totaleefree

I guess I am still stuck in the 80's when it seemed we wanted to do as many shows as possible, let lots of people see us perform and also sell junk to make it a little cheaper for each of us to keep marching. I think today maybe some corps look at the WGI model where you practice a whole season and do maybe three shows all but the championship in front of a crowd entirely composed of friends and family of the performers where no money is made from performing, It is purely funded by member "tuition" , a school board, or booster program. I guess they hope that someone sees a youtube video and is interested in the corps. In their defense I can see where everyone has seen a corps like Top Secret on video and knows who they are but very few in the US have seen them live. I think any show being cancelled is frustrating to the sponsors, the performers and the fans and any cancelled show does not help DCA building its brand. I don't have any answers for anything but had to type out some of my frustration.

I guess I am a little upset when folks come to a show and only come in for the top 5 corps. However the most annoying thing for me is when I would go to Atlanta and get good seats on the 45 and people assume that all the people in that section will not be there until the top 5 corps so they just plop into your seats. Last year my girlfriend sitting next to me went out to use the restroom and a member of a corps that had performed just asked me to let him pass me and plopped right into her seat I had to pretty aggressively get him out of that seat. Then I had to spend the rest of the show looking down both ways to make sure someone was not coming to try to take one of my seats. I think there is some leeway and there is no use having those seats go empty while the lesser corps perform, but this was during the top 8 or so.

It looks like their show for August 5 is still on the schedule. I hope that their team is still together and that this is just a roadbump for them.

There is a DCI/DCA show in Woodstock GA on July 14 and it is on Carolina Golds schedule on their website. The old DCI Southeast at the Georgia Dome is not taking place this year (the Dome was torn down) so they will not make that trip to GA. Gold is also listed for the Dowingtown PA show. Looking at google maps Raleigh to Reading is 6 hours and 45 min, while Raleigh to Atlanta is 6 hours and 21 min, so Atlanta isn't really that much closer than going up North to Reading for a corps from Raleigh. Also I believe the corps staff has a really good relationship with the Buccaneers leadership so visiting them is a good thing. Gold has very distinct geography disadvantage anywhere they go they are spending a lot more time on the bus and have less practice time than some others. It is also very expensive to take long bus trips so they may have fewer shows during the season than some others. (yes this is probably true for Minnesota and other NonNortheastern corps)

When I was in England everything seemed to be quite a bit higher priced. However the shop clerks noticed that I was much to good looking to be English and gave me certificates for refunds of the VAT. It came out to something like 25 to 30% of the price of everything I bought there and I got the money at the airport before I left. the only thing that they didn't refund the VAT on was my QPR jersey. Apparently there was no value added on that.

From What I have seen going to Indy for DCI is the recruiting draw for some of the Soundsport teams especially those with younger memberships. No dig at DCA but a lot of the younger members just want to be a part of DCI in Indy even if the cost is more. I also believe that several of the corps listed as Soundsport competitors only made it to a DCI regional Show. I like Star United and have enjoyed meeting many of the members and they have always been friendly to me, However I think that since they have been competing some of the fun of the shows has worn off. (I have only been to 2 DCA Mini Corps Comps once before Star and once after).

My view on C2 as a feeder Corps is 3 years old and based on speaking to a group of C2 parents sitting around me at a show. First i am sure that if their child didn't make Cadets they probably wouldn't have pointed that out. They all seemed happy with C2 in DCA a few thought it was a try it out without a full summer long commitment (at least one wouldn't have been able to go to Cadets camp because of school ending in mid June after Cadets had been some time in camp). All seemed to like the lower dues, and several liked the idea that they could go every show that their child participated in since they were all within a 3 hour drive . After talking with them I stopped seeing C2 as purely a feeder corps. My personal opinion is that C2 does give extra money to the YEA organization and helps it maintain some local presence in the Allentown area which I believe gives it (YEA) some good financial incentives.

That is pretty cool !!

I think that the right hand side facing the field does not get the concourse noise IE sec 114, 113 it is the left hand side Sec 117 were the noise from the concourse is bad.

Yes just like the rush of synth fans who have been coming to cheer on the Synth players the past few years. If they add WW there will still be the same # of MM on the field just a different variety of instruments. Still the same # of Corps.

Atlanta Brass Classic scores, from DCI judges. You can use these to compare with each other, but not against any DCA scores. No way there is a 16 point difference from MBI to CV. Atlanta CV 65.1 Alliance 57.9 Carolina Gold 57.2 Southern Knights 51.1

This doesn't relate directly to this, but it is a DCI and a DCA Judge discussing DCA good insight on teh thought processes http://www.marchingroundtable.com/2015/10/07/456-dca-2015-wrap-up-pt-1/

With Thunder Brigade they went into a percussion spot and I noticed 3 cymbal players popped up then I saw a color guard person in a different uniform. At first i thought the Front ensemble may have picked up the cymbals, but then I realized that the Horn line had all either taken up a percussion piece or joined the guard. They made it look smooth because it took me 30 seconds to figure that out. Also this corps looked a little younger than they did at mini- corps a few years ago. IMO they are training up people to get into Drum Corps.

Fusion drums

I think I may have figured it out ,

​I​ have pictures of CV marching in the Hawaii shirts, but somereason I cannot post them on DCP

I think they were wearing light blue cumberbunds on Friday.

A few quick notes from MD show The crowd was pretty large from the ticket map there were 4 section of 300 seats each and it seemed to be full so I would say about 1000 or so and the stands completely full once other corps performed and came back as spectators . I don't think anyone will challenge the judges winning call for the Bucs they were ready and came out strong. However should they slack a little CV and Fusion are right on their heels and could easily pass them. C2 and Carolina Gold did not have their shows ready Gold's penalties are probably for that (Not long enough), C2 guard had not completed their show so what their final product will look like is still a mystery to me. My brother in law who was at his first Drum Corps show liked White Sabers the best I thought they had a good show, but I think their smaller number of marchers held them back. Sky showed improvement over last year and may have a legit shot at top 10 this year. The weather was great announcer was good everyone seemed to enjoy the show. The Strangest thing that I heard was speaking to someone about Carolina Golds sleeveless uniforms and being told that they could not afford uniforms with sleeves and they when they got some money they would add sleeves I don't know if that is true, but it is a good story.

I tend to agree somewhat with Big W. With 4th of July weekend coming up starting early on a Thursday would make this into a 5 day weekend for them sort od defeats the purpose of being weekends only. I have seen DCA Corps doing exhibitions on a Weeknight at a DCI show and the results usually are not pretty. Showing up and hitting the field without seeing your other corps members for a week and not having practice time before the show makes a good performance difficult and a poor showing may hurt future recruiting etc.

My dad who marched in the 50's and 60's will be with me in MD this weekend. I think this will be his first DCA show since the 80's. I think the last time he saw a DCA corps was in 1999 or 2000 Crown had a free show in Columbia SC and Corpsvets did an Exhibition. I think he will surely notice how much they have changed since then.

There used to be a Girl's College, Hood college there, but I think they went co-ed early 90's

I tend to agree with the Age thing being a money donor thing. I have worked with church groups, and there stuff for little kids the parents have no problem funding as they go along. The Youth group (high School) everyone will throw money at to help the poor high school kids and totally pay all their costs. College kids they want them to give a contribution but they (the church) may fund a part of the cost. However once you get to folks above 25 they expect them to be givers and not receivers. Unfortunately people will donate to send kids to band camp but don't want to give money if they have the old image of a bunch of old dudes sitting around drinking at a weekend drum corps camp. I think the current corps are doing a lot now to reimage themselves as younger educational outfits. I think C2 wants to make sure they have clearly stated they are not like old DCA corps.

In the Civil War during the Antieam Campaign R.E. Lee thought that since Maryland was a slave state that when his army came through they would welcome his Army and give them supplies and maybe even some recruits. However that part of Maryland (Fredrick) had been settled by German Piedests who were temded to be Abolishionists (they had even sheltered John Brown for a while). So instead of a warm welcome the locals all hid their daughters and locked their doors. The city leaders though collected some money and gave it to the Confederates not to loot and burn the city. So even Robert E Lee who was a competent general didn't really know if Maryland was in the South or North at least for that part of the state.

I think what several people have said here is why, Hate mail. Probably ten years ago I wrote a review and got hate mail from ten people because I didn't write exactly which person was out of step or clarify exactly which notes were off key. and they called me all kinds of names. There was a corps that I liked and still like but they had a very bad drum line that year, people saw I said that and wouldn't talk to me when I saw them later that year. Most people who had that kind of experience decide it isn't worth putting up with that to share a review. I have not seen that the last 2 years or so since I came back after a 6 or 7 year break but most of the people who were posting then probably don't even follow the site anymore, none the less post a review.

In my opinion one of the reasons that reviews have dwindled is that reviews are hard to write. I like to watch a show look at it and see how it is developing. I cannot take notes while watching because I will miss something. So a review is scrambled thoughts that I have maybe 12 hours later when I get home. Also I think a second viewing of a show you may actually have things to look for be able to take notes knowing when and where you need to look. I spent a long time as an operations planner in the Military so I am a bit of a logistics wonk. I think it is worthy of a good review that someone got 120 people of diverse backgrounds together, raised money for busses, and instructors, and motivated them to come perform in from of an audience. Even if it is a bad show in my book that deserves kudos. The other Military trait that drives me nuts is poorly fit uniforms, you put all that time into practice, it is a shame to wear a sloppy uniform and not appear as sharp and clean as you should. What I think people reading reviews miss is that that review is the reviewers perspective. I can tell you how the battery percussion did and the Judges usually agree with me. However I can only say the horns sounded good or they were a little off, however Big W can say exactly who needs improvement in that area. Guard is something I am just learning, again my review can only be general, I can see obvious errors, but I cannot rightfully judge the technicality of 2 different dances moves that would both send me to the hospital if I attempted them. One reason for the negative feedback is that folks assume you are a CG expert or a brass expert and think because your review didn't pinpoint the exact error. If people want reviews they need to accept that not everyone is an expert in every caption. Most reviewers paste negative things hoping that if the judges missed it maybe a corps member will read it and be better in that area the next time. I also do not think a beginner corps needs to be beat up over a poor showing. I actually enjoy seeing Excelsior each year. Yes their uniform fit could use improvement, but most of the kids with them seem to be learning DC. I see them counting out loud at times which might not be good for DCI but they are learning. I think their shows try to be entertaining knowing they won't win. Some other corps though try shows to difficult for them based on their time commitment or experience level again I don't want to fault players but someone has to point out that they tried something that they weren't ready for. and the reviewer who points that out will probably get hate mail. Sky the first season needed improvement, but I don't think a review lambasting them would have helped at all. they were brand new and trying to compete open class, no one should have been expecting something great (C2 though had higher expectations from the start) I have only seen one really bad show at DCA prelims and I chose to not review them, but that corps had put very little practice into their show, and it appeared they had put half the show together the week before. I feel something like that is not worth a reviewer wasting his or her effort telling them how they can improve. Yes I think that the corps actually should thank a reviewer for taking their time and effort to give a good though review. I know I am not a good reviewer, but I post reviews so that at least people can see that someone was there and actually saw the their show.