Photographer Jim

NOW I learn this! Great, just great!

I must admit that it is all a bit of a fog, but I began attending drum corps way back in the mid 1950's in Patterson, NJ. My dad was a volunteer fireman so seeing corps was nearly a weekly occurrence, as the corps often participated in the parades the fire departments hosted all summer throughout the state. (Departments would compete in dress uniform and marching, so they would sometimes pay the parade fee for a corps so as to have them marching right behind them and provide a snappy cadence!). It was not unusual to go to a parade and see Holy Name Cadets, Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights, St. Vincent's Cadets, Audubon Bon Bons, Hawthorne Caballeros, and St. Anne's Cadets (my favorite -I was so taken with their drum major -she was a goddess in my young eyes!) Anyway, there would also be shows in Patterson or Clifton, and my parents would often take my sister and me. It was there where I developed my life-long love for DC. The earliest show I can remember, specifically, is the 1957 American Legion Nationals held in Atlantic City Convention Center and won by the Holy Name Cadets. Over the years I have seen Drum Corps change in many ways, but I still love it as much as I did when I first experienced it over a half century ago.

just a guess. Were they performing last and slated to do the encore?

After seeing BD last night and Crown tonight, I'm smiling! This is going to be a great season! Some great shows.

The turquoise and purple work very well together

I understand your opinion regarding BD's use of props in the past. I think in both "Through A Glass Darkly" and "Beat My Heart Skipped" especially, the props were a major component in the show and as such were "featured". One was expected to pay them attention, IMO. After seeing this year's show last night. I don't have the same opinion. Although there are certainly a number of props "on the set" I think they are used much less obtrusively than in recent years past. There were very few times during the course of the show where the props or their movement drew my attention away from the corp itself. Even the rolling platforms (the prop used most predominately) seemed to blend into the drill quite naturally, without drawing undue attention. I don't think the current show falls into the category of being prop driven. I very much agree that this show is "musically coherent". As I commented last night, I felt the flow and pacing were right on point, and the sections worked well together, with each segment complimenting what preceded and followed. I very much believe that fans in general with receive this show's music positively.

Also just returned from the show. Very impressed with both A and B corps. I very much believe that the A corps' show will be very well received by fans. It is interesting, entertaining, musically solid, and visually pleasing. Many of the common criticisms from the past few years will fade with this show, IMO. For me, there was a very coherent flow to the music; nothing seemed "tacked on". The pace and progression through the show was logical, with each section complimenting what came before and after, while not coming across as predictable or mundane. (forgive me if I express myself in less than sound musical argot - my strength is in visual arts, not music). Yes, the props are there (including some chairs!) but they were not at all distracting, and fit nicely into the overall visual gestalt of the show. I wish the guard had been in uniform tonight. I'd like to see how their uniforms add (or not) to the total look of the show. I found it very difficult to take in a lot of what the guard was doing because they were all in plain black, and kind of disappeared at times amongst the flashes of color from the rest of the corps. My hope would have been for a lot of bright gold as on the drums, but I saw on the uni thread that is most likely not the case. My first impression is that BD will definitely be in the hunt for another ring, and that they will get a favorable response from fans, even those who have not been pleased with the direction they have taken the past few years.

When i first saw the new BD uniform tonight my initial reaction was mixed. It is interesting but I wasn't sure of what I thought of the silver sleeve all the way up to the shoulder. However, once they took the field with full headgear and horns raised so that the dark fade on the underside showed I was sold. The uniform works very well, and does nice things for the overall visual "flow" during the drill. I think it will be well received. And yes, I agree, BDB does look sharp. And those 72 horns are putting out a great sound.

With the new rules which expand the use of various brass instruments, the desire for corps to develop more entertaining and innovative drill, and BD's breaking the barrier to the use of chairs on the field, the following might serve as a source of inspiration for someone's future show. Enjoy. http://www.wimp.com/brassband/

I'm planning on going. My only chance to see BD live this season, as I will be on the road doing art festivals at the time of the other California shows. Looking forward to it.

And their amplifiers will all go to eleven.

I am very pleased with the strides I've seen this corps (PC) make in the past year. I think they can be justifiably proud

The topic of the original post is seldom, if ever, a guiding factor for posts on DCP! During the discussion, BD's scheduling decision has been discussed with references and comparisons to other corps, namely Crown. My question simply asks how, or if, BK's similar decision relates.

Just a question. The other top 10 WC finalist corps attending the NorCal series of shows (Blue Knights) ALSO skipped out of the Santa Clara show and headed north to Oregon where they will meet up with SCV again on Thursday in Medford, yet I see no mention nor complaint about their decision to do so mentioned here. Why is that?

My posts have never ever been considered even remotely Shakespearean. Usually it's more like Mickey Spillane! I musta picked up more cul-cha than I thought!

Suggesting that the schedule as it is is an indication that BD "is all about BD" is pretty off base. The truth of the matter is that the west coast season is very short while at the same time spread over a wide distance. Yes, BD could choose to follow SCV north and leave the SoCal shows light on top end, world class corps. Or, SCV could choose to follow BD south and leave the shows in the northwest lacking for top corps. After this week, there won't be another show featuring a WC Finalist corps within a thousand miles of here for the rest of the year. The corps do their best to split the schedule so as to provide the best shows for the west coast as is possible given the limitations of time and distance. To even hint that it is based in some selfish motivation is simply not justified.

Actually, this isn't that unusual for this point in the season. After the Sacramento show, BD traditionally heads south to SoCal, while SCV heads north to Oregon. Then everybody meets up again in Utah. If your comment is based on The line-up for the Santa Clara show, note that while the A corps has already gone south, the BDB corps will as usual be at the Vangaurd show.

Just arrived at the theater in Pleasant Hill California. I'm the first one here! Had to wait for the staff to clean out the theater from the last showing. Got my choice of the best seat in the house. Now it's hurry up and wait

Good question. My assumption that it would require a rule change might have been just that, an assumption. Follow up question: If the current rules do not specifically outlaw their use, but also do not specifically allow their use, could we assume that corps could currently exercise the option of lighting effects? Is there any mention at all concerning the use of lighting in the current rules?

How many head-to-head competitions Crown has against BD, will be determined partly on Crown's schedule choices. If after the Stanford and Moonlight Classic shows they do as BAC did and travel to the Northwest, they will probably see BD only a few times, as BD traditionally travels south for the series of SoCal shows. If they travel south as well, they should be going head-to-head a great deal more, both in SoCal and along the road headed back east as the Cal corps usually start their eastern trek from SoCal.

I see the addition of a rule allowing lighting to be an uphill battle. For lighting to be effective it needs to be used in a dark environment. Unless a corps could be sure that their performance was to be in the later part of the evening, using lighting effects would be a lot of expense for little payoff. Additionally, corps who typically go on early in the evening would be at a distinct disadvantage to corps performing later in the evening when lighting effects would be best utilized. So, from a competitive standpoint, the use of lighting would create an unlevel playing field as well as a financial burden for many corps. I can see how it might work for a HS marching band who typically performs at a halftime show in the late evening, but I think it would be a hard sell for most corps in DCI.

Crown's visit will definitely be a great addition to the West Coast shows, and one that will be greatly appreciated, and positively received by us California fans. I, for one, will eagerly await seeing them perform live and in person. Thank you Crown.

Thank you for posting this. Spirit's performance that night was extraordinary. A few weeks later, at Precision West 80, I was there and heard the 200 member combined horn lines of The Commodores, Santa Clara Vanguard, Freelancers, and Blue Devils play Jim Ott's arrangement of the Naval Hymn. By the end I was in tears, as was most of the crowd. Even today, 32 years later, I still choke up and have thoughts of Jim Ott when I hear that piece. Jim Ott was an incredible talent. For those of us fans who had the privilege to hear corps play his arrangements back then, there is little question as to the appropriateness of DCI's High Brass Award bearing his name.

The whole term "audience engagement" is pretty problematic, in my mind. Because it is now something to be considered in judging corps, I think a lot of people have drawn the conclusion that this would now become the dominant criteria. But the truth is, IMO, is that this disregards the fact that all of the multitude of criteria from the old sheets is still there, and still constitutes the majority of detailed analysis necessary to evaluate a performance. Evaluation of individual and group skills remains (as in my mind, it should) the primary focus of the judges. Therefore it is no surprise ( at least to me) that the new sheets including AE haven't resulted in huge shake-ups in show results from what we are used to on the old sheets. The other problem I have with "audience engagement" is that I have yet to hear a really reasonable operational definition of what constitutes AE. it can't really be the volume or extent of ovations or cheering. Those are so subject to influence by factors like home town crowd, regional preferences, corps history, etc that crowd reaction can not be a very fair criteria for evaluating Corps in a competitive arena. No way for judges to separate true engagement from all of the other factors that might be involved. But since so many fans want to equate size of ovation with engagement, its no wonder there is so much dismay when results come down and it becomes clear that the judges are defining AE differently. I don't question that judges can pretty accurately determine if different sections of the corps are playing in phase, or if their spacing is good. Very observable. But judging if the audience is engaged, not so clear.

Ya know, the last time I checked, Madison was still wowing the crowd with their company front, a rotating one at that.The last time I checked, the Cadets were still pleasing fans with their style of drill.The last time I checked, Phantom was still thrilling people with their wonderful ability to build to and then deliver a wonderful emotional musical climax.The last I checked, SCV was still building wonderful shows with their special interpretation of classical music.The last time I checked, corps like Boston, Crossmen, and the Colts were still giving their fans their best possible performances. Nobody needs to "give anybody their Drum Corps back .... Because the last time I checked, nobody had taken any of it away. I've been attending DC shows for well over 50 years. I enjoy all of the corps mentioned above, for the reasons mentioned and many more. But I also enjoy watching a corps like BD offer up something of a different flavor as well. I seldom voice my frustration on DCP, but I am honestly just fed up with the line of thinking that by BD presenting their style of show, that a fan is somehow deprived of a quality DC experience, and that "something needs to be done about it, G-- D--- it!" [my quote for emphasis]. If your favorite corps style is that of the Cadets, the Cavies, or whomever, enjoy the heck out of them ( I'll probably be right there with you), but please afford me the courtesy of allowing me to enjoy the corps I like without having to endure the constant complaints about how they have no place in Drum Corps. As I said, nobody has taken away your Drum Corps, so please, stop insisting on taking away Mine. Sportster, please understand this is not meant as a personal attack on you. Your post just happened to be there at right (or wrong time ).