BRASSO

agree. There is an opening for Crown tonite.

I can easily see SC Vanguard beating the Cavaliers tonite. Cavs had some clearly obvious alignment issues tonite in some portions of their show. Naot sure if the judges saw it or not. But SCV and Boston so far seem to be the Corps that have brought their " A " game tonite here in the Semi's.

SC Vanguard just exudes class with this first rate production. It's not going to win, but it's just pure class all the way in my opinion. It's just such a classic drum corps show.

Boston stepped it up big time tonite I thought with their performance. I still have to put in a plug for Phantom's music this year. It still sounds great to my ears, no matter their visual and guard woes this year.

The only years 9 Corps broke 90 in Semi's was 1992, 2004. And now here in 2009 .( assuming Phantom Regiment hits 90 or higher tonite... which they are a lock to do )

Boston was definately " ON " tonite. Incidentally, 9 Corps in Semi's broke 90 . Only 2 other times has it happened in DCI history.

Amen to that.

I have to admit that when I saw the Boston Crusaders on the movie screen at Quarterfinals. the first thought I had was not to go out and buy a Mac computer. I can't tell you what I was thinking, but it sure wasn't about computers .....( haha! )

Well, to use the" coming back to homecoming" and modern" Drum Corps", analogy. it would be like" the old rich Alums" went back to a College Reuinion and saw that the current" Homecoming Queen " was now a " gender neutral" competition.

This is how I feel about 2009 BD too. They sound great via audio. And I can think of lots other BD shows from previous years that I'd rather watch than this one. .And it looks like we're about to have another year where the Corps the judges select as " the best " is by no means the national fan favorite show for the year.

My top 6 would be : SC Vanguard Cadets Boston Blue Devils Phantom Bluecoats

Can you imagine what this site would look like if everyone followed the advice to " stop compaining? " We'd have 5 days of sunshine and lollipops with everybody agreeing with DCI, the Corps, the judges, the show sites, the computer, movie screen transmissions,etc and everything else and with nobody " complaining". But on the 6th day, the site would close down due to apathy and boredom listening to the non stop rah rahs with their pom poms waving ad nauseum. My advice to those who don't like to read observations from people who might have a different take on things is to perhaps " stop reading " on here or to simply learn to" evolve " as a tolerant person that can handle contrary opinions from their own. " complaining " afterall, is ingrained in Americans. It is one of our endearing qualities , and is what actually ultimately led to the birth of our great Nation. I'm always a little uneasy around folks who want to stifle others from expressing their opionions.

I'm guessing you're not a sports fan and follow the message boards of any pro or college sports team if you think DCP'ers are " the complainiest ". DCP is tame compared to the message boards of pro and college teams . REAL tame. Spend a few days checking them out, then come back to this site, and you'll see how tame the comments are here by comparison.

That's funny. As for the part about " wanting my bugles valveless". The Real Drum Corps traditionalists and purists never accepted the replacement of the woodwind ( the fife ) with the " valveless bugle ". Depending upon one's historical starting point , those who favored the introduction of the " valveless bugle " were actually the progressives of the time.. It's ironic that we seem to be coming full circle. That woodwinds ( a fife is afterall a woodwind) are coming sooner, rather than later. But for most of the progressives, they've said they're ok with change and so a use of the fife or other woodwinds is fine as they are fine with anything that Drum Corps want to experiment with.

I do agree with you that dancers are right out front in shows now, and that visual show designers have organized the shows this way on purpose.. Thus, when the principal performer is no longer the brass section with brass solists, then naturally it is the dancers that are getting interviewed. People unfamilar with Drum Corps and watching it for the first time would likewise naturally expect the dancers to be interviewed after the show. It's where the show emphasis is found. With dancer soloists, or dancer trios. Nobody can deny that the soloists most prominently displayed now in DCI shows are no longer brass players..... but in fact it is the dancers now. Nobody disagrees with this. (unless they have bad eyes or are in some sort of denial for one reason or another )

You do make a valid point on where DCI places the emphasis, when it's the guard members that were being interviewed. We needed to have the Colts trumpet soloist interviwed, or one of the Blue Devils brass soloists, or one of the many drummers. But again, DCI knows what they are doing and so they interviewed the dancers. DCI seemingly want s these to become Drum and Dancer Corps, as even the Corps staff designers are designing these shows to put the guard dancers right out front in the shows, and the brass becomes an auxillary to that. Thus, the interviews tend to go to the dancers ( or DM s ) after these shows, but rarely if even to a member the brass and percussion section. Excellent observation steven595, and others also noticed what Corps section members DCI wants to interview after these shows. And such interviews are not isolated. The dancers have been the focus of these post show interviews for several years now, and it's no accident that nobody can remember the last time a brass solist has been interviewed in these DCI post show interviews.

Bingo. The BD performers go vertical and do so in unison. No other Corps is doing this. The others visually are going primarily horizontally ( or as you said " laterally " ). BD's visual show requires a completely different type demand on the part of it's marchers. The judges are judging the style dissimilarities, but are awarding more for the unique innovation of BD right now it appears. Plus, BD is scary solid in all judging captions, either 1st in everything, or only a very small bit behind in a caption or two. They are just executing the heck out of their unique and innovative show. I don't see anybody beating them this year. ( I said so a few weeks ago if some recall )

Look at the bright side. He wasn't judging. And the ones that were judging tonight clearly disagreed with him on the Glassmen's performance in the Quarters, as the Glassmen got a good score and placement for themselves tonite, beating the Blue knights which can be viewed as a surprise and an upset. You have to be happy with the judges in the quarters, no ?

7 of the 13 original Charter Members of DCI are still in existence. This is a little over half of them still with us competing in DCI. However, a somewhat overlooked fact ,is that many of the Corps Directors that attended the first DCI Convention, to their surprise, unlike the 13 above, were not allowed to vote on any matters at the first DCI Convention. Of these approx. 3 dozen Corps, who went to the convention but were prohibited from voting once there, not a single one of them is competing in DCI World Class competition here in 2009. So for THESE Corps, the retention rate is 0%. They are ALL gone from the Drum Corps DCI World Class Competition scene. Every single one of them.

Any Corps that hopes to beat the Blue Devils this year, needs to do so tonite, in the semi finals. Otherwise, it's all over. That's because after last year's upset defeat in the Finals, there is no way in the world that the judges will have BD get upset and nipped in Finals 2 years in a row. And you can take that to the bank. So for all intents and purposes, tonite's for all the marbles in my opinion.

Well, no doubt SOME Corps will remain stuck in the past over the next few years and will continue the same high velocity, frenetic drill patterns we've seen the last 2 decades. Ironically, the BD 's were one of the last Corps to abandon the park and bark in the late 80's when it was the high velocity drill moves of the Cadets, SCV, Cavs that ushered in the era of the high velocity drill. To BD's credit, they reinvented themselves quite nicely. And now, they are the new standard bearer for the vertical visual shows with the uncanny use of chairs. What do chairs do ? They help you sit. They slow you down after you are tired from running around all over. This BD visual show is quite symbolic if you ask me. The Cavs and Cadets visual high velocity drill show is terrific. But we've seen this STYLE before. We havn't seen the BD style of show before in DCI. This is why they will be undefeated this year and will do so with nobody reallty challenging them, because the high velocity drill of the others now looks by comparison stale and outdated to some of us, and definately to the judges. BD's visual show is unique, fresh, innovative and it has changed the dynamic of the high velocity drill as the typical winning formula for years and years.

Sure, be happy to. We are witnessing the end of the DCI high velocity drill move era. The Cadets, Cavs, are stuck in the past. The Blue Devils have ushered in a new era with this unique show where the top contending Corps from now on will be going vertical, not horizontal. Watch the BD tuba section in the semi's. Until the last 2 minutes of the show, they move slowly, sometimes stand at attention, or they sit. The Guard does the high velocity speed. The Corps plays IN PLACE for most of the show. This is a departure from last year, and what other Corps are doing. Corps will use staging next year or other props, and many of them will play on the staging, or on props. If the Cadets can't win with one of the most demanding high velocity drill moves in DCI history ( watch the tuba's in the semi's compared to BD's ) then you can be sure that Corps will rethink this high velocity drill at the end of this season. That's because BD 's has crossed the Rubicon with this years undefeated season and they'll not be doing any high velocity drill next year either. And any Corps that doesn't slow down their drill next year, as BD clearly did this year, well they'll continue to be stuck in the past and remain an also ran next year as well, in my opinion.

Some of the participants are from top corps but also many are from the much lower placing Corps as well. I think it's neat to go one on one with ( say ) a member of the Blue Devils in your particular instrument and beat out that individual from the Blue Devils ( or one of the other Elite Corps ). I also think some of the individual performances are well worth watching. Over the years , I've seen some amazing performances in these I & E competitions. I'm glad DCI has them available for those that want to partake of them.

Good question. Bump.

If you talk to the most commercially successful musicians ( not the Profs... although I appreciate their knowledge and training ), they will tell you that it is rarely through the intellect that they reach their audiences with the most success. They will almost universally be in agreement that the connection to the audience is through an EMOTIONAL connection with the music they play. I sometimes thnk that in pursuit of the correct " pitch "..... " balance "....... " tone "..... etc...... we might be losing sight of the emotional component and how important this aspect is when staffs design a show and instruct their charges..... and how the judges ( few who are commercially successful musicians. if we are honest about it ) judge these performances. In the REAL world for commercial musicians of all genres, the connection to the audience is not done primarily through the cerebellum.... ie the intellect. The entrance to the audience member is done primarily through .... the heart. ALL commercially successful musicians know this. And that's a lesson all of us involved in Drum Corps might want to be a little more mindful of it seems to me. The greatest enjoyment moments in Drum Corps for most of us have not usually come from the most perfectly executed maneuver, nor musical passage. What moved us was an EMOTIONAL connection, not an intellectual one, 9 times out of 10.