CrossmenAlumni

CROSSMEN Mark Thurston 1984-1996 Thom Hannum 1997-1999 John Cypert 2000 Lee Beddis 2001-2004

There has always been something about the Cadets that screams "AMERICANA," from the classic West Point-style uniforms to the decades of tradition and excellence which helped push the activity forward into new and exciting realms. It has been my honor to pay tribute to this iconic American corps in a pseudo-impressionistic style. It would be an ideal gift for Cadets members or alumni, or for any passionate drum corps fan. It’s acrylic on a 16” x 20” canvas and I’m selling for $250. If interested, or if you know someone else who may be interested, please send me a private message. Thanks!

(bump!) Item is still available. 😊

I believe the Iron Cross only lasted two seasons as the Crossmen feeder corps, 1979-1980. In 1979, their Class A Championship score in Birmingham, AL was (drum roll, please) .....12.05, good for 18th (and last) place In 1980, their score improved a whopping two points at the same event to a 14.05, but alas they dropped to 21st (and still last) place And this was under the tick system. I can only imagine what the judges' comments were like on the tapes or sheets. A guy who marched in the Crossmen in those days told me that he never remembered seeing the Iron Cross practicing all that much back then, but apparently they did like to play frisbee a lot!

Many people know that the Crossmen were formed in 1975 as a merger corps between two long-time southeast Pennsylvania rivals, the Keystone Regiment and the 507th Hornets. They may also know that the name "Crossmen" was derived from the 507th American Legion Post in Norwood, PA, which was named after a World War I veteran named John Wesley Cross. What they might not know was that it was the members themselves of this new "supercorps" who actually chose the Crossmen name in a "Name The Corps" contest. Below is the actual sheet of paper with the many suggested names for the corps and a check mark next to the eventual winner. I've always loved this bit of history because the members were so inventive with their suggestions. And some of these names make me wonder "what if" in a very delightful way (#12, #26, #39 and especially #43!). Enjoy!

When you think "early 90's Crossmen," you think drumline, and for me as a horn player in those corps, I cannot begin to describe the pure joy it felt to play our show with that amazing drumline laying down a groove behind us. Nobody looked or sounded like them. They were completely unique in the activity. This is my tribute to those Crossmen drumlines, and it would be a perfect gift for Crossmen members or alumni, or for any passionate drum corps fan. It’s acrylic on a 16” x 20” canvas and I’m selling for $250. If interested, or if you know someone else who may be interested, please send me a private message. Thanks!

OK, I've slept on this and decided to say a few things here... 1) The Crossmen have had their issues with design AND performance the past several years, and hanging the star on *only* one of those aspects as being THE single reason the corps has faced some struggles is foolish. Last year, in particular, I believe was a complete and total organizational programming miscalculation on a grand scale at nearly every level, and couldn't have come at a worse time. But I stand by what I said in that if you want to be a finalist corps, you have to be able to perform and achieve at a certain level. Having one section clearly not at that level hurts your chances, having two sections not at that level really puts you against a wall, having more than that and you have no earthly reason to even talk about laying the blame at the designers (or one specific designer) for holding you back. Design can help you or hinder you when you're in that range and you're at or near finalist caliber performance levels in all captions, but I don't believe the corps has been at that point in a long time. 2) The Crossmen have been, are, and always will be THE BONES, no matter what music they play, what color their uniforms are, where they call home, or what place they come in, period, end of sentence. 3) The implication that some people are making that Carol Chambers is the reason why the Crossmen have not replaced Aaron Guidry due to her being married to the corps director is ludicrous. It's flat-out 100% wrong, not to mention over the line. 4) Bob, my initial gut reaction to some of your comments led me to believe that there was something you weren't telling us that was making this come off as a bit too personal. I mean you're certainly not the first person on DCP to rail against Aaron Guidry as an arranger. He's an easy and popular target around here. But the relentlessness of your attacks and some of the wording made me pause a bit and wonder what could possibly be motivating it all. As is usually the case, people come forward offline and start filling in the gaps, and well, it's starting to seem clear to me that you do have a very personal axe to grind here with the Crossmen administration. Whether that situation is completely behind you or not, I'm not sure and care not to speculate. It does, however, color your comments with a slightly different brush to my eyes. I'm sorry if things with the corps and you didn't work out the way you had hoped. Especially since you're an alumnus and former instructor. And you have every right to voice your displeasure with the arranging team as not being good enough for your tastes, or for what is being reflected in the scores. The corps has issues, that much is certain. They're working to figure those things out, and as they move forward, they'll have a lot of tough decisions to make. They know it. All I'll say is that I hope you have a great summer, Bob, and I'd like to think that despite whatever personal history or disagreements there are between you and the corps administration, you (and everyone here) could at least wish the Crossmen members the best as they continue working hard and trying to make their 2010 show the best it can be. 5) The following is a general comment and not necessarily directed at anyone specific in this thread. When it comes to alumni ranting about their corps online, it's a tricky situation for me. On one hand, I totally understand where they're coming from, as their comments are almost always coming from an area of caring deeply about what's going on with their corps. They've invested much of themselves in their corps and have earned the right to voice their displeasure if they see or hear something they don't like. On the other hand, I also believe in venting frustration and disagreements in the right place at the right time and in the right venue. Hiding behind anonymous screen names on Drum Corps Planet, to me, is none of that. Especially when that anonymity allows the speaker to be more inflammatory in their comments and more personal in their attacks than they would ever be if people knew who they really were. It's the nature of internet message boards like this. And to be clear, there are most certainly aspects of the current Crossmen situation that I'm not pleased with. I don't always agree with the things my corps does, or has done over the years. I almost left the corps (and drum corps altogether!) after my second year as a member because there were things that really upset me in how things were run. But I like to think that whatever issues I may have with my corps, I can discuss them in such a way, and using the appropriate channels, as to not cause any collateral damage to the people I least want to hurt, and that is the members of the corps itself. Sometimes, they are the ones caught in the crossfire and all they're doing is the best they can with this drum corps thing they've gotten themselves wrapped up in. Yeah, they're big boys and girls and they can handle criticism. But when some of the stuff they read is so nasty and inflammatory, and they see that it's coming from their own alumni, it erodes away at the very relationships and emotional bonds they're trying to build to their own drum corps. When it comes to the Crossmen and their alumni, we're dealing with a very rocky situation to begin with. The formal relationship there has never been consistently solid, and we have so much work to do in order to make the Crossmen alumni collectively a more giving, more viable and stable, and genuinely more reliable group that the Crossmen can count on in good times and bad. And despite disagreements, I believe that alumni should be able to put things aside and be there for their corps when the time comes. That's all I have to say here. I'm done playing the online game debating with anonymous screen names and getting worked up over stuff like this. I've been doing this far too long and spent far too much time with it as it is. I love discussion, I love debate, but sometimes it becomes too much of people talking at each other and not to each other. There's so much work to be done with the Crossmen and the Crossmen Alumni Association, that I feel my time would be much better spent in that direction. We're working on a series of things right now and in the coming months that will hopefully strengthen the ties we have to the corps, and help grow our own organization both in our geographic birthplace in southeast Pennsylvania, as well as in the corps' new home in the southwest. Hope to see many of you at some shows or down the road sometime. (Great to read your post, Chuck!) Coming Full Circle Bye DCP. All the best,

I'll disregard the comment that I was somehow disrespecting Jim Prime. I wasn't, never intended to, and you simply took it the wrong way. We'll disagree on 2008. I thought that show was designed well enough musically that a stronger and more well executed musical ensemble would have propelled them into finals. But on the last point, we just won't be seeing eye to eye and we should probably stop trying to continue this conversation. In my experience teaching drum corps over the years and dealing with the judging community, excellence is the single biggest factor that bleeds into all other captions. And when you're in that zone of corps from 12-17, it is THE biggest determinant to getting the nod over someone else. Excellence IS effect. We obviously won't agree here. Have a great day.

All I have to say is that for each of those years, I can think of only one section in the corps that even remotely resembled finalist performance calibre on a consistent basis, and that was the 2008 color guard. I'm not saying that the music design has been great all those years, either. But I am saying that focusing on just that one aspect when there are other issues at hand as well is short-sighted. If the corps can't march or play or drum or spin consistently well, it won't matter if Aaron Guidry is writing the parts or if Jim freaking Prime is. They've got a lot of decisions to make in the off-season, in a lot of different areas, and they know this. Why don't we all just wish them well for the rest of summer, and see how things shake out?

Year four. And year one with the current design team around him, and YES, I think that does make a difference. Also year one of having more direct guidance from other people on the design team assisting him with that arranging process. You seem to think four years is enough, that there is absolutely no promise or worth in anything he's given them, and should be discarded. They obviously disagree and are willing to mix and match some of the supporting pieces and see if they can make something happen with him. Maybe they'll move on if it doesn't work out in the end this year. I really don't know. Regardless, I think Aaron Guidry is a very gifted musical arranger who is learning and adapting and gradually getting better at what he does in the DCI arena. I know I enjoy this show musically more than anything the corps has done since he started arranging for them in 2007.

A combination of a lot of things. It was not the best winter in terms of recruiting and they've had problems filling those last few spots as far back as spring training. When I saw them back in June, they had people working into those spots, and some of them just didn't pan out and quit. Then other kids got injured and more holes opened up. It happens. I don't know if they have people for some of those spots right now and they're just not all the way through the show yet, but I know from experience that jumping into a spot mid-tour can be one of the most stressful and least enjoyable experiences for both the member trying to learn the show and the staff who has to get him in there. When I had to get a kid through the show like that when I was on staff, we often had kids come in, learn part of the show, decide it wasn't for them and quit. And this was when the corps was a solid finalist. It's a difficult process and can be very frustrating for everyone involved.

When you're a solid finalist corps or gunning for a championship, I would agree. But you can't get into that conversation until you can march well, spin well, play well, drum well, and play in time together. They're just too inconsistent right now in just about every area of the game. We'll see how it shakes out in a month. Blue Stars? Blue Knights? Crown? Madison? Some advanced quicker than others. Some built pieces here, added some pieces later, some are doing well but still will be looking to address certain needs in the next year or two, which is what I've been saying. You're basically putting the Crossmen at YEAR ONE of their current design team coming off a horrendous season against corps that, for the most part aside from Madison, have been building and building and tweaking and adjusting for YEARS from where they started from on their current developmental journey. I can't state it enough: these things take time, and the developmental journey the corps is on right now will be changing and adjusting as the next few years roll on. Maybe Guidry is a part of that process, maybe he's not. I'm willing to see how certain things play out. But one thing I know the Crossmen need to do to help their chances--- march better, play better, spin better, and drum better, period.

Sounds like you have an as-of-yet-unspoken axe to grind here with either Mr Guidry himself or Mr Chambers for deciding to give him another crack as arranger for this year's show. The fact is, they didn't bring him back out of blind loyalty. There's more to it than that. They assembled a design team this year and brought in a show designer who has had a successful track record with Mr Guidry that previous design teams did not have. They're giving it a shot and seeing if they can work together and make something happen. Maybe they make a change next year, maybe they don't. But there's a lot of background information I'm missing from you and your comments that make me question the real motivation behind much of what you say. That's just my initial gut reaction to what I'm reading. As for Crown, yes they are a shining example of what can be done when you reorganize and find all the right pieces at the right time. Only, they are more the exception rather than the rule. As I said, if it were an exact science, more corps would be able to figure it out. For most corps, you have to piece it together one little bit here, then another bit a year later, then maybe fill in some gaps two years after that, while trying to stay on a path that brings you more success slowly and incrementally.

Thanks for stating this. I agree with much of what you said. It's generally accepted that making it into the top 12 these days is more about how well you perform your show rather than what you perform. They're very inconsistent performers right now, as to be expected with so many new and young members. Also, you are dead on about Aaron Guidry listening to and appreciating feedback, good and bad. He knows what the criticisms are, and from what I know about him, he cares very deeply about the Crossmen and giving them a great product. He has also been very receptive to having experienced drum corps programmers and designers help him address those issues and get better at what he does. He's an easy target for the critics, and a popular target (it seems) for many DCP folk. I suggest they actually try and talk to the guy. I think they may be surprised at how accessible he can be.

I agree, and I *THINK* that's the area they eventually will wind up going into. Maybe not with that exact kind of jazz, but with more of a jazz slant to what they present musically than most other corps do. It will be interesting to see what happens.

That's a bit too simplistic a take on it, I think. Jazz can be very exciting in drum corps if done properly. And there's the rub. It's VERY hard to pull off, and that's one of the big reasons why a lot of corps stay away from building an entire show around it programmatically these days. Even the Blue Devils. They pick and choose their spots to go all out with it, and when they do, it's usually some of the best and most exciting stuff on the field.

I don't disagree, but it seems they're going in the direction of NOT flailing about indiscriminately with this show. They're actually going back to an area that they've had success with before and trying to make it their own in a rapidly changing activity. Their success or failure will depend on whether or not they can 1) make this show as exciting and entertaining and competitively viable as they can for this season, and 2) whether they can provide an experience for their members that is fulfilling and fun and enjoyable and makes them want to return. They'll make changes and alterations to their staff and design team as any other corps will do, but they have to start somewhere. Unfortunately, they fell off so badly last year, they've made the road for themselves longer and more difficult, but they're doing what they have to do to turn it around. Quick, tell me what was Carolina Crown's identity and style before 2003? I think you'd probably get a number of different answers on that one, and a lot of vagueness, but not much in the area of a solid style or identity. Then they came out with their bells show and made a commitment to a certain direction. Was that show anything great in the big scheme of things that season? No. It was OK. Not great, not bad. Decent, smartly put together, appropriate for their talent and staff. They finished 10th with an 86 something. If it was 2010 and that exact corps had done that exact show, guess where they would be? In the 13th-17th range trying to make finals. I think the Crossmen have some strong pieces in place to be successful, and I also think they have some areas of glaring need. They're aware of this and working to address those areas. As I keep saying, this is going to take some time. You mix and match, you try certain things, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. It's not an exact science. If it were, a whole lotta other corps would have figured it our by now and it wouldn't have taken corps like Bluecoats, Blue Stars and Crown this long to get where they are (and where they seem to be going!).

OK, I'll play... It's easy to armchair quarterback, and they certainly have their issues for sure. Definitely not above being criticized. But a couple things I'd like to address: 1) They ain't moving back to PA. It's silly to even bring it up. 2) They ARE young and inexperienced. They can do a better job of recruiting and attracting more talent in the state, IMO, but that's a conversation for another day, and for the people who are more directly involved. They took a hit with a lot of vets jumping ship after last year and they're dealing with the fallout. A return to a show and some music the corps has had success with before was not, to me, the wrong idea. The members seem to really like it. Fans seem to be liking it more and more. We'll see how it goes by the end of the year. 3) Arrangements. I'm an enormous Pat Metheny fan. I marched in the 1991 Crossmen Metheny show, I taught the 1998 and 2002 Metheny shows. You're going to hear a lot of differing opinions when it comes to his music. I know many '91 folks who hate the '98 show. I know many '98 folks who hate the '02 show. You're not going to please everybody, especially when you decide to play music that the corps has played before. Comparisons are inevitable. I'm sure a lot of '84 Cadets and their fans hated the 2009 version of WSS. It happens. All they can do is work to make this the best and most exciting show for them THIS YEAR, and not worry about comparisons to corps from the past. And when you choose to play songs like Heat of the Day and First Circle in drum corps, you're talking about two songs that are like 10 minutes long each. You have to chop them up to some degree. Will anything be like the 1998 show when it was about 95% faithful to the original arrangements? No. Drum corps has changed. His music is amazing. It's also repetitive and has phrases that sometimes take an extremely long time to develop. Listen to the '98 First Circle and that wonderful pit feature in the middle. Some of my favorite stuff ever. Was it absolutely necessary for them to play through essentially the same very long phrase TWICE however? Not really. I'm glad they did and it worked back then reasonably well, but they didn't absolutely have to. The show may have moved along more quickly, perhaps, if that second nearly identical phrase was cut out. My guess is the same kind of treatment of keeping all that repetition in would not work in today's DCI. One thing that gets hammered these days, right or wrong, is when a show is too laboriously paced. Too much time developing phrases and the show is perceived to lag. Do I agree with it? Not always, but sometimes I do. That's why Metheny's music is so difficult to translate to the field, and that's why so few corps have been able to pull it off with any degree of success. As it is, all I was looking for from these arrangements for the modern day Crossmen was for them to capture the spirit and overall sound of Metheny as best as a modern corps could do. I actually think First Circle is the best thing in the show. I think it's about as faithful to what those particular phrases should sound like as I could have expected. He really doesn't mess with them much at all. The other tunes he takes more liberties (mostly in Minuano), but each song has their moments when it sounds as much like Metheny as it's supposed to. When he deviates, I think he's at least deviating in the right area, especially since the First Circle rhythm and melody are SUPPOSED to be what tie the show together. It's hard for me to knock the arranger for going back to those melodies when that's what the show is about. The circle is the whole point, visually and musically. With that in mind, I think the arrangements are suitable, way more often than not. 4) Excellence is what is currently keeping them back. A lot of that is inexperience, some of that is getting used to new staff, but that's where they're at as a drum corps right now. Inconsistent performance. Average talent. Again, would people think differently about this corps right now if all those vets who left to march other places came back and the corps was performing a lot better? I actually think they would. I like the show. It's pretty no nonsense stuff. The Crossmen. Pat Metheny. No story lines. No vampires. No narration. No abstract ideas or preaching concepts. It's all pretty simple to understand. And to be honest, as concerned as I was before I heard the show this year, when I got there and listened, it brought a smile to my face just hearing those songs coming from the corps again. Call me sentimental and naive if you like. All I expected and hoped for from the Crossmen this year was for me to like what they were doing on the field. I could always stand for better execution, but I actually like this show, and I'm a bit surprised more people don't. And maybe I'm just listening too much to the DCP folks on this. I haven't seen them perform live since their preview show in San Antonio, so I have no idea how crowds are reacting to them. Maybe more people like it than people are giving them credit for. All I know is that I like it, and based on what I know of the members, they like performing it. 5) Style and identity. People have been asking about it, wondering if the corps knows what it is or where they want to go creatively. I think this is the first year of trying to re-establish an identity. It's not going to happen in one year, and I think if they use this as the foundation, they can build upon it in years to come. Whether that means bringing in new designers as they do, or tweaking staff here and there, as I would expect, then that's what will happen. But for me, this is the closest show to what I want to see from the Crossmen as a fan and alumni than anything they've done so far since moving to Texas. And you can throw in the last several years up north as well. You can't change the world with this stuff in one season. This will take some time, and I get the sense from talking to those involved that they are using this to build forward. I'm willing to give it a chance. If people somehow expect to wake up tomorrow and see them look and sound just like the 1992 Crossmen, they're going to be disappointed. They deserve to find their own way in a rapidly changing activity. They do respect and honor the Crossmen corps of the past, and find great motivation by what those corps represent, but I think it's entirely appropriate for them to find their own voice and direction. They dropped the ball last year in a big way. They're paying the price for that and are trying to rebuild. Give it time.

For the record, the only shows that matter when discussing stuff like this are the shows where the corps in question face each other head to head. In the large regional events in 2008, the Crossmen finished 12th in San Antonio, and 12th in Atlanta. I have a hard time classifying Allentown the same way, because despite having the same panels, we're still talking about two different nights. The Crossmen and Madison did not perform on the same night in Allentown that year, but for argument sake let's imagine they did and it was a full corps line up of 17 or 18 corps. The Crossmen would have finished 12th there as well. In all three regionals, the Scouts came in (or would have, in the case of Allentown) 13th. So I'm not sure where this whole 10th place thing is coming from. It certainly isn't reflected in the scores from that summer. The two corps in question, the Crossmen and the Scouts, were pretty much sitting at 12th and 13th all summer long, and neither one very far from the other at any given point score-wise. In the end, Madison peaked at the right time and made it in. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it won't be the last. You keep going on about them "wanting it more," but I think that's a bunch of nonsense. Besides being something that is totally and completely unquantifiable, we're talking about two corps who were greatly flawed in several areas. When you weigh the strengths and weaknesses of two very similar competing corps, it's not surprising to see something happen like what took place. And despite my obvious allegiances, I certainly have no problems with how it all turned out because I've ALSO got years of experience in the activity and I know how things go. But the whole "they wanted it more" argument falls flat for me because it implies that the other corps simply didn't care or didn't work their behinds off, when I know for a fact that isn't true. They cared deeply and they busted their butts to get that 12th spot. It's insulting to suggest otherwise. The reality is that it's a competition. They came up just short. It happens, and it has little if nothing to do with their "desire."

Nothing that I know about. We rehearsed in Newark, DELAWARE at one point, but no prior associations with Newark, NJ.

The 2009 Crossmen cymbal line standing in front of American Legion Post #507 in Norwood, PA...

All excellent points, and to be fair, the first year in 2007 they only held a San Antonio audition. In 2008 or 2009, I believe they added one in Dallas. And then one the following year in Houston. As stated several times, it takes time to figure out what's working and they've only really been at it for three complete seasons. This is something that I don't believe we'll see what really comes from it until they're down there for at least five or six years and it becomes part of the culture in the state. Also realize that in 2007, if I'm not mistaken, YEA was still peripherally involved in the running of camps and such, so that may have had an impact as well. And I don't mean for this thread to diverge into a whole YEA thing, because that's not at all what this is about. That chapter has been closed and I'd prefer to keep the discussion focused on the Crossmen of today and what they're doing and what they can do in the future to make their footprint in the state of Texas larger and more beneficial for them. Again, thanks for the great discussion!

I think we're both agreeing in principle on a lot of things, but our terminology might be contributing to some misunderstanding. As far as other corps, I can't think of (and have not heard of) many in that competitive range that were literally overflowing with members during the winter. Members that fit the visual and musical talent they were looking for, anyway. If all of them were, good for them and well done! I tend to believe that they've all faced some (even if small) challenges getting to their membership allotment goals. A tuba player here, a lead baritone there, a pit member or two here, a guard person there. Plus, it seems as if there are still many corps looking for those last few kids to fill out their ranks, especially this time of year when folks get injured. Even at the top of the pack. The Cadets just posted something the other day. Crown just had a tuba player go down. It happens. But I can't imagine all the corps 14-17 were full from day one with alternates at the ready to step in when the inevitable injuries occur. And you ask directors around the country about which sections have been hardest to fill, and you'll find that many have found it difficult finding tuba players. For the Crossmen this year, that has been a large challenge. As it relates to competitive expectations for the Crossmen this year, I've stated nothing about placement or scores or anything other than I think the corps will be better this year than last. Which you seem to also agree is what matters most. The show as designed is already far more cohesive and coordinated than the product they had on the field last year. Talent may have dropped off some in certain areas, but I also think it has gotten stronger in others. I still think the end product will be better. Will that translate to enough movement up the ranks to crack the top 12? I don't know, and will absolutely not say until I see everybody. But if you can drop from 13th (and within .5 of the top 12) to 16th in one year, as the Crossmen did last year, it's not out of the realm of possibility to see the opposite happen given the right circumstances. And regardless of what other corps have done with securing a full corps earlier, perhaps some of them will not have as well designed show as they had last year, or as the Crossmen have this year. It's all way too complex to make any reliable predictions until everyone is in one place at the same time. When it comes to the Texas thing, don't confuse the perception of over-zealous fans and the perception of the people actually involved with the corps at the time. Yeah, a bunch of folks on DCP talked about all this top talent flocking to the Crossmen right away. The folks running the corps were a bit more realistic and knew it would take time. They've been surprisingly realistic about that kind of thing, making gradual progress in getting things more entrenched in that region, but understanding that solid finalists corps just don't "happen." They're very aware, and have been since day one at least in the conversations I've had with them during that time, of the long-term reality of building something great. Fans tend to make assumptions based on the overriding sense that Texas is home to some of the best musical talent in the country, as evidenced by so many corps trying to plant flags there for recruitment and auditions. It does stand to reason that should a Texas-based world class corps actually begin to experience some competitive success there, the opportunity exists for some of that good talent to look at the "home" corps as a more viable (and inexpensive due to flights) alternative. If they sneak into 12th, you theoretically should see an uptick in talent. If they actually work their way one day up into the single digits, I don't think it would surprise anyone to see them begin to really be a major draw for that home-based talent. But as I said, the corps doesn't expect anything to just be handed to them. They realize the long road of work ahead of them. I think it's important to recognize that distinction from what many on DCP seemed to think would happen more quickly. Thanks for the discussion!

Yes. And most show silks, minus one set I think.

I'm not sure anyone can say for sure at this point what will happen for this corps and this show. I've attended many a Crossmen preview show over the years and have some recordings of those performances that were flat out awful and pathetic, including 1992 and 1997 which ended up being two of the best shows the corps ever fielded. (The 1997 preview show in particular was embarrassingly bad, almost unrecognizable as to what it was supposed to be!) I was at the preview the other night in Texas, and you're 100% correct. It was a mess. Lots of timing and stamina issues. The corps is young and will fight those physical and musical maturity issues all season long, as anyone would expect. However, when you witness ANY corps do a preview performance such as this, the primary things you're looking for are what the show is, how it's constructed, the pacing, the impacts, the coordination and staging, etc. You're looking at a very light overall sketch of a painting that won't be ultimately finished until August, trying to get an idea of what they're going for. That being the case, the three things that jumped out at me right away were: - The complete show (minus some guard work here and there that need to be filled in and tweaked) is on the field. Since moving to Texas, they have never been able to accomplish that. Last year, they were about 3/4 of the way complete at the preview, and they had to use the metronome for that performance. Friday's preview show was indeed rough, but it's all out there and they've already taken the metronome training wheels off with several days to get used to it before their first show in Ohio on Thursday. Definitely a positive. As is not having to finish learning drill while on the road. - The show is a very nice homage to previous Crossmen Metheny shows, which I think was the right move coming off of last year's admitted disappointment. They wanted to reconnect to something that fans and alumni have responded to in the past from the Crossmen. The kids absolutely love their show this year and understand that they're treading on sacred ground, and are working very hard to give those people something exciting and engaging to respond to again that is respectful to those previous shows and corps. - They're not trying to change the world with this show. It's not trying to make any huge artistic statements, tell any elaborate stories or throw abstract concepts at the audience. It's the Crossmen, it's Pat Metheny, they're coming "Full Circle" back to some of their more famous and popular musical roots. Period. End of sentence. No other explanation about the show is necessary. I believe that as the show gets cleaner and the performers start to grow into themselves on the road, there is an energy inherent in the show design that will start to come through and really connect with audiences. I think the Crossmen needed that this year and their design team has done a fine job in recognizing that and constructing a show that will eventually make that happen as the summer rolls on. Time will tell, as always. Negatives: - The hornline is very young and will probably take the longest to develop from a performance standpoint, both musically and visually. They are struggling in a big way with consistency at this point. They do have a good staff and a sound fundamental technique to playing the instruments that I've seen in rehearsals, it's just a matter of getting that to the field every rep, every show. Again, maturity. - BLANKS. They have, from last I heard Sunday, five holes in the brass section that still need to be filled, primarily in the tuba and mellophone area. If anyone is looking for someplace to march who can fill those spots, please contact the Crossmen ASAP. (Side note: another thing that wasn't evident at the preview show was that yes, the color guard uniforms and silks will be ready for their first official performance this Thursday. They wore practice uniforms and used practice flags for the preview. Last year, this was an enormous problem as they went through the first couple weeks of the season without those things. This color guard, I believe, shows a lot of promise, both in the written work and their performance quality. If they develop into what I think they can develop into, there is an opportunity there for them to steal the show and be a tremendous asset to the competitive direction of the season.) The last thing I'll say about what you've brought up is this: this is not a "grand Texas experiment." This is where the Crossmen call home now. There is no turning back. There is no packing it up and heading back north as if some experiment has failed. And nobody went into this endeavor thinking that magic will happen overnight without several years of hard work and sweat and sacrifice. The people running the corps are acutely aware of the challenges they face in the DCI competitive arena and are gradually chipping away at realizing several goals they've set for themselves. They know it will take time, but things are slowly starting to take permanent hold down there. I think this show is a positive step in the right direction and I'm very eager to see them again in a few weeks. Here are some of my favorite photos from the Texas Preview in Austin this past Saturday night. These photos are a prominent reminder for me that even though the corps has gone through tremendous organizational turmoil in the past several years, moving 2000 miles away from their geographic birthplace, some things NEVER change: