gdisney

Unfortunately I only saw So Cal once, and that from past the end zone. So I can't really campare them to us. It did seem that they had spent time working on cleaning their show, or at least more than we have spent anyway. And their guard seemd to be rockin'. Our problem is that we started late on marching and haven't fully reached the show's potential - in a word, we are still sloppy visually. And that does translate into how you play, into GE, all those things. But hey, another week to figure it all out - plenty of time!

You heard em, RCR, go get the black jackets! OK, we'll do that - and next year we'll combine all three of our shows for one big half hour performance featuring 300+ marching members. That'll show 'em.

Hey, you can always donate it for the season to your local friendly River City Regiment!

"Stringy, sexy-type shirts"?? You should get one of those Clint!

Sorry, but I have to disagree. I accept B-flat horns completely, however I don't see how you can say that the quality of sound has improved. I prefer G horns because of the tone they produce. Although it does matter how you play the horn, B-flat horns tend to have a brighter, brassier qulaity, whereas the G horns tend to be more mellow sounding. That's a personal preference in what you like to hear. But are you implying that hornlines have more quality because they are using B-flat horns? I should say not. If they have more quality, it's because they have decided to work at sounding better, not because they got a new horn slapped in front of them.

Way to go Chris! I ditto the sentiment. If you don't have the ability to write your own (Are none of your 12 players capable? Even for exercises?) then contact an arranger from a corps. I know when we were getting going last year, there were a lot of folks (particularly from the Renegades) who were more than willing to help out. And we only only had 12 horns last year, but made it work. Keep it up and be patient, it will grow. Now here's a related question: With copyright law such as it is, can you just use someone else's arrangement? Or do you need permission to perform it with a different group?

Lesa & LisaLisa, It's all about perspective... ...in the stands, it's a "7"... ...on the field, it's an "L"... OMG, you guys are right! ^0^ You're right about the perspective thing - if you could see it from above you would realize it's actually a lower case 'r', which stands for the smaller corps, River City Regiment. Hey, isn't that us on the field under the cloud? Hmmmm......

My only disappointment with the SCV Alumni Corps is that I won't get to see them again in California this year. Or does anyone know of anywhere else they're performing?

Here's some more pennies to throw on the pile, though I saw less of the show than Clint. Stupid equipment loading! Seattle Cascades - well I was just coming in as they were going on and didn't have my head into really watching yet - but overall I was impressed by the show, and really impressed with how much they've been building up the last coule of years. Good strong horn sound! Madison - I feel the show lacks the oomph! that has made the show enjoyable to watch in the past. I think the best part was the march onto the field. Bottom line - the show needs some cleaning, or else maybe as Clint said their heads weren't into it. I was disappointed to see such sloppy and frantic looking drill from the Scouts. A lot of missed tosses in the guard, and it seems the horn line isn't as strong sounding as I remember from past years. Maybe my ears are going! SCV - one of my favorites to listen to, but it's starting to sound like the same old thing. They had a banner year in 1999, and since then it has seemed like they're trying to copy that feeling every year - modern music, beautiful ballad, fast difficult drill with lots of big diagonal lines. Again. As several people also mentioned, the box thing in the guard needs to go. There's one point where the boxes come together to form an even bigger box, which actually looked pretty cool from up top in Hayward but loses effect from ground level. Otherwise, I'm sorry but I just don't like it. Still, the show has great potential, but I'm yearning for something different from SCV. BD - wasn't sure what to expect when reading the literature selections - but this show is growing on me. It's certainly a far cry from what they've been doing the last few years. It's, well, fun and happy. I think the ragtime opening with soloist was great - and maybe it was just because I wasn't expecting something so light and fun from BD. I find the drill to be somewhat more interesting than it has been - a wee bit not as clean as I have come to expect from BD, but I'm sure that will change. Still, I think it was the best executed show of the night.