luv4corps

Someone explain to me how BDB and SCVC could possibly finish prelims ahead of Academy, Mandarins and OC? That doesn't even make sense. Vanguard Cadets haven't beaten OC in years. That would mean that if OC were still in Open Class, they'd place 3rd? And Gold will beat Jersey Surf????? Is it because open class scores are higher and that is not figured in in this prediction... or?

You sound like you believe there is something wrong with a corps trying to get as far as they can get competitively... Or wanting to continue to challenge themselves...

I just hope that OC bringing the rain was some kind of positive omen for the 2013 season.

Hard to improve your score when you haven't done a show since July 2. As an OC fan, it's painful to see others' scores creeping up while we wait...

Sorry... picture failed. Have to figure out what happened...

This has nothing to do with the thread... but I'm honored to have gone from DCP rookie to DCP veteran... not sure when it happened. Oh boy!

As jaw-dropping as Rolling in the Deep was, it was House of the Rising Sun that brought the tears for me.

Props to Fanning for sure.

I know EXACTLY the surprise of which you speak and it is probably my favorite part of the whole show. Just blew me away.

It is encouraging that people are expressing interest in my updates. I didn't know if others found this thread as fascinating as I do! OC euph, your comment about the horn being a behemoth is spot on. It is the heaviest, non-supported horn to shlep out on the field for sure. Well, they're off. OC busses and trucks rolled out at 7 PM last night after the standstill and field performance (which by the way, was STUNNING. I may be a homer but OC is looking mighty world class to me. Let's hope everyone else thinks so too and... their brass has come a long way even in the past month :) First gym floor for the kids is Salt Lake I believe. It is expected that my son will be fully integrated and marching by San Antonio! Woo hoo. Hopefully no more wobbly euph arms. If you happen to be an "in the lot" junkie, as I am, he stands second to the right of the tubas in the arc. It is interesting to note that every drum corps person who has commented on this thread has said that the drill comes first, the music later, or that the music takes way longer to learn than the drill, etc. I talked to my son (let's call him Nic.. many of you OC readers know who he is anyway :) at the gala yesterday and asked him about that. He said he had the music down in the first day or two and that it's the drill that is coming slower. But it should also be noted that so far, he has been on his own to learn it. Last I heard, the visual supe will be working out some intricacies with him on Tuesday. In any case, when he puts horn to lips he is BLOWING baby! San Antonio, Oregon is Crusading your way!

I am so curious about these corps as well. OC will not have competed in a single show since July 2. Do any others corps have a schedule like that? For OC, it's at least partly because they need a 2nd long move-in for all-days given that area kids don't get out of university or high school until mid-June. Let the games begin! Right now I'm debating whether I should pay the $69 to fan network now or wait till the price drops. I know I'm gonna cave...

Yeah I wondered if he'd get a talking to from staff about that... I doubt they wanted him to shift positions like that. It looked awkward. I'm sure he knows better too and was just trying to survive the standstill :) Just goes to show that running around a field with those euphs is really, really difficult. Hats off to the lot of you. it's hard to watch someone you care about dealing with abject pain like that... knowing all the while however that he loves every minute of it! That's drum corps!

I don't know if others are as fascinated with this topic as I am but I like to report how my son is integrating into the OC show after starting just last Wednesday. Every night the run-throughs are posted on a closed parent facebook group. He says he's teaching himself the show. And sadly, the euph staff member he knows well, as well as the brass caption supe who my son admires a lot, aren't going on tour. So this is what it looks like: He gets in for awhile, gets out, back in, etc. Each night he knows more of the show naturally. Sometimes when he gets out he has to run around the perimeter of the field to hit his dot somewhere way on the opposite side. I know I should be watching the whole corps, but I just watch him sprinting to his place, march for a bit, and then get out, back in, etc. During a standstill performance this evening, I noticed his arms were not steady holding up the euph... they'd be in proper position then he'd lift them high for awhile, then lower them, back and forth like that. I am assuming it has to do with the incredible soreness I know he's feeling. He certainly was the ONLY euph player with those wobbly arms. Maybe another euph player can speak to that? I hope I explained it ok. Tomorrow is the big send off gala before the entourage rolls en route to San Antonio. He says depending on how it goes tomorrow, he might march the show for the gala. All I can say is, OC has a beautiful show this year. You all are in for a treat. I know no one has seen it as they haven't competed since July 2 but they're marching the full closer now and it's getting better every day. No matter where they finish in Indy, they represent the NW with class!

I watched last night's run through and my son, the fill in guy, was on the sidelines until the midway through the closer, when he jumped in and marched until the last note. I don't know if he was playing. There was also a trumpeter next to him on the sidelines who knew more of the show, marked time, played, did some of the choreography and jumped in more times. It's interesting to see the process of breaking someone in at this point.

In the case of my son, he wasn't filling a spot that someone vacated, rather a spot that was never filled to begin with so paying tuition is absolutely fair. As for filling in for a member who has already paid full tuition... seems to me... that is a different thing. But I don't propose to know ANYTHING about running a drum corps. I have always felt the tuition is worth it. It's like a sort of university really. Drum Corps University. Everything I needed to know about life I learned in drum corps? Oh jeez... that's a whole nuther thread...

I love to see another NW corps reinventing itself. That's what Oregon Crusaders did not that long ago and look at them now! Go NW drum corps!

Next update from my euph playing son, 4th-year OC vet, filling in a spot. Yesterday was his first time on field for music or drill. He just texted this: "I'm incredibly sore. I know about 1/4 of the show. My chops are actually doing fine, surprisingly." I assume when he says 1/4 of the show he is referring to music and drill, but not sure. Not bad for a day's work! So proud of him! Still love hearing from others of you who filled last minute holes. It's rather a masochistic choice but it sure gives you a story to tell your grandchildren!:worthy:/>

One update has come back after just ONE day at all days. Here it is: "I am ungodly sore."

Free? No. That would be nice. But we were offered a tuition discount sufficient enough that I felt it was worth it.

Testing my new photo. Didn't work ::satisfied:/>

Dan! Nice to hear from you. He will work his butt off and give it his all, i know that. That's what he loves most about drum corps so he'll get the hard work in spades this year! It was so funny, yesterday before I took him to all-days he brought out his mouthpiece and buzzed for awhile. After a few minutes, I teased him and said with that he must be all warmed up and in shape :) He laughed. He hasn't played his horn for at least a month now. At this moment, it is no doubt already stuck to his inflamed lips. I can't wait to ask him how it's going at their big tour send off gala on Sunday...

Nice replies, and somewhat encouraging, thanks. I have always wondered if every horn out there put to mouth is actually making sound. Now I know! One thing I forgot to mention, when I dropped him off late in the evening, during the run-through, he approached the scaffolding where the staff hangs out, waved at one of them and walked back over to me. "The staff is mostly all new, I don't know them," he said. Yikes. I sensed that he felt like he was in a new corps. He wasn't even sure who to talk to at first! Even the visual caption supervisor is new. Luckily, the euph instructor is a familiar face for him. A recently aged out euph-turned-OC media-guy approached him, a buddy of his, and all seemed to be well as I left the facility... but I can't help but wonder how the heck this is all going to happen. I have tremendous respect for my son right now, for taking this on. On the way over there he said, "it's time to sink or swim"... I'd love some more success stories about last minute hole filling!

My son just filled a euph spot for OC, as in I dropped him off tonight, and I started a different thread about it, about what it's like to come at the last minute.

I just dropped my son off at Oregon Crusader's 2nd move-in which goes until Sunday (He plays euph). Then they leave for San Antonio, their next show after a long hiatus from performing but they will have had a second round of all-days. An OC staff member called him last night and told him they really wanted him and he was able to make the commitment to do it. He couldn't join earlier due to some conflicts during winter and spring. What I'd like to know from some of you who've done it is: how do you step in at such a late time and learn a show - music and drill? He has marched OC three years before this year so he knows what he's doing, but still, it seems like a daunting challenge. I'd love to hear some of your experiences out there.

I have to chime in here, as I am a music educator in the NW. I don't think we have a lack of talent here. What the NW, and specifically, Oregon suffers from is lack of support for music education, which has a huge effect on drum corps, obviously. I work for one of the flagship marching/symphonic band school districts in the state and this past year, we lost almost half of our music FTE. In other words, full time band programs in LARGE schools went to half time. It was pitiful. Regional solo and ensemble contests had big empty slots on the schedule. With the passing of a levy, my district will be in slightly better shape next year, but only slightly. There is no shortage of untapped talent in the NW, but how are you going to get at it when music funding is so unstable? When you think of how poorly funded our music programs are in the state, it's a wonder we can field a WC corps at all! Good on OC and the Cascades! (I don't know much about Washington public school music funding, so am only speaking to Oregon's dearth of support for music in schools). It should also be noted that in general, symphonic band is a bigger deal in this area than marching band. My two cents.