swmstom

So many to choose from. But I guess in my case these are my go-to shows if I'm introducing someone brand new to drum corps and want them to be instantly entertained. No particular order 2014 Bluecoats 2008 Phantom 2002 Cavies 1992 VK 1995 Scouts 1997 Scouts 1999 Scouts 2004 Blue Devils 2014 Crown 1993 Phantom

I don't understand this idea that in order to have a competitive show it must be boring. That makes no sense. The judging sheets don't have negative marks for making the crowd go wild. They don't have negative marks for wow moments that people will talk about for years after. You can absolutely have a show that is clean, designed well as to fit in to what the judges are looking for, and still make the crowd go nuts. Thinking you have to pick one or the other is silly. And I disagree about Scouts "winning". It would be nice to see the Scouts win again, but if you consistently put a very competitive show on the field that draws the type of attention the Scouts of the 90s did, then recruiting will be a breeze. I know I didn't join the Scouts because I wanted to win. I joined the Scouts because the shows were fun and challenging to march and play and to top it off the roar of the crowd was amazing. AND, we were still competeting at an elite level.

I still think Scouts can be both modern and traditional. The show designs need to catch up, but without narration, wild costumes for the corps that change every year, bizzare story-telling that you have to have a PhD in philosophy to understand. You can have a modern, competitive show without all the weird artsy fartsy stuff that others are doing.

I can't sit here and proclaim to be a technical expert on every little aspect of show design. I did march corps for five years including a year with Scouts. I now consider myself an "average fan". And as an average fan I feel Scouts shows have been falling short in wow moments...those moments where you wear out a reverse button re-watching something and call up your buddies to say, "Holy crap, check this out". Unfortunately I do that with other corps shows these days and it hurts. I love the Scouts. I want to see them succeed, but more importantly I want to see them put a product on the field that gives you that endorphine-raising, sensory overload feeling like you just got off an amazing rollercoaster. Scouts shows of late have been good...neat...pretty cool...but not OH MY LORD THAT WAS FREAKIN UNBELIEVABLE!

There were design issues with those shows as well...mainly being too easy in the eyes of those who come up with scores. Seems the Scouts would start out like gangbusters but then plateau early and get passed by corps cleaning more difficult shows. Me personally, I want to hear a horn book with the technical difficulty of Crown, a fast-moving drill with more killer close-in passes and less squats/leg bends and a show design like this years Bluecoats that entertains the crowd AND achieves at a top caliber. Scouts have not found that perfect mix in the past few years.

I like the way you think Runitagain. While we're at it..enter the field company front and burst into the Fleur D Lis. Get the fans screaming like maniacs before a note is played.

Now that the final performane of the year has been done what is the feeling of show direction next season and do you guys see staff changes taking place?

Weedy, I'm inclined to agree with BigBag on this subject. Scouts show design is just not even in the same zip code with the upper tier corps. I was all in with the "judges aren't giving enough credit" deal until I saw the full field. And after watching it.....Scouts are WAY behind.

Just got back from Atlanta. I had bad seats so I couldn't tell if the drop in score tonight was from a bad run or if it was the rough go-on draw. Regardless, I still enjoy the show after seeing it a second time. But the one thing that troubles me is how far behind in show design Scouts are right now. I'm not talking narration and a field full of props...but goodness. It is just night and day from Scouts and the upper corps....I mean, not even the same zip code. And it really pained my heart to see that huge Atlanta crowd give the Scouts just a nice ovation when all was said and done whereas Crown and Bloo had that crowd rocketing up out of their seats before their respective shows ended.

Spoken like a true Bammertard. Ha ha. Much better than Tuscalooser

Just back from Opelika show. Also spent a good portion of the day hanging out at the housing site watching rehearsal. I have to say, this show surprised me. After reading so many of the comments on here I was fully expecting to be let down. And I was not. I guess, maybe some changes have taken place from what I'm reading here, but that show is extremely entertaining. There are some good wow moments, especially with the drumline. Some neat guard stuff around the wheel. Some high-speed drill...which I didn't see anyone do tonight other than Scouts. It was just plain ol' entertaining. I don't get too much into the whole "story" with the time wheel, ticking clock etc. Wish that didn't play so much into scoring. As far what I love....horns, drums and marching....it was awesome. On a negative side, I've harped on it before and I just won't like it no matter what because I'm stubborn...but not a fan of all the lower leg stuff at nearly every moment. Felt like there was more skipping, knee twisting, sliding and leg kicking than actual marching. I'm also more of a fan of a typical Scouts power ending that's capped off with a monster crowd roar, but this ending was...umm....neat. I guess that's the best word. Great screamer solo to end the show and it was kinda cool, but it just draws a "ok, show's over, let's stand up and clap" crowd response instead of a "holy smokes, where's my face and hand me that baby so I can throw it on the field" response. It was also great meeting some of the current staff and members. Very friendly to this old alum....not that I expected any different.

My two cents from Opelika...take it for what it's worth as it's only my opinion. Location: Great stadium for drum corps. No track, field turf, fans on top of the action. Downfall...dadgum train tracks just off backfield bleachers. Loud freight train came through during Madison's show. Weather started out looking a little spooky but other than a random drop of rain hitting your arm early on, there were no weather concerns. Pioneer: Busting their tails as usual. Huge drumline drowns out tiny hornline. Very recognizable tunes. Nice troop off the field with Stars and Stripes. Mandarins: Opening horn lick wakes you up but it just kinda peters on out. Drumline had some pretty rough moments from where I was sitting. Colts: Meh....I know the kids work hard. No knock on them. I'm just personally not a fan of narrated shows and especially narrated shows with some abstract meaning. All the wording especially gets lost and is distracting when there is a really cool drum or horn moment and you have that mixed with Mr. Narrator screaming something into his microphone. Thought the music overall was pretty decent when that voice wasn't thundering through the speakers. Blue Stars: Holy stuff on the field. The joke around me as they were setting up was it was taking them longer to get all that "stuff" on the field than it would take to perform the show. Way too many unnecessary random objects out there. I get the idea of the blueprint backdrop thingies to hide behind and do the wardrobe change, but all the other...nah, not for me. Other than that I liked the music for the most part. Good show, but nothing that really sent me home humming tunes and anxious to watch again. Madison Scouts: I was anxious and skeptical to see this show as an alum and seeing so many bad remarks on the Scouts thread, along with scoring lower than many had hoped. It was BY FAR the most entertaining show of the night. Very straight-forward jazz. Holy hornline and holy drumline. Guard...no expert on so I don't know. Not a fan of all the lower leg stuff going on at every given opportunity and not a fan of the tapered-off show ending. But overall it was great and got a huge crowd response. Spirit: Neck and neck with Colts in scores but I personally dig their show much more. Nice screamer trumpets. Similar to Blue Stars, I enjoyed the show. It caught me at points, but overall not much memorable about it. Just a nice, solid program but nothing that blew me away. Now....on to Atlanta. Can't wait.

Started following Scouts in the 90s so that's where my memory comes from. And I marched another corps before Scouts and I can absolutely tell you Scouts in the 90s were some scary dudes when the Superman Suit was on. It wasn't just me that felt that. They had a swagger and bravado that few could even come close to matching.

I have to agree with the poster about the "prancing" or whatever you want to call it. Maybe prancing isn't the correct word...more like interpretive dance, leg waggles, ankle turns...all that mess. It has bothered me to see Scouts going there over the past few years and I've even posted about before. I remember a show in the past couple of years where horn players were laying on the ground, rolling around "artistically" .....just so weird to see out of the Scouts. My thought of Scouts are precise, military-precision marching and military-like bearing. From the time I first saw the Scouts all the way through marching, the corps had this look...this masculine bearing, yes, even the gay guys. It was a look that scared the crap out of you. It was a look that moved you the F out the way when they were coming. It was a look that said..."I ain't messin' with these dudes because they'll probably beat the snot out of me"....It was also a look of owning that field when they stepped on it and owning that crowd.....Unfortunately I haven't had that same feeling the past few years with the Scouts.

I haven't seen Scouts show this year, so I'll reserve full judgement for Opelika, AL and Atlanta, Ga shows. That being said, though, I am very disappointed to hear Scouts have the slow quiet ending.... THAT IS NOT MADISON SCOUTS! We all sit and talk about "crowd pleasing" and compare "this era" to "dinosaurs" and "this show" to "that show", "this corps" to "that corps".... the one thing that has NOT changed in DCI audiences from way back to now are the things that get the crowd's a$$es out of their seats... Fast-moving drill, loud horns and thunderous drums. If Scouts aren't doing this....then it's just sad. Me personally, I don't go to DCI shows to have a story told to me on the field or to watch shows that "make you think"....I want my ear drums hurting, my eyes sizzling and my entire inner soul blasting up out of my seat with excitement. Scouts don't do quiet. Scouts don't do slow.....and it makes me sad to think that's the route they are going.

Identity is a great word for it. You see Cavies, Cadets and most of the time Phantom..you know who you're looking at. I liken it to a sports team that embraces their traditional look (auburn, bama, usc, dallas cowboys, yankees, cubs, etc) as opposed to teams like Oregon that change their look every year.

Every year I anxiously await for the Scouts to bring this look back. I know there were Scouts uniforms before this one, but for me this is the ultimate "Superman Suit" This look, and the company front to the 50 bursting into the Fleur......I might pass out from excitement before a note was even played.

This has been a fun read. I'll throw in a few memories. '95 Southwind had a run-in with some gangsters. One of our contra players was wearing a red do-rag and apparently that was the rival color of the local gang in that territory. They made it clear he better not be seen wearing those colors again. '95 Southwind had a strong bond with Colts that year. As previously mentioned regarding Troopers drumline beating up someone.....at the show in Ankeny, Iowa, SW and Colts were blocked on either side of Troopers in retreat. Both corps lined up on the yard lines next to Troopers in a company front and turned and faced the Troopers block. '96 Southwind a cymbal player (cough cough), took exception to being elbowed purposefully by a Crown contra player as we filed into the stadium for retreat. After giving numerous warnings.....well let's just say the Crown contra (the horn) sustained quite a bit of damage from the bottom of a djembe drum said cymbal player was carrying. Heard a story from Southwind '91 regarding Southwind (then Div II) beating Troopers (Div. I) in drums. Troopers drum staff showed up in front of Southwind's busses and burned their recap sheets. A member of Southwind in '97 managed to steal one of Phantom's helmets and hide it on a bus. The helmet WAS discovered, though, and that member had to deliver the helmet and apologize in person to drum major Christy Spears and the Phantom member it was taken from. Southwind '95 had it's equipment truck break down and had to perform in Dallas in shorts and T-shirts using Scouts' drums and Colts' horns and pit equipment Scouts '98 had a bari player who also played Div. III football for a small college in Minnesota. He carried dumbells with him on tour and would do workouts in down time. Scouts had a tradition of warm-legging someone in the shower. I'm sure I have plenty more but these were the ones that popped in my head.

Was seeing on facebook where Scouts wrapped up their January camp this past weekend. The post gave a glimpse at some of the tunes we'll all get to hear....Fanfare for the New, Fugue and Concerto to end all Concertos. Excited to see how all this comes together and what other pieces they will put on the field.

Saw where Scouts were fine-tuning a new show ending to be debuted in Huntsville, AL. This excites me because the other ending I saw on videos didn't impress me. Can't wait to see "The Men of Madison" in Atlanta.

Since the announcement is in Atlanta I'm hoping for Finals in the ATL. They will begin construction on a new retractable-roof stadium soon.

Just saw on twitter that DCI will have a "major announcement" in Atlanta. Any ideas, rumors or guesses what it could be?

Here's your DCI in Opelika housing sites Spirit at Opelika High (show site), Blue Stars at Smiths Station High School (Smiths Station, Ala.), Academy at Central High (Phenix City, Ala.), Jersey Surf at Benjamin Russell High (Alexander City, Ala.), Pioneer at Beulah High (Beulah, Ala.), and Mandarins at the Valley Sports Plex (Valley, Ala.) I was also informed that Blue Stars, Spirit and Pioneer will all be staying the night before and the night after the show.

Been living in the Auburn/Opelika area since 1998. Still a lot of Southwind alumni and other corps alumni in the area who are very excited to finally see a show coming to our town. A little info on the venue "Bulldog Stadium". It's not huge as far as sideline seating, and in the past there were no actual metal bleachers..just concrete "step like" seats. However, they just recently did a HUGE renovation project there that included a massive indoor football facility in one end zone, put in Field Turf instead of natural grass and added a big state-of-the-art scoreboard. They may have added actual seats, but I'm not sure. The other cool thing with this stadium being a drum corps venue....NO TRACK! The field is very close to the front-row seating with a small walking area, a fence and hedges separating the playing field and stands. Should be a great time in Opelika on Thursday. I know the plan for the show organizers is to leave a BIG lasting impression in the hopes that this show will continue to grow.

The instant roar from the finals-night crowd when that last note was played was amazing. That whole show still gives me chills and is a major reason I decided to march Scouts in 1998.