Drum Corps Nation

I feel like Academy would need to revamp their visual package to make it into finals this year. I think musically they play well, but they're lacking in the GE and vis captions and without rewrites it would be tough. There may not be time for all the rewrites they need. It's a shame because I really want to see them do well, they always seem to be just out of reach when august rolls around.

close one with Coats and SCV. Grats to G-men to break 80. First of those 12 place contending corps to do that I believe?

Looks like Glassmen proved their last score wasn't a fluke. Way to go BAC (I have a soft-spot for east coast corps)

Yeah, in east New Mexico they don't even bother making the roads a little curvy. At least I-10 has hills and junk. And driving from Odessa to SA is mostly a downhill affair.

A big chunk of highway between odessa and san antonio actually has an 80 mph limit,

341 miles.

I see where you're coming from there, but in reality (speaking from 10+ years of marching and teaching experience), corps members are way more consistent from day to day than judges are. Factor in the fact that judges change people and captions from night to night and the scores are much more likely to be inconsistent than the members. A staff and drum corps know when they have a good show, and know when they have a bad show. I cant remember how many times a corps I have been teaching has massively improved from one show to the next, and the score went down. The hard part is convincing the members to not pay attention to the numbers from night to night, while on here that's all everyone seems to care about.

You're right. Although barely recognizing their existence could be viewed as a form of criticism around here. Much the same way that grabbing a hot dog during a performance is criticism.

I think there are several corps that people dislike more on this site. Lots of people seem pretty ticked off about Crown this year. BD and Cavies probably get about as much criticism around here as anyone else. It seems like the only corps that are safe around here are Madison, SCV, and Phantom. Everyone else is fair game.

Someone needs to introduce a rule that puts a decible limit on the goo (if we can't get rid of it entirely.)

I'm still trying to figure out why people like the Scouts so much this year. I've always liked Madison to a point, but in my opinion this isn't really a show that I'll want to remember. Maybe it's because I heard so much hype about them this year before I even saw them. Empire State of Mind works really well for them, but I don't think it works as a closer. I find myself wishing that they would have used it as their ballad and gone with something a little more Closer-ish (up-tempo, more exciting drill). A lot of people keep saying "Madison has the most entertaining show this year, they're the fan favorite" but I don't think that's really true. I think come finals when everything's clean, Cavies, BD, Cadets, and Crown will be getting just as much crowd appreciation.

Yes.

Yeah, I got that. But if I'm to take what he's said as truth, then I'm also to take what he said about the musical preferences of geeks and "faux" geeks as truth as well. In his mind, geeks who are bando listen to classic rock and want to play classic rock on the field because it makes them feel like they're not geeks. We shouldn't take into account that it's called "classic" rock for a reason, nor should we take into account that this exact same argument could be applied to the Madison Scouts playing Empire State of Mind ("They play hip hop because it makes them feel less geeky").

When I went to shows in Texas, I'd say the audience was about 40% parents (40 or so), 40% high school and college kids, 20% 50 and above. Racially mixed, lots of hispanics, african americans, and whites. I've been going to shows since I was 3 years old. I don't think I've ever been to a show where I thought the average age was about 60. When I went to the theaters to watch drum corps, I'd say the majority of people in the theaters were 35 and below. A LOT of high school kids. Very few senior citizens. Maybe it's just a Texas thing.

So band geeks are the bad kind of geek that nobody likes? Where do you think all the drum corps people in the activity come from? They're 90% band geeks when they go home in August. These kids are not outcasts. In fact, they're specifically not outcasts because they're in the band. Sure they might not be best friends with the football team, but you can't be best friends with everyone. Doesn't make you an outcast. It's the kids that aren't geeky about anything at all, the ones that have no interests and nothing to get excited about. They are the outcasts in today's high schools.

So what you're saying is... Cheese is bando because it reminds you of geeky band kids, not the cool band kids. The cool band kids are all cerebral and listen to Bela Bartok on the weekends...?

Obviously you haven't been to a BOA show recently. The stuff they're doing is very very cerebral. Just because something is cheesy doesn't mean it's not drum corps. Drum Corps has been doing cheese for a VERY long time. And, just because something is cheesy doesn't mean it can't be good. 80s music proved that. The litmus test is this: is the corps doing cheesy stuff to distract from poor performance ability? Certainly not in Crown's case. They have the best hornline this year so far, and their drumline and colorguard, while scoring low in comparison yesterday, are contributing heavily to ensemble and GE captions. No, this is good cheese. As for the geeky comment, kids these days, especially band kids, don't seem to care about being geeky these days. Go see a Harry Potter showing if you don't believe me. Geeky is in.

This is a tough one... but I think the answer is yes. The thing about Cavies this year is that they really don't have any weaknesses. Crown has a lot of strengths, but their weaknesses in guard and percussion, things that most people probably won't notice if they're not looking for it, are apparent. I still love Crown this year and hope they give Cavies a run for their money, but I do think that at this point, Cavies have done a much better job of covering all their bases, and that's where the 1.4 comes from. I still agree that Crown as the best brass so far this season.

Sarah Palin's written a book, but I wouldn't ask her to proofread my dissertation.

I've already been at a show this season where a corps got a bigger crowd reaction than the scouts did.

Do you have any reasons for thinking this? Because I'd be happy to debunk them for you.

I remember when I was marching we weren't allowed to say the "R" word. Bad Juju.

Yeah, this is something that's really starting to bother me. It seems like no matter what corps you start a thread for, it only takes like 3 pages before someone mentions the Madison Scouts. It's as consistent as gravity. Seriously though. The Glassmen have fans. The proved that when they won all that money for that Chase Community thing. Glassmen just need to find a way to engage those fans and turn that into monetary support and good publicity.

A lot of the horns also go to other corps who don't get horns through sponsorships for one reason or another. I know that at Cadets, a lot of their old horns used to end up at the Crossmen when they were part of YEA.

"Boston". No Crusaders, no Hyde Park, no Most Precious Blood. Just Boston. Also, I totally miss Sky Riders, and The Freelancers.