StarGazer

His point (which I agree with) is that just because somebody made more doesn't mean they should have the prime time spot. Would you really want to watch Adam Lambert AFTER Metallica? Probably not. There are (sorry, but yes, I'm going here) many marching arts circuits that do not have groups seeded. Like (GASP!) marching bands. Does BOA seed groups for Grand Nats Finals? No. Does ISSMA (Indiana's circuit) seed groups? No. Does Mid-States Band Association seed groups? No. Guess what. The groups that are the best win-no matter where they're placed in a show. It causes the judges to give an honest opinion about a performance since comparing groups (next group is going to be better than the last because that's how they've been scoring all season. Judges are human. I'm sure they follow the scoring trends like we do (well, those of us that like to do that). They expect a higher quality product out of the next group in seeded show times, consciously or more than likely subconsciously. Another thing that's occurred to me that I'm kind of surprised hasn't been posted. For the corps that go first at every show (sans home shows) have to get to the show site earlier than the "big guys". This means consistently less rehearsal time since a lot of places have noise ordinances, the corps members aren't getting up at 5:00 in the morning to have the same amount of rehearsal time as the last performing group that may go on two hours later that gets up at 7:00. Even an hour lost every day during tour adds up to a lot of lost rehearsal time that the "little guys" could have used to improve that much more. By mixing things up, you eventually give everybody a more equal amount of time to practice. That would help out the "little guys" even if there are audience members that get a hot dog while they perform.

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And how many corps will have their shows muddled by those pesky low-flying planes?

You don't have to read the boards ya know. You can just wait until the morning to check dci.org to see what happened. Nobody is forcing you to be here, so be happy that somebody is kind enough to relay scores, and what's going on at the show through their phone. Over the past few nights Fred has done a great job, cut the man some slack for posting something incorrectly. You don't know what happened at the show.

Anybody hear how Alliance did?

No they don't, but they have a good idea of what the G7 want to do. Ergo, informing Feathers Up what the heck is going on.

DCI's web page Blue Devils web page Cavies web page Bluecoats web page Cadets web page Crown's web page Regiment's web page Anywhere. Searching for one's self never hurt anything...

The Facebook group was deleted a while back as well...

You're not the only one chainsaw. Trust me.

Yes, that's the same Chris Nagy.

The LOS is an indoor venue. A big one. There is no way short of filling half the place with Styrofoam that will reduce the echo. If you can't stand the echo, don't come. It's as simple as that. As somebody who marching and watched shows in the RCA Dome, the LOS is significantly better. One thing that would help this-and something that would enhance shows-would be for corps to let big hits breathe more-let there be like a 4-8 count pause after a cutoff. Let the stadium speak. And then move on. Corps have to adapt to change and I know they will. So make the best of it or don't go. And for goodness sake, these threads about the LOS being an inadequate venue are getting rather tiresome. Rant about another dead horse now.

My high school band my senior year. Start at the 7 minute mark. We did quotes from various corps from various years. The difference from everybody else is that we gave credit to the corps via a prop in the back of the field. Oh, and Southwind 05 and Cadets 05 with the black and white uniforms and the reverse uniforms (respectively) got ideas from the 04 show my band did called Directions using black and white unis with woodwinds wearing jackets that had white on the front and black on the back, the brass were the reverse of that and the percussion wore gray jackets. One of Southwind's instructors saw us at a contest and got a few ideas. Our drill designer talked to the people at Cadets and told them about what we did at I believe DCI Louisville or so and they put in more effects with corps members facing backfield to better use the back of their unis during the show.

I'm going to suggest to you to do something you're not going to like to do. I'm suggesting you look up some Indiana marching bands. Yes, marching bands. State Finals has been held in an indoor facility since the RCA Dome opened in the mid 80s. State Finalist bands play effectively outdoors and indoors. There are slightly different design considerations taken into account, such as in ballads after "the big moment" that there are a few counts of rest added in to let the echo of the chords die away before continuing. I've gotten used to indoor stadiums after having been to ISSMA State Finals and BOA GN. You have to listen differently. It's not outside. There are echoes. All that being said, I liked the curtain in the back. It looked great and did it's job of absorbing/deflecting some sound back to the fans. The temp was great inside. I enjoyed myself greatly and will be back for Finals next year.

Just so everybody knows, from personal experience (watching ISSMA marching band State Finals and BOA Grand Nats Finals) the sound is pretty darn good. They have huge drapes (for lack of a better word) hung on the backfield side blocking the view of the vast majority of the seats, absorbing a lot of echo. They also have drapes hung on the sides to also absorb sound. The stadium was built specifically for the type of sound marching ensembles produce. It was part of the deal with DCI moving to Indy. The sound from the bands I watched was crystal clear and I was on or very close to the 50 in the 500 and 500 sections for both events listed above. Every part can be heard from wind to battery to front ensemble. Yes, there is a very SLIGHT echo, but it is NOTHING compared to what the RCA Dome ever was. I hope this helps in some way. :)

Front of the bus because I get to the bathroom first.