DrumCorpsRadio

Is there still a thread of the year award on DCP?

I am on staff with the first performing corps of the evening so my review does not include most corps. I'll share comments on other aspects of their aspirations as appropriate. Spirit of Newark/New Jersey - The corps I am teaching so no comment. Citations - In post show debriefing so no comment. Dutch Boy - I didn't see their show, but did get to see them finish in the lot and head to the stadium. I was impressed by the members' presence on the march through the lot to the gate and they appeared to have pretty good numbers for Div 3. 7th Regiment - I didn't see their show b/c I was listening to tapes. I was not sure what corps it was coming at me on their way to the gate at first - this is a backhanded compliment. The corps is still relatively young in competition, but they do not look like it anymore. The members were poised and confident on the way into the stadium. Targets - This was the first corps I saw perform on the field. I did not fall in love with the music package but felt it was well performed. The use of the prop at the end of the show seemed to miss the intended effect, but I was standing at field level near the 10 yard line so it may have worked better up top. The corps enjoyed strong, well-earned support from the hometown crowd. Raiders - This was the first show I saw from a good vantage point, 4-5 rows from the top, 40 yard line side 2. I had not read much about the Raiders move to Division II during the winter or even the early part of this season so I really did go into the show with a blank slate. It was clear from the opening impact that the design team was working to show off the increase in size by taking up space and using the field. I felt the corps' performance level was higher last night than I remember seeing Raiders at this time of the season over the past few seasons. I was not excited by the West Side Story concept as an entry into the higher competition class, but the book does lend itself to excitement and effect. From what I've read in other reviews from Springfield, the Raiders made a big jump in this show. There is certainly some challenge out there visually that the corps will clean up and once that happens that should see another surge I think. Welcome to Division II. Spartans - This was my second viewing of the Spartans. I enjoyed them in Westminster, MD a little over a week ago and I enjoyed them even more this time around. I watched the guard warmup in the lot for awhile while listening to tapes and I was blown away from start to finish. At one point during the actual show performance, I realized that I hadn't watched the drumline or hornline in at least 2-3 minutes because I was drawn into the color guard. The corps is clean and performing at a high level. I think the drill design lacks demand and that might catch up with them on the road to Bakersfield. The execution belies the date, but they may stagnate if there aren't additional visual responsbilities added to make up for the somewhat easy drill. The Spartans were, without a doubt, the winners of the show, but I had Teal Sound just a bit closer to Spartans. Teal Sound - The hornline warmup was gorgeous. In fact, I thought the hornline was fantastic throughout the entire performance. The drill is quite demanding and the musicians handled it better than I would expect in early July. I expected to see the corps closer to Spartans. Clearly the Spartans show is superior at this point especially from a clarity standpoint, but the demand in Teal Sound's visual package is much higher. Demand means little without execution and these kids have their work cut out for them to catch up to the cleanliness of the Spartans. There is not a whole lot of info in here, but I wanted to get some more commentary out there on Div II/III. As always, every corps works hard and it was great to see a fairly large, vocal crowd supporting an all II/III show.

Just to clarify -- field visual and field brass judges are still on the field, even now. The change only affected the field percussion judges.

Thanks for sharing. I was there yesterday too and I agree with most of what you have to say here.

How much do summer camps costs that go from Memorial Day to the second weekend in August? I chaperone a student travel program for 3 weeks every summer and it costs each student $5000+. While drum corps costs are high for sure, they are in line with other youth activities during the summer.

Collected from corps websites. Crossmen Century High School 355 Ronsdale Rd Sykesville, MD 21784 The Cadets Westminster High School 1225 Washington Rd Westminster, MD 21157 Blue Knights Biglerville High School 161 N. Main St Biglerville, PA Phantom Regiment Calvert Hall High School 8102 La Salle Rd Baltimore, MD 21286 Carolina Crown Littlestown High School 200 East Myrtle St Littlestown, PA Missing: Spartans

An instant story for a Michael Boo column on dci.org. It's always great to hear these kinds of stories.

When & why did The Cadets change from a knee bend marching technique to straight-legged technique? I was watching some really good close-up videos on one of those video sites (there's also a good video of behind the scenes action from the staff bus in '87) and the difference is pretty dramatic.

This is going to be my first CAA Beef & Beer event and I can't wait. See everyone in a week!

The kids are enjoying a good midwestern steak dinner tonight as we continue our travel from Omaha to Denver. When Emanon stepped onto the field for the first time just a few short weeks ago, our goals were to give the students a positive experience, teach them a little about drum corps, and see the country. Now, we can call ourselves the champions of the Omaha focus show. We're working with the members to ensure that they continue to be humble and respectful as the season progresses. While we've upped our goals slightly to match the great freshman year success, we still remain newcomers to the DCPI scene. Game On!

The students in Emanon are ecstatic with their recent success, moving from the bottom 3 to the top 3 in Division III. Game on!

Gary - thanks for sharing that clip from '92 Crossmen. That's definitely my favorite show b/c it just felt like there was intense emotion in the performance. I listened to it on the bus most nights while marching in '02.

Ah - that makes sense. Thanks!

Why?

Emanon would like to challenge the High Drums award from 2/1 in Portland, ME for Division III. The Bleeding Falcons threw the trophy on their food truck and took off into the night while our young drumline stood at attention waiting patiently to receive their due recognition.

I completely agree with previous posters advocating mixed shows (Division I, II/III, DCA, and Alumni corps). Even if the shows include two separate sets of judging panels or one set of cross-trained judges, this would be worthwhile in my opinion. I know this has been done on a limited basis already. Alumni corps are received wildly at DCI finals week events. Division II/III corps (I can speak of Jersey Surf from experience) are received well by the DCA crowd. It couldn't hurt for Division I corps members to see what DCA corps really do instead of assuming they are just old people who stand still and play poorly (I've heard comments like this in junior corps circles while marching and teaching). If a small percentage of a "DCA crowd" gets turned onto some Division II corps they never heard of, what's the loss? If a few hundred DCI fans decide to check out DCA championships to get a drum corps fix before the winter, what's the harm?

Drum Corps Planet is a privately owned enterprise. The owners of the site set the rules, they are posted for all of us members to read and it is our responsibility to abide by them. If we don't like them, we should seek out or create another forum. While I spend most of my free time listening to talk shows on XM Satellite Radio that include profanity, I don't use it much in my own conversation. I've always found that when I meet someone who curses excessively, I am turned off to the person and his/her message regardless of the intelligence lying beneath the surface. Personally, I don't care one way or another whether DCP increases enforcement of cursing and vulgarity. It's not my call; I'm just a guest here.

There are also many more competing youth activities today for 12, 13 and 14 year olds. A large number of parents don't want their young kids traveling with a group that includes 18-21 year olds across the country for a few weeks. I tried to get a 16-year-old from a band I teach to march with Spirit of Newar/New Jersey this year and his parents vetoed that possibility. I think local/regional only corps should focus on those younger kids. Maybe Division I corps could be given some incentive to begin local, division III corps (ala Colt Cadets, BDC). This could be a big gain for local music education as districts continue to cut funding.

Please keep in mind that 10 corps now have an official corps policy of being for electronics. It'll be very interesting to see the breakdown of which corps voted for and which voted against. This is not a "George Hopkins issue" when 9 other corps supported his proposal.

I don't think every instructor gets a vote. I attended the DCI meetings in 2004 as the visual caption head of a division III corps. While I attended the visual instructor caucus meetings, I did not have a vote on any rule proposals. I am fairly confident that only member corps get a vote in the instructor caucuses, 1 per corps. So even if The Cadets send 10 instructors to the brass caucus, they still get 1 vote.

Very cool. While we may not be privy to the back-door meeting details, I appreciate the openness surrounding DCI meetings from posting the rule proposals well ahead of time, through these live broadcasts and honest appraisals of DCI and the activity.

Ah they didn't say the second part of my question though. My concern is that they are taking prime cash making seats out of the "blast zone" to allow the visual performance judge to sit there. <$$$ for the show sponsors.

woohoo i'm famous

Okay, somebody figure out who would have won all those tie years for the rest of us!

It will be interesting to see the statistical analysis on using ordinals. Anybody already look into it to see if it'd change things?