festive

Have a great time! :)

Heh! Good one! You got 'em! [sarcasm off] they are doing ok for a first year drum corps. ultimately very few of the kids even read this board, prolly. (edit--I think there are some on here...heh...so be nice y'all) But, here's hoping that they on their way...the first steps are always the toughest.

I definitely hear you. But, I also understand it from the staff's perspective. They really did want the crowd to like the corps. They wanted fans behind them. It's one thing to win, and it's another to have fans eating out of your hand. If I had to pick one or the other, I think I'd pick the support of fans. Maybe that was it? Maybe they thought "Rite" would lead to the same result? You win...you win again. It doesn't feel better the second time. You've already slayed that dragon. But the fan thing proved elusive. And that bizarre hating on Star. And yes, I remember it very very well. I also remember taking a bus ride with Star in 91 and the members being really great people. From then on it always made me mad when someone busted on Star. Personally, I didn't find the show patronizing. To me, it showed that Star had heart (they always had heart, and intellect, too, but some of the show designs didn't necessarily wear the heart on the sleeve), and that their heart was in the right place. And lest we forget, the Gulf War (remember the Bluecoats drummer on the 91 broadcast?)...Star wanted to wave the flag and who could blame them? There's nothing wrong with pride in country. There's still nothing wrong with it. :) Star had such an interesting story...I just wish there was more of the drum corps part of it...

SOS is always a good time. If I wasn't teaching this summer I'd be there! Give my regards to the tent! :)

Gradual change, I think. Some three valves (euphs?) in 91, I think sops in 92? Not sure after that. Where's Nikk? :) I'm actually posting to agree with you on 94. We were listening to 94 the other day...I'm always leaving it out of my favorites list, but it's a great show. Lovely parts...brutal other times. Nice.

I agree, though Star apparently felt that audience hatred from the 92 show: Bill Cook: "Jim and the staff wanted to try to make Star more accessible to the public. They were ready to go back into time and perform a book that would hopefully be identifiable. ...For Jim, 1992 was a pivotal year because the show was designed for a broad audience appeal and the result was a hostile crowd. His frustrations led him to the 1993 Medea program because he wanted to give the organization a vehicle where they would be in control of their performance from beginning to end." So you get 93 because of 92, which means a visceral response to what some would consider unfair criticism can truly make an artist break his or her own boundaries and create something truly new. I still think 92 is an underappreciated little gem of a show. Cadets 92 is good, too, but I haven't listened to it in years. The Star show I still listen to occasionally.

Dang...they do Faure? That's fantastic. Looks like I'm spending some money...

That's you. I've read far too many "X corps is in, Y corps is out" threads in the five years I've been posting on this board. They are usually BS and accomplish nothing at all other than to give people a chance to voice how smart they think they are, or how they think they are the Amazing Creskin, complete with soothsayer hat. My personal favorite ones are the ones that put Phantom Regiment in sixth year after year, no matter how they did the previous year. Those people are great! They accomplish SO MUCH in posting that! And the kids in the corps? I'm sure they appreciate the vote of confidence. Just as they do here. I hope every Div II and III corps goes out there and does the best they can. I couldn't give a hoot where they end up. Go Jester, for example! They are in it for all the right reasons. And the taking over of various threads by VK people is bad. People come to this thread looking for another boring conversation about who is in and who is out based on absolutely nothing at all. I only responded to the thread because I found something amusing. I am sorry. Really.

Nope. VK has announced elsewhere that they will be featuring badgers. Perhaps next season.

I was thinking exactly this at work today. Weird. The jet pack thing is genius. It's going to be a pleasure to watch this show lose! ^0^ Can you do a reenactment of the Gadsden Purchase? I've always felt that the adding of southern Arizona and New Mexico to the union was an unmemorialized event in drum corps circles. Surely, with the educational value drum corps attempts to instill in its programs, you can fit this into the program, as well. I think some long, drawn-out, unbelievably boring lecture (i.e. narration) would add much to the program. Can you find this costume for one of the members? Just a thought. You guys keep up the great work. Great things happening in Pasadena, and I don't mean that parade thing. Although that's really great, too. No offense to the Rose Bowl people.

I was just listening to 88 Garfield on my iPod the other day. My opinion only, but: I like 88 better than 87. And actually, it isn't even close. I love Appalachian Spring--all the versions of it Copland did--the coda part still gives me chills even after hearing it hundreds of times. I'm not completely swayed by the 87 Garfield show. And it won, and people love it, and I certainly respect all that. The male solo dancer was fantastic. The collapsing company front is phenomenal. But try as I might, I don't love it nearly as much as I love the original Copland works. Now, 88. I love the 88 show. I think it's brilliant. If I didn't know and you asked me which one won the championship, just one compared to the other, I'd say 88. And it doesn't get the love it deserves. I think I've watched/listened to it more than all but one of the rest of the top 5 that year, in the years since then (the one that beats it is BD). So, props to anyone involved in that show. It's an under-appreciated classic, IMO.

3 doesn't need one! He's got awful patterns! Also, is that a chain holding the jacket together at the bottom? Something like, oh, I dunno, classic Blue Devils?! It SCREAMS drum corps! b**bs

Is this what your guard is wearing? [$1 to aleigh]

3! 3 makes the cut! LOL

90. A lot of great shows didn't make finals.

1989. I was not familiar with the Freelancers when I saw them perform the show (I think I first saw it in Nebraska?) Blew me away. So cool...especially the opening thing. Loved the music (and I'm not a big John Williams fan, usually). Cadillac of the Skies? Heck yeah. I thought they were astounding. I thought for sure they would make finals--got some comments to the contrary from some vets I marched with, but whatever. They made it, and they earned it. Great show. Second would be 91--the whole thing was great. Did that show have a theme? Vaughan Williams, Bartok, Back to the Future soundtrack, and "Bells"? Still a sweet show...great sop soloist. And the drum major sang along?! But 89 was the year I became a Freelancers fan.

Right on. :)

^0^ They might. You never know. The dark side is powerful.

I adore the Blue Knights' visual style. It's completely unique, which is more than I can say for a lot of visual stuff on the field. And it works for them. It's like the whole corps dances. It's great, IMO. When it's at the top of the game, it's bad-###. That is all.

They'll probably get around to it soon. The tentative schedule has been up for a while on the vkyao.org site. I would imagine that's going to be the schedule.

Amateur lawyering. Cocktail party lawyers. It's an ADDICTION! Break the cycle! Support the new VK! Don't take my word for it...take DCI's word! The only conspiracy is the universe conspiring against DRUM CORPS FANS by DENYING THEM VK for so long. Stupid universe! Spoiling our fun like that! Bring on the pez and light-up pictures of George Hopkins! I don't even know what that means, but it sounds crazy. And crazy works! Seriously, though...for everyone who was wondering whether these folks out in Pasadena were going to make it or not...they made it this far. This is a real drum corps and it's going to take the field this summer. I believe they are going to take it by storm, but you know what? It'd be really great if all those people who were holding back, waiting to see whether or not they'd make it, would throw a little support behind this group. These are some highly motivated cats. I can remember some rather in-depth conversations on this board, and some of it was pretty negative. IMO, we should put that behind us, because these young people are going to need our support as fans. I think they're going to make us all very proud this summer. From what I understand, they want more than anything to tear the place up, everywhere they go. I haven't heard a note of the show yet, but I can't wait. It's gonna be fantastic. I'm with them. Are you? :)

...

One of the members just posted it on the myspace page. I'm guessing we'll be hearing more soon. ^OO^

I do kind of resent the idea that Regiment's management is poor, generally speaking. True, the core team stepped away a couple of times in the 90s and that led to some problems, but they never ventured far enough away that things could not be brought back to where they needed to be. Case in point...2000. If not for people like John Baumgartner and Tim Farrell, you don't have a Phantom Regiment at all. Sure, Pat did some great things for the corps. But bad management? Not with people like Tim Farrell around. Dan's an execellent manager of staff; he expects the best and gets it, or else. They stepped in and made sure things were right behind the scenes. When I interviewed Pat, he was very clear about the support he was getting, and very thankful for it. I know Tim recognized the situation and did everything he could to turn things around. As someone who loves the corps more than I can describe, I am so thankful that people like him were around to do that. I remember meeting up with him at a DCI thing and just saying "Thank you." and almost being overwhelmed. He seemed to understand. I've got to go back to this Star thing. Not everyone is Jim Mason. Not everyone needs to be Jim Mason, either. If you're not Jim Mason, that doesn't mean you're a bad drum corps manager. Phantom Regiment has been gifted over the years with some very talented management, who also happened to have that corps in their blood. Less than stellar choices along the way? Sure. What executive doesn't make less than stellar choices over the years in people they choose to run things? I see that daily. But it doesn't mean that the people who make the choices are bad managers. It just means that things don't work out well sometimes. It's part of life. Regiment has been very good recently in running a first-rate organization on and off the field. I don't think any slipping is in the cards.

I contacted that photographer about reposting one of his other pictures of the VK bus on the VKYAO myspace. He took a number of shots. He seemed like a pretty nice person--gave permission for the post. Very cool.