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As far as the guard staff goes, I want to give a shout out to both the organisation and the new staff for handling this transition. The heart of the former staff has been there since 2003 (I should know since I marched the beginning years of Doodoo's reign) and for that to change last year, was a hard pill to swallow. Transitions will always be rough especially after coming right after a well-deserved caption win, and expectations to stay at that same level with a new staff is a nearly impossible feat With that said: I think it was a great solution for the organisation to hire Joey as the caption supervisor. - Having a talented person who was a student of Michael creates an evolution of the Crown guard aesthetic, while creating adding a new perspective. - Having a young and talented person take over is a risk, but if successful, I hope Joey stays and continues to rebuild the program with his already unique writing. It's time for the next generation of Townsends, Sages, Shaprios, Chandlers! - Is the guard rougher this year compared to past seasons? Yes, but man are they flying in drill and spinning an incredibly difficult book. Hats off to the team for going all out in a transition year. I love that you guys aren't losing the heart of what makes Crown guard so special - taking lots of risks. Anyway, I know the guard has been a major talking point on this forum in a mostly negative sense, so I just wanted to say that the new staff are doing a great job for the first year and once the marching members get comfortable with the crazy drill and new style I hope they clean clean clean! They are already vastly improved since the preview, now they just have to add that Crown confidence to the performance. Karma cap and we're all rooting for you Crown Guard!

I'm usually just a passive participant when it comes to this forum - especially since I'm a guard alum, but I'd like to throw in my 2 cents. As far as the new guard staff, I am optimistic about a smooth transition. Reason 1: Rick and Joey are coming from SCV and their guard program has been of the most subtle and classiest guards out there - what a treat to watch them this year. Mind you, the guard finished in 4th place, 5 tenths behind Carolina Crown. Even if we lose some current talent, they may bring over some equally talented folks. Reason 2: Joey is a Crown alum. His innovative choreography is refreshingly unique, and it's no surprise he was under the Michael Townsend tutelage. I'd be more worried if they were bringing in someone with a west coast style or any style that wasn't derivative of the Crown/midwest technique. Speaking of technique: I can't imagine that changing much either - catch tape position, warm-up techniques, etc. Overall, a lot of consistencies that will be there. Joey is not only talented but a nice guy - one of the qualities I loved about being in the crown guard. The staff were consistently positive, strict when they needed to be, but not irrationally intimidating. What better way than to have Crown family come back to preserve the guard's traditions? Best of luck to Joey and Rick and best of luck to Michael. I hope he can build Boston's program just like he did with Crown. What a turnaround he and the staff did after taking over in 2003!

From a (former Crown member) guard perspective: Holy heck the book this year that Michael has written for the guard is truly "relentless." This might be the most difficult book I've seen from Crown. The amount of unison tosses from the weapons, the slick movement underneath them, and the difficult catches - astonishing. And for the guard to be executing this well at the beginning of the season gives me hope that we won't see too much watering down for the sake of cleanliness. It's also refreshing to see so much unison work with the all parts of the guard. Movement as well is sharp and well-choreographed. I think the guard is hungry this year to bring the Zingali to Fort Mill, and I hope they continue to clean clean clean and reach a level of performance that goes beyond what BD magically brings every year. Speaking of BD, they've won the colorguard caption since 2008. I'm rooting for this year's crown guard to shake things up a bit (knock on wood). It's going to be fun watching them evolve this season. Best of luck!

Guard had an amazing run! That last flag feature just made a "GIMME THAT ZINGALI" statement.

I went to the show last night and conducted an impromptu "field study" of the fans around me. I sat around two high school group cliques. I was inspired to observe them because these band kids are the future of our activity. Whether they march or become lifelong fans, it's important that these shows affect them in ways my first drum corps show did. Here are some of my observations: Cavaliers and Madison Scouts still charm the girls. There's a reason they've stayed all boys. The high school girls around me were so giddy about both corps. During intermission, tons of blushing girls were getting their picture taken with one of Madison's military-dressed guard members. As high schoolers do, they were late coming back to the seats after intermission. No Bluecoats for them. I suspect a lot of souvie booth action going on and possibly a group trip to the bathroom. Tons of texting, facebooking, and miscellaneous smart phone usage during Phantom and Cadets. With kids these days, you gotta grab their attention right away or they'll do something else. SCV was smart to do a Les Mis show after the blockbuster hit because these kids were all about it. Even before they hit the field, they were giving their critique "If it's a Les Mis show then they HAVE to do (song) or (another song)." The girl in front of me was playing the game of "Oh, I recognized this song before all of you! I WIN." She was also dancing along, bobbing her shoulders up and down. On the opposite spectrum of recognizable music was Crown and Blue Devils. But there were major difference between the two. Similarities? The discussion of plumes. Kids notice the most random things. They were awed by the single very sharp plume on Crown's shako and the massive plume on the Blue Devil's shako. The differences? They were engaged with Crown from the start. Even if Crown's show is "intellectual" as some are saying, it's also downright stimulating. There's something visually or musically amazing happening every 30 seconds or so that really grabbed their short attention spans. When the Blue Devils entered the field, there was much discussion about the poles. These kids were really enjoying the first few minutes, even getting a pretty big entertaining chuckle out of the the corps tribal stomping to the drumset groove. But sadly after that, all went downhill. There wasn't much talking and some resorted to their phones again. At the end of the show, a girl giving a standing ovation turned to her seated friend (the same girl so into Les Mis) and asked, "Are you going to stand up?" The seated friend didn't say anything and just looked at her with an expression along the lines of, "B####, please." During the DCI Finals commercial, they all decided to plan a road trip to Indy. Let's see what their parents say about that... Leaving the stadium, I also heard some fan sound bytes. "What #### was that Blue Devils show?" "There was just too much #### going on. Didn't understand it." Two guys who sounded like Samuel Jackson giving a drum corps review. "Oh I think my favorite was... was... that Carolina Crown." "Oh yah, but I thought that ending was so stupid. Everything else was so thought out and then it got to that ending." A thick-accented Minnesotan family. I was tempted to butt in and say that the ending will probably change. I didn't. Well, there's my unscientific scientific study for you. Later I will probably write an in-depth review of the top guards, but for now, I wanted to give an objective observation of the shows.

Any chance you might know today's schedule, corpbands? They haven't posted to FB yet, and I want to plan a drive to the 'burbs to watch my old corps rehearse!

as a former guard member ('03-'06) I couldn't agree more. they've really outdone themselves this year on the book and design integration. plus, the talent in this year's guard is already starting to show the beauty of michael townsend's book. when his work is clean, the nuances to klesch's music are just perfect.

Based on the visceral response to the scores you'd almost think it was California Crown instead of Carolina! But, I'm happy to see they're making quite the impression on the west coast.

I know when it comes to crown the brass gets all the talk, but that guard - so much demand and they're pretty darn good for this early as well!

This was really fun to watch and while it doesn't compete at the level of difficulty of DCI, DCI can't compete with the sheer entertainment and mass appeal of this one performance. 3,823,776 views as of right now. All in 2 days. That's an amazing number to me. And while we continue to argue the entertainment value vs. art vs. new audience in the marching arts, at least we know 3,823,776 people were intrigued by this show. No one can argue with that. It's for sure starting to shape my POV on the activity's future. And one more thought: If OSU can learn this in two weeks, wouldn't it be cool if a corps could do a special exhibition halftime show at a major event that's fan-friendly?

Totally agree about fan interaction and social media - it can help launch the career of someone for the cost of nothing. I hope DCI continues to invite her to finals - maybe at one point she can convince one of her True Blood costars to come see the show with her.

I have to admit that I never heard of Janina Gavankar before but when DCI said she was on "True Blood" it piqued my interested and I googled her. Wow, I didn't realize her already successful Hollywood career and most importantly, her ties to Phantom Regiment (albeit for a very short time)! There were some (maybe two?) negative comments about her seemingly fake enthusiasm, but I personally think this was nice little move for DCI. She was tweeting updates to her 82,032 followers about each finalist's show in a way only a true drum corps fan could – and I'm sure most of those followers know nothing about drum corps. Well, they do now! Sure, it's a little bit of cross promotion gathering new fans for her, but in the end, we also have someone who's climbing the ranks of Hollywood and not afraid to geek out for drum corps. And to that I say, thanks Janina! To me, that's the magic of drum corps. I'm no Hollywood star, but I've been away from the activity for a few years and will never forget the amazing shows I witnessed or the amazing people I marched with. Now that the offseason is here, I really hope we can all spread the word of Drum Corps to newbies. Let's pack the stands in 2013. I have a feeling it will be a memorable season!

All legends were protégés at one point.

Just curious. What's the nod to Star 93 specifically? I think I can infer that they had a 2 am rehearsal as well? Help a young one out! Would love to hear about this.

True story. Sorry, I should've been more explicit. Your interpretation certainly explains it better. Thanks.

So I changed the topic to not have an age restriction, but I do still wonder if there are any young standouts out there. Klesch comes to mind when I think of this. From a DCI article: At just 23 years old, Klesch helped lead the Cadets to their third-straight championship title. “Michael’s contributions to the Cadets from 1981-1985 are the stuff that movies are made of,” Hopkins said. Certainly there are talented recent age-outs who are contributing on staff somewhere, right?

There's been much debate here about the relevancy of Drum Corps in today's generation, so my question is this – who are the folks making a name for themselves in the activity today? Obviously, the greats won't be working forever (e.g. Michael Gaines' break this year), so let's use this forum to recognize the next batch of folks to look out for in design, music, brass, percussion and guard. Here's how it goes: – Name – Age – Current corps where they're working or any other relevant job (DCI Headquarters, music composer, etc.) – 2 or 3 sentences on why you think they will be or currently are a big deal "These are the people who aren't waiting to reinvent the world. FORBES, leaning on the wisdom of its readers and the greatest minds in business, presents the 30 disrupters under 30, in each of 12 fields, making a difference right now." – Forbes Magazine's 30 under 30 list Note: So maybe I took the 30 under 30 a bit literal from other magazines (I just like the way it sounds, ok? ) but yes, feel free to mention who you think will be the next generation of hall of famers, regardless of age.

Hey, nice to meet you! Always great to meet people in the industry who also marched corps. Interesting points that I didn't know or didn't think about. If only we could be in a brainstorm session at DCI headquarters! I think we can both agree that DCI is long overdue for some outside opinion.

I think the packaging and marketing are hugely mis-focused, if there's any focus at all. There's no overall voice and look for the brand. It's obvious from the outdated 90's title sequence at the movie theater to each show's main website. How do they fix this? Well, they should revamp and create an overall brand and style guideline that every thing representing DCI must adhere to. From the programs at small town shows to Finals at Indy - everything should look and feel the same. This is one of DCI's biggest issues and keeping things consistent across the board will help distinguish the brand. As far as "fewer shows, bigger shows" I think DCI could still benefit from more shows due to lack of exposure on any big media buy – they just need to be more strategic and clever. DCI needs to rebuild strong relationships with each community it has shows in - no matter the size. If you've never heard of drum corps, it should still be an attractive Summer activity with the family that's similar to seeing the symphony in the park. They just need to be more creative about how they attract the community. This is just brain vomit as I type but here are a number of things they could do: - Corps have free days during the tour, how about each corps pledges to have one Good Samaritan free day(perhaps partner with AmeriCORPS?" During any tour stop of the corp's choice, the entire group will spend a day volunteering for habitat for humanity or at a local soup kitchen. Imagine what all those hands could do really help the community? And all the amazing press they would get before a show! After helping like that, I'm sure the community would love to see these kids in action on the field. - Create press packets so people running the local shows can have some ideas to reach out to their community and increase attendance. Could they set up an impromptu concert in the town square with a small brass ensemble from one of the top corps? Could the guard practice in town square? Is there another event in town that could do some cross promoting with the show? - Start thinking about how to utilize the offseason. Maybe DCI could hold a competition for 5 kids to win an all-expenses paid audition at any corps of their choice. Tell us why it's a dream of yours to audition for so-and-so corps. The best, possibly tear-jerking stories, would be featured and left for a community vote. Anyway, these are just a few thought starters. It takes a ton more time and brains to actually come up with a well thought out direction for a brand, but I really think DCI could benefit from taking a step back, recognizing its roots with the community and how to refresh it and make it relevant in the modern world.

Before I put in my 2 cents, here’s a bit of a background on me. I marched guard at Crown 03-06 and since my drum corps days I have been in the ad industry working as a creative for the past 5 years at AKQA and now, Leo Burnett. I’ve worked on national and global campaigns for Gap, Old Navy, Visa, Audi and Sprint. So with that said, here’s my pro bono advice/take on DCI nowadays. Right now, DCI seems to be targeting the die-hard fans and the music youth. They’re doing an o.k. job with that right now, but the downside is to this is that all of the language and advertising comes off as “insider” talk. So the challenge is this: how do we make drum corps accessible to new folks without dumbing down the activity? Some of the best tour stops I loved marching in were heavily involved the entire community (Bristol, Salem, Allentown to name a few). I remember families sitting in the grassy knoll, having picnics and watching drum corps. It looked like these families built summer traditions around them. That’s what I think DCI needs to start doing – no matter if you know what drum corps is or not, it’s a great summer activity to attend. Communities and towns come alive during the summer and as small as some of these tour stops are, a DCI event could be a big summer event to attend with the family. Allentown and Bristol are successful with their shows because while corps are there practicing they are completely immersed in the drum corps experience. The corps during these times are walking advertisements just by practicing downtown in Allentown and filling up the town with beautiful noise pollution or marching the Bristol 4th of July parade and getting the drunk crowd fired up. I believe that DCI can try to recreate this experience in every town at different scales and start making these shows a summer tradition for the entire community. Get the Mayors involved in these events, start sending out press releases to local newspapers, create town hall performances featuring key corps members, get popular local food vendors at the stadium, see if a local community organization wants to cosponsor, etc. Start pinning these DCI shows as great American Pastime events to attend during the summer. Each town is going to be different and if DCI starts building a relationship with each town, the end result will create a larger whole fan base. These people might not go to Indy for finals, but they’ll start making note of when the drum corps roll into town. As a former member I only wish the best for DCI and who knows, maybe in a few years when I’m in a high enough position I can offer up some pro-bono work to help the organization out in the name of continuing music education.

I'm going to take a stab at this after viewing the show about 3 or 4 times along with Klesch's comments. I'm going to try and explain it in the most simplistic way. Here goes: The show is separated into two parts - strength as an individual and strength as a group. First half one-liner analysis: Showing off the fight for good through superhuman strength of individuals and raw adrenaline-packed moments. I noticed in the first half of the show there are many solos/solis from the different ensembles whether it was a trio of hornline members playing or random guard members doing "superhuman" tosses and gymnastics. Also, the drill is a lot more frenetic in the front half and I assume when cleaned, will be a "controlled chaos." It's almost like each section is fighting for a different kind of "good." Second half one-liner analysis: Showing off the sheer power of a community fighting for the same good. The second half is where the corps comes together as, like Klesch said, a community and coincidentally, this is where we get all the delicious "ensemble" moments (see what I did there ). From ballad push to the monster dissonant to resolution chord in the end, we really see and more importantly hear the sheer power of what a community of people can do if they're fighting for the same good. The first half only teased us with these moments, albeit very powerful moments. And while the first half was a controlled chaos of individual strength, the second half becomes a more structured showcase of community strength, which I believe the cubes symbolize. With all of this said, I think as the show gets cleaner, the concept will get clearer. Even if you don't understand the concept, you're instinctively getting it - just look at how you're watching the show. The first half there are many quick but obvious focal points in the show where you're zeroing in on certain people or areas and in the second half you're watching the corps as a whole in really spread out drill – you feel this sense of combined power through the more unified playing, marching and spinning.There's a clear contrast between the two parts. I hope this is correct, Crown. If not, just pretend like it is. P.S. I'm going to reiterate everyone else's POV and say that I too believe this could be a real contender in August!

Ok, definitely just kidding about the title. But in all seriousness, I've decided to get back into an exercise routine since my days of drum corps (Crown Guard '03-'06), but oh geez do I feel like an old man! Obviously this activity puts a lot of stress on our bodies that rivals any athletic sport and I am definitely feeling it. So, does anyone have any tips on how to stay fit without creating too much stress? Here are some things I've been doing lately: cycling – i bought a road bike and my doctor says it's the perfect way to get a cardiovascular workout. he said it's also a great way to exercise if you have bad knees (just make sure your bike is fitted properly). jumping rope - 10 minutes of jumping rope is equal to 30 minutes jogging (less time to endure chin splints!) I also figured this would be a good topic for anyone aging out and coming off such a great season. Would love to hear anyone's tips on how you fought off the colossal "midnight food truck snack" routine. It's almost like quitting smoking!

Just felt the need to share this feelgood story: I'm a Crown alum(Guard 03 - 06) who now lives in San Francisco, specifically at Dolores Park. Anyway, as I was walking to back to my place from running errands, I noticed the SF Symphony was setup for a free concert in my "front yard". I didn't know what they were going to play, but from the guest speakers, I could tell it would be Latin-themed. Without any hesitation, I decided to relax and listen to this amazing orchestra before I stepped into my apartment. I'm so glad I did, because when the guest conductor positioned herself at the podium, the downbeat brought the first notes from Danzon! Sometimes it's hard living so far away from my alma mater corp and to hear one of my favorite orchestras play it was the perfect substitute. They're also playing New World Symphony and ending with an encore voted by the audience: Marriage of Figaro or Overture to Candide. Maybe they were also inspired by Crown 08? So if you're drum corps deprived like I am this summer, support your local symphony or music organization. It's very fulfilling and you're supporting a greater cause that drum corps is a part of – the arts. P.s. saw loads of people filming this concert so I expect it to be on one of them user generated content sites sooner or later...

this really cracked me up. when i marched crown, the staff always emphasized this when we dropped our flags during a wind show or rehearsal. all in all a fantastic review! (and thanks for giving a subtle kudos to crown 2003 – that was the first year i marched guard there.)

From their website: A Second Chance What if you had the ability to take another shot at a decision, opportunity, or moment? How might choosing a different direction lead to alternate opportunities? Performing musical selections inspired by these possibilities, the corps’ repertoire includes the Second Symphonies of Mahler and Khatchaturian, Danzon No.2 by Marquez; as well as Elgar’s Nimrod, a classically reflective piece that hints at the Second movement of Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique. Conceptual motifs, a richly coordinated palette, and a touch of nostalgic detail will further illustrate this romantic, yet existential, theme. Carolina Crown 2010 proudly presents: “A Second Chance.” Repertoire: “A Second Chance” Symphony No.2 by Gustav Mahler Symphony No.2 by Aram Khatchaturian Danzon No.2 Arturo Marquez Nimrod ‘from Enigma Variations’ by Edward Elgar Symphony No.2 by Gustav Mahler