txorchdork013

You know my heart still belongs to BDB, but I am proud that my state now has four corps, three open and one world, and by the size of Forte, Genesis and Revolution, it gives me hope that open class will continue to flourish....

Back to back Texas...congrats to Genesis for a great semi-finals performance their first year out.

Proud to have three corps from Texas in OC finals tonight. Great job to the first to perform, Forte...congrats for a great semi- finals your first year out!

DITTO!!!

Keep up the hard work, and congrats on great shows!!!!

I truly enjoy listening to Carolina Crown's rendition of the Nimrod....it sounds beautiful and tremendous!

Have a safe journey east and play it loud when you get there

I thought about it but I honestly could not figure out how to do it in a comparable way. Do I put them in order just by highest score....and how do I take consideration those corps who hadn't competed in a while. I have to admit, my mathematical skills are lacking, so weighting them accurately would not have been my forte.

Thanks

I agree and hope to see them in 2011!!!

Here is a compilation of OC scores accompanied by the date of their most recent performance. The majority of the corps haven't performed since July 17th. Legends 73.200 (7/21) Music City 70.550 (7/21) Forte 67.750 (7/22) Revolution 76.150 (7/20) Genesis 71.100 (7/20) SCVC 84.40 (7/20) Colt Cadets 69.950 (7/19) Racine Scouts 66.20 (7/18) BDB 86.500 (7/17) Gold 77.800 (7/17) Impulse 76.400 (7/17) Spokane Thunder 74.000 (7/17) Velvet Knights 66.500 (7/17) City Sound 62.400 (7/17) BDC 56.800 (7/17) 7th Regiment 76.300 (7/17) Spartans 76.300 (7/17) Les Stentors 66.100 (7/17) Platinum 55.850 (7/17) Spirit of Newark/NJ 53.800 (7/17) Blue Saints 49.800 (7/17)

This is Texas...a football state where many high schools have footballs staffs that are huge portion of their faculties and more than two practice fields for the team, and somewhere, also, a practice field for the marching band....probably even a soccer field somewhere also....

We live in Far West Texas also and many of the kids in our area march Blue Knights. I do know one who is marching Forte this year and now with the growth of Texas based drum corps more kids might get to have the experience you had and my daughter with BDB, but it is difficult because even with these corps, DCI events are so far away. The closest event happening this year to my residence is in Odessa. Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are 10 to 12 hours away and come with travel expenses. I hope with more the growth of more corps in the southwest area, more events will be added to this portion of the country, perhaps with events in New Mexico and Southern Arizona.

I just quoted the what the sites posted. I know there are other misc. fees depending on the corps and those fees are variable. The fee my daughter paid for participating in BDB included some form of insurance for corps members while on tour, uniform, touring shirt, shoes, beautiful gym accomodations while on tour, and feedings by wonderful corps. volunteer. Also, one year her air mattress died unexpectedly while on tour and the corps replaced it for her at no extra cost. Camp fees are posted separately because they usually happen preseason. Also, I give my daughter a little extra spending money when she tours so she can buy souvies or eat out. But quite honestly, for cost, she is getting an outstanding music education/summer vacation much more economically than if she stayed home all summer and took private lessons and did usual teenage summer activities like going to the mall or movies (which in my area is $10.00 a showing). When she went to regular summer camp, it was $1000 for just one week of camp. Don't let cost be the one consideration for doing drum corps. Many corps have fund-raising opportunities and/or allow for parents/members to make payments over the course of a season. My daughter saves money all year to march and I match funds. The Blue Devils organization and the overall drum corps experience has had a tremendously positive impact on her life so whatever the cost it has been well-worth it.

I volunteered with SCVC in El Paso and Odessa. One of touring parents said it had to do with a change in their school calendar. School starts for them the week of DCI finals. This should also remind us of one of the differences in memberships to world vs. open class corps. Many open class corps consist mainly of high school aged students unlike world class corps members who are mostly in college and have access to a more flexible touring calendar.

Congratulations Forte!! Great to see corps, open and world, are thriving in Texas.

If you go to the corps website, usually under the membership info, you can find the fee info. For example, Vanguard 2010: Membership Fee for New Members - $2,100.00 Membership Fee for veteran members who re-qualify for membership in 2010 - $1,975.00 Blue Devils: Your financial obligation to the Blue Devils for the 2010 season will be approximately $2,200.00 Carolina Crown: PARTICIPATION FEE / TUITION: $1900 *There is a minimum scheduled payment plan (list below) or an option for early payment with discount before January 15, 2010. UNIFORM FEE: $200 *This fee includes certain components (plumes, unitards, shoes, gloves…etc) of the uniform, which the member will keep at season end. Sacramento Mandarins: member’s tour fee of $2,200. Between these four corps the fees are pretty much equal. BD and SCV incorporate the uniform cost in their overall fee whereas, Crown charges separately, but when you add the 200 to the 1900 it comes out equal to SCVC. Overall, thanks to high gas prices and a pretty whacked economy, I am surprised that the fees aren't higher.....

I really thought I was going to sit this conversation out, but.... Do you really believe that BDB and SCVC should be excluded because their respective programs have managed to experience some degree of success leading to larger numbers (I won't address caliber of performance because that is determined by quality of musicianship not size of organization)? Size and quality are two things that an organization can manipulate to some degree. Let me remind you both those corps did not start off large and loud. Their respective organizations worked on recruitment, bringing in those numbers and on the quality of musical education within the corps. Being privileged enough to watch the staff work with BDB for the last three years, I can state for a fact that they work those kids as if they were competing in the WC. They don't take shortcuts and they don't accept mediocrity. Even the staff that works with BDC instill the same sense of musicianship with those little ones that they do with the bigger kids, just age appropriate. And contrary to your belief, both BDB and SCVC "actually compete" for their championships. Just a reminder, in 2007, BDB broke the top 5 for the first time with a fourth place finish, SCVC came in fifth and the top three corps were Spartans, Jersey Surf and Teal Sound. So, BDB and SCVC has had to work their way up also. The reality of it is that when it comes to recruiting better quality musicians, the more successful a the program becomes, the more willing kids are to audition and play with that group. So suggesting that a group be penalized for finding their success is really outrageous.

Very-well stated!

Bring back twirlers with cowbells and patent leather boots, white marching shoes, drum majors who high mark time while conducting and the starting pistol drum-out....sorry, just had to. America O Canada would be nice too.

I can help in El Paso and Odessa. I can meet you in El Paso and then follow you to Odessa.

I agree...BDB, BDC and SCV Cadets are so successful because their parent organizations truly invest in all their groups successes. These groups tirelessly work the network well to keep parents and volunteers well-informed and motivated. Also, the kids within these corps actively support their various divisions. This is quite obvious when people attend family day which officially opens the season. It is great to see all the kids performing and cheering each other on. So even though the younger groups are always in awe of their older counterparts, they are never led to believe they provide less of a performance. In fact, these groups also do a great job promoting a excellence in music performance and a love of performing arts, not just the whole competition aspect (and these kids understand how it works). In this educational climate of "cut the programs" these programs that have cadet corps can teach our legistators this lesson. I hope DCI and partipating Drum Corps continue to help show the importance of music education at all levels of a child's/young adult's education.

Me and my family offer our thoughts and prayers his way. We wish for him a speedy and painfree recovery...