ajwdad

Cali, I bow to your greater wisdom. hard to really know without Open getting judged on the same sheets are world. And August in Stockton is pretty bad in the afternoon. Not bad at all right now. I was likely being very optimistic... And wishing is not a very good way to predict things. It has not worked out that well for me buying lottery tickets... Best, I am planning on attending Sunday. Cannot make it tomorrow.

Missed this one. I have been there the last 2 years, but i doubt that I can make it this year. has NOTHING to do with the venue as supporting my Corp and kids are far more important than complaining about the venue. This year is about getting the time off to get to Indy (* travel absolutely sucks to Indy *) and costs. So for now, I am not planning on attending. What really stinks is that I doubt we can buy DVDs this year either...

I plain disagree with the last few posts. Certainly, playing to a packed very small stadium, about the size of a small high school has a draw for some, but it is not anywhere near as good as the stadiums that I have been to here on the west coast. I don't care about the history of the stadium. As for parking, are you kidding? If the place could hold a decent amount on people, then the parking would be pathetic. As for Open not being able to actually get butts in seats, IE we need a small stadium, there are a lot of possible answers. One would be to price the show decently. But, my complaint is that Open Class Corps are treated as third class non-citizens. We can perform with the World Corps, at their judging levels, once. Maybe even 3 times, but heaven forbid that we could actually hold our championships in a real stadium... At the very least, Open Class Corps could be scored the same as World Class. If you read some of my posts in past years, you will find that I am not a fan of Lucas. Frankly, the Clovis show outside of Fresno is a FAR better venue than MC or Lucas, As is Standford, the Rose Bowl, and UOP. And MC is one of the very worst venues that I have been to over the last 50 or so shows that I have seen in the last 6 years. But, I am off topic again. My complaint is that the Open Class Corps are simply not treated well and that MC is an indication of the problem. If they were, I doubt that so many corps would have moved to World Class over the past few years.

No, it was a bad experience because the staff were acting like jack #####. BTW, Seen cadets several times this year, without any of the aforementioned behavior by staff.

Hi TJ, thanks for the perspective. Mine was as a parent and a fan... But, best of luck either way... In general, I like open much better than world. Kind of like college sports compared to professional sports. but that is just a personal opinion... Thanks,

Hi, I fully understand the entire deal. In past years, div II winners did get to compete, and the new change allows them to compete in Worlds. But, Open Class finals are in a pretty poor venue. I have my doubts that the venue can comfortably seat all of the people that might want to attend... It certainly did not do very well last year at Quarters. As for the ability of open class, I agree that several corps have a shot at the top 25, and I think that a few have a shot at the top 12. I still do not like the venue for finals.... Especially for corps that do not a good chance of competing at Worlds.

anyone else thinks that this sucks? Sorry to use such language, but that venue is just plain poor. It was almost too small last year, but more importantly, the corp members look forward to performing in Lucas Oil. I am on the west coast, but Stanford and UOP are far superior to Michigan City. Even DVC is better. The actual city and people are great... Friendly and supportive. But, the venue leaves much to be desired. Treating Open Class as important, as was done in the last few years at finals, should be done. I understand the money, but this is pretty rotten.

agreed, and I apologize for my tone last post.

One more comment, if size is the critical factor, music city should win... From their site, "This summer the corps will field 150 members including 80 horns, 34 guard, 33 percussionists and 3 drum majors" So, I guess that BDB and SCVC don't have a chance, if you are right. And since the larger corp has to be easier to clean, .... Anyway, I don't subscribe to that train of thought. and best of luck to Music City. My apologies to using them (they are the largest corp I know) to make a point.

stay amused... Kind of mis-stated my comment, but I will play along. Really, cleaning a larger corp is more difficult, but I did not call that a problem. When I taught, if I could remove 3-4 people, my scores would have increased. Really. We can talk somewhat about scale. If you march 10 people, I doubt that you even belong in DCI. But, the difference between 106 and 130 is not that great. In fact, some posters have already guessed a 106 corp at 130. But, comparing a corp of 130 with a corp of 30 is ridiculous. I doubt that was the point of this post.

No worries, mate. I think that the staff does not get enough credit. I would really like to compare 2 more things, 1) practice hours 2) Staff members.. (as in number and quality) I could not state for any other corp, but BDB corp definitely puts in the time with a first rate staff. I venture to say that SCVC does as well.

exactly.

thanks! I was wondering about the comparison with years past, but did not have the drive to put it together.

agree with a lot of this, but BD is hardly wealthy. If they are the wealthiest, then DCI may fold really soon.

been around long? This is hardly the first, and likely not the last. Blame the rules... For the record, I don't like mics, recorded music or talking during a drum corp show... Best thing for you to do is plan a different vacation, maybe at a beach where you can listen to the soothing waves crash on the shore. Just relax...

agreed.

Hi Mahler, Actually, my son was a freshman last year and in the corp as were 4 of his friends... all freshmen. And there were lots of 16 year olds. I don't have the actual ages, but I definitely do not think that most of these kids are 19-20 years old. In fact, I think that 1 kid aged out, but mostly, they are high school students. We have a few of the corp members staying at our house this summer, most been marching 3 years and all of sophmores. Also, BD definitely gets a lot of the BDB kids, but I also know that Vanguard and even SCVC get some... John Lee was with BDB (in high school) and BDA but finished at Madison Scouts.

caught them 3 times. Like the show and the corp, but they do need to clean a lot. I can only compare them to SCVC and BDB, unfortunately, their show is not up to that standard. But, I like them, and really appreciate their traveling to CA.

Interesting discussion. I tend to agree with the vis comments as you can do more with a larger corp. But then, you have to get all of them to execute at a high level. Not so easy, and even though BDB's horn line is about 16 people smaller this year, I do know that they cut horn line members. I tend to think that the staff and directors matter more to the corp than the number of people marching, within reason. Seen several threads this year that overstate BDB's size, by a lot. But the staff of BDB and SCVC are top notch... and I think that is why they have been successful the last few years. Also, that college age comment was interesting. I think that BDB has had 3 ageouts... ever... Not sure about SCVC. Most of the kids I know are in high school and a lot of them are sophmores.

I have not seen the Cavies show or Crown's. But I have not seen any show that "wowed" me. I personally do not like the cadets show (hate the music, dislike the show), SVC is pretty boring and dirty (like the music), BD seems to have moments where not enough is happening (like the music a lot), and Phantom's show seems slow. These are the only top corps that I have seen. On the other hand, BDB's show is really good this year, but that is an open corp topic. Season is most interesting due to the placement of Cadet and Cavies, and Crown seems very close.

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Yes, I have seen the show 3 times in person. seems like judging from video is a mistake. I cannot understand how it can possibly do justice to any show... I stand by my statement earlier.

Cadets, Cavies, Crown and BD... As for easy, the cadet show is the easiest that I have seen in a long long time. Between 5-7 company fronts, and the huge moment is when the horn line becomes part of the guard for the fight. They grab those glittering PVC pipes which looks great. Thought that the BD show was easier than last years or the 2009 show, but the whining about demand is as cliche as SVC's vanguard moment or yelling "they are always ready." BTW, I did find the cadet show visually appealing, just not hard. Liked SCV's show, but I doubt that there is enough to Phantom's show to go anywhere.

The best corp is not the answer in DCI. It is the best performance on finals night. I am going to refrain on ragging on Crown, but the real reason that they will likely not win is either Cadets, Cavies, BD, Scouts, Phantom, or Bluecoats.

In general, I don't like amplified sound in drum corp. That goes for Pit, Solos, and sometimes, the announcer. I was critical last year, and wish that BD was not using a mic this year.