Dir_en_X

I think like last year the top 4 will be a dogfight between BDB, SCVC, OC and the Spartans. Gold will probably add another dimension to this. If memory serves, they were right with BDB and SCVC score-wise until tour started. I'll be keeping a close eye on scores. Unfortunately I won't see any Open Class this year.

They had learned about half of the closer, and finished learning it yesterday. They have a dress rehearsal in about an hour.

Or for what their corps is doing in general. Like in the Revo thread, a lot of what I read was people criticizing the corps and how it was managed, but not the kids so much.

How about NO bus or truck breakdowns (and hereby jinxing myself on the road this summer...) Let's face it, farting is funny at anytime in drum corps.

Part of what makes BD, Cavies and Cadets so good year in and out is the design of their shows. As long as they can effectively design for 100, and have the members to pull off the show, I don't see why not.

I marched with a guy that has Tourette's and is allergic to the sun. He had a few tics every so often and wore shirts as neck coverings and was covered head to toe, save for his face.

I'm not a fan of their design choices, and what I feel their 'too cool for school' personality as a corps is. But I bet they're all nice people that definitely work hard and do what they do at a high level.

The only EDM I can see in DCI would be songs like deadmau5' songs 'Some Chords' and 'Ghosts 'n' Stuff' as brass warmups/parking lot hype. The rest can be saved for parties/clubs. As for video game music, off the top of my head Blue Stars 99 and Spartans 06 use Final Fantasy and Advent Rising respectively as their repertoire. I think the OC in general does this more than WC corps though.

I think so too, unless the OC corps has a lower tuition than $2500. But then again, if the potential member does get cut for whatever reason, the OC corps in that same area is monumentally cheaper than another WC corps some distance away. Personally, my last tuition was $1300. Add in the cost of travel, meals not covered by the corps, incidentals like section shorts and uniform parts, along with supplies for rehearsals, it probably costed me closer to $2000. I got to corps events by driving 3 hours each way and then living in with another corps member who lives 30 minutes from the corps' hometown.

Agreed, but the WC corps looks like the better option money wise. Using your example, yes, it would be $500 more to march with the Crossmen than Forte, Genesis, or Revolution. But when you look at daily costs, the Crossmen are a better deal. $3000 for 6 camps at 2.5 days each, all-days which go for 20 days, and a 60 day tour. This is 95 days worth of drum corps, and at a rate of $31.58 a day. The Open class corps has a tuition of $2500. Over 6 camps at 2.5 days each, and the version of all-days I had in the OC as 35 full days of rehearsal spread over 2.5 months, and a 2.5 week tour is a total of 67 days of drum corps. This shakes down to $37.32 per day. Of course this is for potential members in a state with multiple corps nearby. If someone lives in an area with an OC corps nearby, $2500 is pretty close to what they would pay. Compared to a WC corps that is far enough away to justify flying can add a lot more onto the total cost, to make it something closer to $5000.

But let's compare a World corps to an Open corps again. Assuming both corps treat and feed their members well, the World corps will average about 20 to 30 more performances than the Open corps. I agree that many members value the performances as their favorite part of the season, but if the Open corps has only 10-15 the whole season, do the members value them more than their World counterparts? When you look at an average World tour, it's 35ish shows over 60 days, compared to an Open tour of 12ish shows over 20ish days. As a member of an Open corps, I'd value my limited number of performances than if I was in a World corps. I think the 'overall experience' we keep referring to is the process of 150 individuals coming together with a single goal in mind, and also the personal transformation one goes through mentally and physically during one season of drum corps.

I've had dreams on tour of rehearsing and ticking like crazy, only to wake up in a gym. The one I've had not while marching was I was at IU stadium filling a trumpet spot for Boston. The only part that seemed out of place for me, besides learning the drill, was that I was marching a trumpet. I belong on the other side of the hornline.

Realistically, I expect to see tweaks from Phantom, Crown and BD. Those three have had a recent history of altering their uniforms to fit their show design. I'd like to see some slight tweaks to the Crossmen though, I like the style of their most recent uniforms, but think they can get the black to red to white ratio a little better.

I'd love to hear Doug Thrower's take on it, he's done an exceptional job arranging for the Bluecoats.

Count me in as one more person excited to see Boston this year.

I'm fully on the Viper bandwagon, going from Dinkles to those was like going from a beat-up sedan to a Ferrari. For rehearsals, I marched one year in NB's and one in Ascics. Both were great for me, but I realized I really liked lightweight shoes with a more flat sole than a serrated one.

Oh look what I found... http://memegenerator.net/Cool-Drum-Corps/images/new And two I'm guilty of:

Even two wasn't enough for me! I did age out with the corps I started with, and the two years I was there were wonderful. The regret I have/had was I didn't start sooner. I joined my rookie year in June right after my 20th birthday. I was a sax player and looked at DCI as something unreachable because of the travel/time/money/learning a brass horn. But I'm so glad I got the years I did out of my body.

I started marching corps when I was 20, granted I had the extra year being born in June, but still, it isn't too late.

On the bus I slept on the floor under the seat and into the aisle. Pillow and a blanket was all I needed. Soon as I was in the gym, I pumped up my air mattress though.

Thought I'd throw my $0.02 in. It takes great management regardless to run a corps well, but it's my opinion it takes a special kind of person/people to either start up or resurrect a corps. A corps that is up and running benefits from it's previous success. A corps like BDB doesn't have to worry about recruiting, uniforms, equipment, staff, and the other million things as much as Brand New Corps does because BDB has a large base of support. I have never seen anything less than class from DCI corps and members, but in the OC realm, BDB, SCVC, OC, Spartans, Music City are standout corps.

UMass has a visual staff? This is news to me. (Kidding)

Cowtown brings up a good point that a popular corps has said staff that is popular too. I may march say, Phantom (who has a pretty clear personality), but because I like the image that corps represents and the programs the corps puts out year to year. Yeah, well, that's like, your opinion, man.

This, but with the Leads and 2nds on Bari, 3rds on Euph as others have also posted.

Imagine being on the field!