cwallace600

SCV was an amazing line that year, full of DCI "All-Stars." I think they peaked way too early, because by the end of the season they were a shadow of what they started out as. Not saying they weren't amazing, but I never thought they deserved to win drums. They were dirty by the time they got to Madison. Now their tenor ensemble...that's a whole other story. I just saw a video of that for the first time in over ten years, and I'd forgotten how ridiculous it was!

Don't you have any new stories Geno? j/k, miss you Brother. You never make any gatherings!

I thought it was after Alanallentown...

Most of the "name" corps don't actually own the drums...the sponsoring company retains ownership and then sells them at a discount after a couple of years of use.

Star had the greatest impact on the creative direction of the activity during the time they were around, hands down. I agree with the comparisons to early '80s Cadets. The thing that struck me in the mid '90s was that SO many people complained that Star was doing TOO MUCH dance and body movement, but within 5 years virtually everyone was incorporating dance and body into their show designs (including all those who complained in '93!)

Bus Jousting event in '93...one of the participants in the first round, first heat dislocated his shoulder. Caravan had to stop in next town to take him to the emergency clinic or whatever. Needless to say, Bus Jousting was quickly and quietly laid to rest. He was OK, by the way, and was back on the field in a couple of shows. :P

Perhaps a more accurate question might be "Who marched on a conical-bored instrument in the key of G?" <$1 to Trooper for that description>

Phantom's and Bluecoats' new trucks are really eye-catching.

Agreed on amusement parks...hit ot miss. Just happened that the two I went to over the 3 years I marched were Cedar Point and Disneyland (CA, not Orlando.) Both great! Boston and SF were both great for the same reasons you mentioned.

My two favorite free days were both in amusement parks. Cedar Point was great! Next two favorites were in major cities. (SF, Boston)

Thank you for providing some sorely needed perspective on this topic.

While I am not necessarily "anti-electronics," I do think it presents a unique opportunity for Open Class to win a new base of fans, which it sorely needs. And, as pointed out, electronics certainly put more strain on already-tight Open budgets.

Such corps already exist, and as TB pointed out, struggle to recruit members every year.

I wish people would listen with their ears and not their eyes. I never thought Revoluntion's drumline was way overbalanced...I thought they did a pretty nice job, actually. But hey, they were a full drumline paired with a 30 person hornline, so they must be overbalanced, right?

I have had an identical experience with Staci and ProMark...

gotta agree with Duder on this one...I can find you plenty of people who love or hate any brand you want to throw out there. Sure the Dynasty instruments were bad some years ago, but I find that technique and tuning make way more difference than the drums/hardware. And for those of you who say you can tell the difference...sorry, I don't buy it. Because I am that good, and I don't hear it. It's the tuning. Ok, I'll give you that bass drums sound tonally DIFFERENT, but not better/worse...but everybody always talks about snares, and if they're tuned right they'll sound fine.

It's what I've come to lovingly call "Sounds Great On A Tshirt." It's when people make a lot of loud statements that in reality can not be backed up, or even worse, that they have no intention of backing up. My alma mater has been experiencing difficult times of late, but I know that what I can really do to help is limited, so I keep my mouth shut and quietly do what little I can to help, and let those that need to hear it know that they are appreciated for what they do. And that's the point. It's the doers who keep these things going. If you can't be a doer, that's OK, not everybody can be. But if you run your mouth, you leave yourself open to the kind of scrutiny that our guy TB brings. So don't be a baby if you can't back it up. Does that about sum it up TB?

I don't think he's expressing a desire, more along the lines of making an observation. Brian and many others have observed the slowly declining numbers in Open class, along with rules changes and cultural shifts that seem to be making it ever difficult to exist as a smaller, community-focused corps.

I'm all about clouds, Tom...the stinkier the better.

On the subject of Troopers QF seeding, the variable no one has yet mentioned is that Troopers were inactive in 2006. They went on first at a LOT of shows last summer because of that. Regardless of any of the math mentioned on this thread Troop would have performed first.

The Jupiter horns are being designed by the same team who did the new King line for Phantom...and people seem to like those OK. Not a brass player personally, but alls I'm saying is it wasn't THAT long ago that Yamaha was considered crap, and look how many people play on those... Sometimes brands/companies figure it out.

I live in an area that consistently has some of the highest gas prices in the country, and I filled up at $3.01 per gallon this weekend. I think the $4 a gallon declaration is a bit premature...although I do agree that it's coming, sooner rather than later.

Ok, fair enough on the misinterpretation. My apologies. I still stick to what I said, though. You need to be drumming with other people. If you can't march, I get that, I went through that too, but endeavor to find some people to drum with who are marching or get in a winterline or something. It's pretty rare for someone to make a top-tier line without some experience in either DCI or WGI under their belt.

If you are truly good enough that you would be bored at an Open Class corps, then you are ready for Cavies now. Since you do not believe you are ready for Cavies now (and I agree with you), your assumption that you would be bored at an Open Class corps leads to a serious question: What makes you think you wouldn't be bored at Cavies? They do the exact same stuff as everybody else (concerning rehearsal techniques, etc.) Lots of time on the same exercises...it's not like you spend the whole time playing Flam I Am. And the reason corps and winterlines spend so much time on basics is so that everyone can learn to play them exactly the same. Just because you can play something pretty well to your ears doesn't mean you can do it in a line consistently. Look, I'm not trying to take the wind out of your sails, but Cavies tryouts are VERY competitive, like 90 kids for 3 spots competitive. The best thing you can do is get some experinece somewhere else first, and if you can't do that, find some other people to drum with who are better than you and you'll learn things from them that maybe you haven't thought of. But you really need to be playing in a line, because there are things you'll have to learn about how to play clean in a line that noone can tell you and that you can't learn on your own.

I thought most D1's had moved away from 16's. IMO they don't carry as well. But I've never done the measuring tape thing either. Just sayin'.