DCISuperfan

I think after there 3 rehearsal days in a row, and the new ending getting cleaned, Cavaliers will take it by a little bit. Doesnt really matter though, considering BD is like at 99 right now.

lol I love the people that are fanboys for the bluecoats, especially when they say just one word, "nope." It makes me laugh. I honestly dont know if cavaliers can catch up, I think they will but I dont know. They are working like crazy on those music scores, and soon as they can get their hornline up there in the top 3, the rest of the package will follow suit, because their musical scores are really the only thing holding them back.

Why does the Alamodome offer superior sound to lucas oil? What is different?

Being in Utah I dont get to go to that many drum corps shows, but the last two years at Corps Encore in Ogden Brandt was not the announcer. I can understand that he does not make it to every show, but has he retired? Is he still announcing world finals this year? I tried to google this but not much came up.

Living in Utah with the extremely disappointing amount of shows involving anything other than SCV, BK, and BD I still have not seen the Cavaliers yet this season. When I look at the score recaps though, they are always 3rd in music or lower, what is happening with that hornline? Are they just not that impressive or is the competition really that fierce? Taking 2nd place with a 4th place hornline is a little strange. Do you think that they will improve a bunch by finals and maybe move into the top 2 for music or what?

2004 Cavaliers. That James Bond music was performed so amazingly lol

lol alright well I am getting the consensus that its a definite no! Just wondering people

In case the topic wasnt clear, I basically want your opinions on whether or not you think the final score, the one that sticks in everyones head, should be an average of the three finals nights. It seems to me that when we have a corps do super ultra amazing on one night and then not as well on another it diminishes the skill of the group. Look at finals 2008, Phantom just came in with a fervor and destroyed everyone on finals night, but the two nights before that BD had it in the bag. Should the scores have been averaged to give a more accurate score? It just seems that Semi Finals and Quarter Finals are a waste of time when they dont even matter that much to the top corps, it is more for the corps fighting over getting into finals. If this is the case, why even have the top ten compete? Am I even making any sense here?

I auditioned for the Cavaliers last november. My high school band marched straight leg on forwards and backwards marching (on the toes backwards) and the change to bicycle step for the cavaliers was not difficult for me at all. The backwards march is exactly the same as the forwards bicycle step except its reversed. Your knee's pop out, foot comes back on the toes first, rolls down on the foot, and finishes with the heel on the floor. Your next foot comes down when your foot has rolled through and is only on its heel (at one point only the toes of one foot and the heel of your other should be on the ground). The back march is definitely more difficult than the forward march is although it is not that difficult of a transition. Marching and playing are two different things though. In the audition you have to play a scale exercise while marching so learn how to do a box drill with this marching technique while you are playing whole notes. Needless to say I got a 2+ on the musical audition and a 1- on the visual audition but didnt make it =( and I cant do it next year so I dont think I will be able to march drum corps. =""""(

So I am getting the consensus here that shows need to be judged on how it is presented rather than what is presented. I do not totally agree here though. I do not think an easy show that is very clean should necessarily win. The shows that are very difficult and yet still clean, but not as much, need to be represented in some fashion. Whether this be a "difficulty" spot on the judging sheets or some other method, I think that difficulty needs to factor in somewhere. If this was to be implemented, I think that we would have shows that are even more competitive. Instead of the "lets make this very clean/lets make this push the activity" split there would be more of "lets see how far we can take this activity, because thats what is required to win". But I might just be up in the night as well

I guess what my question is, is there a difference between these two types of shows? On the one hand the judges will always favor a show that is very well executed and very clean. On the other hand are the shows that are just completely enjoyable to watch, very difficult to get 100% clean due to the difficult nature of them, and tough to compete with. I believe that there are times where a show can be both very clean and very fun to watch, but it seems that in marching music (not just drum corps) that the staff has to sit down and ask, Do we want to make a show that we will be able to get perfect by the end of the season, or do we want to make a show that will push the limits of the activity? Should corps that focus just on pumping out super squeaky clean shows be rewarded with a title when they are not pushing the limits of the activity? Should a show that is very easy, very clean, and somewhat exciting win? Im not talking about BD here, just any shows in general. I have marched in the Davis High Marching Band here in Utah for 3 years, and every year we would take the "very difficult to get clean, but very exciting" approach to the activity. We would never win against our competitors because even though our show was exciting, and often an audience favorite, it just was simply not as clean or easy as the bands that took first. Should there there be (or perhaps make them more critical in the judging process) spots on judging sheets in which crowd appeal and overall difficulty of the show factor in? What do you guys think?

BERPS have their place, I used them all throughout my 3 years of marching band. The only reason you would get one is it to march with your horn and buzz at the same time. They dont do anything more than that. You can use your fingers to block the airflow to open your windpipe just as much as the BERP can, you just cant play the fingerings alongside it. If you can get one for 5-10 bucks I would get one, but if you cant find anything under 20-30, I dont think it is worth it.

Lame. This is my first year actually going to Finals. I have been to numerous drum corps events, but I have yet to go to finals. It really sounds that bad? Or is it like not as good as outdoor, but still great?

I was not at finals last year and therefore didnt get to experience how the corps sounded in a closed off dome stadium. Was the reverb from the walls/ceiling bad, or was it a better venue than fully outside stadiums? What do you guys think?

How were the cavalier's shows more similar to one another than any of the other corps? They brought new drill, new music, new guard work and new percussion each time... isnt that what every corps does? I find that cavaliers are almost every year, my favorite corps to watch (perhaps not listen) but watch because their drill is so clean and cool to see in motion. I thought that they switched it up quite a bit from 2000-2006. Go watch the shows again, each show is unique and has its own feel. Just because BD brings a new prop or gimick every year doesnt make each of their shows more unique, it just brings something new to the table, just as the cavaliers do. Each corps has its own feel, and cavaliers definitely has its feel as well.

Newseditor44, why do you think that this isnt a good year? You cant say that you think its gonna be a bad year and then just not say anything afterward. I think that this year is going to be pretty dang epic when it comes right down to it all.

It is pretty obvious (to me at least) that 2010 is shaping up to be a better year for Drum Corps than 2009 was, but do you think 2010 is going to be a better year than 2008 or 07? What do you guys think?

Im not understanding you guys here. I guess I am a nooby to Drum Corps (watched pretty much every show from every corps from 2000 onward) but I am not understanding your predictions here. Almost every one of you is thinking that BD will take first, and I am having a hard time thinking that they will get anything higher than third. I think crown has it this year, with bluecoats behind them, BD in third, Cavaliers/Cadets in forth and so on. I dont understand either why everyone is thinking that Cavaliers will take like 5-7th? Their show this year is really really good in my mind, it just needs to get (very badly) cleaned up and tuned. Everyone is already counting them out, and I am a HUGE cavalier fan. Any help?

It depends, but usually I am going to have to say I want the show that I think is best to win. Call me crazy but I like to see those who I think are amazing succeed lol I couldnt stand BD show last year with the chairs, it just was too radical in my mind. I thought crown deserved the win easilly, and even though I knew that BD was overall better, it made me mad because I thought Crown's show was the epitome of the activity, whereas BD was just out of the box creativity. I really hope that BD doesnt win this year, because their show is very similar to last years (at least in my mind)