madalumni

I agree - things change and for the most part, for the better. As an alum, I very glad to see them not only being competative again, but also really starting to be innovative. But I do have to correct you on one point. We have had a food truck before 2003. I marched in 89-90 and we had one. True, it wasn't the semi-truck with refrigeration like they have now, but it was a functional food truck.

Yeah, they're not really practicle in the summer (although I heard back in the 30s when they were created, Wisconsin's temperature never got above 20 degrees - even in the middle of July! :P ), but I personally have always liked our unique look. I also have always liked Santa Clara's.

I haven't thought about the rest, but I will be voting for 95 MADISON!!! And I hope they have better sound at the theater this time.

2001 Cadets block morphing into spokes back into block. 99 SCV collapsing T move. 88,89,91,96 Madison's wedge spin. 86-90 Cavaliers snake in a blender. 92 Cavaliers opening and closing Iris 95 Cavaliers double helix. 90-91 Star cross to star moves. 83-85 Garfield Z-pull

Dan Ritacco used one at the end of Madison's 87 closer, Stars and Stripes.

What does everyone think of Madison's 2005 Drum line? I myself am not a percussionist, but to me, that's the best drum line we've had in a very long time. I don't know if they rank up there with some of the best, but with the addition of Mcnutt and Beddis, it seems like they're moving in that direction. Thoughts?

My favorites are: 84 Garfield 88 SCV 95 Madison 91 Star 96 Cadets Special mention. At the end of Madison's 1980 opener, (They're playing our song) the guard sets up a large triangle as the hornline forms a company front behind them. Right when the front moves foward, the entire guard does this amazing unison rifle toss followed by a series of double-time spins. The whole thing was flawless and my jaw was on the floor!

Darn - I forgot about Greg Pocklaki! He designed some of my favorite sequences ever from the Cavaliers like the double helix in their 95 show and of course the end of Mars. Awesome writer. And it's great to be reminded of how Pete Emmons and Ralph Pace blazed the trail for the others to follow. My question now would be who will be the next Zingali and what will the big jump in visual evolution be. I wish I knew how to write drill because the other night, I had a dream of a certain corps doing a radically new style that blew my mind!

I've been thinking lately about designers who not only changed the activity, but truly have their own unique style and add an identity to the corps they worked with. On my list I would say the 2 greatest legends were Zingali and Brubaker. Those two guys single handedly changed the activity and created a look for both of their corps that is infused into their identities. After them, I would include Myron Rosander, Mike Gaines, Marc Silvester and Jeff Saktig. They took the reigns from the former, and have pushed the activity to where it is today.

And with a capital "G". :P

I was recently looking through past scores and placements and noticed that never in the history of DCI have both The Cavaliers and the Madison Scouts placed in the top 3 during the same year. Kind of weird and hopefully that will soon change, as I believe Madison is slowly but surely rebuilding and one day soon we will see both all-male corps duking it out for a top spot.

If I remember, the first year that 3 valves were allowed was 1991. By 1992, pretty much everyone in the top 12 had made the switch.

I just looked at our members list and we already have about 70 brass guys committed to the performance! The guard has about 34 committed and the drumline has about 48. This project is looking great so far. I'm psyched for the performance. We plan to do some serious structural damage to Camp Randall Stadium on Aug. 11th Although, I was a little dissapointed when I heard that we will be performing at Semi-Finals instead of Finals. But maybe if we advertise this project enough, we can help DCI bring in the largest Semi-Finals crowd ever! :D

1) 88 Madison 2) 95 Madison 3) 83 Garfield 4) 87 SCV 5) 84 Blue Devils

Well I'm interested to hear how the added Euphs beef up the low-end sound. They've had a nice resonant sound the last several years and to add more bottom would be a nice addition. As far as the guard costumes, I like what someone said about having them look like the Borg from Next Generation...that may be to literal though, so maybe they could take ideas from Trent Reznor. His costumes frequently have a dark, gothic look and are a little "Sci-Fi" as well, without being too over the top...especially his earlier work like "Pretty Hate Machine".

I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned Blue Devils 1990 show. First of all...those guard outfits! Skin tight hot pink....can you say baby got back?! :D Anyway, during the song "It's a Boy" where the drumline (I think) formed a circle, the guard had these whispy white flags that "broke" the circle...or egg if you will. That was a bit sexual.

Hey Al, do you think Paul would ever let you play a G Sop on the show? That would be great!

I thought their 2005 show was very fan freindly. Maybe not as loud as the pre-2003 era, but still great.

You are right. Taras Nihirniak co-wrote with Boerma and he wrote the bulk of the closer "Confrontation & Finale".

That would be Chris Metzger (Forbes). One of the gods of Madison soloists. Hopefully, he, Shaun Owens, and Jon Schipper will join us for the Reunion Corps!

It's not just you. I could do without the overhype in their press releases. But, like I said above, Boerma is an excellant arranger, especially when given more room to be original. take 97 and 03 for example. Those shows were definately influenced by other composers, but he was allowed to make them his own, and they were great. I think 2004 was an example of where he had to re-hash old material. It just didn't have the impact that the other shows had. I guess my only real complaint is that since their switch to Bb, they don't put out the shear volume they used to...even last year's show where they had 72 freakin' horns. But I think that could change this year with myron being on board. He knows how to stage a hornline to get the maximum effect.

I love those guys. They're hilarious! But if this show is going to be dark and angry, I think a more appropriate guest performer would be Christopher Walken. He could stare people down in the slower moments and then start beating people up in the faster/louder segments. Then, during a drum feature, he could yell out "I NEED MORE COWBELL!" But seriously, I'm excited about this show. I've said it before and I'll say it again. When you give Scott Boerma room for originality, he really shines as an arranger. I can't wait to see how Mr. Rosander interprets the music visually!

It's pretty clear that he was joking.

Dennis - that would be Bill Short and I thought he was a good announcer but didn't quite have the color and energy of Mr. Crocker.

I will vote ahead of time for the 2006 Madison Scouts Alumni/Reunion Corps performance at DCI Semi-Finals. I think the crowd is gonna go nuts!