hardlyworking

Y'know how there are people out there that don't like The Godfather? It's like that. Let me explain: People generally consider The Godfather to be one of the greatest movies of all time, just like a lot of people consider Crown's hornline last summer to be one of the best that's ever graced the field. However, ask somebody who didn't like the movie why they didn't like it, and you might get a reason such as "I don't see what everybody else found to be so amazing about it." That's how I viewed the Fanfare last year. I understood what they were going for, and it sounded great - it just never blew me away...and yeah, I heard mistakes. Even on Quarterfinals, which was the most recent recording I've heard. Maybe my hearing is messed up, I don't know. I guess that's why I'm not a judge. Speaking of The Godfather...if last year's show was like Part I, then count me as one of those people really excited to see their equivalent to Part II! ...but no Part III, please. We don't talk about that one.

I'm only 23, man...sorry for not popping out of the womb and straight onto a piano bench!

Yeah, it was a huge feat...but it wasn't perfect. If you're going to present something with that high a level of demand and exposure, there can't be any room for small mistakes. Crown had a few small mistakes (very miniscule, but still there). That's all. No hate to be found over here. I've been doing the whole "music" thing for about 15 years (and still going strong), 6 of which have been devoted to marching band/drum corps. I'd like to think that after all this time, I would at least have a partially well-trained ear (having perfect pitch usually helps, too). You can say what you want, but I saw Crown live last summer and I know what I heard. I also heard the Fanfare performed live last year by a professional orchestra, and there was a huge difference in quality (hint: the orchestra sounded better). I have no hate for anything Crown does, but don't try to tell me it was perfect. If you're gonna do a piece like that with the performers spread out that far, there's going to be a drop in quality. But really, I don't have to justify anything I say to any of you. I thought Crown's performance of the Fanfare for the Common Man had a few flaws here and there. I'll wait while you gather your pitchforks and torches. Lol, DCP.

The original didn't have phasing issues and poor attacks & releases. It was pretty great from an intonation standpoint, though.

I was already aware of that, thank you.

Madison already did that in 2010.

Why?

I also did some research (aka Wikipedia) on Peter Grimes and found out it's an opera by Benjamin Britten. A show with Shostakovich, Elgar, Hermann, possibly Britten and Vivaldi? Count me in!

DCA.

Age of Gold - Shostakovich Enigma Variations - Elgar Symphony No. 11 - Shostakovich That's all I was able to pick up on - no clue what the rest of it refers to (Cape Fear/Cod, Peter Grimes). Maybe Four Seas refers to Vivaldi's "Four Seasons?"

Some people, such as myself, like being unsettled. Is it wrong of me to find "crunch chords" pleasing to the ear? 'Cause I do. Very pleasing...and no, I wouldn't even think of calling myself any sort of "elitist." I get just as many goosebumps from dissonant moments as I do from a big, fat major chord. Music is music, man. If it affects you in any way, positive or negative, it's doing its job.

I'm going to speak on behalf of George here. Dear HollywoodNeoCon, Hmm...no. Love, George tro-diddly-lolololol

Looks like SCV will be continuing their streak of doing a show that I absolutely love every year.

Well, their football team only won a single game last season, so that certainly can't be it...maybe you saw something about their new coach?

I know it's not a drum corps, but it's exciting to see Georgia State's marching band, which has only been in existence for 3 years, representing the state of Georgia at the parade.

Well, I can officially stop contributing to the BD/Crown argument. This guy just summed up everything I've tried to say. Bravo!

There are so many I'd love to march, but the first one that came to mind just now is BD '92, only so I could perform "When A Man Loves A Woman." A little cheesy? Sure, but you can't deny that they threw the #### down that night. It would be so awesome to be a part of that moment.

Well, I did screen-cap it from the "Carolina Crown 2012 San Antonio" video on YouTube, so I'm pretty sure I knew what I was doing the whole time. My point behind it was that posting a picture of one dirty form doesn't matter. Everybody has dirty forms, that's why nobody's scored 100 yet.

Or maybe they just didn't have enough time to do the full show.

I think you missed my point. You can't just pull out one shot of a dirty form and use that as your argument. The fact is, it's impossible to judge if Corps A is cleaner than Corps B unless both corps are performing the exact same thing! I believe that BD cleaned their product better than Crown cleaned theirs, and apparently the judges agreed.

Well, if Crown can't get flying around the field at 190 as clean as BD doing what they do, then Crown gets 2nd. Also, 6th place drumline - I don't know of any corps that has won recently with captions placing that low...but I imagine that it certainly doesn't help your chances. Look, if you want to try and win with a show that difficult, go for it...but a product of such high difficulty requires insane cleanliness if there's to be any chance of winning. Crown was ALMOST there...but "almost" doesn't get you 1st place. Truth.

Hey, guess what, I can find a single shot of dirt, too! Also, how incredibly condescending of you to assume that I don't know what a straight line is.

They have a well-built organization that's been consistent since the mid-90's. How many other corps can say that? Well, at least you stand by your bias. Can't argue with that. I'm sorry, this...this just doesn't make any sense. I don't know what lines you were looking at, but they were performing their drill just as well as any of the corps around them (though obviously a little bit cleaner, since they won and all). But what the hell do you mean by getting away with "discordant music?" Seriously, I do not understand what point you're trying to make there. Right, just like dadaism goes against everything we know about art. It was never meant to be a "traditional" drum corps show, just like dada is not "traditional" art. So many people say this every year that BD wins, and yet I don't see it. Nobody's copying BD. Cadets didn't copy BD last year. BD does their own thing, which is to sometimes step outside of the box and do things people are uncomfortable with. They just execute their product better than everybody else, and that's why they win. It's not because it's artsy-fartsy. I'd love to see a show like Madison's win the title, but the fact is they're just not clean enough. Entertaining? You bet...but it's not the only factor that goes into winning. If it were, Jersey Surf would have gotten a medal this year.

I'm really glad I went to bed long before the show was over...reading all of the discussions on here definitely would have kept me awake for a few extra hours! Anyway...congrats to BD. I had you guys pegged as the winners all the way back in San Antonio. Seeing you live in Atlanta just made me believe it even more. As for Crown? BY FAR, the best show they've ever had. Any other year and I could see it winning. When you've got two shows of such high caliber like that, it's gonna come down to who can execute their product better, and in that regard, I tip my hat to the Blue Devils. This was definitely one of the best seasons of drum corps I've seen in a while. I don't think I've seen a season with this many likable shows since...2003, maybe (personal preference)? Strong performances and very exciting shows all around. I can't wait to see what all of these great corps have in store for us in 2013!

Great read, thanks for posting it. Very insightful!