johnnytech

What are the drum corps in San Diego area? Both junior and senior. Or is it junior and "all age" to be correct now?

88 Sky Ryders section leader was one of the more aggresive snare drummers I've witnessed. On the video you can see his intensity. His shako shakes violently after the drum solo. I remember him in particular while watching their warmups. Later I learned that he use to shout at the judges during the shows. He would brazenly dare them to come over and stand in front of the snare line during their snare break. It was an intense snare break as well. I have seen so little live drum corps in the last 10 years, is this sort of old style intimidation out of place now?

Have there been any top 12 snare lines with falam heads with 11 or 12 snares. Last over 10 snares line I remember is 87 Phantom with 11 snares and plastic heads.

Rick, good point on BD being more relaxed than intimidating. But, I've always been curious about 86 in particular. Did you see them in the lot in 86? Did they have the intensity like you mention 27th worked at having?

This is a very interesting subject, but for me it's not about the field performance but what happens in the parking lot. I unfortunately never saw the two drumlines in the parking lot I most would want to go back in time and see. Bridgemen 81/82 and Blue Devils 86. It's also a product of your age. 88 Blue Devils were intimidating to me because I was young when I saw them. Also, there is a distinct change in modern day corps attitude. I remember when I was young I knew some drum instructors who cursed other drumlines, and was a product of their marching days in late 70s and early 80s. Times have change (for the good) in this regard and for me so has the "intimidation" of parking lot lines. Here's what would have intimidated me had I ever seen a line like this (and I think both Bridgmen 81 and BD 86 qualify for these). Is everyone in the line at least 6 feet tall. Do they have at least 8 snares, preferably 9 or 10. Are all the snares level exactly the same (87 BD has the smoothest height of snares and tallest consistent snare line ever). Are all the quad players 6.5 feet tall with low tenors, no tenors up by your elbows (well, Bridgemen did have slightly high tenors). Did they all wear tie-dye pot smoking shirts, and not all dressed nicely and trim in the "pre uniform" uniform that everyone does now. But the most important factor of all is the presence they project in warmup in the parking lot. Do they all have eyes burning holes in the trees in front of them. Do they intimidate me by the way they "don't" look at me. How snobbish or put off are they of the audience. In 89' I was in an aggresive line I remember several warmups where I just wanted to bit the heads off of people and I projected it. It wasn't for show, it was hype of how I survived and played clean. The section leader purposefully told us to lower the hype level later in the season. I remember him telling us to stop this grunt we use to do as we approached the starting line up. I think the intimidation days of old are not the same as you get now.

It seems like the original poster's "real" idea got lost in the explanation but cleared in the subsequent posts. I think what (s)he is saying that if you take a normal top 12 show and do nothing to change the presentation and competition factor of top 12 and cram in the dead air spots exhibitions of the other corps (top 13-20) or put them out in the parking lot, that this would as a whole provide more entertainment for the paying customers. Judging on the merits of this, yeah it provides more value and if it could be done tastefully I would be happy to see 13th and 14th corps. Maybe during tabulation and retreat preparations an exhibition by #13 and then off the field to make way for the retreat.

Ok, thanks. I went to try a download and it'll cost like $2.50. Am I doing something wrong? I just paid $90 for the platinum subscription for the streaming shows, but for the good quality downloads I have to pay $2.50 per show?

I just purchased a Platinum subscription and listening to the live stream. There are no issues of jittering reception, but I question the quality. It doesn't sound as good as my CDs that I rip to mp3 at 128kbs. Any experience or comments from others on this? Thank you.

I love the music of Jesus Christ Superstar! Andrew Lloyd Weber is a good fit for drum corps. I can't wait to listen to this in my car tomorrow morning! I tried to stream it right now at work with the the platinum subscription, but doesn't seem to work through my workplace's firewall.

Bawker, thank you so much!

Paqs, thanks! Based on your Cadet recommendations. I never paid attention to 87 Cadets cause I was so sore they beat Santa Clara, but now I'm going to put those you listed on my ipod. I didn't know Cavies redid their Planets show in 95. I will definitely get that as well. But, can you discuss a bit more about your Phantom recommendations. What did they play? 92 Devs is a good example of what I'm looking for. It's a rock and roll love ballad, very rare in drum corps. But they did it right...the whole song is there and faithful to the original. Not "interpreted" or sampled or medleyed in 30 second portions. Those qualities aren't there for example in this years 2007 Cavies Billy Joel themes and not a good example of the type of music I'm looking for here. I know so little of the 90s and 2000s drum corps music. Please more recommendations. Doesn't have to be top 6 material either.

I just bought the platinum subscription from dci.org and have access to what seems like all drum corps shows since 1972 or something like that. I would like some recommendations of what to listen to in my car now. I marched in late 80s. What I'm looking for is any genre of music, but music that is faithful to the original music it was taken from. No interpretations of original music. No "I can barely hear the original" in the music but they came in first place. This is drum corps music appreciation for dummies. Think of it as what you would play for somebody new to the activity and want them to appreciate Shostakovich's Festive Overture but don't have access to any real orchestral CDs but do have 1985 and 1986 Santa Clara. Cadets played lots of Berstein, but what years were they most faithful to Bernstein? What years of Blue Devils do you want to listen to on your iPod...not watch on the big screen. What years were Phantom most awesome to listen to. Please include a synopsis of the music. Here are some of mine favorites to listen to in the car. 1988 Blue Devils. Happy Days is just such a toe tapping jazz tune. Not hard in your face, but toe tapping big band great music. I've listened to more 1988 devils in my car than any year of any other drum corps. 1986 is also a favorite, but don't have it in my car. I will very soon though. :) 1988 and 1989 Santa Clara. Awesome music selection from Andrew Lloyd Weber. Truly a wonderful original piece of music done very well and faithful to original by Santa Clara. The whole show is a small snapshot of the entire musical production. 1989 Phantom. New World Symphony of Dvorak. Beautiful original classical music. Done very faithfully to the source. Would be proud to play for any non drum corps fan but likes classical music and specifically New World Symphony. Even the drum solo was a Dvorak piece. 1985 and 1986 Cavaliers. Gustav Holst's Planets. The Cavaliers version was faithful and awesome...haunting. I had heard bits and pieces of Gustav before, but hearing the Cavies do it made me go out and buy the original. How often does a drum corps show do that for you? Fantastic. Thank you.