Photographer Jim

While I certainly don't think BD will "always" be in the top two, I do think that their show this year is a very reasonable prediction for being a first or second place medal winner

PR was in California last season as well.

You seem to have left out SCV Cadets

I'm always reminded that "dry heat" is one of the reasons that mummies become mummies.

I pretty much agree with all of this. Having not seen BD, Crown, Or Cadets live, it's very hard for me to even speculate on where PR or SCV will fit into the mix once they all meet up, or which will be ahead of the other come finals night, but I do feel there will be a great number of fans who are going to like what they see and hear from these two corps.

The big difference I see here is that fans of BAC and Phantom will at least get to see their corps live later in the season, albeit a change for them. For the big West Coast corps to start back east it would take a rearranging of the western show schedule to make it possible to see them at all. Or it would take these corps traveling east and then back west all in the first week, only to turn around again to head east again. Phantom was able to come west because they could start their season close to home on the first day of the season and them pick up a few shows as they traveled west. From there they were in synch with the western corps and head back home. Actually a pretty effecient travel plan. BAC solved the travel problem by basically becoming a west coast corps for the season, having their preseason camp out here. It's a tough nut to crack. The west coast corps have to add a great deal of extra travel to start the season away from home, and traveling too far east would likely mean not making it back to the regular west coast shows. Really, unless DCI changes it's regionals schedule dramatically, the chances of the west coast corps starting in the East or Midwest or more east coast corps visiting CA is a pretty slim possibility.

IPhone about to die.

It will be very close between PR & SCV. I have PR ahead based on overall cleanliness, but SCV brass making it very hard to ignore them. Both shows were a joy to see and hear. Edited for typo

SCV. Classic Vanguard. Great sounding brass, percussion was superb. Excellent show

Phantom. Wow. Just wow! Refined sound, well paced, clean, emotional, and still a great deal of room to add and tweak. I was impressed when I heard them in the parking lot last week in Sac, but on the field they are just incredible

Pacific Crest. This corps is MUCH improved over what I remember from last year. Some dirty feet, but they are definitely a corps that is moving in a positive direction. As host corps they were well received and appreciated by the crowd, as they should be.

Very much enjoyed Academy show. I like the arrangement of Rites of spring very much - very different take on it. This is a solid corps

Mandarins. I've seen this show a few times now and it still confuses me. The show is much improved now that the ending is on the field, but I'm still lost as to the main character's role and the story line.

Init now on the field.

Gold, founded in 2005. Developing nicely. Best brass so far tonight.

Impulse. Like many Open class corps they have a ways to go, but I'm impressed with their ambition. Both musically and M&M. Good corps.

I liked the fact that VK trooped the stands upon exit!

I just took my seat. B18 #21. Up top on the 45. I must be living right! Will try tweeting some photos on #drumcorps as well

While I understand the disappointment, I don't think it's a matter of giving up on the Northwest. It's more a matter of not being able to be in two places at one time. Do they go north and do the Oregon and Washington shows, or go south and do the SoCal shows? As CA corps I understand the decision to go south.

This is correct. They did the Clovis, Stanford, Sacramento shows, and will be at the Walnut and Riverside shows. This week they skipped the small show in Santa Clara to come down to SoCal to run a few days of the System Blue music camps. Contrary to the original OP's comments, BD has hardly let down their West Coast fans. And yes, we out here will continue to complain that we don't get enough shows. After Sunday, there will be no performances by a top 12 corps within 1000 miles for the remainder of the summer, which is a totally justifiable reason for ANY drum corps fanatic worth his/her salt to complain!

Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box sometimes when trying to find a solution to a perceived problem! My question, however, is how do you propose to deal with having a final champion? I realize one possibility is to have two champions, one for each of the suggested divisions. My belief is that a two champion system would probably not fly well with either corps or most fans. Our belief in drum corps as a valuable and worthwhile activity in its own right not withstanding, the competitive component of the activity is too embedded for most fans or corps to be willing to adopt a system where there is no final, single champion. I think a majority would consider it a kin to crowning an American League and a National League champion, and then not playing the World Series. The other solution then is to have an all division final resulting in a single champion corps. Under this system however, there would be a rather large problem to deal with - what sheets, program restriction/requirements would be used at that competition? The answer would not be as easy as something like " the designated hitter rule will be in effect in the American League park but not the National League park". Under the suggested system, corps would have spent the entire off season designing, and the season perfecting, a show meant to be successful when evaluated under a specific set of sheets. To have to adjust that to any form of a compromise sheet would, I believe, be unacceptable to most, if not all corps. And I doubt many fans (especially those here on DCP) could ever agree as to what would be a fair compromise. So, although I commend your attempt to try out of the box thinking, I seriously doubt this could ever work.

As I posted in the Sac show thread: I had a chance to speak with a few of BAC staff last night after they had performed. They indicated that their West Coast experience had been wonderful in all respects. One young staff member indicated that she would have no hesitation about doing it again! I'm so glad BAC had a great time here in CA, and hope they know their presence here was well appreciated by us West Coast fans. Wishing them safe travels for the remainder of the tour. "Y'all come back now, ya hear?" Also had a chance to chat with a few of the PR members last night, and was once again reminded of why I so much enjoy drum corps kids. Polite, gracious, and POSITIVE. I had gone over to thank them after they did a standstill of their show in the parking lot, only to have them, to a person, thank ME for giving them a chance to perform for us in the lot! I do hope the corps know how very very much their trip out here is appreciated by us Left Coasters.

I had a chance to speak with a few of BAC staff last night after they had performed. They indicated that their West Coast experience had been wonderful in all respects. One young staff member indicated that she would have no hesitation about doing it again! I'm so glad BAC had a great time here in CA, and hope they know their presence here was well appreciated by us West Coast fans. Wishing them safe travels for the remainder of the tour. "Y'all come back now, ya hear?"

I wonder what Sac City College or American River College have in the way of facilities? Well, I'm sure SOME will be looking carefully at their options for next year. My preference is that CSU Sac NOT be the venue in the future.

A good portion of the money raised by this event does get back to the corps in ways other than just their appearance fees. The Sponsors Of Musical Enrichment, the group that sponsors this show every year, is a great organization that has done a great deal to help not only DCI, but many other music programs in the area who need outside monetary support. For example, part of the money from this show usually goes to scholarships for corps member's education. Despite last night's unfortunate outcome, SOME will make sure $$ gets to the corps. They are a good group, and first and foremost, they will do right by the kids in the corps.