DCI89DM

I am currently in Bloomington visiting an old college friend and decided to swing by the stadium. 4 weeks and counting! Drum Corps on concrete! woohoo! http://www.flickr.com/photos/28519940@N02/2662882248/ (Cant figure out how to post pics in here, so check it out)

Its funny how I was talking about this show today.... Thats Walker Valley High School... (WVHS is what is on their shirts)

In Milwaukee now.... found out where Pioneer was practicing and ran by...this posting made me curious and wanted to check it out. Thought they would be by a school but Pioneer owns their own land with football field near the airport, which suprised me. (Because they are so unstable....right drillwatcher. ha) They were in drill rehearsal when I stopped by and indeed there were 45 horns and what looked like a few holes. The corps is bigger than last year and seems to be very motivated. Wish I could have heard the music. The section I was really impressed with was their guard. Looked to be about 20 girls and were working on some intense dancing. Real potential with those ladies. Looking forward to seeing their finished product. Had a chance to see the new uniforms. Various kids were trying them on and adjustments were being made. Very cool look for Pioneer. Dont know who this Shekler guy that was with them, but maybe he was doing more harm than good. Obviously he was fired for a reason, right? Its June. The first show is only a few days away. Drillwatcher..... form your opinions then or go to Milwaukee and check things out for yourself. Good Luck Pioneer and all other corps!

I laughed through this whole thing. Its exactly whats said on every video..... every interview. One of the last videos I watched I thought this same thing. I also thought wouldnt it be funny if it went opposite of the norm..... This year really is starting off on the wrng foot. I hate the show.... and I dont know if the staff knows what they are doing.... Watch one of the videos from a recent camp. Itll make you laugh if you watch and think if it had gone the other direction.

Just to let you know.... this is going to be a reality within three to four years, if that long. Once synthesizers get passed for the pit, corps are going to be able to amplify a woodwin voice. Then will come the argument "since I am already projecting this woodwin voice why cant I have a real one in the pit". It wont pass the first year out...... maybe tie the second year, pass finally in the third. This may jump around a bit, hopefully you can follow my logic. As far as the complexity as to why some push to have woodwinds on the field........ in my opinion it has to do with the same reasons for adding more members to the drum corps. Profit. Drum corps show host have to pay for the corps to come in. It is figured for the expense of the corps, # of members.....those type of things. The contract on say a corps with 150 (or even more...possibly in the future) is going to be astronomical. So how does this apply to woodwinds? Just because 500 show up to audition doesnt mean that they will fill out the corps exactly with what is there. Many of us have been to corps auditions and have marched. We know that there are some individuals who just need more time. Cadets arent going to take a tuba player who just isnt up to par. So as we expand the numbers in drum corps it allows the breathing room for woodwinds.....to allow for corps and DCI to make more money. (not all corps are in it for profit, but I will say some tend to be) DCI and BOA will become very similar entities here soon. They are eventually going to be housed in the same area, which should be a clue to where all this is progressing. Depending on how all this shakes up with other corps I think this is what you are going to see. Some corps becoming "big bands" and others staying drum corps breaking off from DCI. Whether it is one organization or several I cant guess that, but I bet there will be a division in drum corps when this woodwind topic is resolved. This is just opinion.

I remember them at the start of the season. We knew a girl that was marching in Mello line and I remember thinking the guard uniforms..... were nice. I remember because my wife's elbow met my ribs when they came out on to the field. I dont know why they changed them.

As a drum major who marched corps...... Never had any real problems with keeping tempo being a drummer myself. If I had any problems I keyed into the center snares feet. Pit was never suppose to watch me....unless there were retardandos and other forms of tempo changes.

Why do we....I use "we" loosely..... go here every year. Yeah they have had small hornline numbers the past few years. I think their biggest problem is getting kids to stay. From what I understand many kids go to Pioneer...... learn...... which is obviously the point of drum corps.... right.... to educate.... and then move on. They dont retain the members they should, which is sad for their corps. I was at the concert and enjoyed it. So they had 20 something horns there. They are still enjoyable. I still look forward to seeing them every year. I look forward to every corps. Remember education comes first, so if Pioneer is educating 24 hornplayers this season..... atleast they are acheiving the intent of corps.

My nephew is starting his drum corps career with Racine and I got the chance to watch Pioneer….. Guard was featured first. There seems to be quite a few more than last year. Definitely some strong performers in their guard. Percussion section was great. Their feature was Dark Tide from Gangs of New York. Snare section was real impressive. Overall percussion definitely shined at the concert. The corps played through selections of their show. The opening tune had some very nice moments but needs a few more horns to really pull it off. I was real impressed with the fact that Pioneer is trying some jazz out. It was definitely an Irish song…. Rakes of Mallow….had a nice jazz feel to it and then closed the piece with a fast traditional Rakes. I thought I heard someone say that Larry Kerchner was arranging the hornline book. (correct me if Im wrong) A lot of fine moments by all of Pioneer. Look forward to seeing what happens with them this summer. Hopefully they can put a few more numbers in the hornline. If they do, I think it will be a good summer for them. Good Luck Pioneer!

Was at the parade and heard Gary Owen in the distance. Made sure I caught a glimpse of them. I counted more horns than 25. High 30s if I remember. 14 guard and usual battery size. As I was walking back to the car I saw them loading the truck. They had some members from the texas camp that couldnt make it. So Im assuming hornline is bigger this year.

I thought the same thing. Nice soloist in the ballad. Nice drum feature.

wrong. Its may be where some drum corps are today. Pleasing your fans should always be your primary objective.

I agree.

I agree. This is true for any corps. Im waiting for that magical year. I enjoy watching many of these lower division corps..... especially Pioneer.