C.Holland

Not when you have the equipment and people. Way better broadcasts come out of way worse venues. The rodeos are built in black holes for technology and power, and they still get good feeds.

The bucs are great performers. But brutal honesty… the show is complex, clean for a daily corps marketed as a weekend corps, and a snooze fest. You didn’t miss much. It’s like watching a much cleaner blue knights.

Then they should already have all this gear and stop being so cheap.

If you’re a broadcasting service, you should be providing all the essentials needed to send your feed appropriately. Even Div 3 and community college sports can get low-fi feeds out of some pretty crummy locations. If that means bringing your own 4K output transmitter and encoder, and a backup in case the first one fails (which good broadcast services do), and your own backup generator to power it all, with a spare, then the company who sold you a feed is responsible for that. “But C. Holland, we’re just a piddly little streaming company for bull riding and tobacco spitting competitions. Band stuff is just a small % of the business. And All this gear costs money” Boo hoo @#$! Hoo. This is the cost of the broadcast event business. gotta remember next year if I go, to bring a pillow. Those aluminum benches cause my lower back to scream at me this morning.

I didn’t take my phone out of my pocket. So you all don’t get many notes. So instead we’ll go super efficient for this forum. We’ll go with the following format. YAY: something nice to say NAY: something of criticism YAY: something sunshiney and rainbowey so you all don’t egg the house. ok… it’ll try at least but you’re not new here. You know mularky will be noted where it’s apparent. y’all know my background. A bunch of years marching, former educator of both single age, and double aged, career designer for entertainment and club-date musician. comments are never directed at the members. We all know this is a design led activity and everything on that pitch is because of the people standing in front of them telling them what to do. They’ve either trained and designed it well, or they didn’t. Newsflash, and this will sound harsh and it needs to… Finals is barely 3 weeks away. Read that again. Today is 7/12. (Now 7/13 as I type this) Open class prelims is 8/4. Do the math. Ships have sailed for training members the fundamentals to be at an acceptable level. the venue overall, I will say, I do love this venue. It feels old school. It smells old school. Tail gating in the lot. The warmup designated areas are nowhere near far enough to not hear battery ruin all the quiet moments. The diet cokes are ice cold and they cheer when you tip the servers. The 50/50 was not my number but whoever won, let’s get dinner. On you. I’ll work for it. ;) I’ll skip who I missed… so Sonus, Sky Alum, sorry y’all. Wasn’t there for it. But you sounded lovely as an echo of the near buildings. 7th… YAY. Atlantis… ok. like the idea of this show. I dig the choices in music (carnival of animals, la mer) and the audio effects. I dig the set and the gold tridents. Well done on coordinating your aesthetic. Nay: This show doesn’t know how to set itself up to highlight moment to moment. Totally missed big important plot points because there’s a distraction of busier motion on the other side of the field. Fix those and you’ll fix the show. YAY: Guard (and corps overall) looks young, but punches well above its age. Give them another season together and they’ll be smoking the work. Frankly if the design team can fix the moments that clash, and let one side of the field setup the other, this would be baller. Raiders. Yay: Largest corps in years. Show concept is kickin. I dig it. Unis and scenery is tasteful and elegantly used. Time in a bottle is a nice touch. Nay: Horns don’t put air in the instrument. So there’s 30 of them, but you won’t hear them. It’s July and the show isn’t done. (Yes… you read that right… standing still on july 12 is… a no-no) Pseudo Yay: The show will be seriously sweeeeeeet come August 4, IF they can somehow figure it out, AND train the members. But it’s 22 days til prelims and the last minute or so is not there yet. I feel like ships have sailed and this will be lots of band aids and tail chasing, which is unfortunate. Because if fundamentals of drum corps haven’t been taught yet, they won’t be at this point. The pit here is working overtime and it shows. Sun: it’s called Move. A show about a concept. YAY I dig the new school approach to show design. The pop of color later on. The integrated audio and the battery is the highlight of the group. They’ve woven Move into all sorts of graphic styles. Flags, Poles… flag poles… just watch it, you’ll get it. NAY: a few holes tonight. Some members just not sure of the drill. Yay: integration of body, sound, and percussion is well done. It’s good to see youthful staff breathing life into a show that has loads of potential. The battery is kicking. Go give them a listen. Bux… On Display. YAY: they look and sound like the youthful reading corps we’re used to seeing. Tubas are in boss mode here. The mix of modern charts with classical works is a signature, and they do pull it off well. NAY: the windows. (Or two way mirrors frames) There’s a ton of them. They look in the way. They read like a “good enough” idea but not a “great” idea. They’re fine I guess. But aside from holding guard gear they don’t feel necessary or even well integrated. They feel like “the activity likes props so here’s some props” YaY: they sound huge. The horns and FX weaving together is done as well as any top 12 corps. Moment to moment is setup very well in the corps proper. Bush: where do we begin (show title… not a question to you the reader) yay: best bush show in years. Bucimis. You and a I. Good choices in sounds. Actually an ok blend between horns and percussion. Really melodic playing from both. Even the flute was a great choice. (Sorry haters, it worked well) nay: amplified sound… overall balance and EQ, mics cutting out, some things really hot, some non existent… woof. I’d rather have no FX than what was there tonight. Seriously. Killed y’all. yay: throw out the affects and just perform this sucker. You’re playing above it. Go make a few changes to make it a hair more challenging and really let it blossom. It’ll make whoever is on direct before it forgettable. hurcs: the black parade. (Death… and hope as it comes… google it kids) yay: guard is gonna push this show. They already do. They’re outworking everyone. Well done tossers of tossable materials. They steal the show. In a good way. nay: there’s 2 aesthetics and scale of set pieces on the field, and they don’t belong together. Seriously. Use graphics (with less gloss) or iconic symbols but pick 1 aesthetic and scale for these things. Or remake it so it all looks like it belongs in one world of the script. yay: aside from graphic issues this is a cool show. Has potential. It’s not dreary enough yet to give you creep vibes but the idea is there. It’s missing bigger impacts and doom moments to contrast the sweet moments. But it’ll be entertaining once that gets thought out. Cabs : On The Edge yay: Melodie’s that people will hum as they leave the stadium. (REM, Lady Gaga) music for the modern drum corps kid. Well done. Corps looks and sounds big. Moves… ok. Horns are pushing to give you an old school feel with new school gear. Battery is tasteful. Guard is…neon. I like it. nay. Set pieces don’t have enough weight in the base to not move under a single performer on top. And no wheel locks used. The height of ramp without a railing wouldn’t be allowed on Broadway. So it triggers my brain to want to scream at someone. Because it feels like an accident waiting to happen. Scratch that, It is an accident waiting to happen. Yay: death Ramps aside, the show is fun, watchable, hummable, you’ll dig all 10 ish minutes of it. And whoever is playing before it you’ll forget about (unless it’s bush). In a sea of shows trying to do too much, this show feels right for the time to clean it and maybe make a few changes in time to do well to surprise us in Indy. (I won’t be in Indy this year, but you should go) The “Inception” usage of the death Ramps is creative way to restage and repurpose things really well. It lies they stole the idea directly from (Hamilton, Harry Potter, inception…) but hey. It works. Cabs alum. As always. Well done. Not a mic needed to hear you. Crusty old bugles with arrangements written in a good slot for the horns, and just mow your face off horn blasts. Rump rump rump it up. You all need to be the feature at dci semis one year. It’s too good an old school vibe, done too well, to not be in the dome just once. Hats off to y’all. Got things to say… feel free to send an angry email to support@flosports.tv or leave a voicemail at 317-275-1212 I’m sure someone in both these places will expedite your concern to the highest degree of their customer serving abilities. cheers.

Location, schedule, cost, and also how much they have left to pay for 2024. Most just spent thousands for the previous season. Unless they live close, don’t have anything on weekends, and have a significant source of income, it’ll be better than previous years, but not a giant number. i think you’ll get the high school and college students more than anything. Those who want a season or two before World class.

the last 3 hornlines for "all age" i taught had less than 4 fingers needed to count members over 21 in one, and maybe 6 fingers total to count all the seasons. all age is a youth activity for the most part. the faces are kids who barely have their licenses, let alone are able to vote.

one note from us who were in Indy and had a chat with a few All-Age admin. this was a large step in progress. The members, staff, admin, were all happier with the situations around this years championships versus both Williams#### and ####chester. if it ever goes back to the way it was, that'll kill the circuit. The only thing that matters, is the membership (at least from the 3-4 corps i spoke with in the marketplace) loved their time. They pay the fees, they're the client, their happiness is what will fill the ranks. Admin will figure out the rest, but quality of experience is what brings membership.

Howdy y'all. life gets in the way. was asked to teach this season, but my normal employment (promotion happened finally) handed me about 20 extra projects, the ballet im the PM/Designer for received their residency which added more to the season to design/plan, and NYC handed me a bunch of extra club dates. soooooo yeah. Feeling a little on fire this season. Barely had an evening for a cigar in the yard let alone time to put into this activity. But i did find time to fly in for DCI Finals. My notes, I'm happy with it. Even if it had been put into 13th, the consistency and collaboration of show components, the flow from A to B to C, and the thoughtfullness and integration of set and body work put into everything from staging of corps was miles above. It didn't feel like "viz for viz sake" but instead it all worked together. So i'm happy that this was several very large steps in the correct direction. Is there room for improvement, of course, however I'll gladly accept this method to the equation that is a field show.

Local “tours” need local show and event sponsors. You first need to find operators dumb enough to gamble event costs. Once you can guarantee events, you’ll then get participants. Doesn’t need to be a competition, could be parades, standstills, festivals, fairs… etc. but you need show ops and funders to help create a tour of events to perform at.

When you have performers of a certain caliber, show design can start at a higher level. You spend less time teaching how to perform, and more time what to perform. Better performers, tougher programming, lesser needs to teach fundamentals. So you can plan the base level show, the next level adaptations, and the plans for finals prep while everyone else is still teaching technique.

Not during ST. Colleges are dead at that point. Right after graduations until almost end of June campuses are ghost towns. A double edged sword, many college staff (my wife included) take their vacations because it’s the earliest they can. They do however have competition for field rental from sports camps.

Throw out the volunteers for maintenance. It’s hard enough to get them to help sit and check in students at camp or to even to stand around gudining people at an already organized 5k. cost to store, cost to maintain, and then cost to service when they break. When you rent everything else is covered. And if you break it, they bring you a new one.

College housing where you can use the cafeteria. Versus the internal costs of touring a cook truck. High schools are costing more each season.

Except. Locals gigs can be done with cheaper busses and a daily rental than the tour cost. If you use small ensembles , it becomes a van rental from budget and not a tour bus.