platesfan

Ummm ya I will openly admit I'm not the biggest BD fan. BUT, their book is far from easy my friend. I can't completely comment on drill since I honestly still have no idea what crazy hard drill truly looks like, but I can say their straight lines are scary. And since I"m a drummer I can't say that their horns are perfect, but I can tell they are good. From my drum perspective, they aren't my favorite, but still good. And no clue with the guard. I may not always like the way they write up their shows (2010), but they definitely don't have EASY shows. They still come out swinging in difficulty.

Is it the staff that decides a winning show or the kids that show up? I feel like some corps (not to pick on BD but they win a lot), it seems like the fact that they have some of the big names in corps make the show a winner. Like 2010, the show was crazy good and clean, though lacking in comprehension to the fans, but did the kids make it? No the staff wrote a show that was all challenging and wierd. Like people tell kids that their show made no sense. But is that always the kids fault?

Ahem. Glee had done it awhile before scouts brought that out. Had listened to it a few times actually. People had heard of it and knew about it. If you mean that people had never heard a brass arangement of it then ya i agree I've never heard that version.

You know as a part of the 2009 fiasco. I have to say we had just as much talent as the 2010 year. Which brings up a point I've wondered at for a few years now. It felt like we were being judged about how clean we are or how well we perform our pieces but how the music and show is designed. Which makes me think that our staff is being judged more then we as performers are being judged.

Jeff Lee's stuff is amazing. But this year. Cavies blew my mind with the split playing on the boards.

Just putting this out there. Heard that there will be some good changes from our staff last year. But the funny part I'm going to point out is so far as I know, Phantom, Blue Stars, and now Pioneer all have the same weekend for auditions ><

Let me rephrase part of what I meant. Trust me, my dad marched in 1981 and 1982 Spartacus. The son of the people he stayed with those summers married into the Boerma family. I know Scouts history is incredibly strong which helps them climb up better then Crown did. BUT, it seems like there always has to be that one corps to watch climb up the ranks. What I meant was now people can't root for the "underdog" Crown. (If this is confusing sorry). It's just that when I marched we were 15th. Now I"m trying to get back in at 10th. That's a pretty big jump in my eyes, especially that it's happened 2 years in a row. And ya they didn't leave the roots. Honestly they went back to the roots since I haven't been there.

Now that Crown has become one of the powerhouse corps of DCI. 2007 was kind of the first year Crown started showing it's stuff in my mind. Then 2009 they really blew DCI out of the water with it's new innovations in the activity. Now that the climb has basically ended, are Scouts going to be the next corps that climbs out of the nethers of lower finals to rejoin the power corps?

I had heard that there was some talent leakage before the line had fully been set. But as awesome as ESOM was at the end of the show you have to admit it's hard to write tough music to that. They'll do very well. But selfishly I'm hoping that no Crown guys go to scouts :P

With the new change in percussion staff, where do you think Madison will be heading? I for one am excited to try out again and hopefully get back in to the brotherhood.

Reminds of the time BD argued that PR didn't deserve a win in 2008. Hmm. Let's check the scoreboard on fan favorite on this one. BD goes down as others go up. Game. Set. Match.

Not so much drum corps but DCI. If we want this activity to be able to continue as an entity we need the continued support of fans. Guess who got the support of fans? The TRADITIONAL corps. 2010 Madison. 2009 yes BD, the show was fantastic and still along the lines of classic corps. 2008 Phantom, they got the crowd involved and followed the lines of classic corps. 2007 again a classic BD show i won't lie. Isn't Drum Corps designed as an entertainment factor? Isn't one of the best experiences of corps watching the fans jump out of their seats screaming as loud as they can, cheering on your performance? Or would you rather i sit and ponder the musical and visual experience that was just presented to me? I can see you don't remember what it feels like to step off that field hearing the crowd still screaming your name. If I want a musical "experience" i'll go listen to a symphony. I want a corps to come out and blast my face off with the pure simplicity of the first horn hit. Then be able to go back and hear the little nuances. Not have to listen over and over and still have absolutely no idea what was going on. Leading me to a question for everyone who reads this. How many of you have gone back to listen to BD last year? If you got sick the first time you saw, why would you go back and listen again?

You've completely ignored the fact that some of the reasons that DCI is coming up with the whole G8 crap is because it's FAILING!! There were, go ahead and correct me if I'm wrong as i'm sure you will, maybe 3 corps that were in the black last year? Of course BD, the richest "not for profit" group in this activity. DCI needs money to survive, and the only way to keep bringing that money in is to make sure that fans watch something that they can actually understand. I've marched, i understand that the amount of effort and thought that they put into last year was substantial, but i know for a fact that there were fans wondering why in the world BD beat Cavaliers. I know they were cleaner and more complicated blah blah, but riddle me this. Would a random person coming off the street be able to tell you the difference in scores and complexities of shows? No. The shows they understand are Scouts, Phantom, Cavies, Crown, Coats. Not a show that has 13 melodies combined into one riff.

I know from a fan prospective last years show didn't make much sense. Yes it was a very complex musical and visual experience. But tell me, how is drum corps going to pull people in to watch and donate to the program when your average fan, who isn't attuned to music at all, can understand the complexities of a atonal show. You can't make it so complicated people can't understand it. If you were at finals watching the crowd, the only reason they clapped at the end was because the BD staff was waving their arms and jumping around, which made us assume that the show was ending.

I'm sorry it must be said. BD must lose.

It seems to me sometimes the coats are awesome, but the sound seems to be forced and too aggressive at times. I loved in '08 when they blasted horns and then sang. Still one of my favorite moments in drum corps history. But then it seems they'd ruin some pieces with their blasting sound. Dont get me wrong i love getting blasted once in awhile, but I prefer crown's blend for sure.

Don't forget good old spartacus from phantom. The original that is. Which really kicked off into the themed shows.

I know that I prefered Phantom's drumline sound from last year, but then Scouts hornline sounded awesome (if still a little lacking in depth). What are your favorite sounding groups and sections?

Maybe. It's scary but that's what he told me lol. Hopefully they find their way back. I would tell you first hand if they make it back since I got to head out there next weekend, can't get out there because of school conflicts. But maybe it will turn into a Stephen King story with them. But if anybody sees them wandering by would you mind helping them out? It's greatly appreciated by the line.

Ya I know that there is for sure one high schooler that probably isn't in the pictures because wisconsin high schools haven't let out yet. Plus as awesome as the facilities are for Scouts I know that some of the areas they need to train on are a bit bumpy. But I'm sure the numbers will even out and bring out the powerful sound we loved last year.

I heard from a friend of mine marching there that they had a line coming to everydays but they somehow got lost or took a wrong plane or something. He just texted me the other day saying they went for a run in the fog that moved in and got lost again, last he heard they were in Illinois. But who knows, that's just what I've heard.

It seems to be that the "hatred" really just stems from the competitive edge. Like most of the people that "hate" blue devils is due to the fact that it does seem a bit unfair about the amount of domination that they seem to carry. But after the show when the competitive edge dies down after finals people realize the complexities of the shows and realize that they do deserve some of their titles. It just seems to stem more from competitiveness then it is actual hatred.