CerpinTaxt

While it's been a few years since I've really paid attention outside of chatting with acquaintances or going to a couple shows, from what I've seen on social media and corps staff announcements it seems like most of the design and instructional staff from their 2008-2016 runs are no longer with the organization, or are now teaching with the other two DCA Minnesota corps (Chops and Govenaires). A lot of the core membership from that time period went elsewhere or stopped marching as well. The corps looked very young last year and the corps has traditionally been supported by the early 20's-mid 30's aged members who are now gone. Been a revolving door on staff for brass and visual the last couple years as well.

Taco salad, chicken sandwiches, meatloaf (only on rainy days though), and meatball sandwiches. Our cook staff made a pretty mean ham as well...However a meal of country ham, mashed potatoes, corn, and stuffing on a 95 degree day before a show puts a hurt on. I remember laying in the school during SSSSS time thinking "mother of god".

Keep in mind that from 1986-2005, Blue Stars were an A60/Div2&3 corps. In '87 they got 3rd in A60 competition, and looks like they scored high enough to move on to open class prelims.

YouTube makes money off of it though through the advertising that is done on the site. I'll state again, there is nothing wrong with taping in the lot for your personal use. I've watched Scott Johnson take people's cameras in crowded lots to go and get close up shots of the line, and I've had SCV drum staff pull me in close to the line so I could get a good angle for some show reps. I love watching lot clips as much as anyone else, however I do understand the corps' position. I've been involved in both sides of copyright issues, and it's not fun.

The problem comes from the permission to arrange. I do percussion arrangements for a few high school groups. Depending on the publisher/composer of the music that is to be arranged, there can be varying requirements to what has to happen to arrange that music. Sometimes they really don't care, and you can do a lot with it. The Tool show I did a few years ago for a winter line was this way, I got a letter back from the publisher that pretty much said "go for it, do what you like". Others have required a ton of steps to be done to make the arrangement happen, such as plastering long copyright statements and permission statements on the bottom of every score and part, along with a requirement to send a video or recording to the publisher at the end of the season. Along with this, I have been required to destroy all copies of my arrangement after the season has ended. My snare parts had basically nothing to do with the original music, however they are my interpretation and arrangement of someone else's original idea. That's why it is still a no no sometimes to post clips from show books without permission. For all we know, SCV or BD could have gotten a warning from some publisher or composer for a previous show arrangement, and to be safe, just took everything down. It's a violation of the exclusive right to distribute.

It isn't against the law to tape in the public lot for personal use. However, it is a violation of copyright to then take that footage and throw it all over the internet. Warmup or show music, doesn't matter. Both can and are protected under copyright.

Our housing site in Denver for 2004 finals was in one of the worst parts of the city. The school had a razor wire fence around it and a policeman in the lot at all times. The school was pretty nice though, brand new lol. We've had some pretty shady housing sites though, especially when we were in Atlanta and Orlando.

Colts are a lot more exposed this year than the Blue Stars' line. Blue Stars had a great book as well, just felt that it was a lot safer than what the Colts put out. Cleanliness wise they felt about the same, just that the Colts took a few more chances. At this point, I haven't seen enough lines to make a solid comparison between the 16th-8th place groups. My comments were more that the Colts took a big step up for themselves this year over last year, and less comparing them to other lines at this time. It felt like a little bit of both. Direction wise, the music didn't carry forward as well as the opener and closer did. However, it was the first weekend and a lot of time between here and August. It's a good show, just needs some development design and execution wise (obviously). I give them a lot of props for having a full show out that starts and ends well. As with the comment above this one, I just felt like the major GE brass moments didn't hit hard enough at this time. Again, it's June. They have a great ensemble sound though. One of the more balanced corps of the night I thought.

I have as well, and we never had a problem finding an OK area to warmup. I got to the show fairly early to talk to friends, and they pulled in quite early. Plenty of time to find a reasonable warmup site, and they were actually facing the stadium instead of away.

Posted mine here- http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...showtopic=98808

Both shows seemed to be well ran, and the weather was perfect for both shows. A little muggy, but can't beat sunshine for a drum corps show. I'm combining my thoughts from both nights, since Menomonie had a much higher and better stadium than Coon Rapids. For both shows I was fairly high, on the side 1 45 yard line. Oh, and I'll apologize right now for a lack of guard comments :sshh: . Oh, and this is my first post on this site in over a year. I'm more of a casual reader, and had to sign up for a new account today when I couldn't remember what my original user name was or email that I used to sign up here 5 years ago or so lol. Minnesota Brass - "Who Are You?" What a great way to open the 2007 season. This corps has always impressed me, and this year will be no different. The music of The Who translated well to the field, and the members performed the heck out it. They looked a little tired at Coon Rapids and ran out of steam in their closer, but sounded much better at Menomonie the next night. The percussion section is blazing as usual, and their battery was exposed more than any other corps besides Colts and Phantom. The visual show was well written for the corps and for DCA, and the prop integration in their drum solo fits nicely without being distracting. Obviously there was a lot of dirt in the drill, but I never saw any major issues. With how little this corps rehearses (usually once a week for about 2-3 hours), they put out a great product. The only complaint that I had was that the guard was not in their uniforms for both shows, wearing black tops and pants. However, they did have their show flags and those looked great. They got a great response from the crowd, and their show was one of the more enjoyable straight though of the night. (On a side note, at the Menomonie show Pioneer decided to warm their horn line up about 130 yards from the stadium, with the arc facing the stadium . Thanks Pioneer, you really added a lot to Minnesota Brass' ballad with your tuning and chorales. If you can hear/see a corps performing on the field, you're too close to the stadium to warmup. They was plenty of space around where the buses and semis were parked, nice and far away from the stadium. Very low class move, and they should have been penalized hard for it. The people next to me were as shocked as I was. <**> ) Govenaires - (Missed their show title, and they were only at the Coon Rapids show) They had a fun show, stock Govies. They put out a lot of sound for their smaller size, and really enjoyed the arrangement of Harlem Nocturne. They started to run out of gas musically and visually towards the end as well. They have a harder show this year, and a fairly solid hornline. The percussion section looked kind of thin, but the arrangements were smart for their size. Chops- "Wicked" Sounded like a very young corps with a lot of tone quality issues in the hornline and feet phasing problems. As the show progressed, I had a hard time picking out the visual forms and technique. The show was arranged like every high school "Wicked" show that I've seen, and they didn't really add much to it that hasn't been done before. They did a good job with the guard uniforms that added some character depth, though. The percussion book sounded too hard for the line. To their credit, the members were really trying to engage with the audience, and maybe I'll have some second thoughts when I see them later in the season again. Capital Sound - "Ooh La La: Le Spectaculair Francais" I was highly impressed with Cap Sound. They have been progressively getting better and better since their break from the Madison organization, and this year they took a big leap. The hornline puts out a lot of quality sound, battery and pit has some good notes, and they're moving fairly well at this point as well. They could be a top 3 contender in Div 3 this year. It looked like they still had a few holes, but the corps looks maybe 10-12 people larger than when I saw them last year. Best of luck Cap Sound! Pioneer - "The Fields of Green" If you've seen a Pioneer show in the past 10 years, you've seen this one too. They didn't do too much new this year from a show feel standpoint. The hornline sounded young, but looked larger than last year. The first half of the show was much stronger than the last, and it looked like the members just learned in the drill for a lot of it in the last few days. The percussion took a step up this year with a bit more involved book. Still pretty dirty, but it has a lot of potential. They play a lot of tunes, and at a few points the show seemed to feel a bit broken apart. I think once they smooth out some transitions it will make a bit more sense. Also, Pioneer has some new uniforms. The lighter green on the jacket is very striking, and added a lot to the visual image of the corps. They have almost the same kind of 3 stripes on the jacket that Capital Regiment had in the past, with the stock Pioneer plaid showing out the side. The pants were dark green, and they kept the same hat. I thought their uniform choice was excellent, and really showcased what Pioneer was all about. It was too bad that it was still sunny out when they went on, that uniform would look great under the lights. The show title was very appropriate in describing the new uniform :P . Blue Stars - "Power and Grace" The corps is huge . I didn't get a chance to count them all, but they looked to be about 132-135. I remember seeing this corps a few years ago kicking butt with 15-20 horns, and with a full hornline they sound great. The only complaint that I have about the hornline is that they are playing it too safe right now. The ensemble is very balanced, but they never really hit me on any impact moments like the corps after them did. The visual program is a big step up from last year, with a lot of movement in already and great layering on the field between sections. However, the battery seems to be always staged too far back and not as integrated with the hornline as the guard was. The battery has solid white drums this year, and that hid a lot of their visual playing dirt. The pit and battery had well written books, just felt way to safe for a corps that wants to make the top 12 again. The bassline sounded young, and had some timing issues especially coming backfield to front playing splits. A big part of their visual program is the new uniform, which I liked in small moments. Check out the uniform thread on the main Div 1 forum for pictures. The uniform is extremely effective when they are doing movement, showcasing the different sides of the uniform. However when the corps is in a block, it is very distracting with the split white and blue. The star on the white side came out more under the light at Menomonie, but was hard to read at Coon Rapids in the sun. I'm going to miss the Blue Stars uni of the past 20 years or so, a uniform like that was classic. At least they kept the same helmet. The other issue I had with the show, is that it really kicked me in the face for the first 2 minutes, and got kinda bleh until the last part of the closer. They had a great moment at the end when the hornline was in a straight line on the front sideline behind the pit, with the battery staged in the back. A lone guard member is in the middle of the field performing the "Power and Grace" look that is on some of their new souvie shirts this year. Colts - "Equinox" This corps has taken huge strides with their show design and execution this year. Most noticeably in their percussion section. A lot of exposed parts, and I never really heard any major issues. Going to be a good line when they clean up. The hornline is solid this year, with a well controlled sound that is really starting to project this early in the season. They had some tuning and laser issues with the high brass, but nothing that isn't fixable in the near future. They have a good visual package, and I didn't see as many individual issues that I have seen from them before technique wise. The new uniforms rock. Very powerful when they are in a close block, the red really jumps out. Especially with the shako. I wish they had brought out the smaller maroonish stripe they had at the bottom of their jacket more. That color would have looked great if they had put that on their gauntlets. Blue Knights - "Dark Dances" This show sounded and looked like a 2002 re-do. The battery sounded a lot dirtier at this time than they did last year, and were almost too exposed for their playing level. The bassline was solid, but the snare and quad lines looked young. The hornline has a hard book, and was really noticeable with tone quality and tempo control issues. Like the Blue Stars, the show really grabbed me with the opener but kinda slowed down a lot for the rest of it. Phantom Regiment - "On Air" Wow . That's all I really have to say about it. The show rocks, and is one of the best Regiment shows in many years. There were a few bland moments, especially their integration with the props at times. It seems like some of that hasn't been fully worked out yet, and I need to see it at a later date. Their hornline is on fire. Great sound for most of the show both nights, however it took them a few minutes to get into the show. They didn't have the guard uniforms done for Coon Rapids, but did for Menomonie. The best surprise of the night was the quality level their percussion section is playing at for this point in the season. Very mature sound out of the pit, and they have a ridiculous book. One of the best pits I've ever seen opening weekend. The battery is flat out bad ###. Very hard book, very good line. They play with a lot of control, space, and their sound projects like crazy. I think this is Rennick's best book yet. Also, the drums are absolutely beautiful with the green and black fade and are really striking with the greenish trim on the new sashes. I think we might have a repeat of last year for the percussion section b**bs . This will be one of THE corps to see in August, and I think they can make a very serious run for a championship.