Grumpy

Drum Corps-For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who don't, no explanation is possible.

I would think walking around the area around the Citrus Bowl would be a hell of a lot more hazardous to your health than smoking!!!!!

I thought I recall seeing a picture of him at Finals one year, from way back...it may have even been from the Bridgemen era, because I know they did some of his music.

I remember back in the '90's that Boston Crusaders did Pat Metheny one year...he happened to be playing in Boston early in the summer, before the corps went on tour. The corps made arrangements to perform privately for him and his band, and if I recall from what I read, he was quite impressed and gave the entire corps seats to his show. I'm not affiliated with them, I am just recalling something I read in DCW at the time.

The Colts did Yanni one year, I believe it may have been '95.

I have 3 favorites in my personal collection..."Drum Corps is Life...the rest is just details"; (front)"They call it drum corps because..."(back)"stupidity & insanity were already taken!" and (front)"Drum Corps Alumnus"(back)"the older I get, the better I was!"

Didn't Cavies do James Bond in '04? Not sure I remember a "latin section"...

My choice would be '95 Madison...or if you really want to shake them up, pull out some Bridgemen (like the blindfolded drum solo).

At the Beverly, MA show this past summer, Paul Cain introduced Spirit as being from Jacksonville, MISSISSIPPI (several times, in fact...both before AND after their performance!!!!)

I had forgotten that one...that was pretty good, but if it had been raining it would have ruined that.

Interesting that a Renegade started this post...I was in the lower section, row G, close to the 50...if the Renegades had been any closer to the sidelines, my hearing STILL wouldn't be right!!!! LOL Make no mistake, LOUD IS GOOD...but seriously, as a fan I didn't find a problem with it. As a fan, the ONE complaint that everyone in the stands seems to have is that in Paetec, if you need to get in/out of a row, good luck...the rows really need to be a bit wider. And to echo Fran's sentiments, you will not find a better mini-corps venue. Standing in a dark ski area trying to see really sucked, and it couldn't have been much fun performing there either (Crunchy Frogs excepted).

DCI HAS done this in the past, I believe in the late 90's when the championships were at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. DCI gave quarters tickets to heaven knows how many high school bands. The big problem, is that most of the kids didn't give a hoot about drum corps. They were in the upper deck socializing, and could be heard all through all corps' performances by those sitting in the upper part of the lower section who had paid seats. By the time we got to the third year in Orlando, and I believe the last time we were there as well, they had scaled back the freebies so that only those that were truly interested were there.

Not sure about bumper stickers/decals, but I have bought several license plate frames from DCA corps...used to have one for the Brigs, then one for the Renegades (LOUD IS GOOD) and when that got wrecked in an accident, I bought one the following year to replace it; bought one from the Cabs for my parents one year, too.

Of all the comments posted here, I haven't seen the complaints that I, everyone in my party, and everyone sitting around us had...the seats are too darn small and the seat numbers are so faded they were nearly unreadable!!!! We were squeezed in tight each night. Also, we were sitting literally right at the 50...in Sections 6-R & 7-L, they each have 12 seats counting in from the steps, so the two #12's are next to each other (my understanding is that the seating charts on Ticketmaster showed an aisle separating them, but there is no aisle there) and with the unreadable numbers and tight quarters it raised a few hackles. I will also echo the earlier comments about the trials and tribulations of getting out of the parking lots each night if you don't know the area well. It was a nice stadium, plenty of REASONABLE parking (not Gillette Stadium, thank you), the concessions could use a few more choices but what was there wasn't bad as far as stadium food goes. Bloomington is nice, but it seems like all the restaurants close early (except Waffle House, of course). We stayed at the Super 8 (OK, but wouldn't rush back there) which was only about 10 minutes from the stadium, never made it to Indy except to go to the Speedway-take the expanded tour, it costs more but you get access to a lot of places that the general public doesn't, it stops on the track so you can take pictures and we felt it was well worth it. Visited the casino in French Lick, much smaller than what we are used to but we left with what we arrived with, so considered that "winning". We are looking forward to staying in downtown Indy next year and skipping the rental car, which was a hassle but a necessary evil. We did try to go to the Fair on Wednesday night, but got stuck in a horrific traffic jam caused by construction on the way from Bloomington so we just hit the first decent looking restaurant we saw and headed back to Bloomington afterwards.

From the mouths of babes...

The last time I checked 1987 wasn't in this decade. Sorry but I wasn't at Finals that year, so I can't speak for that ovation; but '95 Madison WAS an incredible ovation AND well deserved, that ranks near the top of my "all time favorites" list...but rest assured, Spartacus will certainly be added to that list as well...and I hope I get to see it TWICE tonight, if you catch my drift!!!!

I saw Spartacus for the first time this year at quarters...after seeing it again last night at semis, they may not NEED Brett Favre to pull off the win...one of the greatest drum corps shows of all time!

Although my memory isn't quite as good as SC_Band_Fan, my first recollection of drum corps was in the early 60's, tagging along with my father and watching a local corps (long since departed) practice. That, and my dad playing the Fleetwood "1960 Hawthorne Caballeros" until the grooves in the album wore down to nothing. Where I lived, drum corps departed in the mid 60's and my school didn't have a band program. I next came into contact with drum corps in the mid 80's, when the local Fourth of July parade committee held a contest as a fund raiser. I was instantly hooked once again, and after another 10 years or so, I took the "big leap" and joined a local alumni corps that was looking to recruit members "no experience necessary" and I certainly fit that. I picked up my first drum at the young age of 33 and learned how to play, read music, march and that all those cool moves I saw corps doing on the field took countless HOURS to refine. I never knew anyone that marched and had zero musical training. Since then, I have spent more than I care to remember travelling to DCI Championships (this year will make it the 15th straight year I have gone), local shows and have more CD's and DVD's than I can keep track of. I recently took stock of my supply of drum corps shirts and realized I could go for three weeks wearing a drum corps shirt every day without wearing the same one twice. Every year at finals I always try to make sure that every corps' souvie stand gets at least a few bucks from me towards their "fuel fund". I support this activity because I know that every kid that marches will benefit from their experience later in life. All I would like in return is what I think the OP wants...GIVE ME A SHOW THAT ENTERTAINS ME!!!! BTW, IMO the '95 Madison Scouts (referred to earlier) were unbelievable...I didn't get a chance to see them until quarters, and after their performance I turned to the people I was with and asked "Fourth??? How could they possibly be FOURTH????" Lastly, my cat, who has since gone on to that big mouse farm in the sky, didn't share my enthusiasm for drum corps, but that could have had a lot more to do with the volume of what was being played as opposed to the content. We don't need musical or corps background to appreciate GREAT SHOWS and the tremendous talent and work put in by ALL performers (whether we like what their show or not!!!!)

Perhaps instead of towing trailers with the pit equipment and unloading them on the front sidelines, they can just drive around as needed with the pit players on board, playing...

Agreed, I thought their score was a bit low...I had guessed somewhere between 86 & 87.

My understanding is that several years ago, one (or maybe some) of the Crusaders instructors taught somewhere in Florida and recruited a number of members from there. I believe for at least the last couple of years that at least some of their winter camps have been held in Florida. As for the scores, I saw them at their home show last night in Lawrence. It is apparent they have some work ahead of them over the next week and a half. I enjoy their show, and nothing against them, but even during their standstill encore, there are still some areas that need work. Not a slam, just IMO.

I actually enjoyed PC's show quite a bit and they seem to have a pretty decent horn line (at least from this "drummer's" perspective!!!!)

It depends on the setup, but you may need a ticket to get to the souvie area...Pasadena & Boston, you needed a ticket to get in, Denver & Madison you didn't (most recent championship sites)

DON'T buy your tickets at the booth; as has been stated above, there are lots for sale long before you get there and they are usually better seats than what is left at the booth. If you're staying in the area, check around the hotels as sometimes you may meet "someone who knows someone" with tickets to sell. If you are going to any shows between now & finals, do some poking around at corps rehearsal/warm up sites, you may run into somebody with one of the corps that knows something.

I personally felt last year (and to a lesser extent, this year as well) that the narration distracts from enjoying the music. I don't agree with a lot of the changes George has proposed (or succeeded in implementing) but as has been previously stated in this post, the member corps had the ultimate say. I can appreciate the hard work that not only the Cadets members but every single member of every corps puts into their performance; I just have a hard time enjoying the performance because the narration aspect, IMO, mars the performance rather than enhances it. Show designers, if they are good at what they do, should be able to "tell their story" with the show itself and not having to explain it as they go along. I feel bad that, through no fault of their own, the corps members may not feel that their efforts were appreciated. As was said in the movie "Karate Kid", "There is no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher...Teacher say, student do." The members are performing what they are given. It is easy to tell when the members are having fun performing and when the audience enjoys it and resonds, the corps feeds off that as well. Corps management should keep THAT in mind when deciding their repertoire.