TimbreDeBrass

This recap was all over the board in comparison to last night.

I really hope they can make a strong reappearance in finals like they did in 08. Few corps can do what the Blue Stars did in 08 (in relation to their placement the previous year) and it can happen again.

No kidding, a G8 corps to out of finals is a rough jump down, I hope that they can bring back the heat next year and retain their staff.

Beautiful sounds from everyone! Seems like a repeat of 09 unfortunately

Dear Mr. Michael Boo, I read through your dialogue with Mr. Mendoza tonight and I have to say I really enjoyed what I saw. The detail that was put into explaining elements from each performing corps was great and I loved the touch of humor that you two guys put in. I did not see any "biased" comments that promoted any specific corps over others (I understand that this is a joke between you and Mr. Ream here on the forums :P). I understand that you are just trying to do your job to the best of your ability and for me to make an accusation like I did on a public forum was wrong and immature. I hope those who viewed my previous post will see this post as well. I hope everyone had a great time seeing the wonderful corps tonight, they really came to perform and I'm certain that this weekend will be filled with plenty of excitement. ~ J. Michael

I love marching band kids! They know so much about drum corps and show it in their mature comments and judgements!

"Who's your Dada" - Steve Radeneiro "Really?" - Will Pitts

As good as the crossmen may sound, they hardly move.... at all (comparing them to the corps above them). When they do move it is dirty. They'll have to pick up that visual score if anything is to happen. I too think that the crossmen have a great show, but it just isn't finals material yet in my book. Maybe next year bones. In all honesty though, the crossmen came out of no where. I recall listening to them last year and they were decent but kind of an earsore. This year they really turned things around and picked up the pace, props to them and I've got to think there have to be some very proud alumni out there. I was very surprised at the spread between Blue Stars and Spirit, at the last show Blue Stars actually beat Spirit, must have been indeed a rough run. Reasons why Stars will keep their finals spot - Percussion Score - Colorguard Score - Aggressive and demanding program visually as well as musically

I don't think cavies performed at a level that could have compared to the other 6 above them, they were just too strong imo. When Michael Gaines retired, there were huge shoes to fill.

Here is the judging panel for tonight courtesy of Michael Boo GE Visual – Frank Morris and Kyle Miller GE Music – John Bell and Jeff Harper Visual Proficiency – Chris Moss Visual Analysis – Sal Adamo Color Guard – Robert Solomon Brass – Steven Page Music Analysis – Albert Lo Percussion – JJ Pipitione

Prelims have started! Tell me what you see and hear!

That looks like an excellent finals panel!

Nice fall but excellent recovery! Points be added to this good sir!

Let's go band corps! Those drum and bugle bands are GREAT!

The answer is, where have you been for years? I'm fairly certain there are countless threads in this forum that bring this topic up. My argument would say yes, but the activity is so subjective and prone to human judging something that is highly competitive (yes I did say HUMANS because as a human we will all have a bias related to something that we feel so strongly about).

Retention is key, it's what the corps below G8 status struggle with most because members either have A) A One and Done done policy or B) they move up to another corps after gaining experience The Cadets had over 50% new horn-line members in 2010, and the boasted a solid product. What mattered is that most of those members came back and look what happened last year.

I'll be in that theater with a big screen and a projector and a whole lot o' drum corps! All that matters baby!

Call me Mr. Buzz Killington, but I don't think any of these are going to happen. 1. Crown has a fantastic product, but BD has a better product(and they are cleaner than a bunch of mirrors wiped with windex <--- see what I did there?). As much as the crowd may want crown to win, it just isn't going to happen. 2. The Cavaliers will likely not place out of the top 8 as they beat both madison AND boston at the last regional. There is that attitude of cockiness amongst the men of the green machine that says "we won't let this happen". 3. As much as people also want to see Crossmen in finals, it just isn't going to happen. The two corps above them are just too solid as the gap was opened quite large at the last competition, They would have significant ground to make up before semi's. 4. The Cadets will place above Phantom to take 3rd place because of 1 big reason - Percussion. As high as phantom is scoring, to see that they got 17.1 in the percussion caption at the last competition shows that not everything about that corps is box 5 material.

Music Ensemble seems to be an element they are struggling with, I hope they can clean it up before finals. That percussion caption head is doing wonderful things for the blue stars, now only if they can keep staff on board for next year.

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Mr. Ream, how is someone supposed to know that they don't like something until they don't read it or further examine it? That's like a professor failing a student without reading their essay, it just doesn't make sense.

I'm not resting this solely on Michael Boo's shoulders because I think his works are well written and well done. I still feel that he "picks" favorites. Here is one sentence from the notecard inside the 2011 finals DVD - "Boston Crusaders knocked the Blue Stars out of the eight place position that the corps had enjoyed for the last three years. Also above the Blue Stars finished the Blue Knights and Madison Scouts". It's not about what he said (he stated mere fact), it's how he said it. Again, by no means am I saying this is limited to people like Boo; I've sensed that there have been many people rooting for only a few select corps and others are getting left in the dust. I can name a few other than just the Blue Stars. I also think that in relation to the podcasts that Dan Potter puts out for DCI are also focused on a few select corps. I recall listening to a podcast last year that was about 20 minutes in length and 11 or so minutes of the podcast was dedicated the Blue Devils. Why not split up that time and dedicate it to talking about the top 12? Perhaps there could be some talk about the corps that are in the running for the top 12 as well. It could mean only speaking about a corps for a minute and a half, but I think this is sufficient for 1 podcast, as they came out on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. Even the video that was shown at DCI finals last year showed more scenes of BD, Crown, SCV and Cadets then all of the other corps combined. As much as you guys disagree, I DO believe DCI can do a better job promoting each corps equally.

I love getting flamed for making a statement, even when I do turn out right in the end. Even so, I won't rest on my lorals, finals week gets CrAzY

I've concluded over the past few years that neutrality is almost completely gone from DCI. It's even evident with DCI's own media and press that favorites are picked. I'm even looking at the card inside my 2011 DCI Championships DVD and bias is shown. Agree or Disagree? You decide

Alas! Doth this man's train-ed eye persist? The judges seem to think so! I sense a peak starting to form!