BDCorno

Buddy Rich never returned their call?

Ahem, I don't think they "need" chairs and mirrors any more than the Cavs "need" to chant and do ensemble aerobics on the field. From the sound of it, I'm surprised you're not still complaining about the advent of the rotor valves to replace slides on the horns. Sounds like someone needs a hug!

It's more than 5% different, so maybe they'll get away with it.

As someone who played Channel One with BD 1976 and 1977, you are absolutely correct. Much of it is quite close, but there are some stylized variations incorporated into the movement. No question whatsoever it is Channel One, just more freely interpreted.

Try Travelocity's "Last Minute Deals". They include hotel accomodations, and I've found many times the total cost is less than the flight itself. In fact, I've booked them before and not even used the hotel portion. You may have to be flexible on flights, but it's better than getting hosed by the airline. Oops. Just look at LastMinute.com. Sorry!

After years of speculation, and due to years of technological advances, the long-rumored jet packs were inserted into the show. Unfortunately, a guidance malfunction caused a trumpet player to crash into a mirror and break it. Due to safety concerns, the jet packs have been shelved until next season.

1. George Hopkins appeals to DCI with the opinion that the reflections in the mirror constitute additional performers. DCI rules committee agrees, BD is disqualified for too many members and Academy makes finals. Unfortunately, an observant T&P judge at finals realize that performers reflect in the bells of horns, causing mass penalties and disqualification of all top 12 corps. The ensuing riot forces DCI to refund all ticket monies, and DCI folds. Hopkins joins forces with producers from "America's Funniest Home Videos", and revives drum corps with a new weekly summer show "America's Most Entertaining Drum Corps". No judges, but home viewers vote for the winner via text messaging.

Very nice description/deciphering of the show concept. I'd like to expand on that if I could... I believe what hangs a lot of people up is the focus on the "prop" and the limitations/expectations they place upon the mirrors. I've seen a lot of statements that address GE as something that the judge or viewer should "let come to them". I'd encourage the doubters to do exactly that...remove the negative hangups you may have with BD's show and simply take it in. The show theme is "Through a Glass, Darkly", not "Into a Mirror". Those who self-limit their ability to take in and understand the way BD uses the music and the mirrors (think WINDOW, not mirror) deprive themselves of the effects intended. Please watch the following three clips and change your mindset: http://bit.ly/b7qN1H Notice the similarity among these three clips, and frame the show in those terms as you watch it next time. Didn't really make the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits connection until recently (and a lot of the younger crowd still may not relate), but it's a metaphor for the approach this season. Hopefully many of you will see it live, because video really doesn't capture the visual as well as you would in person. The dimensionality reflected through the mirrors evokes somewhat of a parallel dimension in which past corps from BD history exist. The mirrors are actually looking glasses and/or doors into the other dimension, and allow the crowd to see the present (on the field), past (through the "windows") and future (new concept show design) co-mingling in front of your eyes. The way the props are used gives the impression of the members (and perhaps those from the other side) being able to move in and out of these dimensions at will. As Alan pointed out, at times the performers see their reflections in an obsessive introspection...is it a reflection of them in the present, or is there a past/parallel version of them through that glass? This gives the viewer a choice as well. What is it exactly that they are seeing? I find it most fascinating that there are different levels of musical and visual dissonance on display at any given time. Even the last push of the show comes from chaotic roots and resolves to harmonious musical and visual. Just when you think it's going to stay that way, the "darkness" creeps back in musically, a struggle between two pieces of music. Visually it compresses and corrals all that is going on, resolving in a short, furious and harmonious finish. For me, it's a story of tradition, history, evolution of the activity and breaking through those barriers to the future. Effect? Like it or not, the show has generated mass quantities of discussion around the activity. I'd say it's been generally effective in that sense. I don't see a problem challenging the viewer. Variety is the spice of life, and drum corps absent variety would be a bore. Those who anguish that a sea of drum corps lemmings will plunge over a cliff - offering only dark, edgy programs that don't "entertain", are a little paranoid. If nothing else, this show pushes the envelope and allows room for others to grow creatively with their programs. Instinctively, most groups will gravitate toward the harmonious and accessible...controversial shows will continue to be the exception rather than the rule. I very much hope that the activity is not corralled into a tightly controlled, "vanilla" approach when it comes to show design. I'm concerned it's a lot like that in terms of performance now! Without freeing designers and performers artistically, a "safe" or "crowd pleasing" mandate will neither be safe for DCI's health, nor pleasing to the masses. Hope this answers some questions, sheds light or spurs some good dialogue.

The "rewind" thing is hardly new...sort of a takeoff from the record skip VK used way back in 1983. The music is pleasant and all, but I don't see a corresponding "wow" factor to the changes.

I think a trial of this concept would be most revealing. Put the mechanism in place, then extrapolate the scores down and include the fan input. I think the assumed result would NOT necessarily be what you'd think. If the 'wrong' corps still won, then people would say that the fan voting was rigged. If the 'right' corps won due to the crowd overriding the judges, the losing group would complain. Complaints will always exist, and trying to cater to this crowd is never going to eliminate the whining. I don't think the idea is worth using - it degrades the judging panel and their expertise, and allows rank amateurs to possibly decide a show. For all the professionalism the G7 purports to champion, lowering the standards on who decides a contest is just completely asinine.

The judging slates have included a LOT of people that weren't doing the bigger shows early. Variance in scores are not surprising in those situations. Really blows the hell out of the conspiracy theory that all judges do is look at old recaps instead of making independent decisions....

I find it quite curious that the 1976 Blue Devils show was left off both lists. It was groundbreaking in many ways: longest musical number to date (Channel One), new direction visually (all curvilinear drill), and the first corps in history to sweep all captions. Unlike the current iteration, the corps was wildly popular at the time. I guess 35 years later, many of the people polled don't remember, or weren't around to experience those days. I guess it's no surprise that only three out of the seventeen mentions were corps prior to 1980, with one being the Kingsmen ("the first winner" seems an odd rationale for legend status, though they were a fine corps). I guess the 1975 Muchachos should have been the #1 choice...a true legend, as we don't (and won't) ever know what they did, or would have done.

I totally agree with your point, which I labeled "A". There is a slide that talks about cutting out the "independent promoter" in favor of DCI running all shows. Many shows are fund raisers for either the "unwashed masses" of smaller corps or high school music programs. Cutting off the potential fund raising benefit for those programs will not engender greater support - probably less. Many high school music programs struggle simply to stay alive. Kids having to (or kids' parents choosing to) pony up $75-100 to attend a show is not likely, when the choice is keeping their band afloat (which directly benefits them), or buying tickets to the show (which benefits ONLY the corps at the show, and provides temporarty entertainment for one night). "A" target market, yes. "The" target market? NO. Point "B" brings up a situation that makes my blood boil. Anyone notice something missing? How about the whole western half of the United States? Cripes! You have had the two most consistently successful organizations in DCI history located on the western seaboard. The indifference displayed toward the cumulative success of, and potential fan base/market created by these two organizations is simply mind boggling. After 35 years of abject snubbing of the west coast, DCI finally held championships in California. From what I'm told, it was a record crowd. If not, it was still quite impressive. So what does DCI do in the face of that referendum on the popularity of drum corps on the west coast? It signs up with Indy for TEN YEARS in the same location. After almost more than four decades of neglect, DCI gets people on the west coast excited about the activity again - then thumbs its nose at them. Talk about all the wrong moves... Any CEO or marketing director that allowed their company to ignore a massive slice of potential business (while showing a massive decrease in sales) would be fired in an instant. I posit that the target market should be former drum corps people - young adults with families, middle aged with teenagers, empty nesters. From a sales standpoint, these are the demographics that are upwardly mobile and more likely to spend the money we're looking at. Every single former drum corps member does not need to be educated or made familiar with the activity. Each can be an unpaid advocate for the activity, if they can only be shown that they are valued enough to have the activity brought to them. They can influence more people faster, more efficiently and at a lower cost than any "hired gun" you can come up with. Market to the entire country...not just to the eastern half of it. Leverage the untapped potential of the west to lead DCI out of the wilderness, if you will. As with many companies, I'll bet the margin between success and failure financially is quite slim. Could it be that the missing link has been a failure to tap ALL potential revenue streams, not just the ones that are convenient? I think it would behoove the decision makers to consider these questions. Last but not least, I don't buy the assertion that the corps don't entertain the crowd any more. I've watched most of the webcasts, and have attended a couple of live shows this year. I find most of the shows to be entertaining, in varying degrees. There is a substantial amount of uproar over the "entertainment value" of the Blue Devils in particular, and Vanguard to a lesser extent. These shows for me are intellectually entertaining...a concept that should not be discounted. I think shows would be quite boring if all programs were designed to evoke the same "jump on your feet" reaction. Much like a comedy routine, everything can't be a punch line...ebb and flow, variety and creativity should be allowed to blossom. Should "yeah!" be any more of a valid reaction than "ahh!", "wow" or "hmmm?". If so, why? If not, why not? I don't like the proposal for crowd input into the scoring. The premise seems to be that the judging system is unfair, so it must be balanced. Geographically, any show can create an unfair advantage/disadvantage in crowd support. Is adding an almost certainly unfair component into the scoring mix going to "fix" this "problem"? The answer is a resounding NO. Quit fiddling with the judging, quit fiddling with the crowd-o-meter concept and start bringing back our alumni to the fold. First things first. The rest will take care of itself!

No, Cavs got them a few shows ago as well. Not by .4 though...

"They didn't suck" ;-)

How can anyone know for sure, with all the synth reinforcement behind the impact points?

Don't tell that to the Blue Knights!

If there was a "sustained and simultaneous demand that every horn line MUST display" sheet, it would likely be a different story. I wouldn't count on it any time soon.

You know what this means? They're going to win it all now (ever see "The Natural"?) They need to wear bolt patches on their unis now.

I hope everyone still has their hearing intact...the lightning will pass, but hearing loss is forever!

Nothing was quite as brutal as when the 1977 Oakland Crusaders took high drums in prelims and failed to make finals. That is likely a record that will NEVER be broken!

Someone needs a hug! [not that I'm offering! ;-)]

Thx. A strong year for sure, a lot of the bubble corps are putting on a strong push. Seems to be vigorous battles going on all over the place. Keeps it exciting, that's for sure.

It's basically inevitable as they inch closer to 100. Everyone has their opinion, but all bias aside I think the scoring is about right at this time. Doesn't mean the most entertaining show is getting the highest score. In fact, for me it's buried in the middle of the pack.

Back when I marched, we would have considered Molson Brador the "official beer of the Blue Devils".