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I agree that Shirley Whitcomb should be writhing in one of the lower circles of drum corps hell. She was well known for handing out scores based on politics instead of performance. Having said that, Phantom's finale had problems and their huge flags didn't deploy on time. Their score properly reflected this.

You are probably right. SoCal Dream went on first at both prelims and finals. Dream's horn score at prelims was 32.0. That score took a huge drop to 29.5 at finals.

Sam, please stop practicing law without a license.

A couple of things from my Los Angeles perspective: 1. One of the important purposes of DCA membership is seeding. I think it is interesting that a Class A corps (Govies) is an associate member, and by rule must perform after all of the affiliate members and non-members have performed. Does that include next year's prelims? 2. Non-Northeast corps travel to the Northeast to get some face time in front of a panel of DCA judges and to get a read on how they are doing against the competition. We (SoCal Dream) had not been seen by a DCA judge since prelims two years ago. All of the shows in California are DCI. DCI judges using DCA sheets is hit and miss. At one show, they didn't even bother announcing our score. Our Drum Major just stood there at retreat and smiled. 3. Although seeding and judging feedback is important, SoCal Dream went on first at prelims and still made finals.

How is that a bad thing?

Wow, when you have to resort to the "you just don't understand it" gambit, then you're in serious trouble.

Einstein was, in fact, horrible at arithmetic. You wouldn't want him doing these calculations.

The west coast, and especially California (with its sixteen actively competing corps) is getting hosed again -- big time. And what does it take for the rest of the country to realize that KANSAS CITY is not "west."

New math?

This is just WRONG on so many levels . . .

Isn't it sad that there are only 23 left? It used to be that making the top 25 was a big deal.

Notice how the guys along the front sideline are fighting hard to stay in bounds. Good training.

Wow, that dirt field reminds me of a few I've marched on.

Cerritos College leaps to mind. RCC lost a lot of seating when they put in the track. And no, the box wasn't off center before.

They'd beat Esperanza, and be slugging it out with Pacific Crest and the Mandarins. They've got a legitimate shot at winning the division this year.

No, no booing. Mostly because none of the corps started singing. And yes, I've mellowed in my old age. I'm humbled that you would spend your very first post on me.

You know me, I've never stopped. Except now I've got some teenagers whining at me when I notice that their Emperor has no clothes. I wish that the BDB kid from SLO had been under my command in some of the places I've been. Then he'd have a slightly expanded world view. I blame you. If it weren't for you and Darkman I'd still be practicing law in obscurity somewhere. Lt Wayne S. Ball, Esq.

No, a lead soprano player would never ask for the first note. He would ask for the last note.

My review of tonight’s Bakersfield, California show: I had an excellent seat in row six, on the 45 yard line, number one side. The venue was a standard high school stadium with a low box. The temperatures stayed in the 80s, even after the sun went down. I thought the show organizers fared poorly in two respects. First, all of the corps had to enter and exit through the same gate. This made for a log jam as each corps tried to get on while the preceding corps was leaving. The pit crews, especially, had problems. Second, the organizers put on three corps, then had a half hour break, then put on the other three corps. Why not start the show a half hour later and run straight through? That way, the first few corps would not have to stare into a rather brutal setting sun. Modesto Fever (19 horns/23 drums/6 guard) - Final Score 48.55 Fever started things off well, but they performed a very short show (no closer) which contained almost no guard work. At many points the guard would seem to disappear while one member would come out and perform solo. The strength of this corps is definitely the drum line, specifically the seven snares. Unfortunately, the six xylophone players performed the entire show without once looking up at the drum major. They were pounding away (and I do mean pounding -- they were perfecting the art of the overhead slam) while oblivious to the fact that they were phasing. Even if they occasionally thought about looking up (which they didn’t) they wouldn’t have been able to see much, with the bright sun in their eyes. Speaking of the drum major, she came onto the podium wearing a shako at least three sizes too big for her. She dumped the shako before the show started, but at first I thought it was a joke. Fever’s show was hindered by the numerous holes in all of the sets. It looks like the drill was written for about 30 horns. Their score was about right. Concord Blue Devils B (45/39/22) 63.70 OK, a “B Corps” with a 45-man horn line, and all I could look at was the kid on rifle. I remember seeing him in the C corps a couple of years back when his rifle was taller than he was. He’s taller, and he still has the chops. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of guard work for him and his buddies to do. They did a lot of marching around simply holding equipment, or else just stood there during obvious feature passages. Speaking of just standing there, the horn line does a part where they play a chord, and the drum major points from one end of the line to the other. Everyone changes chords when they get pointed at. I think every horn line in the country has done this at one time or another during their warm ups. That’s just the point -- it’s a warm up. It was beneath BDB as a production piece, and the audience was completely unimpressed. Their drum line ran hot and cold. At times they were very good (especially the bass drums) then they would rattle like a Volkswagen van. The corps played their closer at a standstill. They beat the Vanguard Cadets by 0.05, but I thought BDB should have been beaten by a spread. Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets (33/28/17) 63.65 The drums and horns looked spectacular in classic SCV uniforms, while the guard wore white sleeveless unitards with a wide brown belt. In short, the guard looked like they were on their way to Pilates class. They also had almost no guard work done. Their drums were good, especially a tenor and snare unison during the drum solo. There was one part in the drill where a couple of guys went in different directions, did a touch and go, and then came back. It just didn’t make a lot of sense. The horn line played stuff that I liked and sounded quite good, but they ran out of gas near the end of the show. But at least they performed their whole show, which is more than I can say for BDB. Note to Santa Clara staff: this drum major is studly, and would have won tonight’s “best DM” award. He directed entrances and releases, dynamics, and even cued some marching step offs. Send him up to the big corps to replace that drone you have there. Diamond Bar Pacific Crest (52/30/32) 61.45 PC played a fairly clean but extremely simple jazz book. The drum line was good, but there was a point in the middle of the show where the horns played a ballad and the drums disappeared for about a full minute. Question: if you have a good drum line, why do you perform numbers where they don’t play? Second question: if you have a decent horn line, why do you play a boring ballad in the middle of the show? It seems that PC didn’t have a color guard, having decided instead to bring out a dance troupe. As with the other corps, the guard outfits made no sense. They wore 1950’s style mid-length house dresses in pastel colors, which you would think would go well with the jazz theme. Wrong. When was the last time you saw Betty Anderson spinning a saber? Then they dropped everything and danced for a few minutes using a fedora hat as a prop. The skirts got in the way of their spins, and the guard got in the way of the drums. At one point a quad player tripped backwards over a guard member and went down hard. Their huge horn line had a lot of impact, but they were only playing “la la LAAH.” The show is entertaining, but PC will never get the scores they are looking for unless they start playing something. Santa Clara Vanguard (56/31/35) 72.40 Talk about playing something. Wow. Sixteenth note runs galore, including a lick that started in the contras and ended in the upper sops. Pacific Crest should steal one of SCV’s sixteenth note runs. SCV wouldn’t miss one (they’d have plenty left over), and this way PC could have a sixteenth note run of their very own. Both the horns and drums did a lot of running, most of it backwards. I especially liked how they built a box marching backwards. It was a blind set for everyone, and they pulled it off. They had a very powerful sound, which unfortunately was often masked by the eight xylophones. These guys were amped to the max, and were slamming away. They seemed to be trying to wrest away from the Mandarins the title of “most obnoxious xylophones.” Nice guard work, including lots of exchanges, even though the guard outfits made them look like they were ready to go to ballet rehearsal. The guard wore black sweat pants and white tops that were short skirted on the women. The best thing I can say about these “uniforms” is that they were not as bad as last year’s hotel waiter/waitress outfits. Nice ankle chops by the cymbal players. The closing drill was a very sharp box rotation. I think they should be beating the Blue Devils. Concord Blue Devils (68/27/32) 76.10 The judges had them three and a half points up on Santa Clara, but I didn’t see it that way. First off, as usual, I have to complain about the guard outfits. Purple crushed velvet pants on the guys. Purple? Isn’t this the BLUE devils? The women wore burgundy crushed velvet pants. Yuck. They would look more “mafia” like if they borrowed PC’s fedoras. Second off, I have to complain about the pit. They had two amps, both of which were the size of industrial refrigerators, and they had them cranked up. Third, the horn line didn’t play the opener. I’m serious -- off the line they had a soloist play the theme, then they went directly into a drum solo. The contras didn’t even “pick up” until a minute into the show. Their drill was very nice in parts, such as a rotating cross, but then they would follow that up with a bunch of scatter drills. At one point they mumbled something, but I couldn’t tell if it was a chant or if it was supposed to be noise. Sorry, not buying it.

These contras have got way too many of those button thingies.

With a contrabass its relatively easy because the bell is so wide. Just pour the beer in, then . . . "to the box!"

They gave out Buddha statues at the Chinese Show. I've got the 1978 "best drum major" statue in a box somewhere out in the garage. The LA Chinese Show ("Oriental Oddysey") was usually at Cal State L.A., and the food was wonderful. We'd hang around after the show and get a free plate full of chow mein and whatever else was left over.

Here's a photo of me and Barkley: Since we're on the topic of piston-rotors, that me with Horny in my avatar.

He said "band."