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Thanks so much!!!!

I was wondering if there was a list of where the corps are staying and rehearsing this weekend for Allentown.

Well I was wrong, willing to admit it. I wasn't sure, took a guess and missed. I learn something new everyday.

I don't think DCA does the International Champion, I could be wrong. I think when the corps come over they compete strictly in either A or Open class.

Some corps post that information on their website under a special section. (I know Crossmen have a link right on their main page that says internships). You might also want to email some corps you'e interested in working with to see what kind of opportunities they might have that aren't posted. I figured some will probably start posting updated information as they get closer to the beginning of camps for next season or even as late as Spring Training. I hope that helps!

Just got home from Sound of the South figured I would write up a quick review of what I saw/heard First off, the weather this year was SO much better than last year, with the temperatures being so much friendlier than the 105 degrees it was last year. I was a little bummed out that the show was a standstill, but I completely understand from a site perspective and a safety for the performer perspective. I do wish this show was not so out of the way (it might bring in more people) and I wish the stands were higher because if they were marching it would have been a little hard to read some of the forms the corps were putting on the field. Since the show was a standstill the only things I can talk about would be music and guard. I'll just go in show order: Tampa Bay Thunder They had a pretty good sound. Loud agressive hornline. Drumline was alright. I liked the theme of the show (a bit overdone) but well excecuted. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Christmas portion of the show. Personal opinion is that the mello line could tighten up a bit, little fuzzy sounding, but once they get a little bit more time together I'm sure they'll be just fine. Guard looked like it had some new people, so there was some issues keeping together or remembering the work, but that comes with time, I liked the work, just needed to be cleaned up. Sun Devils HOLY CRAP! This corps is going to be the corps to beat. Starting with the hornline, they were clean, they were powerful, and they played the heck outta their show. All sections played clean but I have to give it to the mellophones, I didn't just hear them, I felt them. They were good through the entire performance, but during that closer they really let loose and let us have it. Loved the overall hornline package they had, great soloists and a clean group, can't wait to see what happens as the season progresses. Alright, now this drumline, this is the cleanest beginning of July drumline I've heard in years. As soon as they started their percussion feature, everyone had the same HOLY S*** expression on their face because they were that good. Couple this drumline with that hornline and there will be no stopping them. Guard was pretty good, held together nicely and the work was well written for the show. Carolina Gold This group is going to do well in Open Class. The show was really exciting and the hornline played the heck out of it. Good size hornline and a fantastic percussion section balanced well with each other creating some great musical moments. While the musical side was great, the visual side was something that I could not stop watching. The guard was fantastic. Great work that was already well excecuted. The soloists were great and the enesmble was really together. I wish this show could have been on the field, because I really want to see how this show truly sells it on the field. This is definitely one of the shows that I want to see full out because I know that its going to be really good. Fusion Core What a great group. Great show concept and so well excecuted. This group has been one of my favorites since I first saw them a few years ago and they never disappoint. They definitely know how to play to the crowd. Their hornline was fantastic, so well balanced and executing the music really well. Drumline was on fire, they definitely helped give the show that drive to be even better. Very large guard complimented the musical program very well, especially the dance duet with one of the hornline members. They not only played their show and played it well they gave the crowd a little encore which was really nice. They started with the drumline performing I think part of their show and with the body visuals it was very entertaining. Next the hornline played Canon in D from right inside the fence and the crowd loved it. Shenandoah Sound Shenandoah Sound came out tonight with new uniforms (white with read and black) that they got from a Virginia high school. While they looked good, and they had hats for the first time since 2008, I think their last jackets (gray and red) looked a little nicer. Musically they were extremely overbalanced on the percussion end. 4 snares, 2 tenors, 4 basses, and 3 cymbals plus 6-7 pit overbalanced their 8-9 person hornline by a long shot. Musical choices were alright for the ensemble, but except for the times when one of their drum majors was playing mellophone, the hornline was missing that alto voice throughout the rest of the show. I wish they had taken some of those drumline members and put them in the pit to add to the melodic sound the pit was adding to the overall musical package. The percusison section was definitely the best I have heard from them in a while. The guard however left much to be desired. The two of them spent much of the time sitting behind the corps and when they were doing work together, it wasn't together. There needs to be some serious revisions of the visual part of the show to sell this program. After they were done performing the field show, they provided an encore of the Cupid Shuffle, which is apparently their parade tune this year. That got the crowd clapping along and on its feet cheering them on. Overall this was a good show and I can't wait to see where these corps go from here. Its a shame there were no scores to see where everyone would line up with everyone else that has performed so far, but you could definitely tell that all the performers enjoyed the chance to just perform without worrying about a score.

Just out of curiosity, why would you make a distinction between "Music Major" and "Music Ed Major"? Are Music Ed Majors not Music Majors? Last time I checked a music ed degree is still a music degree, given out by a university's school of music or music department. Is it because the students choose to go into education rather than performance or composition? Please enlighten me.

They declared they were doing A this year on their facebook page about 3 weeks ago

Crown just posted a picture of their uniform on their facebook page. I like the diamond shaped emblem and the cream, black, and gold. Very clean looking uniform in my opinion

Sitting in the stadium. Rain stopped about 20 minutes ago. Show people I've talked to said the show is going to happen and dci is trying to make sure the show happens.

I think what he was implying was that they had to be replaced last year in the middle of the season as well. Not that they need to be changed with the show theme (thats kind of obvious with corps nowadays)

No, DCI changed the finals week set up where, Open Class will have prelims on Monday and Finals on Tuesday. Then on Thursday will be World Class Prelims, which will also include any Open class corps that want to compete for a spot for Semi-Finals, which will be the Top 25 corps that competed in World Class Prelims (whether they are World Class or Open Class to begin with). So Semi-Finals is now 25 corps instead of 17.

Actually its DCINOVA (DCI Northern Virginia) that is hosting this show. DCIF (Fauquier) is the organizations name previously, but both are still run by the Falcon Band Organization at Fauquier High School. ManyDC was the organization that ran another show last year in hopes of also gathering interest in starting their own junior corps in Northern Virginia, as well as sponsoring a WGI competing winterguard (which they still do). As for the location of DCI in Northern Virginia I have rather enjoyed the closeness of the show hosted by DCINOVA/DCIF because it allowed people in the area with no real opportunities to see Drum Corps a chance to see a good show. It was even better last year when there was the show in June in conjunction with MENC Music Education Week, then the DCINOVA Open Class show in July, and then DCI Fairfax in August. I would love to see more shows in Virginia, but I know tour wise that isn't really feasible, so I'm just happy for the continued support of DCINOVA to bring a show to this part of the state. (Yes there are other VA shows but Salem is about 6 hours from Northern Va, and Chesapeake is about 4 hours) sidenote: I'm kind of mad that I missed this show, I believe this is the first show in Northern Virginia that I've missed since my first show at DCI Fauquier in 2006, and it sounds like it was a good one.

First off, quoting OSHA guidelines doesn't work since this isn't a job and it isn't regulated by the US Department of Labor. Second, in today's day and age where people are willing to and do sue for anything under the sun, I think the Blue Stars designers of this made it as safe as they can be. They realize the marchers are paying a lot to do this and wouldn't do anything to put them in jeopardy. I'm really excited to see how this use of scaffolding works when I see the show this summer.

Honestly I think that dress rehearsals (more than one) are necessary. The performers need to be able to perform at their best and performing in uniform is a lot different than shorts and sneakers. I don't think that these dress rehearsals are to feed the competitive spirt, yes it gets performers pumped for competition, but its also getting them ready for giving 110 % in uniform on the field. You may think that dress rehearsals happen only once, but plenty of stage shows and musicals have numerous dress rehearsals, which is what it sounds a rehearsal in full dress, its not just a one time thing right before competition or opening night. I don't agree with the fact that just because they are doing another dress rehearsal they should already compete. They want to perform at their best, and if that means that the fans have to wait a couple more days then I, for one, am ok with that. And honestly how many times do you see here on DCP a corps getting negative comments because they're show isn't done at the first competition? So really we come to expext perfection out of these corps and they in turn are working hard to give us the best product they can perform