CrownLeadSop

This for me as well.

Guys, I was LISTENING to Belshazzar's Feast. Relax. I had it full volume on the 5.1 Surround sound and was super hyped. It'd be fun to play though. I'm an age-out, so it doesn't really matter though. :)

I'm one of the very fortunate and happy 52. :) What a great summer for drum corps, thank you to the fans, support/admin/teaching staffs of ALL corps, and to DCI for the perfect age-out, despite the plague (THANKS LAURIE!)

Love ya George. :)

Yeah, yeah, we get it already.

LOL. Get it Matt!

http://twitter.com/kevingamin http://twitter.com/Chris_Lugo

Go fill a hole. Heh.

Then you should be marching.

This is good enough for me: "BEATING THE DRUMS FOR THE CORPS One of the biggest sporting events of the summer, the Drum Corps International World Championships, will be held in Madison, Wis., Aug. 10-15. If you don't consider drum corps competition to be a major sport, don't tell that to the 10,000 youths who will descend on Madison, the 50,000 fans who will watch them or Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight. Knight is a big booster of the Star of Indiana corps, which was founded and is largely funded by his friend Bill Cook. Cook, who made his fortune in medical supplies, became enamored of drum corps when his son joined one, and in 1984 he started the Star of Indiana, which is headquartered in an old schoolhouse in Bloomington and attracts high school and college kids from Kentucky and Ohio as well as Indiana. In its first year of competition, the Star of Indiana finished 10th in the world, and last year came in eighth. "If a basketball team trained as hard as these kids do," says Knight, "it would be unbelievable. I like to take my players over there to show them what they can accomplish with hard work and teamwork. Besides, once they see them practice 12 hours a day, my players think I'm a helluva lot easier." Drum corps, each of which numbers as many as 128 youths age 14 to 21, are not marching bands, though the two do have things in common: music, uniforms and football fields. Because of the highly competitive nature of the activity, performances tend to be more innovative, precise and entertaining than those of marching bands. The music selections for the 11�-minute performances run from the Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz to Enchinda's Arf (Of You) by Zappa, and their choreography can rival that of a Broadway show. At Madison a panel of nine will judge each drum corps for its brass performance, its percussion performance and its visual effect. This year's defending champions are the Blue Devils from Concord, Calif., who scored 98.4 of a possible 100 last year. The jazz-oriented Blue Devils are a dynasty in their "sport"—they have won six times since 1976." From: Sports Illustrated Scorecard

Basketball has had tons of changes. Fouls, 3 point line, playoffs, etc. Racing has changes every YEAR. Engineering restrictions, fuel restrictions, engine limit, etc. However, the fundamentals in both sports have remained the same.

Ditto, as I was walking out of San Antonio in 07. Had my pic taken with about 30 band kids. Was an amazing feeling.

I disagree. Wait until you see a top-down, the drill really fits the show idea, as does the effect progression, in my opinion of course. Then again, you may have to read the programming notes to string the idea together. I thought the green would bother me, but I think it's pretty alright. Definitely different. :D Love the brass moments. Very happy with the sound this early. Also very excited that I could see the holes very easily this early. Sometimes it's... "Is that a hole? No.. it just closed up.. hmm." I could count all three holes (that I could see) clearly throughout the show. But maybe I'm biased, which I can admit to I suppose. Cadets are surprising clean for this time of year, good for them. They'll be scary come finals, as will most people. Expecting a dogfight throughout 1-9.

On top of that, since tonight is free, do we have to be subscribed to watch or is it free to anyone regardless of subscription?

I marched for three years. I was in a championship caliber BOA marching band in high school. I will never be "okay" or "accepting" of woodwind instruments in a drum corps show. However... I'll keep my mind open to someone else's idea, at least until I can hear it and pass judgment on it myself. Many years I've come to rehearsals, heard the show design that I'm planning on marching and said "Uhh... what?" If I had not taken an attitude of giving some of these ideas a chance, I probably wouldn't have marched at all, as radical as some of them have been. Anywhere near a clarinet on the field? No sir. But an idea will stand and be judged by the people that witness it live and if there is a huge public outcry (as we have seen with some shows in the recent past), then the idea will cease to be a prominent player in the activity (as we are starting to see). I'm just interested to see how the idea turns out. /shrug.

As long as you're willing to admit it! :D No, but really, that staff is what I think most on these could consider of "classical drum corps" pedagogy. I have no fear that the clarinet goes any farther than a single encore tune. :)

To refuse a thought a chance is to allow ignorance to creep in. Just a caution. Stay open-minded. :)

Go ahead bands! Break ranks!

Nope. Has nothing to do with it really, iirc. I believe they rotate through the corps that are annual attendees at most shows. Not sure how DCI events are scheduled.

I marched 2006 and 2007 without a hitch. Loved it. I marched 2008 through spring training and the first show, the Show of Shows in Rockford. I was diagnosed with a stress fractures and arthritis in my right foot, and that was the end of my season. I am unable to march my age-out this year because of these injuries. If I were to march, it would likely be at the expense of my ability to walk unhindered for the rest of my life. These kind of decisions are terribad.

They're an incredible drum corps right now. That's all I'm saying. I was there all week. Sick. P.S. Look out for the mello section.

Avon High School 2002-2005, soloist in 2005 (Equus ballad solo), and Carolina Crown 2006-2008. Incredible design staffs for both programs, I couldn't have asked for anything more (since you mentioned cool shows). I really should've been a music major, but I had no support from the parents on that on account that Dad's a corporate exec and mom was a teacher and quit because she hated it after 20+ years (No Child Left Behind). So here I am, at Purdue, doing nothing in particular that I'm too motivated to do, but I'll get by and make it work. I'm hoping to take a consulting gig and work 9 months of the year and to teach during the important three. That would be a sweet gig, I just need to figure out where to teach! Haha. Where did you march, sir?

I marched four years with that program, and three with my drum corps of choice, and I can no longer march. Stress fracture in my first metatarsal, fragmented calcaneus, and arthritis in my fourth and fifth met, all in my right foot, prevent me from enjoying my age-out this summer. For those of you in the position to help, make sure your kids are wearing the right shoes and taking care of themselves.

The dot motivates the form, and the form motivates the dot. If you hit your dot, the picture will be there. If you dress to the form, you will be on your dot, assuming you know what the form is supposed to be. They are one in the same, at least where I've marched.

Keep the details coming, I miss not being there, and you're my only string of connection at the moment. I don't want to call and bother them at night, obviously. :)