TroopAlum12

This is a bad accusation. Truth is, none of us know how we would react in such a situation unless you've been there. Adrenaline can impair our thinking, especially when we are threatened and our survival instincts kick in.You don't know what you would really do if that was you. None of us do. To say otherwise is an outright lie.

Oh no, I hope tim doesn't leave Troopers. The Lucas oil events guy attacked him unprovoked... To fire him or have to resign under pressure would be completely unfair for an act of self defense. Hopefully Fred will fight hard for him. I know the Indianapolis police said tim could press charges against the security guy.

People, let's quash this now before misinformation gets all over the place. Having seen the full video and spoken to eye witnesses, Tim Snyder was legally acting in self defense. The events guy was being a turd and started throwing props around and yelling at staff members while the corps was having it's post-show meeting. Tim approached him and asked him to calm down, and that the corps would be moving in a moment. The events guy proceeded to strike tim and grab him in a choke hold. When he wouldn't let go, THEN Tim punched him. The police were called and said tim could press charges against the events guy for assault. DO NOT MAKE ACCUSATIONS ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DO NOT KNOW.

Great job last night Troop. Your alumni and fans are proud of you!

There have been instances before when Tom Blair and company have spliced in audio or visual clips from semifinals performances into the finals tape so that the members can have the best possible memory of their show. Examples include later recordings of the infamous BD soprano solo "frack heard 'round the world" and the Carolina Crown leg injury of 2010. While not an emergency situation like the ones mentioned, I fully believe this would be an appropriate use of editing powers...just sayin'

I was at a design staff meeting for a marching band last night. The meeting broke down for a solid 10 minutes as we recovered from watching the Lot Hype video.

I remember one year our color guard members kept getting sick. Turns out their bus was a pig sty. They took a day to empty it of all their stuff and sanitized all the surfaces and the AC system. The sickness stopped after that.

Already a whole thread about this. Mods please close.

It was somewhere in the 09-11 years. The "Drum Corps Plague" as it was known.

This dead horse, you are beating it. Troopers are trying to be competitive these days, and they already tried the whole steampunk deal. Trust me, I was there...the days of Troop doing straight up western themes year after year have gone the way of the G-bugles. The Troopers will do their best to stick to their roots while also moving forward to stay relevant in competition. This case has been closed.

I saw some film crews in the lot at Ogden, but I think some of them belonged to individual corps' media teams. BD was there so I'm sure one of them was with the TV show. I'm sure they're probably trying to stay low key and blend in most of the time to capture the action, and we'll get more news on when it will air as it enters post production.

There has been a very strong backlash from musicians and music educators around the country. Join the fight and write your congresspeople!

I'm just going to put this out there: my closest friends in drum corps came from what many people consider to be the low point of my corp's history in the past decade (read: since the resurgence in '07). Adversity has just as much power to unite as it does to tear apart. It all comes down to how people decide to interpret it. Story time. Before I marched with Troop, I auditioned for one of the top 4 drum corps of the time which shall remain nameless. After getting cut from said corps two audition camps in and showing up at my first Troop camp the following month, I noticed a world of difference in the attitude of the marching members between the two corps. Corps A was gunning for a ring, and that attitude was reflected in the way the members treated each other - and not in a good way (you can be successful and push each other without being jerks). The vets shunned the auditionees pretty hard unless they had connections in the corps already, and no one seemed willing to help this little floundering rookie who was in way over his head. I found the opposite in Wyoming. Here was a corps that was also fired up to capitalize on their triumphant return to finals in 09 and start climbing the ranks. The vets wanted to do well. The pressure was on. But the members handled it differently. I made friends that first weekend, several of whom were longtime vets who wanted to see the incoming class succeed and took us under their wing. That is why I decided to make Casper my permanent drum corps home and not try to jump up the ladder in later seasons. My last season in 2012 was a rough one. There was a ridiculous amount of frustration from the members with the scores and the show design and so on. There were moments when tempers flared and words were said (or laps were run). But to this day my fondest DCI memories are from that particular hornline. There came a point in the season where the vets all got together and talked about what we could do to improve our situation, and then we went to the entire hornline with it. No matter what, we would work together and make the absolute best out of whatever the outcome was. And we did. We had (probably too much) fun that season and formed bonds that are still strong today. The point of this is that while tempers can flare, its up to the members to decide how to handle it. ESPECIALLY the vets. They set the tone. The rookies will usually feed off of how they interpret the situation. You can either stay mad at each other and let the season spiral out of control, or you can band together and ride that flaming mess out in a blaze of glory. The latter is much more fun

I think this is being done by DCI itself for their social media sites.

I restate what I said earlier. Like it or not, drum corps is part of the music education complex now. BOA, DCI, WGI and your local music teachers form a symbiotic web that all build and rely upon each other now. Bands have adopted the drum corps style and DCI has borrowed a little from the WGI world. To me as a music teacher, it's amazing and great and helps keep young people active and interested in music. The high school band kids treat the drum corps kids like rock stars. It confuses me how people see that as a bad thing. I think it makes the activity stronger.

Final rant: The bottom line is that DCI is here to cater to the members as a competitive educational activity. That's what it is now, like it or not: part of the music education complex. It IS connected to BOA and WGI now as part of that. The staff - both administrative and instructional - care infinitely more about giving the current members a good educational and competitive experience than what an old grouchy alumni thinks. That's the dirty truth.

You've forgotten one big thing: Modern drum corps is starting to pick up a lot of outside investors who have no background with the activity. The troopers receive heavy backing from a rich oil tycoon in Casper who is not an alumni. The Battalion - a brand new corps that has no alumni who can contribute - is having money thrown at them by private investors in Utah who like what they are seeing. Modern drum corps is appealing to a wider audience as a cool youth activity. The gap will be filled.

Admittedly, it was a statement of exasperated frustration. But I think you can get the gist of what I was trying to say.

I feel the love

Like I said, the new generation will fill their gap.

DCI's attendance numbers would like to speak with those of you who think drum corps is dead. As a music educator who works with high school band kids, let me say this: the kids love drum corps. I love drum corps. Its still drum corps. Old fogies can either get with the program or stay at home and listen to their 1960's VFW championship records. Sorry to be so harsh, but I am so sick of posts from people who show up here or on facebook just to bemoan the loss of symmetrical drill and piston-rotar bugles. If you don't like going to shows anymore, I'm sorry that you aren't open to being amazed by what those kids are doing on the field. As for DCI and the corps, believe me, they won't miss your money. For every dinosaur that decides to drop out, twelve high school kids and/or more recent alumni will take your place.

May this thread never die.

Been there done that (see 2010's "wanted")

Bluecoats have fallen back a little, but they also haven't competed since the 3rd. Based on early viewings, I would be shocked not to see them top 3 come August. There is, however, always the possibility that they hit a peak or plateau, especially since they came out of the gate so incredibly strong and with such a complete show. But I know Dean Westman...I think they're going to be experimenting and tweaking that thing with some more goodies to come.

DCI has been getting extremely serious about cracking down on illicit recordings (read: YouTube and Facebook videos) of shows, so you probably won't get to see it anywhere except in person or on a DCI Live broadcast.