swmstom

I'm excited about this show...sounds amazing. I do have one request from the Scouts, though, if anyone happens to read this.......Let's have more marching with amazing drill to this beautiful music and less interpretive dance.

What the heck... 1. Phantom 08 2. Madison 95 3. Cavies 02 4. BD 94 5. VK 92 6. SCV 99 7. Cadets 95 8. Boston (year slips me) "Red" was the show 9. Star 93 10. Crossmen 92 11. Crown 10 12. Southwind 92 Geez...this was hard toward the bottom not being able to repeat corps.

Glad to see some one agrees with me there FlamMan. All that interpretive dance-looking stuff is just not Scouts. I compare it to one of the top BOA bands out there suddenly trying to pull off a full on HBCU show.....it just looks and feels weird to see it. It's awkward....Same thing if an HBCU like Morehouse suddenly tried to duplicate Star '93.

Wow...Scouts thread dropped all the way to fifth page. I got to see the guys for the first time live this year in Atlanta and I very much enjoyed the show even though there were some rough patches...no doubt to new changes. The ending had my mom nearly in tears and had goose bumps running up my arms. Now that that's out of the way, I DO need to rant on something. For as long as I've ever followed the Scouts (before and after I marched with them)the corps as a whole has held a certain persona of masculinity, toughness....sometimes even downright scary. That tough, hard-corps, kick-a** look appealed to me. There were a few rough years recently but a big point fans have mentioned the past three years is how the Scouts have returned to "the look" or have "that Scouts presence again" That said, I absolutely hate seeing the Scouts horns/drums doing all the overblown and unceccesary body movements. I understand a big effect these days are body movements...especially with the legs. Some of that is fine and some of it cool. However, when you're a group that has, for years, prided itself on that big, bad, rough, tough, uber-manly image....it all goes away, at least for me, when you lay on the field, arch your back, kick your legs, roll over and hump the dirt (so it looks like) ... just doesn't seem to fit with what the MEN of Madison have been about for years. Find other ways to get some GE....like, march your a** off. Leave all that laying on the ground-synchronized leg lifts and kicks for other groups. And I know I sound like a old fart.."You kids and your dirty hoochie dancing"....I'm not. I think that stuff is all good for plenty of other corps out there....just NOT the Scouts. It just doesn't go with that "Superman image" I've always thought of when I see a Madison Scouts performance. Now I'll sit back and anxiously await all the people calling me an idiotic dinosaur.

WOW....huge move from the Scouts last night. Glad to see the judges are beginning to move them up. With that said, I love the show and it gives me chills....BUT....like some have mentioned, wow is that drill dirty, especially the whole curved lines after the singing section leading into the company front. The brass, drums and guard are amazing. Get that drill cleaned a little more and this show can absolutely compete for a 7, 6..or even 5 spot come finals.

My favorite memory was being selected to the Madison Scouts and a close second was singing "You'll Never Walk" with my brothers for the final time on finals night. Was also my last show as I was aging out.

So great that my old corps (94-97) is getting things back together, and I'll second what Mike said earlier...the guys spearheading this, Chris Campos and Gary Holly, are both great guys and great leaders and know what they're doing to get this up and running. As for the state of Alabama....it's got great resources at the high school and college levels. Auburn and Alabama both have great music programs and both have current and past members that march, or have marched, DCI. But don't limit the thoughts to the big two......Jacksonville State obviously has one of the most recognized marching bands in the country in the BOA and indoor circuits along with its one-time association with Spirit, Troy has always had a great band with many DCI members and current Scouts brass head Robert W. Smith, North Alabama has had a strong program and that's just colleges... There are also many amazing high school programs in the state, especially up around Birmingham. If they keep things around Montgomery, I'm sure it'll be like it was back in the day also where that recruiting base stretched far into the great programs of Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi as well. Basically, everything is right here for the taking and it looks like it's all moving in the right direction. Tom

That 98 tour was uber fun. Like Sly said, we indeed went west and had a blast. Playing beach volleyball along the Pacific in Santa Cruz and seeing Doc Holliday's grave site in Glenwood Springs, CO were some of my fondest memories. I was on the cymbal line and while that year's drumline was tight, we definitely went through our growing pains. Shoot, we even lost bass No. 4 early in the tour and had to get an emergency replacement in the form of Rugenstein.

Anyone who was there...was this another night of sloppy drumline holding back amazing horns, guard and design? I know they're bringing the house down with the show, but it's still frustrating to see the score not making any progress while other corps steadily jump ahead. This show should be scoring well over 90 by now.

I'm an absolute Scouts homer, but yea, "best closer ever"... not so much. I've seen it on the whole interweb thing, and it's certainly chillbumpy...but not best ever. It's an awesome closer but jeez, I couldn't even begin to name all my favorite closers. A closer I haven't seen mentioned in all the examples is Scouts 1998 "Rememberance"....that was a pretty darn good closer. 1998 Scouts, though, gets lost a lot since it fell between 97 Pirates and 99 JCS.

Amen Vic.......... keep putting smiles on those faces, have people humming your tunes days after the show, make it a memorable moment for anyone who pays to come to a show...you can't control what a judge thinks of you, it's just their opinion. Do your thang and the scores will eventually come along with it.

Ahh, parades. When I was with Southwind back 94-97, we would make an early camp trip down to Mobile, AL for the Mardi Gras parade. A few memories......the parade route was LOOOOOOOONG....HOLY CRAP LONG!!. The other memory was the spectators who had no idea of what drum corps was and they had been watching "show bands" march by, so when we came through all "corps like" we were getting heckled for being too stiff, not dancing, not having "cool beats", etc etc. Then there were the moonpies. For those who don't know, a tradition down in Mobile for Mardi Gras are small moonpies and the spectators would throw them at us...ha ha ha. I think more than a few contras ended up with the chocolate-marshmellow treat dinging around and going down the bell of the horn..... Pure insanity. Parades with the Scouts were much better as we marched the 4th parade in Cedarburg and then did a standstill....that was an awesome experience and an awesome little town.

Maybe I just completely missed something, but are Cadets no longer from New Jersey in the NY suburbs? I know Bergenfield, Hackensack, Bergen County, etc etc are all NYC suburbs, so the talk of needing a corps in the NYC area confused me. On a side note, things seem to be in the very early stages of possibly trying to get another corps going in Alabama.

I'm down here in the south, so in my best backwoods Alabammer voice........ "If you don't like tha Scouts, than yowr a communist"

I can't speak for other corps, but I know when I was with Scouts the staff kept any kind of pressure off of us. The way that was done was getting through to us that you can only control what you can control, and that is YOUR personal performance. If a judge doesn't like the show, you can't control it. If a judge isn't buying the "concept"...you can't control it. If one person is having an off night...you can't control that. You go out and perform it like it's the last time you'll perform it and if the score comes, then it comes. If not, as long as you walked off the field knowing #### well you did it better than the last time, then no complaints. In my opinion, if you're a member of a top corps and you're "feeling pressure" because corps A is gaining ground or judge B dropped you .2 of a point......then you're doing this activity for the wrong reason.

95 by far was the biggest extended crowd "roar" I've ever heard at a DCI event. 92 VK had a huge reaction, but it was quick. 97 Scouts, as you mentioned, got the crowd but don't forget 99 either. It took the fans quite a while to settle back in after their hair was blown dry on that one long chord toward the end and that was a pretty solid screaming standing O at the end with the cross to star formation. As for this year, all I've seen is on "certain other sites" but I get chills every time I see the closer. Can't wait to see what all is added to this show by the time I see it in Atlanta. I'm pumped....and I'm older school Scout so I'm more pumped that they have a show on the field that just grabs you, #### near forces you to scream and yell in happiness, leaves you humming the tunes and makes you happy you just spent money to watch a show. The scoring thing is cool, but to me I'm just happy to see that swagger back and see a show that seems to be one of the biggest talking points of this early DCI season so far.

1. Madison Scouts...... (HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) 2. Blue Stars...... (I like Magic tricks) 3. Phantom.... (Could listen to PR no matter what....plus the invisibile in the tunnell stuff is awesome) 4. Cavies....... (still not sure why they have to have all the Full Metal Jacket quotes, but Ok, whatever. Still enjoyed it for the most part) 5. Blue Knights..... (must say...I'm so used to giving BK a ...but I actually enjoyed the show. For once I knew what they were playing) 6. Cadets....... (if there was an emoticon that expressed so much sweetness and cheez that I felt like I was developing diabetes I would have put it here) 7. Crown...... (was ok...... but the horses and grass were much better) 8. Boston..... (not a memorable show, but not bad) 9. Blue Devils..... (cool visual program....but the music? ehh. You're better than that BD) 10. Glassmen.... (better than some past G-men shows I've suffered through over the years) 11. Santa Clara..... (to the ending that just....well....stops?????) 12. Academy...... (I can dig what they're doing)

Always does my soul good to see such positive comments about the 98 show since it's the one I marched with Scouts. That show usually gets forgotten because it fell right between the Pirates in 97 and Jesus Christ Superstar in 99. And keep it up Scouts. So happy to see the men back as a crowd favorite.

1997 Scouts...................WOW with the jolly roger flag waving, taking pictures and 26 some odd seconds of peel-your-face-off loud. I know plenty of others have had some solid park and blow...but that really became Scouts forte. Their time to blow the stands backwards

I agree with prettymuch everything you said. I don't know if the uniform will change, but I would love to see the 1988-2002 look, and can you imagine the crowd reaction if that happens. Also, bring the corps back on in the company front. No other corps I've ever seen as long as I've followed drum corps has gotten a standing ovation just by coming on the field. It not only gets the crowd fired up, but it takes the marching members who are already pumped to a whole different intensity level. I'd like to see a new music direction as well....Jazz is fine, but Scouts have also had success with other genres aside from Latin. Things definitely need to change. The crowd is always going to be the most important part of playing for the Scouts, but when you begin falling out of finals year after year, it becomes hard to catch back up. Regardless of the tradition and history of the Scouts, many guys will still bail and go to a corps they know will be playing on a Saturday night. And it becomes harder to convince some of the top talent to join up. Whether you like it or not, that's just the reality of things in the drum corps world. History and tradition can only carry you so far. When I was introduced to drum corps back in the early '90s, I couldn't even begin to tell you who finished 15th or in that general area. Hell, I don't know if I could remember who finished 11th or 12th in some of my early years following the activity. With Scouts falling way back, those being introduced to drum corps with no prior knowledge of the Scouts history could very well end up being the same way I was - overlooking the Scouts with so many other corps out in the forefront of the activity.

OH yeah.. the corps SONG is "You'll Never Walk Alone". The corps motto, saying, gretting..how ever you want to phrase it, is May You Never Walk Alone, often shortened in computer lingo to MYNWA. I'm pretty sure no one in Scouts refers to the song as May You Never Walk Alone.

Madison Scouts..... You'll Never Walk Alone.............unless they've changed that too

Some have noted "WOW" moments in the 09 season and I saw those said moments and thought they were cool. But there's a difference between sitting and watching a show and saying to the guy next to me, "Hey, that was pretty cool" as opposed to being ripped up out of my seat and nearly forced to scream and yell at something I'm watching. For those that mentioned various "Wow" moments this year, please explain to me then why there was very little crowd reaction to them? Are the crowds stupid? I mean, do the majority of PAYING fans, at least those I saw in the Dome, just have no clue what's good and what's not, and therefore don't know how to react? And if that's the case, what's wrong with throwing the PAYING crowd a bone now and then even if you're hell bent on playing a show enjoyed mostly by the music doctorate crowd and judging community? Are the corps members not performing said "WOW" moments to their potential? Watch out now before you answer because you will be hammered by those that feel you can't say a bad word about a corps because you're degrading those marching members. Again, there's a difference between cool moments that fans see in shows every year and the moments where crowds blow out speakers. Look folks, I admit I'm old school, but I'm not THAT old school. I marched in the 90s and have followed drum corps through much of the 2000s. And I can't think of a single year of all the years I've watched or marched where there wasn't at least one corps that found a way to pull an entire stadium up out of their seats before the final note was played. On a side note, someone mentioned SCV's final move of marching through the back sideline and off the field as a "WOW" moment. That would be the exact opposite of a "WOW" moment to me. Don't get me wrong, a show that ends like that is very pretty, poetic , artistic, or whatever you want to call it. But seriously, when was the last time a corps ended a show quietely and drew a monster crowd reaction? About the only I can think of was SCV 89 and that was because the corps and drum major "disappeared".

I've spent the past 10 years or so in the journalism field, so I'm no stranger to expressing an opinion and having some voice their opposite opinion right back at me. The skin is pretty thick in that regard. And just to clarify for anyone else that might read this, especially since I'm a newbie.......I'm no negative nancy. In fact I would probably be accused of being a sunshine pumper more than anything. Sometimes, though, you just have to call it like you see it.

Brand new to the DCP thing, this being just my second post. But being a Scout vet, I wanted to add my two cents in to the thread whether it's beating a dead horse or not. I saw the Scouts for the first time in about five years this past weekend in Atlanta. First, it was absolutely wonderful to see my guys out there again after being absent for so long, but I was kind of let down by the full show. Opener was impressive, but as it went on it lost me. There weren't any of those "WOW" moments I've grown to know from Scouts. Maybe there were some attempts at the big moments and the crowd didn't react, I don't know. But it was one of the most subdued Scouts crowds I've seen in some time. Nothing against my Scout brothers out there busting their tails, but the show just doesn't do it for me. And it didn't seem to do much for many others around me. Touching on a few things: Not a fan of the new uni. The current look is better than the atrocious things the Scouts wore after the '88-'02 look was tossed, but I'm just too set on the uni I wore. I can't wait for the day the Scouts walk out of the tunnel back in the lighter green top, red/silver sash, red gauntlets and white pants with green stripe. There was nothing wrong with that look in the first place other than probably some high-and-mighty DCI authority saying it was outdated. Shoot, Trooper's have about the most "outdated" uniform out there and it doesn't seem to be hurting them. Second: I know the Scouts haven't come out in the company front for several years now...but my question is why??? Does it have to do with timing now? Has DCI gotten so twisted that timing issues have forced that to be removed? Or is it a situation where practice time wants to be focused all on the show instead of entering the field? If it's the latter.....then shame shame shame. One of my greatest Scouts memories was stepping off that goaline on finals night and hearing the roar of the crowd and seeing the flashbulbs popping off like lightning in the corner of my eye. I get chills right now just thinking about it. I want my current brothers and future brothers in the Scouts to be able to experience what I did and have that memory and feeling for the rest of their lives. I know coming on the field seems very trivial, but man oh man, talk about getting your night off to a great start and you haven't even played a note yet. It has a huge effect. Alright, I'm done. Glad to be here and I hope to be able to take part in more discussions here. PS: Hey SF2K4...........WAR EAGLE brother!!!!!!!!!