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2008 BK Looks like BK has gone pro with some of their media! This is the video from their website . Love the parade corps pictures. 16 days - cant wait to see what 2008 brings

Just got it in the mail yesterday - its a new level of recording for drum corps. It is now for sale at isomike.com under IsoMike Recordings 2007B. The biggest improvement for me is the balance with better clarity on low frequency. I have to also say that the 4.0 mix seams to bet better for my system than the stereo SACD. The dynamic range is huge (as I taught it would be). For $20 shipped it was well worth my investment. Congrats again to the 2007 Blue Knights for a great show and now a great recording.

Its my point that its still not classy. If there is one thing I learned over the years of marching at BK, there is a considerable lack of class in the activity. That includes many corps, many directors, many staff members, and many "fans" that post on this board. If anything, I learned marching that the most important value that a corps has is their class. For example, I will always admire SCV for how they ran their corps in '05 and they will always have me as a fan. I think we, as fans, do not recognize the importance of class in the activity. Maybe there is a reason that many housing sites are no longer available for DCI - I know this to be a fact.

Its still not classy.

He sure knows alot about how performers feel, just wanted to know if he has performed at a DCI event.

Did you ever march anywhere?

Moral of the story can we all agree this is not what finals is about or the activity for that matter

Seams to me that there are not many "classy" people in the drum corps community. Directors and fans included.

must be nice marching in a box 5 drum corps. way to go bk

This is awesome. Blue Knights in SACD 4.0 - this year - I cant wait. Finally drum corps will meet my electrical engineering degree. Finally some music to really test the dynamic range of SACD

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I'd like to chime in on this discussion having a 4 year background in the Blue Knights and finally seeing this topic on DCP. There has been discussion around this topic for years in Denver with the Blue Knights. I know that the organization has been committed to the idea of having every count in the show choreographed since Robbie Billings started teaching here. Off season programs help those of us in town and really get us ahead of the rest of the corps. These have included showing up to Oracle Winterguard's, now Opus 10, "spring training" and dance classes in Denver. During camps it has been a staple of my experience with the blue knights to have a large chunk of time working on the basics of dance. Other ideas that have bounced around the Blue Knights include a full winter guard with brass players and drummers. That project didn't come to fruition (as of yet), however the blue knights do have a winter brass ensemble that performs much like a winter percussion show. I would like to point out that we still (when I marched) were not as proficient as Robbie would have liked and were not experts by any means. You will, however, will see that the Blue Knights are familiar with much of the basics in dance and will continue to become more and more proficient. At Drums Along the Rockies this year, I saw many groups putting in choreography that demanded more than straight legs and toes as high as you can get them - which is exciting being a BK alumni. However with that said, much of this movement was not correct - even from my brief training I could see it. The previous poster was right on in every way. "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." I am not saying that every player in BK this year or any year is 100% correct in technique, but I know that the approach that staff has given is the correct one - where I am not sure at these other corps. I have seen many other corps during my time not teach, but only to emulate what was shown to them. This leads to judging. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right applies to them too. Many visual judges are not trained in ballet or dance. I have heard tapes even from color guard judges that were incorrect in technical dance. If the activity is going to move towards a more dance centric visual package, DCI needs to train their folks and adjust too. danielray thanks for posting this topic it has been a long time coming.... my 2 cents are over

Biggs do you ever sleep now that your aged out?

Yeah I did mean the "scratching" it was really loud up front. It was probably much much better further up the stands which is understandable. Just not my cup of tea.

I typically don't post anything here on DCP, but taught it was unfortunate that no one had posted a review of Denver yet – so here we go with my first one here. Background - I marched '02-'05 with BK and am finally starting to enjoy watching drum corps again. Of course all of these statements are my opinions and do not reflect on anyone except me. I was sitting on the side two 45 yard line 15 rows up. It was a good place for music and individual marching, but not for GE vis. Also I am very tired so the review is kinda all over the place. Mandarins – 73.150 Wow. Much improved corps over the last time I saw them in 2005. Uniforms are interesting – not sure if I like them or not. There brass has matured a lot over the last two years – good job staff and members. They are still top heavy for my taste. Solid drum book for where they are at. Didn't remember too much from the color guard – sorry color guard folks. Watch the small girl on the taiko style drums she is great. They really should take out the drill for the 4 people on those drums though. Didn't think that the props added to much to the show. Good show overall. I would have to say that the judges left room for the groups after and they were scored a few points low. Troopers – 73.575 Was at the Blue Knights alumni tailgate sorry. Hey you may be mad that I didn't review them – I'm mad as he** too because I didn't see them. I would imagine that they were scored a bit low to be safe and make room for the later corps as well. Cascades – 75.550 Much better than last year. Powerful brass for where they are placed, but very top heavy. Color guard was noticeably better than the Mandarins. Sorry I don't remember more of their program. Color guard marks are correct in placement - as well as their other visual scores. I would not have put them ahead of the crossmen in brass. Pacific Crest – 76.250 A conflicting show in my head. They play well and sound like your typical “west coast” corps, but Im not so convinced that the vehicle that they were given best fits the idea of the show or the potential of this corps. Crowd liked the opener seamed to loose interest in the rest of their show. Understand the low ensemble music score due to some front to back problems throughout the show. I dont remember why they should have such great vis GE scores, but I do remember a few big moves so it is possible. Crossmen – 78.500 Overall I enjoyed this show. This is very weird for me because bones and I usually don't get along. They had the cape trick that all the bandos loved, but I personally enjoyed the colors being brought forward traditionally. It had a very good appeal to me for one reason or the other and was a tasteful way to mark the change of location for the corps. Brass was noticeably louder than the previous corps. Drums as well. Not a fan of hokie color guard clothing changes, but it worked for them. As with the other reviews I have read at DCP I could have done without the pit effects. Score seams correct. The Academy – 80.425 Power in the trumpets. To much at times for the ensemble. Seconds were in tune and just hogs. Wish they would have played with the ensemble more. I didn't care for the guard unis. Brass line is defiantly their strong section and dominate the scores. Really appreciate how their organization has approached the activity (I was a DM for BK when we all met up with SCV and The Academy in Pueblo in '05 for a promo thing). Should have been edged by the Glassmen - maybe by not as much as they did. Glassmen – 81.400 Step up in percussion and guard from the previous corps. I am typically not a big fan of their visual book and continue to not be. I will give them credit at putting in long phrases of movement into the brass book, but I don think that instruction is at the level where they are getting credit for it. The training that I received at BK makes me feel that the group doesn't know what they are doing, but are just instructed to "do this". Guard uniforms were very intricate and interesting. Clean drum book. I dont understand the big guard score, but I think their percussion was underscored but put in the proper placement. Blue Knights – 86.000 I will hold my comment from this group because I am so biased. Crowd gave it up for them in a big way and they gave it back. Staff said it was their best show to date and some said it was the best performance BK has given at DATR. Lots of '03, '04 and '05 friends still in the corps. Good luck all of you have the time of your lives. SCV – 88.425 Loud brass with a good sound. Typical SCV with good drums and a good guard to match. Im kinda getting tired of the fan hype during their shows, but if it keeps the upcoming kids interested with DCI keep it going. Not my favorite guard unis and really not my overall favorite SCV show concept. Alex is still the DM there and doing a great job – I wonder when he ages out. He is a really nice guy in the activity. I don't think they should be as close as they are to crown as they were scored. I do not understand the monster vis GE score, but my advantage was not good. Everything else seams reasonable. They had some tears so ensemble music should have suffered as noted in their score. Guard was good and was rewarded. Crown – 89.250 Good show. I really enjoy having them back to back with BK. Such different styles that are so effective. Makes the night so interesting and fun. Brass puts out some serious sound getting to the edge of starting to hear control problems. I think the fences are a bit much sometimes, but they do well with the overall concept. Not to much to say – just a solid fun show from the bando to the serious DCI alum. Should have had stronger numbers in GE. Visual may be their downfall. I think I do agree with there scores there. Guard was killer and was definitely box 5. Brass will need to step up the vis if they want a chance to play with the big boys. I really think they should have edged the blue coats tonight. Bluecoats. - 89.750 Must have been an off night for them or I just dont have the right perspective on their show. They are good but didn't have the shine that Crown did. They had a few tears, but overall a good show with good design. Can understand all the scores. I think that the GE music is a bit high. Cadets – 91.675 Solid corps. Maybe the best corps I've ever seen or heard, but I will never know. Every caption is solid solid solid. With that said, the narration made the show inaccessible to me. For me it was with the staging. If the guy was talking, I wanted to look at him because he was the dominate sound. I then missed a lot of the action going on. That was disappointing to me. I'm just not such a fan of shows about drum corps – we tried to do the same in '04 and scrapped it. I feel with all of that said that there should not have been such a big gap. Good luck to all the corps who performed tonight and thank you all for your hard work and passion for something I love and miss so much.