NFL and College head coaches, recruiters for major programs, and politicians. They are all ALWAYS found out. I doubt the drum corps community has any secret keeping power or masterful communication prowess which cannot be somehow tracked. Show me where Blue Devils beat crown (as an example) because of some transfer of money, power, or other form of compensation.

Someone else already addressed the fact that they came out more prepared much sooner than the field. (although i disagree about the "Ease" of their show that many theorize. Difficulty is more than just "notes in the snareline" which most people on these forums base things on). I think their front ensemble and battery both are of top 5 quality with a chance to win it all if they hit theirs out of the park and if the others have a bad night. To me it has to do more with the amazing quality of the programs this year. It was only a few years ago that you could only look forward to 1-3 amazing percussion programs each year with a bunch of "good but not great" programs far behind. Now I think winter programs have created for talent, the instructional pool has spread out and many groups have really taken off. Same thing has been happening in WGI. Normally in the World class there are 1 or 2 really exception groups, this year it felt more like 7 or 8. We are so programmed to think that if a group is not in the top 4, that they "suck". Not the case! Madison, Boston, Blue Knights, Glassmen, those percussion ensembles may have scored in the top 5 five years ago, but the quality is growing so far and so fast. Take Blue Stars as a full corps. I think they get better and better each year but the quality of the other programs does to. So they ended up in8th place twice in a row and last night were in 10th but with a better show (in my opinion of course) than the last 3 or 4years. The development of so many programs is really pushing things. I find it exciting!

oh yeah. Because on dCP, "if MY corps wins, the system works.... but if MY corps LOSES, its because of BS politics and bad judging.". lol never fails!

garbage. Surprising in such a refreshing thread topic!

Its the "Lakers Effect" or the "Yankees" or "Cowboys" affect if we compare to sports. Those teams and all of their success over the years (obviously not the immediate past) inspire a lot of love and a lot of hatred. even beyond that of normal fans. For example, if you are a mets fan or a red sox fan, hating the yankees is part of the deal. Natural rivalries. But for some reason, people in montana, idaho, or nevada will pile on the bandwagons for the teams who are playing those teams. If the Lakers play Oklahoma City, you will get most of California rooting for the Lakers, and the rest of the country rooting for "the other team" whoever it may be.

I think one thing is for sure... People shouldnt take offense to the term "Gimmicks". EVERYONE has their gimmicks. Some are more memorable than others. But hey, if it works, great! Some "Gimmicks" are "Stolen" and people get all up in arms. like the "Spinning bass drums" used once in WGI by Northcoast academy and later by the Blue Devils. So many concepts are used by many corps so it seems silly to call a corps "thieves" for doing something thats been "done before". Take an older example: Backsticking. Who was the VERY first snareline to throw out some back sticking? Drumlines are still doing it today. Are they "Thieves"? Is it a "Gimmick"? No. It just becomes incorporated into the idiom. Box rotation, behind the back catch, ripple tosses, hornline crab step, its all been done somewhere and someone had to do it "First". In the cavaliers case, these "Gimmicks" are the next step in the evolution of a previous "Gimmick". Rhythm-X stood on their drums. In 2008, Rhythm-X had the snare drummers physically hold the quads and do different drill while the quad players played them. The blue devils had something similar, but held the drums vertical so it was like "Drumming on a wall" while doing some rotating drill. Without those "Gimmicks" coming first, the CAvaliers probably dont ever get here. Like the Back stick probably led to "Spyder sticking". Just let the "Gimmicks" be the "Gimmicks", enjoy them if they fit (like the CAvaliers do) and just enjoy the ride!

The funniest thing about this ridiculous "goo" nonsense that keeps sprouting new threads is that everyone who is whining about thinks all corps have it except for "Their" corps. lol

Exactly. Its similar to movies. I love movies like "Son In Law" with Pauly Shore because they are easy, simple humor with no real brain cells required to get them. Sometimes I like to turn the brain off and just have a laugh. Then there are other movies like "The Kings Speech" that have a little more depth and that require you to pay closer attention. The DCP crowd wants Movies theaters to have a strict "Pauly Shore ONLY" policy in their "Theater". Again, I love it too but I dont want to see it every time I walk into a theater. I also love how people here are trying to take credit for the shows some corps are doing. Just because they found it entertaining, its like "FINALLY.. I TOLD YOU SO,, you finally did the show I TOLD you to do". lol. Every corps for many years has gone through "phases" and periodically reinvents themselves. The fact that its happening now for some corps is just part of the regular evolution of the species that naturally takes place every couple of years regardless of what people here say.

I think the Crowns placement in percussion is driving a lot of defensive discussion which i understand, but I think people have to look at it for what it is which is the RIDICULOUS level of competition out there this season in the caption! Each year, I usually walk away thinking there are a ton of "good" percussion ensembles (Battery and pit! I never talk about just one of them) but very few "Great" total ensembles. This year, it seems that there are a lot! My personal theory is that this show and its "rockin" and "in your face" style and theme has a little bit of natural draw back. I went through this a few times in my teaching career (Although I do high school, not anything to this level, but the idea may be the same). A couple of times, I have written and designed programs that were rock/pop driven. All I heard from judges that season was that we did not do "As much" musical shaping as the next group. My argument was that we did display the skills necessary. We did demonstrate that we can shape and that we can play soft, we just dont do it the whole show because playing soft and sensitive isnt necessarily whats idiomatically appropriate for a show with Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, etc. Same thing happened for awhile in a show where we played the KORN adaptation of "Brick in the Wall" plus music by system of a down and Burley Brawl from the Matrix a few years ago. This may be happening to crown. I have seen their show and to me, it is a little one dimensional in terms of percussion scoring due to the nature of the program, but they are BEASTS performing it! It may just be a little give and take in one caption to help in another.

exactly. Funny how people refer to this as "positive". Dry and sarcastic and insulting to one group. I still dont see why on DCP nobody is capable of complimenting one entity without insulting another. Dont misunderstand. I agree with the spirit of the post. Its very complimentary to the corps the OP saw. And I agree about the corps he was talking about and how wonderful many shows outside the "G8" are. But why not just a post stating simply "I had a great time at the show. Thank you to ______ and ______ and ________ for such wonderful shows!". Thats not the DCP way though I guess. Thats why around here people say, "I love Phantom Regiment! Thats why the blue devils SUCK". Why not just "I love Phantom Regiment"? (just an example by the way. I love both of these corps) lol oh well.

Oh right on. lol. I was hoping to hear of some really unique colors. Some of the names of corps in the past have been pretty crazy! Maybe a "tan" or "Sandalwood" corps. lol

I think im oblivious on this one! lol. Inside joke?

It sounds like you are doing all of the right stuff and trying to plan properly. For my students who show genuine interest, I will always help them out. Even with running and getting in shape with them! Just remember, you have time to do the things you gotta do, just start now! Not later! (which it seems you are doing!) Good for you! I have 4 of my students in DCI right now and they are loving it! Keep at it you will be out there too!

I always tell my band students who are interested "dont let money be the reason you dont march". I have not read all of the replies here, but I am sure many have said to just suck it up, do whatever work you can, and save! Obviously, you are not talking about marching right now because its mid-season, so dont make the same mistake most young people make which is to put off saving. So many young people dont even think about it until membership camps in november and at that point, you already have to start paying out $$. Especially if you are traveling a significant distance to your corps where you add not only corps fees, but gas, food, etc. Start by opening a bank account (or a new savings account JUST for drum corps fund). Aim to put SOMETHING in there every week whether its 5$ or $50.00. Birthdays, graduations, bar mitvahs, any occassion where you can get a gift of some kind, throw it in! If you start with 25$ per week from July 1st until The average drum corps auditions start in november, thats about 500$! A great start! Obviously, that wont get you all the way there by any means, but you will have something workin. Obviously you will need to work some kind of job and save, even if its a 10 hour a week job. 7$ an hour, 10 hours per week, is 70$, which is about 350 a month, from July to november thats close to 1500$! + the 500 you already saved. Then you send everyone you know a donation letter. Send out a hundred of em. If you send out 100 letters, at least 30 or 40 will respond with something! Some will respond with 10$, some with 100$. You can make A LOT of tuition just by asking people. The more you ask, the more you get. I have seen people make their entire tuition for the summer in one letter campaign. Its cheap and easy. The hardest part is getting started, but after sending students to drum corps the last 15 years, I swear I have seen this work! Your gonna have to work hard if your not made of money. But isnt that part of what this is all about? Good luck to you! Go get em!

purple? that is unexpected but awesome!

Devils Coats Stars Knights. Consistently in the top 12 these days! When was the last time another corps named for a color other than blue made finals? Will there ever be another one? "Green hornets"? "Red Hots"? "Pink Ladies"?

I think its a fantastic program and it looks like its a worthy contender! I almost always love the Blue Devils so I would be happy for them. I am absolutely in love with the cadets program this year though so assuming they execute, it would be hard not to root for them. I dig the cavaliers as always and they are probably a champion waiting to happen! I am not fan of crowns show, but they are got the horses to make a run as do the blue coats. So yeah, I would be stoked to see them win! They are at least one of my 2 favorite shows this year so it would be hard not to be happy.

If its your favorite of the last 10 years, then yes! lol. We all get to choose and Madison is a fine choice. As far as closers, I LOVE Star of Indians last 3 closers. all still give me the chills, especially 92. 92 Blue Knights, 89 Cadets, 84 Cadets, 92, 94, 96, 99, 2000, 2008, Blue Devils, 99, 2000, 2003, 2004 Santa Clara Vanguard, Madison 1997, Phantom 1996, 2003, 2010. I guess i am a wimp who just cant choose one!