brassEXPERT

Not trying to fuel something, but I totally agree. This is nothing personal, but I actually alluded to this in a previous post despite the fact that nobody caught on. No offense to ANYBODY (not singling out any person on this forum), but I find it weird that current members of corps will admit to being current members of corps and "trash talk" (IN QUOTES) other corps. It is bad enough to have first year age outs spilling all of their built-up comments from however many years they marched, but to have current members posting reflects the opinions of their organization. Not saying that it was meant to be a certain way, but any drum major of any corps making a comment about another corps represents an opinion of the ENTIRE corps because the drum major ALWAYS represents the ENTIRE corps. It is also tacky to always talk about shows you marched in, bring up specific instances of things from your experiences that are not relevant to the topic at hand, or doing shameFUL promotions of your corps. After all, we all want to make our corps look as best as possible in this dog eat dog forum that is Drum Corps Planet! Just my .02, and I really could care less if all members of an organization decide to suddenly red button the hell out of me. "Oh No! I have to fear what I say on DCP because one comment ruined my reputation!!!!"

Was never too much a fan of this warmup because it doesn't do anything exciting. Crown has yet to find their RockyPoint/Phillip Bliss/Bb Progression#1/Space Chords/White Dawn (might be my favorite of all time)/etc...... What a great sound and fantastic release though lol

brassEXPERT confirms. The comparison point should be made from corps standing in the lot to college bands on the field. A realistic side by side comparison of two groups playing their loudest. I would be hard pressed to find any group that could play as loud as the 07 cadets hornline playing Rocky Point in the lot. HOLY CRAP my ears almost fell off of my head. Was not as impressed by the Mighty Sound of Maryland's parking lot rendition of Bad Romance. Just did not have the same effect. Isn't some drum corps doing that this year?

Haters gonna hate.

Assuming that DCI would suddenly become a followed sport with tons of money coming in from endorsements and advertisements - How cool would it be to sit down and watch the annual DCI draft every year instead of the NFL draft? Think about it. Each individual section or position (ie 1st trumpets, Euphoniums, 2nd mellos, bass 12345) would be like the kids entering the NFL combine at their projected positions. Corps could recruit based off of need, trade within DCI for better picks, or bring up the possibility for lower corps like pio to have a chance for a title every year. Marching styles from respective high school or college programs would be like offensive and defensive schemes that colleges play. Some performers would be better suited for specific styles of marching, with some showing the potential to be able to switch (Cavies, Scouts, SCV vs Cadets, BD vs Crown, Phantom). Once members are drafted, the corps could try them out on different sections or make publicized moves that would alter their status within the group. Maybe you would have people like Lead Trumpet prospect Tim Tebow that was pretty solid for the Gator band, but DCI participating corps were skeptical about his endurance and extreme high chops to play as a lead within DCI. In a surprise first round, he is drafted by the Madison Scouts to spend the first season or two as a lower split lead before letting him try for the solo and upper positions. Meanwhile, Bass 5 prospect Ndamukong Suh is taken early in his draft by the Blue Devils after trading up for the pick with the Cascades in exchange for their 2010 trumpet soloist, Garret, who has one year left on his contract (har har har). Just some silly food for though. After all - my default is a picture of Lady Gaga. What a woman

I assume that you are speaking in terms of corps 18-23 from 2010, not the entire 23 corps? I don't want to start a pio love/hate battle on this thread, but I heard you guys tons of times over the course of the season and I can't say that I agree. Cascades were definitely the weak link in 2009, but the visual aspect of the 2010 pio corps was not good enough to get them over the last place hump. If you were talking about pure volume, and only volume, and only volume, and only volume, then I don't know what the actual reading was for corps 19-23, but the sound of corps like Jersey Surf, Pac Crest, and Teal were much more refined, in tune, and therefore appeared louder. I had the opportunity to hear you guys warming up before the Rockford show, and all I could hear was sharp playing at volume levels that exceeded the abilities of the individual players. This is NOT a terrible thing for RIGHT NOW. When it comes to building hornlines and rebuilding corps, there have to be steps made necessary to the long term success versus short term. Working on power before refining it is a step MANY corps have taken over the history of the activity. Specifically relevant to pio - look at the Surf and Teal hornlines of 2006-2010. Although still very young with inconsistent membership, the growing maturity represents the principle of quality brass playing sinking in slowly. From the current top 5, look at the growth of Crown from 2003-2010. I would argue that 2009 was better than 2010, but the consistency and quality of sound is the main focus in that comparison. You are taking the right steps, but I have to agree with the placement from quarters night, and disagree with the notion that you were the "loudest." -Expert Edit: Also - I feel like the validity of these statements are thrown out the window when expressed by members of the corps from those specific years. Don't everybody jump out of their seats, but every time I see a "We should have won" or "We should have taken brass" or "We were way better than corps X, Y, Z" or "The judges totally got it wrong for MY corps," I just want to barf. I have always seen DCP as an opportunity for the fans/ alumni to express their opinions, but it is just unsettling to see current members try and justify their cause and fights other fans for some reason. I don't care if it bothers you, but I am just putting that out there

This is the kind of talent Crown is attracting because of their unique (not so much with SCV and BlueStars following now) approach to the horn arc. Every corps has their conservatory players, and you better believe that top schools like IU, UNT, NEC, Eastman, and the like are sending kids all over, not just to the Cavies. I happen to know that a lot of UNT kids go to Cavies, Coats, and Phantom. Talent pool is no longer an excuse in the top 5, as there have been many corps with terrible talent pools to win brass and championships over the past ten years. As for 2010 - I definitely think it was a step in the right direction. The musical book was boring, and not too too different from the typical cavies recipe (Hornline plays standing still, horns go down, cool visual thing happens, staggered attacks, horns go back down, huge visual impact moment built in to get a standing o, drum feature, staggered attacks, hornline plays a massive hit, horns go down for last cool visual thing, horns go back up for final hit moving and playing). That said, it was LIGHTYEARS better than the 2005-2009 era, and was reminiscent of the 03 line. I don't know how people can comment on the great or terrible brass sounds of 08 and 09 when they played for about 20% of the show. Lets see em keep this up in 2011

How about I let you pay 27 to sit on the 50 and stop complaining. Ill even throw in free parking if you promise to stop bringing negativity in a thread simply advertising the release of ticket sales. Oh wait....they already have both of those things as an option. hmmmmmmmmmmm........Top 8 corps all in one place for 27 bucks AND sitting on the 50 - SURELY THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING ELSE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT WILL HELP BRING ABOUT THE ULTIMATE BOYCOTT AND DESTRUCTION OF THE G8.

Totally agree with Cavies 2000, but what a drumline they had. As for Cadets 2005 and 2007, I wonder if you are citing them in terms of entertainment, or talent. Entertainment, I understand these on the list, but in terms of cleanliness and talent...NO WAY. The best drum corps on the field performing the hardest show with the highest level of execution was the Cadets (speaking of 2007 of course). I will never forgive certain actions that took place over the course of that week from either party, but it doesn't excuse the fact that there were no dirty parts in that show. Truthfully, I would put BD 07 as the overrated show. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but i AM the expert. Edit: And also, I though overrated referred to shows that got too much hype on this site. Are you trying to say that a large majority were really gung ho for 07 Cadets, 05 Cadets, and 09 BD?

I agree with all of these except phantom 2006. I think that Phantom 2008 is falsely hyped as one of the best shows of all time, but I disagree. Not saying it should have been a BD win or phantom loss, but people hype this show like its their job

While I agree with this position, this is certainly not the way to convey it. I think that there was a greater chance that crown or cadets would have won it before coats could, only because of the hype prior to the Denver show with the east and west coast battle. Once BD proved that nobody was going to come close, it became a battle for second place. Cavies proved that they would be the clear favorites once their show got clean around the Texas run for all of the corps, and started to pull ahead of Cadets and Crown for the first time. Truthfully, scores have very little to do in the middle of the summer with the results in August. No knock on the bluecoats, and I know that members will disagree, but even their staff knew they were not going to take gold. I happen to be very close with members of the administration. That said, welcome to the top three, and it should be only a matter of time before the visual program improves and you are in contention for a title. Can't wait till 2011

Finals - 1) Blue Devils - despite the fact that they had visual and musical demand that was inferior to the entire top 5, their continued dominance in the category of performance makes them stellar to watch, even when the show has ZERO audience connection. We can rip on BD all we want for doing their thing (post 2007 thing anyways), but they are GREAT at it. 2) Cavies - They got their stuff together by the end of the season and made a package that was incredibly entertaining for the audience. Again, not the highest demand, but the performance and entertainment factor were up there. 3) Cadets - It is hard to make this show top 3 because it was not clean like a top 3 show, but this was easily the most underrated show up 2010 and got the least amount of credit. Very much a mystery that the brass line had been consistently winning/ at least making top 3 in brass all season before they were slotted for finals in fifth all week. Probably the first or second most visually demanding show, and definitely the second most demanding brass book. The trumpet intro alone could have gotten them a top three spot - what a line! Also, thank you for playing and marching for twice as much as any of the other top 5 corps. 4) Coats - Again, this is hard to put out of the top 3, but I just could not jump on this bandwagon. I think the bluecoats are able to put out some of the more entertaining shows from year to year, but I think that this year was exceptionally clean, for this corps. This is no rip on BC, but the visual program is still not up to par and the brassline has a little bit more to go before I consider it an elite line among those of the new Crown lines, Cadets, or BD. Rockin percussion though 5) Crown - I feel comfortable with this placement. Once again, the brass line continued to lead the corps, although not in the same way as 2009. The sound of the 2009 Carolina Crown brass line might be my favorite of all time, be it in Bb or G (which I DO like many lines), so it was hard to listen to the phasing and technical errors of this line following that incredible year. Once they hit the loud chord in the beginning, there were passages that were too hard for the members, and it reflected in their ability to march and play well. I still have yet to see a defined marching technique from the members, and the whole dancing 50% of the time sort of defeats the purpose of the activity. This is definitely about entertainment, but I think its time we all started to march again. 6) Phantom - This is hard to not put in 5th, but crown's performance was definitely better. Phantom is back on the rise, and I thoroughly enjoyed this show. The guard work was great, especially when featuring the dancers and soloists. What a drumline. Holy crap 7) Vanguard - I still love the sound of this hornline, I just wished they marched better. 8) Blue Stars - I think that with another season under their belt, this will be a corps to watch out for. As for this past season, there were definitely some struggles towards the end of the show and some brass parts that were conveyed semi well, or just didn't come through to the audience as intended. 9) Crusaders 10) Blue Knights 11) Madison 12) Glassmen

Does that mean that BD is marching this year? If so, then you better believe ill go with them too!

When did Phantom get 8 titles? Or is this part of a prediction for the next 6 years

Very true. The Capital beltway from 3:00-9:00 might as well be referred to as suicide. I've definitely made that Baltimore to Northern Virginia commute many times as well. As far as Towson goes - I completely agree. Decent sized stadium to be able to hold larger crowds for the TOC event, nice surface to march on, lots of parking, lots of warmup space, and very close to Baltimore if you are looking to stay for a few days.

The traffic around the DC and Baltimore beltways are becoming increasingly like that of L.A. Not that it would present a serious problem, as corps would just have to allow an additional hour or two to get to the competition, but I know that Maryland school districts are all becoming increasingly less likely to host drum corps. I grew up right in between Washington and Baltimore, and there has only been one corps within the past ten years that has housed anywhere near that convenient part of the state. Not sure what it is like in the very southern portion, but anything within an hour of college park of Annapolis is going to involve a whole lot of driving.

Although it is a small room, that recording was obviously done on some sort of hand-held product and the sound is actually pretty well balanced. I have been impressed with the baritone contrition to the group since the beginning of last season, just as I was impressed in 07, and it definitely makes them sound mature at this early point in the season. It sticks very much to the original and show cases a more extended slow passage that is not typical for the cadets. I am curious to see how this fits in, but so far, I am impressed. -the EXPERT

Thanks for the edit - still unnecessary

I think we should just make one EPIC thread where everybody can talk about how much they love Pioneer, how soon Crown will win their first ring, which Bluecoats show will beat Crown to win their first ring, how much everybody hates George Hopkins for brainwashing every director in DCI to voting for all of his terrible decisions, how electronics should be banned, and how every corps should go back to playing on G bugles. It would be called the "Let's see how long it takes people to throw up while reading this" I totally support Pioneer, as I do all of the corps in DCI, but come on. The reason that previous thread was so long was because one person would say something bad and four pages of hate comments and expert opinions on the staff decisions of Pio would then show up. Lets go EVERYCORPS!

I'm pretty sure that he marched snare with the Xmen. I still don't understand why people try to throw him under the bus at every opportunity possible and label him as the front of the G8 when he has no more authority within that group than any of the other members, and certainly did not lead the other members to come up with that incredibly long proposal. Why not pick either of the blue Dave's?

(wrong forum)

It is interesting to read people's post about the curse of the odd year for the cavies, beginning following the 2001 season. I always thought of the Cadets having a curse of the even years! After 2000, think about 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 (although I really liked this past year's show and thought it was the most underrated of all finals). All of the odd years since then have been great years for the corps - 2001 (fantastic hornline and drumline), 2003 (one of the most entertaining shows of the decade), 2005 (what a drum corps, holy crap), 2007 (should have won. Regardless of the politics, they were the best corps on finals night), and 2009 (just a great show with lots of energy). That said - I think my most anticipated corps of 2011 has to be the Cadets, because its back to an odd year! I was going to say the Blue Stars because they have a lot of momentum and seem to get much better each year, but the Cadets show concept and winter camp reports indicate that they are definitely headed in the right direction.

I commented on a forum saying that the music of Lady Gaga and Madonna should be done by a corps, possibly by the Jersey Surf or Teal Sound, and got tons and tons of flack for it. Well guess what, I have credible information (people at the camp this past weekend) that states that the 2011 Jersey Surf are experimenting with "Bad Romance" for the opener and "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal for the ballad. Who is laughing now.

How about some Lady Gaga or Madonna? I could definite see Teal Sound or Jersey Surf tackling this beast.

On the contrary, there are many composers that write in older styles because they enjoy the certain unique qualities. Fashion is very similar to music in that there are fads, and fads pass, but there will still be some people that will hold on to the different styles because they are what speak to them. Not to try and relate fashion or music fads to the G or Bb debate, but the progression from valve-less through single and multi valve bugles to finally reach the inclusion of Bb horns represents trends within the activity. G as a whole will not come back in DCI ever, that I can agree with. But look at 80's music. Listen to a Madonna song, and then listen to a Gaga song and tell me that there aren't similar qualities. Pop musicians and song-writers have found very marketable qualities in 80s music that they have decided to bring back, and thus created this new generation of highly electronic music that is a further development of the original 80's sound. You are right about DCI as a whole, no doubt, but there is some merit to the argument that a corps might bring back Gs for a season for the sake of bringing back the Gs or another drum corps circuit eventually forming in the far future that will use exclusively Gs again, not because of any other reason than to have that specific sound.