mellojay84

Loved seeing a nice high-step in the closer. Been a while since I've seen a corps do that.

Go Madison! was a good solid show. Doesn't have to "be" anything but music and movement. Fun to watch either way...

AMC Theater... Independence, Missouri

maybe someone addressed this earlier (I haven't read through the entire thread), but in previous decades a MUCH larger portion of the audiences were seeing shows for the first time. Reactions were raw, and spontaneous.. How many of us now can say we haven't watched/heard/gotten a taste of several corps' shows before we even go to a stadium to see them live? I know a few who make it a mission to NOT watch anything till they can see it live, or on finals night... I surmise that those folks are a minority. Most of us know whats about to happen before we get in our seats. I think it's a change in how we "curate" our Drum Corps experience, not that audiences have changed..

It's all good, I read and re-read some things.. I get your point now. :)

I would also like to know, as several others before me, where did you get THAT bit of info? for someone speaking out about people "not being as open-minded as they think they are", I think you need to clarify your little declaration for us. Are you saying that since they are an all-male corps, and LGBT women cannot participate, that they shouldn't be making a supportive statement for the LGBT community as a whole? That doesn't make them "narrow" it makes them...... supportive! to the community, AND to their present members who might belong to that community, It IS possible to make a statement in support of something, AND also support other things that you didn't make a public statement about..

..The shrieking followed each and every rifle catch.. every successful flag toss.. up in section 315 (next to the judges) we witnessed a judge stand up, turn around, and tell some especially shriek-y and talkative teens, to shut it.. very satisfying :)

I was sitting next to an older lady in the theater last night.. We did not know eachother, but during the evening we spoke a bit. She had 2 children who had marched with different corps, and she herself had marched with the Troopers. She was very excited to see what the 'Coats had come up with this year, her expectations were high! After the show, I asked her what she thought (I loved it, although I could do with less vocals). She then made an observation that took me by surprise.... she said: "I HATED IT, I never expected them to sell out. it's as if they decided if they couldn't beat the Dev's with their own style, then they'd put a Dev's style show on the field" She was genuinely upset. I put a lot of thought into this, and I wonder if the stacks of white chairs, the jazzy character of the show, and/or some of the guard design was giving her that impression? I mean, there are similarities.. I don't agree with her that it's an attempt to adopt the Dev's style and "sell out". I just thought it was a good display of what the 'Coats current aesthetic is. I didn't see the similarity she saw.. I'm curious if anyone else got that impression?

Sound horrible in our theater. Its like there's some kind of volume levelling on.

be careful... I actually put a lot of time and effort into timing the "park and bark" of the top 5 corps a couple years ago.. and was CRUCIFIED on this forum for it.. (however I completely agree with you) ;)

THIS!! absolutely THIS!!

such class... ? I'm not impressed.. That's a rather "elitist" attitude to have, and not a good reflection of the organization. Why you gotta make it so hard to keep lovin' you BD?

There's a lot of talk about the vocalist.. I'll state right up front, that It grated on me.. but as a former professional vocalist myself, I will say that she has a VERY difficult set of circumstances to overcome, and I don't think she's going to be able to do it. She has decent tone, sometimes, but is pretty "pitch-y", (which I suspect is partly due to the music not being keyed for her, but for the brass? ) it seemed a bit too low for her to get down into that alto "place" without being sharp.. She could make the high notes, when she belted. .. as I've said before in this thread, there's just too much focus on the vocalist. She dominates the visual, RIGHT on the 50, all the time. I would have loved it if she had just hit the first phrase of "For Good" and then let the brass take the duet from there. After "For Good" I was just lost. Sorry, I'm rambling, but I just didn't get it! I couldn't focus on the brass, percussion, or guard, because all I could do, was cringe for her, every time she missed a note... I have NO disrespect for her as a performer, she has an incredibly tough task.. but if you're going to perform a song that's THAT well known, your vocalist better be able to crush it! :( Crown... .... also, did anyone else's theater "erupt" when Jeff Sacktig responded to a question about what it's like working with a corps other than The Cadets, and he said "well, it's refreshing, let's just leave it at that" ? I rather enjoyed the reaction in the audience..

Don't do this to me Crown!! your hornline is too good, too valuable, to become backup for a singer! She has a nice quality in her voice.. but too much is too much! and... she's a little pitch-y.. just my un-solicited opinion..

Does anyone know why there is no Warrensburg, Missouri TOC show this year? was always a great time, and for us Missourians, one of the only shows we can manage to get to, due to weeknight/work constraints.. I buy 8 seats and take a diehard group of friends EVERY year... so disappointed :( It took SOOOOO long to get drumcorps BACK in Missouri... and now it's gone again.