DrumCorpsMom

Excellent. I have a great fund raising idea that will work well in Ontario. I will PM you with the details.

Wish I knew what happened to all the Emerald Knights of Mississauga's equipment.

Good Luck! Love the name and love that you are trying to bring a corps to a town I can drive to (from Bracebridge) and hope that we see you soon!

Thanks! Makes me feel proud! I know we aren't supposed to put up You Tube links, but there is an amazing clip from someone who nominated Oakland Crusaders as #42 (I think) of the top 50 drum corps of all time. If you can't find it, PM me & I will send you the link.

Just an aside.... A group of us from one of the original corps (Etobicoke Crusaders) are looking at holding a 40th year reunion to commemorate our first season of competition in 1970. Once I get the details, I will post a separate post. We are looking for members of ECDC from 1969 - 1974. If I don't have your email or Facebook information, please PM me. Thanks! Cathy (Johnson) Walker

I was at the Drum Corps Canada conference in Toronto thay year and it was agreed that De La Salle would speak on behalf of all Canadian corps, to ensure all of our interests were addessed.

At least 23 years. Ask Troopers

No contest.... the Rose Bowl. Loved California, but the seats were soooooooo small & tight & uncomfortable. The curve of the slope of the stadium put you too far away for both sound & viewing.

In addition to buying WC souveniers, I threw a $10 bill in a few OC corps fuel fund buckets. I was thinking that if everyone threw at least $1 in the fuel bucket of their favorite corps, at each show, it would make a huge difference to them.

I wonder what is more important? The money from the event or having fans in the stands. If your finals ticket was for both OC & WC finals, you might get a few more showing up..... Having said that, I usually get seats on the 50 for WC finals and there are people who just show up for the top 5 corps..... Maybe they are out in the parking lot watching their favourite corps prepare, but I don't understand how they can call themselves real Drum Corps fans. The OC corps deserve a bigger crowd.

In Toronto, the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome) roof opens in 20 minutes. When the roof is open, 91% of the seats and 100% of the field is open to the sky, covering an area of 3.2 hectares (8 acres). I couldn't find the cost of opening the roof, but do remember seeing a special about it on TV and it was minimal (as in a lot less than $100). Designers did develop the SkyTent as to help reduce sound distortion and improve sound quality. The tent is a group of acoustical curtain sails that is hoisted on rigging above the floor, to help dampen reverb of the music around the open stadium. So it can be done.

I know!!!!

I agree. They were great and there is no shame in coming second to Blue Devils. If they didn't win, I can only blame Lee Beddis' Toronto Maple Leaf Jersey - the Jinx lives on.

The acoustics were definitely different. I don't know if I just was starting to get used to it, but it sounded better at finals than at semis. It might have been because there were more people at finals to absorb the sound. In large music halls they usually hang baffles from the rafters to absorb the sound. Maybe something like that is needed.

My husband (who is not a drum corps person) commented that it felt like a trade show. Friday, it was quiet and almost sad. Saturday it was noisy & hectic, but not in a good way. It was too out of the way for people who like to maybe walk through after the show and pick up a few last minute bargains. I did notice that on Saturday night it looked like they allowed some of the corps to set up tables with a few Tshirts in the lobby. I was trying to find the corps who sold the patches which said Drum Corps Mom (for obvious reasons) to put on the jacket I bought on Friday. Unfortunately I couldn't find the booth. The only one I didn't get a good look at was Phantom's - man, on Saturday when I went by there must have been 100 people lined up at their booth - it was bedlam.

Just got in from our 12 hour drive home. I have to agree with most of the posts (But - wasn't the National Anthem played by the Marine D&BC at the beginning?) . A few things DCI needs to seriously consider. 1) Personally, I don't like the music bringing the corps in, they've been doing this for several years now - I thought I would get used to it, but no. The whole thing takes too long for "We are the Champions" or something like that, but maybe last year's winner could play the corps on? Maybe have a standard march that typifies the activity? Just anything more appropriate. 2) There was no drama on the field during retreat.... We left before the encore because it was so anticlimatic. Last year Phantom's drum major directed the fanfare from the seats in front of us. We were so excited. One of the things we always looked forward to was the playing of America the Beautiful/O Canada. One last blow your face off moment. I didn't care much for the the substitute last year, but it was 1000 times better that the dead quiet of finals this year. Maybe it was the enclosed stadium, but the stadium felt dead after the scores were announced. 3) It would have been nice to see the corps mingle and congratulate each other for 10 - 15 mins before the encore. I saw SCV's DMs come over to congratulate BD, but there was not the opportunity or time given to mingle, like there used to be. More time is spent congratulating all of the sponsers, volunteers, DCI alumni, etc. than the kids that pour their blood & sweat on the field. When the corps leave, it used to be the custom to troop past the winning corps and present colors out of respect. At the end of everyother sport or entertainment activity I know, everyone shakes hands with the winner. That might not be practical, but there should be some way for the other corps to publically acknowledge the winner. 4) I can't blame the corps who didn't bring their instruments on the field. If they knew they weren't in contention for the encore performance, what would be the point. Oh, they could play something like maybe ATBOC 5) I like the year in review show on the screen. Unfortunately not all corps were in a position to see it, or in some cases, they were "eyes front". Maybe give a heads up to the corps, it's nice to watch the kids reactions to seeing themselves on screen.

I marched in 72, but our corps didn't go to Whitewater .

We had good seats in the 239 section. Audience behavior - that's another thread .. Sound was better than I expected, but not as good as it needs to be for the Championships. When Spirit was on, the crowd was sparse & the echo worse. It improved a bit as the crowd grew, but it never got to the point where I felt like the volume was right. Articulation had to be exact or the notes seemed to slur together.

Sure blows the original theory out of the water! Yay old farts!

Careful, I know where you are sitting See you Friday!

Leaving first thing in the morning... a 3 hour drive to pick up our son in Kitchener and then about 9 hour drive to Indy. Will be missing Quarterfinals, but will be there for Semis and Finals. Can't wait!!! (I also can't believe that Semis will be my first show this year - I must be getting old )

Makes me want to buy an iphone.... even though I live in Blackberryland. Great work!!

Amen

This is a great idea. The parents in the corps need to know the reluctance so that they can show them that it is not only great from the members perspective, but from the parents' as well. The benefits of marching far outweigh any issues that they could possibly perceive.

1) Blue Devils - 99.2 2) Holy Name Cadets 3) The Cavaliers 4) Carolina Crown 5) Santa Clara Vanguard 6) Bluecoats 7) Phantom Regiment 8) Blue Stars 9) Boston Crusaders 10) Glassmen 11) Blue Knights 12) Colts 86.5