Precious Roy

Yup. One of my early internet "projects" was to map out what various places around the US called carbonated soft drinks. There was one soda/pop line that ran right down the middle of PA, pretty much across State College. And it stood out to me that Chicago said "pop" as well. Up until that DCA show (I was about 15 or 16), I thought that term was universal.

Allentown is basically Harrisburg, but Philly is western Joisey. (Says the guy that grew up in western PA, and didn't realize people called soft drinks anything but "pop" until coming to JBC to watch some DCA back in the 80s.)

They need to get crazy hubcaps on the bells of the tubas.

Any corps not able to perform tonight due to weather, just tack them on to the beginning of tomorrow night's show.

I pitched this to my kid's band director, but he didn't bite on it. So I'll put it here up for grabs: "The Magic Cube" The corps starts out as a giant, solved, Rubik's Cube, using 6 different colored costumes on the performers to identify the 6 "faces" of the cube. The show starts as it is mixed up a little, and then when trying to solve it again it just gets more mixed up. Lots of rotating blocks and lines in the drill. At first, the drill is very chaotic, as if the person playing with the cube is doing just that -- playing around with it. You eventually get to the ballad, where the imagined "solver" realizes that in order to solve it correctly, they will have to do it methodically. Finally, the show ends with another high speed series of drill movements, but this time obviously more organized. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, as the final note hits, the colors all come together perfectly and the cube is back to where it started. Music features selections from Hungarian composers (Liszt, Bartók, etc), or '80s music (and cultural references) -- take your pick if you want to go more serious or more lighthearted.

Saw them live in Atlanta, with my family, last weekend. Fabulous show. One of the highlights of the night for my high school junior drumline son was playing rock-paper-scissors with one of the performers during the pre-show. We were in the 15th row, and somehow they made eye contact and started playing. I forget who he said won, though (it went 3 rounds).

Thanks. Turns out it was on my son's summer reading list a couple years ago for his English class. So my wife was also somewhat familiar with it. But she loved Gold's show even before knowing about the connection to the book.

Is it my TV, or is the picture getting progressively dark?

Can you give me a genre for this book, so I could know if it's something my wife would want to check out? TIA Edited to add: ...because she really loved Gold's show, even having no knowledge of the book.

I'll start by saying that I don't think anything I've implied is bad, or that the corps in question is the only one that may do this. But, as it turns out, I'm not totally imagining things: Start this video at the beginning: Start this video at the 1:31 mark: Play them concurrently. It is not a perfect 1 for 1 comparison, but I was amazed at how many parts lined up or nearly lined up. Again, not being judgmental. Just noticing a comparison, that all.

Fabulous performance level by BD. It's just seems a bit disjointed for my tastes.

Anybody else watch "Wicked Tuna" on Discovery? One of the captains of the fleet was wearing an 11th Cav hat during a few episodes this past season. Which was a bit ironic, because they are based in Gloucester MA.

Love the "gold" horns, Troopers!

Xmen show has really come together nicely since the opening night theater broadcast. Also looks like they've settled on the X opening/closing set.

Nope. They opted for the soft ending instead.

If I had won that billion dollar lottery jackpot, I would have a purpose-built DCI venue constructed somewhere on the east coast. Acoustically structured specifically for marching arts competitions (and exhibitions), covered (or indoors, if they can get it to sound "just like outdoors"), plenty of room for warmups and staging, and ample parking and seating for 30+ thousand. But I didn't. So I'm not. Sorry folks.

I was at that show too. There was a storm delay, and parking was a nightmare. I didn't get in until several groups had already performed. My biggest memory from that show was the moment Phantom turned the heart pink, and then "broke" it. Took my breath away. Still an all-time top 5 show for me. I wore that white "Phantom Voices" t-shirt out the next 20 years.

No. I'm at the "testing hypothesis" phase. I'd like to know if it's my imagination, or if there are a few moments there.

Ok. Can somebody with video editing skills do me favor? Can you put together a video of SCV 2018 and 2022, both in the same video. 2018 on the left half of the video, with all audio panned to the left as well, and then 2022 video/audio on the right side. I'd like to know just how much, programmatically (mostly music), those two shows are similar. K, thanks.

That's a wonderful feature. I wish they would do one for the voice talent person, too. He needs some credit, because the narration is very well done. Like, perfect inflections and timing. (I can't believe I'm saying that about a DCI show's narration.) My favorite lines are "...but I wasn't the one driving," and "...and remember, words are actions too." Flawless voice work.

Watching the replay earlier today, I got a sense it was the Tom Blair crew.

Wait, really?

Well, AckSHuAlly, thunder always means lightning. The latter causes the former. Any rain that comes through the show site this evening should (*should*) be a " one and done" kind of thing. Meaning, maybe an hour or so of lightning delay, but rain ending after that. Similar to Tennessee a couple nights ago.

Some random thoughts after a good night's sleep, after attending this show (from the 15th row in the lower section): Outdoor drum corps is wonderful! No annoying echoes. Yes, there's the weather element, but personally I would rather take my chances on potential weather issues and have an outdoor competition. The venue was fine. Not perfect, but fine. Getting into and out of the parking lots were a lot of "fun." Thank you to DCI and the corps for getting all the performances done quickly, with minimal downtime between corps. My wife is interested in DCI only because of me. She has no direct involvement in the activity, and no musical or performing arts connections at all. She is into DCI now purely for the entertainment aspect of it. So with that preface, her favorite shows were Gold and Academy. She said that those were the two shows that kept her engaged and interested all the way through. She also really enjoyed Phantom and Boston. A friend that marches with my son in a high school drum line accompanied us for her first taste of DCI. Her favorite show was Blue Devils. The musical moment of the evening, for me, was a brass hit in Bluecoats show. Its in the Momento Magico portion, a little bit before the keytar comes in. They are playing a sustained loud note, and then for the last measure or two of that section, take the volume up at least 4 more fortes. It was simple, but SPECTACULAR, and you could see everybody (at least in the lower section) kind of move their head back, as if the power of that note forced it back. That added volume doesn't come through on the TV. The best single section of any corps (IMO) was the BAC guard. And I'm a music and percussion guy. But the onslaught of tosses and everything else that the BAC guard was doing could not be ignored. The crowd seemed energized, with numerous legitimate (not "courtesy") standing ovations. Although I have to say, I'm surprised that some people still don't understand the common courtesy of not moving to/from their seats during a performance, and not audibly talking during a show. I had to "remind" a couple young teenagers sitting behind me to please wait to have their extended conversations between shows. After that, they were respectful. All in all, was great to see live drum corps again. It's Flo or nothing for me for the rest of the season, however.

Flo mics are up, people filling up the seating. Spirit Alumni coming in the field. No rain, no sun, about 78 degrees. Perfect night for outdoor drum corps! Glad to be here.