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They didn't touch the Bluecoats pit staff! Just goes to show that the Bluecoats turn out top quality performers and teachers!

My momma always told me if you cant say anything nice don't say anything at all... so all I am saying is They are asking fans to not show their support this year and to not yell vanguard so as to heighten the experience for the non-fans who would not understand or appreciate the history and tradition of the vanguard yell or those who would be distracted by this show of affection.... those aren't their words or opinions...Their mine. So no. There is no Vanguard yell. Instead I recommend: "BBBBBBLLLLLOOOOOOO"

Pioneer has a uniform burial plot at Pioneerland....

I spent this entire semester studying and writing a interior architectural analysis specifically on sport of drum corps in domes. Bottomline- there is no good answer. Anytime you try to put sounds that are as large as that which come from a world class drum corps inside a closed space (like a dome) there is going to be some major quality loss. The fact that Lucas is not an "airlock" dome will helps some. If the roof and picture windows are open there is even more opportunity for sound to move without getting caught. The (albeit ugly) black curtain also eats some reverb...but the additional several hundred thousand square feet of concourse space can catch sound and toss it back to the back half of each seating section- not particularly annoying when you are on the field but if you are trying to listen from any of those seats- good luck! I think Indy will be a lot of fun- but sound wise this year might suck a little- I am planning on trying to enjoy the "experience" this year and be happy with the fact that it is at least a little bit better than the RCA dome. I am sure that by the 10th year finals are there- the corps will have a much better clue as to how to write and adjust for this specific dome. I agree with the previous statement- lets all go back to Bloomington- walking from your hotel to the show without having to worry about getting mugged = very good thing! Again- this is all just my experience and opinion. No cold hard facts here... please don't take offense where none was meant to be.

Agreed on all points (about both corps). It is always disappointing for me to see corps with great talent not place up to their potential because of show design. I guess that is just a part of the competition I will have to get used to.

I too enjoy conversation. So here's a thought. In 07 there were two corps (Phantom and Blue Stars) using the same piece of music in their show in the same year. That wasn't a problem...but Bluecoats using a piece that was used 13 years ago is? The major difference I hear between BD and Bluecoats is that the theme is primarily carried by the hornline at BD- whereas in the Bluecoats opener- it is all about the PIT...just my opinion Personally I think Bluecoats have a really cool show this year. I think they knew before they headed out to tour that some people wouldn't 'get' the show but chose to do something that they thought would be really cool. As for performance quality- I think that by the end of the summer their Percussion section (battery and pit) will be competing for a set of those Yamaha jackets. BLUUUUUUUU

I was happy to see Columbia's videos up and I still (personally) don't see the issue with them- for a single camera shot I don't think they could have gotten a much better full field view. That is just my opinion and I don't know much about video quality (I am pretty much basing this on- if I can see the tick on the hornline during the body movement in Sensemaya its gotta be decent). Some show videos are better than others- but some shows are better than others too- that's why its a tour and not a one night fight to the death right? But again, Where's Ogden, UT? A person sitting at home (like myself) just wants to know when to expect these videos to go up. It would seem reasonable to me to expect a show from 2 days ago to be up before a show from last night. I still say (IMO) it would resolve at least a few problems if "we" had some timeline. I understand that internet speeds are slow some places and that is totally out of the videographers hands(as I understand it)- I wouldn't mind waiting if I knew when (approx) to start checking for the videos(...a day... two days...three days) instead of hoping for the next morning and being disappointed. Again- already sent my letter to DCI about the whole communication thing...all this is In My Opinion and holds no water. Whose ready to go see finals live? I AM!!!

My two cents because I am sure that DCI will be looking at this post- it has been entirely too active for someone at headquarters to not notice. I am not a technodork- I use a decent quality macbook and a decent quality internet service and I am perfectly happy getting to see anything from the shows- the videos could be better quality but I get to see the overall idea changes as they progress through the season. I make sure to get out to at least one regional before finals every year so I can get my BEST quality fix while I am there experiencing it for myself. I DO HAVE A PROBLEM- with the varying amounts of time it takes for the videos to become available. When I bought the subscription I did my research and was excited because everyone assured me that DCI was excellent at getting the videos posted immediately- not saying they need to be up five minutes after the corps exits the field- but somewhere within 24 hours would be nice... even the slowest servers can do that (I think). If that time frame is too much to ask for then- I agree with all the above posts that some COMMUNICATION would be nice- if not to everyone on the DCI listserve(call it good PR and extra in-your-face advertising) then at least to the paying customers-as to when DCI's tech people are planning to have the videos posted so that we don't have to play the darned refresh button game. So to quote thousands of relationship therapists everywhere "Communication is Key" edit: I did also send a kind suggestion note to the fan network detailing my above feelings and I hope y'all will too!

Darn Right- I know the westcoast is fun but the East coast loves Bloo More!!!! I have to say I wasn't a huge fan of blu 08- but 07 knocked my socks off and I think this year will be a nice return to criminally insane awesomeness. I think this show will clean up very nicely- I like that the staff has chosen to push the corps from the start rather than "chasing tail" all summer to add in things. This year's music is beautiful- Especially!!!!! the pit book- if you keep an eye out you will notice that they are playin some notes! GO BLOOOOOOOOOO

In years past Crown was often known as the corps you went to because they were close- not necessarily because they were great. Most of the people who started this rumor around my school are long since aged out and moved on. I agree the tone has changed a lot for the better in recent years. Like I said- I was shocked and amazed(in a good way) by this years show. I really do like it. As for the pit- I think the block chords and diatonic nature of things might just be their style. They do have significantly more notes than they have in (some) years past and the musicians that I know and have seen this year going to crown are very very talented. Of course this is all in my own Opinion and Experience- Not at all fact- Merely meant as fun banter between shows! (replaces foot in mouth)

Sorry- I correct myself and ad an "in my opnion and experience" to the statement about Carolina!

I agree- they are much cleaner than I have ever heard them before. Its time to step up the difficulty- We (IMO) all know they are capable and besides- All the cool kids are doing it! :) As much as I hate to- I still say good job to Crown in general- Keep it up and make the Carolinians proud

my 2 cents Generally- I enjoy crown bashing as much as any other music major who happens to live in the Carolinas... That said- it was a shock when I actually started to LIKE this years show! I want to hate it- I really do- but I say if the hornline can sound good and do body movement at the same time- let em! I am sure at one point in time it was "innovative" to have corps marching anything over an 8x5 and now every top 6 corps spends the majority of their show running. Not saying that corps should spend the majority of their march time dancing- but it does at flavor. And can we give some props for the rip your face off moment that comes directly after all of the sliding on the ground and body movement- I like it! Now if the pit would lay off the block chords- I would gladly put Crown in first! -------------------------- (As for the light colored uniform issue- that is why drum corps use washable uniforms- I think the color contrast to the green field is one of the ONLY reasons we are actually noticing the body movement. I really do like the "new" crown uniform... aside from the snot strings. Note- The guard is doing lots of movement in the show this year- but since they are wearing all green it just doesn't pop. I know that it is way too late for them to change the guard uniforms for this year- epitome of a good idea not working out quite right. )

PRECISELY- I am only ok with this situation of electronic instrument because I believe that they were not trying to recreate the actual sound from the musical. Not saying that I think that it is pretty or correct or any of that- just that the situation was that the corps was not trying to recreate the music so much as they were (maybe) trying to make a commentary on it. Now as for the too loud part- that is just a sound board mistake as far as I am concerned- which is an issue that comes along with amplification- no matter what the instrument. We can only hope that they will correct this over the course of the season.

I don't think that particular sound could be recreated by anything that is not electronic. If I understand correctly- the intro whistle is supposed to sound a bit off kilter- very electronic- not exactly the same as the whistle in the actual musical. This is Hoppies influence shining brightly. They could have used a slide whistle or a mic-ed human being but the effect would not have been the same. On that note- I believe a few groups have looked into (if not already debuted using) theremins and instruments that work similarly to them. A professor of mine keeps a theremin in his office- coolest toy ever. If the corps can perfect theremin to the same "cleanliness" standards of the rest of the show it should be a REALLY cool effect both visually and musically. In this VERY RARE situation- I get the choice to use the synthesizer and respect it for being used as a creative device rather than a crutch.