Pit Dad

Love that they put something out there for people to see and hear for 2017!

Ha! Lots and lots of notes. It even has tempo changes!

Ha! It may be mean but I have to follow the rules! :)

Sorry! Wish I could!

Once you hear the source music this year and listen to clips of it, you will know EXACTLY what Crown's brass will sound like. It has been amazing to listen to at camps so far.

Lots of vets back in all sections of the percussion (especially battery) and from the sounds of the first 3 camps, seem very strong for this time of year.

I agree that the staff that left was unplanned and there will be questions all winter until we see the product on the field. The only things you can say so far is that the talent is still coming, they are getting the same message from staff that is there, and with Jim Coates still running the corps, we will have to hope that the staff he has hired will continue the traditions that have been built and build new ones that will continue to make the corps a contender every year.

Obviously it is so hard to tell in the winter months what is going to happen, but being at the first three camps, they are still attracting the cream of the crop in membership. Musically, at least, from what we have heard so far, brass sound is as impressive as usual and the percussion looks strong.

Yes he is.

According to their website and their February camp info, Colts still have openings in all sections of the brass line, some percussion openings, and guard as well.

Agreed! I'm going to be just a bit biased this year but I'm expecting good things after hearing from I've heard from the first 3 camps.

From what I have seen and heard so far, there has been no implosion! It's going to be another strong show from them this year.

It is the nature of the beast but my son knows a number of kids that got contracted at Cadets at their first camp in November but he also knows students that went to BD, Crown, and SCV that had to go through two rounds of callbacks before being offered contracts in January. I think it is getting much tougher to make it into the top 4 and they are willing to make you really work for it before offering a contract.

It's getting tougher and tougher for these students every year! The talent level is just unbelievable at the top.

From what I've heard about Crown this year, I would say it is about the same age range as BD.

This still worries me as a Madison fan about even a 15 year old or 16 year old competing against the higher tier. I'd love to know right now how many young students like this are in BD, Bloo, Crown, and Santa Clara. I know from listening to George Hopkins talk pre-audition that it is rare that Cadets will even take someone that young because they are concerned about what the young students bodies would be put through. They have done it but he said it would have to be an extremely talented individual. I am definitely not bashing Madison because I'm a huge fan. I'd just love for them to get back to the upper tier where the older students want to come and stay there and compete with the "big boys' every year.

I'm not trying to date you since I marched even before that, but that was 26 years ago. I agree that there are probably 14 year olds marching in world class corps, but I would bet the number is very small or none in the top 12 corps.

Now they just have to get buy in from the students that they are teaching that Madison is once again a destination and not a place to learn for a few years and then go to an upper tier corps. I want Madison to be considered in that upper tier again but they have to get the buy in from the students that are there and potential candidates in the future to stay and that is really hard to do in the environment created by DCI these days.

Agree 100%. When my son was 15 and 16, and auditioning, he was told to go to the lower tier corps to gain the experience and then come back when he was older before he would even be considered. He's now done that and is reaping the benefits of that advice. I look back now and it would have been very difficult at that age to handle the rigors of a top 12 corps. This is my concern for Madison that if they are taking kids this young (along with low vet retention), are they really going to be among the elite top 12 or will they have to bide their time for a couple years until kids like this get their feet wet!

14 year olds? I know there are young students who are very talented but that would be a lot to ask of a 14 year old. I know that was the way things were back in the '70s and early '80s but trying to compete against the top level corps with students that young is just a little scary.

Must be just as weird to them as almost everyone else.

Of the corps around them (slots 13-15), I believe Troop is the dirtiest of the three. I can tell they are working on it, but at least looking at the high camera, they seem to really be lacking in visual cleanliness for August.

They added some shiny material to the front of the boxes over the last couple of days and I think they will work well once they are inside again at Lucas Oil.

Nice score jump for Colts tonight getting them back in the thick of things with Boston and Troop!

When I marched back in the '80s (and I realize that was a long time ago) one of the things that kept us going each night was getting a huge crowd response along with the challenge of what we are doing on the field. I understand the demand that BK has, but with no crowd response (or very little), these members really have to believe in what they are doing because the crowd just doesn't appear to.