drumcorpsfever

Has it ever been tougher to crack the top 6? For that matter, surviving the last cut to make it to Saturday night? Since placement predictions are next to impossible at this time, I will make my prediction based on alphabetical order of the top 6, and then corps 7-12: (you know... ya' never know...:>) 1. Bluecoats 2. Blue Devils 3. Cadets 4. Crown 5. Phantom 6. Vanguard 7. Blue Knights 8. Cavaliers 9. Crusaders 10. Madison 11. Spirit 12. Troopers

First of all, kudos to you for asking! You'll typically find that a corps such as the Bluecoats will have members that, even if new to the Bluecoats, are not new to drum corps. So, getting experience and development will certainly be a terrific benefit to you. And, by the way, the Bluecoats are tremendous organization and a great pick to target as your destination corps. A corps not mentioned so far is Music City. They're back in 2014 and still have some spots to fill. Whatever corps you begin with, be committed to them and don't worry about who you may end up with down the road. You'll enjoy the drum corps experience with any corps. Good luck to you!

Going back to the 70's, how about these corps and their distinctive uni's: Bridgemen Anaheim Kingsman SCV Madison Kilties 27th Lancers Blue Stars Troopers Phantom Fast forward to contempory corps: World Class: SCV 2013 Bluecoats Phantom (sans the crest) Cavies (sans the large mirror) Jersey Surf Cadets (classic look) Open Class: Spartans Cascades Best guard uniforms recently: Cavies 2010-2011 Blue Devils 2010

Bluecoats - love the uni's through 2012 and last year's too! In fact, of all the new uniforms last year, Bloo's was the best new of the new.

You've really hit one of my pet peeves about the DCI recordings! Yes, performances are sometimes edited. Yes, the solos for BD have been doctored (with absolutely no references on the recording for historical purposes and understanding). Overall, I don't have a problem with editing - as long as the original version is preserved (for historical and purest purposes). In fact, I would enjoy knowing what's been edited. Also, DCI - or the recording editor - picks and chooses which performances they choose to edit. Why, for example, is the soloist edited on BD, but not for the Bluecoats performance? I'd suggest that if you do it for one on the finalist recordings, then you should do it for all - if possible. This isn't anything new. Check out the 2012 Finals bluray for Crown. The soloist in the Fanfare for the Common Man was doctored. While we're on the subject, when is DCI going to start offering video downloads?

When the season ended, the corps announced that it was not returning to the field. It appeared as though they had, in fact, folded. However, since that initial announcement, they made headway on the needed resources. Music City has since annouced their return to full operations. They held their audition camp in December and had a tremendous turnout. They expect to come back bigger and better than ever. For more info, please see the www.musiccitydrumcorps.org or the Music City Drum Corps facebook page. Also, check out this news report on their camp: http://www.newschannel5.com/category/125220/video-landing-page?clipId=9635672&autostart=true (Please note that I am not a spokesperson or representative for the corps ).

I've noticed an absence of Music City. They're back - and they had a tremendous turnout at their December camp. They made the top 25 for the first time in 2013. I wouldn't expect anything less from them in 2014.

I think you'd get different results with 2013, don't you?

As an example, I listened to a podcast featuring Doug Thrower sometime back. I found it facinating to hear from Doug on his views of the music he's arranged for the Bluecoats and some behind-the-scenes discussion that we often don't get to hear. Hearing the background behind the concepts is pretty interesting. Also, hearing from some of the top directors on how they meet the many challenges of running a successful drum corps would be great too. Topics such as instrumentation, show design, judging (DCI Judge as guest), Drum Corps History (i.e., Steve Vickers), and camp reports are a few more examples. Thanks for asking. I'll look forward to hearing more of your great work!

Thanks as always for the podcasts. They're great to listen to! Do you have plans for having some hot-stove discussion from corps directors, arrangers, or other corps spokespeople in future podcasts?

Someone help out on this one... there's a story about a mix up of uniforms between Blue Rock and Anaheim.

Best: skilled membership, on-field product, instruction, Bb brass, fitness, nutrition, electronics, character building that only a long tour season can help develop. Worst: increasing capital requirements to sustain a top-notch drum corps and the absolute need for a strong business model to survive in a very competitive industry.

A Cadets show theme in the making!

Don't forget about the Bluecoats. Bloo's drum line is always among the very best. They've come very close to the Sanford and are always in the running. Don't be surprised when they bring home the hardware!

Watched the 2013 bluray over this weekend. Got to give a huge shout-out for the Bluecoats show, who, IMO, had the best show of them all.

I love the Bluecoats. Somehow they come up with new music that no else has done - they've got a knack for finding gems. Thank you Bloo! Looking for continued excellence in 2014. This will be very powerful! Beautiful... I can almost hear their awesome brass line playing this. One of these days, perhaps in the new year will come an Ott Award.

Boston Bellefountaine's Satin's Angels. Yes, Virginia, there was a Satin's Angels Drum and Bugle Corps.

A bazillion likes and babies thrown your way! Awesome!

Music is a universal language. It's awesome to see how drum corps has affected global expansion. To anyone who thinks drum corps is contracting, here's a great example of why it's just the contrary.

Please disregard. Comment removed - misunderstood the reference.

Bluecoat, Madison Scout, Blue Devil, Cadet

DCI caved to the fans and the powers that be - BD was the best in 2013. Now that BD was dethroned, here's hoping to more objective judging in 2014!

I'd start with looking into small claims court. You don't need an attorney. http://www.jp.pima.gov/Pages/SmallClaims/NewSmallClaim/ edited for: Here's another link that may provide helpful info: http://www.smallclaims.com/?cat=7

I am so glad I didn't have to wear pants like this back in the day! Not just the color, but geeze, these type of pants are not very flattering to much of the human population!

I didn't see anything on the corps' Facebook page speaking of a "mass exodus". Unless it's an official announcement from the corps, I wouldn't put much stock into it. Again, this is speculative, conjecture, and should not be featured as a lead discussion on DCP. It's simply not responsible. But that's just my 2 cents.