TRacer

My son attended auditions for his 7th year in DCI (and received a contract) at one of the “Blue” WC corps just this past weekend; there were no reports of any WWs being in the vicinity. “Drop Off Point”: I sympathize....when my kid finally ages out in 2021 I’m not sure I can sustain interest in the activity.

For those unfamiliar with them, Riverside Community College in Southern CA has an incredible marching band called The Marching Tigers modeled after BD (one of their nicknames is “The Orange Devils”) that’s assisted by BD staff folks. I saw their last show over Thanksgiving weekend (I had travelled from Hawaii to watch my son perform in their trumpet section) and the stands were packed with people standing in the aisles just to watch the band. This year’s show featured two of the soloists from BD 2019 and an electric guitar / miked flute “duel” that was just off the charts and left the crowd breathless. There are many DCI performers in their brass/CG/percussion ranks from OC & WC, so much so they have a “Wear Your Corps Jacket” night rehearsal. As a bonus, RCC’s football team won that night to go 13-0 and win their conference championship— good times!

I expected to be corrected on this as I auditioned for BD ‘81 on Euph at the camp where opener was handed out and remember what it sounded like, but always got the names mixed up. I still have the music in a box. Too bad I lost my ride that year. 😞

Drum solo absolutely stunk, if you listen to it with a critical ear. In KAC 2005-2007 I marched alongside one of BD 81’s rookie lead baritones (great guy) and on one of our bus rides I asked the “what happened?” question since I was in the stands (you could hear the dirt up there) that night. He chalked it up to a stupid level of overconfidence (“everyone in the corps thought we had the 3-peat in the bag, no problem”) and an “unauthorized vocal” that took place at the end of opener. The way he described it, “my spot at the end of opener was just steps away from the DL behind me. We’re just nailing T.O....last note, horns snap down....and then I heard people in the DL behind me say something in unison under their breath....the judge whirled around, because he heard it....I knew at that moment we were screwed; there went our ring.” He went on to say the judge was in the DL’s face for the rest of the show, and they caved. The guy went into the military even though he had another year left.

As I see it from my three decades plus of casualty insurance experience that also delves into OSHA issues on a regular basis, my expectation would be that the performing group would have a Workers Compensation Policy in force for the employees of the group *as well as* having that WC policy endorsed to provide coverage for Volunteers (there is a standardized endorsement available to do this but NJ is an independent WC bureau state.) There is also the issue of how the time/manner & method of the volunteer’s job was controlled (tools, ladder and “marching orders” were provided.)

“Performing their 2020 program ‘Retrospect: The Apology’, DCI is proud to present...”

As indicated in my post I liked the dramatic entrance by the Xmens DM (and the audience reaction around me.) Movement I of Blue Stars was cool as well. There, satisfied??? We now return you to our regularly scheduled DCP programming. My son has two more years to make it 8 DCI seasons, and he’s already indicated that he wants to return to Blue Stars in 2020 after the energy of their performance at 2019 Finals. Maybe I’ll move on after his age out in 2021, who knows.

Eyeliner, purple hair, PJs, “ME ME ME ME!!!” and no Aussies made my blood run cold. Sorry, not drinkin’ the Koolaid. Chill moment: the camera watching the Crossmen DM slowly enter the field, and hearing all the bando boys in the theater audience gasp. Two minutes later they show the DM on the podium, and the bando boys who didn’t know the Valhalla caller & DM were one & the same gasped again, this time louder (“OMG, I thought that was a *guard* person..!!”)

Stop 🛑: utterly inappropriate DUT-ing during soft or transitional music moments. You’ve got 3-5 DMs all over the place...perhaps multiple Sanfords back at the corps hall...when did subdividing QUARTER notes (!) in your head become a lost art? Change: Use cowbells attached to the battery in lieu of DUT-ing. If the snares & tenors “have” to DUT, let’s commit to it and get it out there. Imagine a corps playing the “Generic Love Theme” from Star Trek: The Original Series (you know, the 8-note phrase played by a lyrical flute whenever a love interest is in a filtered shot) when tinktinktink!!! kicks in. That’s some solid GE right there. Start: ...having all corps wear their corps’ heritage uniform at retreat like Cavies did.

Pffft!! Sacre Bloo!!

I’m looking forward to the activity moving away from “ME ME ME ME MEEEE!!!!” shows featuring incredibly talented performers wearing eyeliner & purple hair like the what’s-their-name soccer player and “GRRRRRRR...!!!!” and 🤬 and then blowing the whole concept to hell with a jazz version of a heavy metal ballad that was filler on an album from 30 years ago that was “supposed” to illustrate the introspective reflections of present day rebellious urban teens. Or something.

Very quickly from Hawaii... my son (Blue Stars trumpet) called me from the parking lot before he had to get ready for upcoming retreat...utterly jazzed and “on high”. Top comment: “The crowd was insane; cheering for us in spots no one had cheered for us all summer!! Standing os OMG!” My thanks to the audience for making my kid’s night. 🙏🏼

I am on a flight now from Hilo on the Big Island to Honolulu (253 miles, 53 minutes) as the Dole Regency in Honolulu is the only theater in the state showing the cinecast. Our audience is a mix of bandos, current MM parents, and alums from SCV, Blue Stars, Mandarins, & late 80’s Madison. One cinecast stalwart is an ‘81 SCV alum from North Shore. Off we go!

I was looking at the results of OC Finals on DrumScorps and saw that the scores for Spartans, Legends and Gold were 81.05, 79.40 and 79.25, respectively. On the overall Rankings tab, though, they are listed as: Spartans 80.775 (making them look further behind Madison’s 81.10) Legends 79.30 Gold 79.025 Am I reading these wrong? These do not look like two night averages (Prelims & Finals,)

‘81 SCV recording— it kind of sounds like Rick South, but one of SCV’s staff shouts out, “ARE WE NOT MEN?!?” Two seconds later a spectator a few rows back responds: “We are DEVO!!” ‘81 Valley Fever recording: Just before VF plays Carmina Burana brass caption head Gary Meegan belts out, “OMINOUS!!!”, his “code word” to set our mood for the baritones who had the unison melody after the intro in “O Fortuna”.

SCV ‘85 did the encore ending you’re thinking of; it set us up to do the “fake tunic front tear off” gag with the white stripe and extra star underneath. We were issued extra stars for that one performance.

A great observation. As I read this I couldn’t help but hear the voice of Captain Jean-Luc Picard after the first few sentences.

Agree here...if he’s going to keep trying for it he might want to gliss up while playing backfield, then when he’s sure he’s okay turn back toward the mic. Of course, he could always go for a “VK ham moment” if it doesn’t work, like wag his finger in shame at the horn, pick up a replacement horn or switch with his buddy, or pretend to chuck his into the stands. OR, his buddy walks up and offers *his* horn (“here, use this one instead.”) before “THE TRY”.

I could not agree more with this assessment. I have made similar comments all season and believe me they were not very popular amongst fellow alums who were still drunk from the 2018 Koolaid they’d drunk. KoNspEaRaSEe KoRnER 👽; Someone will poach a chunk of SCV’s staff in the off-season.

If GR were alive today he would take SCV’s super screamer aside and say, “Thanks for 2018 and you had your fun, but _______ is going to fill in for you with something else.” And that would be it. If SCV takes 3rd or lower next week perhaps they can go back to the Chasm of Doom, return the Soul Stone to Red Skull and ask for their identity back. You know, the real one. Representing counterculture with a 30-year old Metallica tune? How about Song 2 by Blur or All Apologies by Nirvana? Under the Bridge by Red Hit Chili Peppers? Lots to choose from.

Center snare wunderkind & age out Brandon drumming like a man possessed— whoa!

They really better pull together as a musical ensemble or they will be in for a rough time next week. The mallet player’s face spoke volumes after Mvt 2.

My kid front and center on the multi-cam shot right on the front sideline.

C’mon Stars, rough start. EDIT: Really rough start

That is not Burl Ives narrating....