RichCranford82

Couldn't agree more, makes me wonder just how long the Cavies will keep the same "classic" look they've had for some time now, seems to work for them just fine. I'd still love to know the reason(s) for Madison leaving a true classic look behind, I'm sure someone had their reasons, just never made any sense to me other than an identity crisis.

27th Lancers: 1981 Anaheim Kingsmen: 1974 Blue Devils: 1982 Blue Knights: 1994 Blue Stars: 1979 Bluecoats: 1990 Boston Crusaders: 2000 Bridgemen: 1982 Cadets: 1984 Carolina Crown: 2008 Cavaliers: 1995 Crossmen: 1982 Glassmen: 2001 Madison Scouts: 1995 Phantom Regiment: 1989 Santa Clara Vanguard: 1987 Spirit: 1980 Star of Indiana: 1991 Suncoast Sound: 1984 Troopers: 1981

Ok, but if we eat there first we better make it quick!!

I'm kind of torn, as far as warm-ups it's a fantastic place, I actually spent the entire 1st day this year checking out all the Corps as they arrived, got to hear "space chords" live for the first time and wasn't disappointed to say the least! Other than that, not so much. I should admit that I'm a little biased on the area itself, having lived here for the last couple of years I can honestly say that I can't get out of this town and the wonderful state of Pennsyltucky altogether soon enough. Back to the stadium, how do they not have the top section fixed?! We're not talking some hi-tech structure here, pretty much just your standard bleachers and I would much rather have sat up there than on the 20 yeard line. Just kind of adds to the general "run-down" feeling in this area, that and I don't think they've paved the roads around the stadium since the before the last time I was here 22 years ago, but maybe I'm being too picky. Greasy hot dogs and a diner isn't a heck of a draw for the average fan who doesn't tailgate either, it was kind of cool that they mentioned Drum Corps in the Yuckos sign out front I guess, after eating there I wondered 2 things: where was the nearest rest room and how in the world did they become "famous"? I guess it proves that with enough obnoxious advertising and lack of options anyone can lay claim to operating in infamy.

How about some of the changes 27th made in their final years? Seeing them in those orange shirts with some sort of purple-ish sash was kind of the same feeling as seeing Phantom in khaki - it just wasn't right, talk about messin' with a great thing! I always wondered if there was a reason for the change other than someone possibly losing a bet! LancerLady if you read this maybe you can fill me in, '86 is the year that really stands out to me if memory serves.

Exactly which argument are you referring to? If I read your post correctly you would be in favor of "anything goes", am I correct? If so, I'll quit right here because it would be obvious that we look at things very differently and I'll happily leave it at that.

But here's the problem, before anyone can even have a chance to design shows with the current set of "toys" (for lack of a better term), here they go and indroduce something that has the potential to change the activity quite a bit. Would it hurt anyone to put the brakes on for at least 2 years in a row?

I know it probably wouldn't have been too PC, but would it have killed DCI to show the announcement of BD in second? I mean, as long as I can remember the 2nd place score always gets the most spontaneous crowd response, I can only imagine what the reaction was last night.

Really only had to read one, the rest have just been comic relief

Sounds about right after reading the last 7 pages

Thanks guys, sounds good to me, I'll be there!

Holds alot of memories for me, that's for sure. The one thing that always comes to mind is how hot it always was going on in the afternoon and the heat just rolling down off the concrete. The one thing I don't get is how they haven't fixed the upper deck, looking at it from the outside it's an eyesore and it doesn't look like it would take that much to fix it, of course this is Pennsylavania where it took them 10 years to repair a half-mile bridge, so who knows. It's also kind of ridiculous that half the roads around the stadium haven't been paved since before the last time I was here 23 years ago but that's PA for ya.

Well, just for the record, musically the Devils did beat Garfield, add up the Brass, Percussion and M&M/Visual captions and BD comes out with a .8 advantage. Where they lost it was in the GE caption (a .9 spread), too subjective a category for me and besides, I've always been a "music-first" kind of guy so in my world I'm right and you're wrong! Now, think how much fun this conversation would be with a couple of shots thrown in - just sayin!

Just wondering if anyone knows of any good hang-outs here in town over the next couple of days. Seeing as I live here now (for the time being anyway), this will be the first time I've been to J Birney since '85. Scoped out the area yesterday, everything pretty much still looks the same, the park area seems a little nicer, everything else not so much. Not trying to dig on Allentown, just thought it would be fun to get together with some folks with whom you don't have to explain what Drum Corps is and get right to arguing about why the Blue Devils should have beat Garfield in '84 (in my humble opinion of course) and why I like this version of "Spartacus" just as much as the first two, but I digress. Not looking to crash anyone's party, thinking more along the lines of Allentown's famed night-life (yeah, I know) and discussing these and other non life-threatening issues over an adult beverage or two, not that I approve of such things.

I'll be in the Lancaster area tomorrow, anything more on BD moving to Millersville? Landisville isn't that far so I guess I can check both places if need be.

Just wondering, is there anyone else out there who couldn't care less who wins? And just for the record I've been lamenting for years the fact that the visual aspect carries more weight than the music side of things, always thought that should be the other way around.

I know I wouldn't buy a dvd of the "lot" stuff, the whole point for me is to be blown away live. And if I'm being honest here I'm one of those who spends all his time in the lot, with very few exceptions I just don't care for the shows on the field much anymore. I still buy the APD's of the shows I like, but I've always been more a "music first" guy anyway when it comes to Drum Corps with the visual aspect being a distant second. Combine that with my weariness of every show having to revolve around a "theme" and the seemingly frantic pieceing together of many short musical phrases and I'll take BD playing "Space Chords" blowing my face off from 30 feet away any day of the week. If they took preventive measures from fans checking out warm-ups it wouldn't entice me to go to the shows themselves, it would just save me gas from going at all.

Just out of curiousity how much were they charging last year?

A question - does the orchestra dress in the Corps proper or do they wear tuxes? Also, they always called it the orchestra "pit", let's put a real orchestra that can cover the entire sideline. Wait, better yet let's have each audience member bring their own instrument (I'm bringing a kazoo if I can find one) and just play whatever comes out, it's all music, right?

And those parameters for what's disrespectful or not are set by who exactly, you? I'll be the first to admit I have a personal bias against Mr Hopkins and the Cadet orginazation that dates back some 30 years, marching with smaller Corps in Jersey back then you got to see first hand the cockiness and arrogance he brought to that Corps that you didn't see as much from the other "big boys" at the time. Yes, we were all impressed with the shows they were putting out and all the championships, but you always got the sense that Hopkins would run over his own Mother to get what he wanted and from what I can gather from recent Cadet programming choices I see that some things never change, he's still getting his way and his "agenda", for lack of a better term, is the only one that matters. Now, do you consider anything I've just said disrespectful or do you think maybe it's a formed opinion based on personal experiences? Just wondering.

I feel the same way, always impressed with the shows, it's just their musical style has a tendency to be a little too "choppy" (for lack of a better term) for my tastes. I will say however that the 2000 show is a personal favorite, ranks right up there with 82, 84 and 86 as Blue Devil shows I could never get enough of, if you haven't had a chance to listen to the "State of the Art II" recording do yourself a favor and check it out, simply amazing.

Anyone remember the documentary focused on Spirit back in 79 or 80? Don't recall the title but I always loved that one.

Here's a question regarding the FN - went to the DCI website and for the life of me couldn't seem to find them still offering individual APD's anywhere. Are individual shows available for download or do you have to subscribe to the whole thing to have access? Just wondering.