tja273

My sympathy! Perhaps this is why you chose to take up Color Guard??

My beef is mainly with the "Congrats, BD, but...". Saying what you think about the show to other people or in a review is one thing, but when you congratulate a person or a group, it should be left at just that..."Congratulations". The criticism at the end just erases the compliment. It would have been better to say nothing at all. Think about it like your kid's first band concert. You may whisper to your wife that you don't like the arrangement or whatever, but when you see your kid at the end, you tell them "Great Job!" Now, regarding the Freelancers.......Loved them!! I do have a little bias here as well. I had several friends march with Freelancers in the late 80's and early 90's (including my wife - 1988). I have always hoped they would find the financial means to tour again....one day.

So, you just walk up to people and say "you're old", "you're fat" or "you're ugly", right? Just being honest, right? Sometimes it is best to just say nothing at all.

Shame on you, Sam. You are right! Hand over the membership card, turn in your jacket and member tees, hand over your rin......Oh, sorry.

Good!! I missed the announcement. Stupid me thought they would actually do it at 11:50 like they said. Put the kids to bed, grabbed a snack, sat down...black screen.

He's been doing that all season. In fact, they talked to her on one of the FieldPass episodes. You just need to know how to fall. Now, the FIRST few times they did this HAD to hurt!! Nice show, Phantom. The move up tonight was well deserved. Wish I was going to be at finals (but glad I'm not in Indiana!!).

Okay......If I shake your hand, then slap you in the face... Same thing, right? My point is that he could just leave off the last 90% of his statement. No need to bash someone with your "compliments."

Ahhh, nothing is better than being told "Congrats, but I just don't like your show, and, by the looks of things, neither do a lot of other people." It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

No. Live stream only on this one. You can always go back and watch them all from Allentown last weekend.

Don't sugar coat it man. Tell us what you really think!

For the record, Phantom beat BD in 1989, and I don't remember "dissing" them or their fans. In fact, I remember meeting and talking to several of their members in Minneapolis and other stops on tour. This has never been a "go out and kill your enemy" type of activity. It is a "go perform your butt off and see what happens" activity. Although there are always a few bad apples in EVERY group, I have found most corps alumni (from BD, Phantom & other top corps) show a lot of class. In fact, the combined performances last year of the BD/SCV Alumni, BD, and SCV hornlines were a blast (especially the alumni rehearsals at Vanguard hall). No on cared that they were standing shulder to shoulder with the "red team" or even playing their music. Keep in mind that these two organizations have battled it out closely, often for the top placements (especially during the years most of these alumni were marching - From 1973 to 1982, BD and SCV took every title except 1975). I DO notice that "fans" who never marched their favorite corps) seem to provide most of the hate mail here. I haven't figured out why they can't just sit back and enjoy the show. Unfortunately, some here assume these fans (and yes, sometimes "phans") represent the organization somehow. They don't. The organizations can speak for themselves, both on and off the field.

YES, Doug...At least some of them do. They talked to Scott Johnson on the DCI FieldPass a few weeks ago. Scott explained how this came about. Basically, a drummer said "watch this" (famous last words). When asked "Isn't it hard to do that AND play?" he said "Hell yeah". "Okay, then...It's in." You see on the field that these guys have totally bought into the concept. It actually LOOKS like they are having fun out there.

Yep, they do. I confirmed two ways. 1) Side of the bus says "Wi-Fi Enabled" (they lease busses during the Summer). 2) My father drives for Vanguard during the Summer. At the Stanford show, he had me help get his laptop synched to the access point on the bus. I am not enough of a computer geek to know how it is done, but I am assuming it is a cell network setup or a satellite setup. As I said, times sure have changed!!!

...and we thought WE had it good back in the day.

Believe it or not, Vanguard's busses this year have Wi-Fi on them. They can actually surf the web with their laptops as they drive down the road. What has become of drum corps?? Do they even sleep on gym floors any more?? I remember wiring an old car stereo (a cool one that even played cassette tapes) into loose wiring on the bus (for power) and connecting some cheap speakers someone had. That was our entertainment for the Summer. Listen to it or get a good book or some magazines. Sleeping was also very popular.

Glad you finally responded, Sam. I was starting to feel very old. "Bush" died while I was with the corps. I expect there are a whole lot of people here who had no idea what I was talking about.

BUSH! Ooops. Wrong phrase.

The black pants also hide CLEAN marching. Mike Moxley added white spats to the uniform after the first tour in '86, because he didn't feel we were getting credit for marching well (our feet were hidden in all the black). Visual scores went up. Then again, maybe we should have taken them off the next year...

Back in the 80's, BD would spend several days leading up to the Denver show in Glenwood Springs, CO (there was a small exhibition show there judged by fan reaction - VK always seemed to win). Elevation there is 7700 feet. Being conditioned at almost 2500 feet higher elevation made the Denver show a breeze.

No black plumes in the 80's. Even the gray/black uni's in 88 and the black/black in 89 had white plumes. I am pretty sure the black plumes first appeared in 1994.

I believe some people have already said on this forum that they were asked not to posted anything they recorded. I suppose they could ban all cameras (still and video). In fact, they shouldn't let you bring anything in...those crayons and papers "for the kids" could be your plan to draw up the new uniform design. You're right...let's have every audience be required to attend fully nude with nothing brought in at all. Of course, their minds should be wiped at the end to assure they do not describe the event to anyone that is not there. Or, we could just do what they ask...

If too many people share your attitude, you can expect much more strict policing of these things in the future. Yes, most digital cameras have a video function. Again, the corps is TRYING to accommodate the parents that want to get a picture or video clip of little Jimmy playing his trumpet. If too manny people abuse this, you can expect future shows to exhibit very strict policies of no cameras of any kind. I guess we'll all have you (and those like you) to thank for that one.

If you check the Sleep Train Pavilion web site (these are the guys that DO own the pavilion), it states the following: "NO Video or Audio Recording Devices (Unless specifically allowed by Artist)" It has been noted that nothing was mentioned in the program about audio or video recording, so it is clear that it was not "specifically allowed". In the age of lawsuits, corps need to be very careful about the release of recordings of their shows. Even if the person who owns the rights does not pick a fight over posted content, they may decide not to make the same agreement next time. Imagine if your favorite corps was told they could no longer play their "signature" song in public again. I heard a recent rumor that this already happened to one corps. Anyway, why shouldn't they make a buck for their hard work. If you want see it or hear it, go to a show.