anacrusis

But we always have someone to remind us how awesome BAC is and how much better they will be and how they are really better than Crown ... even tho they have lost every H2H since CrownBeat so seems to me the trend line is going the opposite way. And I believe .. Crown came out ahead in 2016, 2017, and 2018. There is this perverse obsession with Crown from BAC .. I guess since they stole all their visual/CG staff. stolen staff story es stale. posted from the DrumScorps app

Show delay for one hour. posted from the DrumScorps app

http://youtu.be/YM232pcvgC8 Meet Olivia... posted from the DrumScorps app

I am with you, my friend. I'm taking a racquetball buddy who is an chem engineer from India. He loves going around our great country seeing it for all the beauty it has. He has never seen a drum corps before. We are sitting in Row 5 (from the bottom). Do you think he'll be able to hear them from there? 5th row, you say? Please post a photo of your friend's face after the Mandarins' first hit for us to see. ???? posted from the DrumScorps app

David McCullough was my high school band director. He and David Williams were colleagues/ best friends. Muck wrote the "Simple Gifts" arrangement and Williams wrote the tag ending for it. The rest is WV history! posted from the DrumScorps app

Adam Mason was one of the guys I remember most, he was Garfield staff for a long time. I marched with Adam--Great guy, great chops! posted from the DrumScorps app

Phil Faini led a percussion dynasty at WVU! posted from the DrumScorps app

Sweet, I just started when you left '84 I'm now living the activity vicariously through my son, one of the trumpet soloists for the Mandarins. He's heard lots of Pride stories and Wilcox Wisdom from me over the years! posted from the DrumScorps app

I marched at WV from 1979-83. Don Wilcox is a legend! posted from the DrumScorps app

Okay, here: Does that help? I did, and do, find it weird. I did, and do, find it dark. Dark can be legitimate. I'd love the Troopers, of all corps, to come out with a darker, angrier show one of these years, hopefully before I die, please Lord. And I think I pretty much said the exact same thing you did: People are focusing on the fact the Mandarins have stepped it up, just as they did with Academy two seasons ago. I also made the claim that, because Corps A is doing so much better than Corps A did in a previous season, fans are rightfully enthusiastic, but it does not necessarily follow that Corps A should be beating Corps B, C and D in general effect in the current season. Nor do I disagree with your observation that over-analyzing a corp's show is too easy a trap to fall into these days. Indeed the days are gone when "four good songs" was enough to get you to finals. But music is still communication. Good communication requires clarity -- clarity of expression, and clarity of reception by the audience. And Mandarins 2018 are not a very clear communicator at the moment, in my opinion. They play notes in tune. They play them loud. They play them, I assume by the judges' marks, pretty clean. But is it "darn good music" as you say? Well, I can allow that It is pretty well-played music, but compared to other corps on the field in 2018, I would say that to my ear, it's not as musical as others. It's a lot of mood and buildup and BIG HIT and more rumble/mood/atmosphere BIG HIT. I like a big hit as much as the next DCI nut, but I also like a sense of direction (and will throw bouquets at even the slightest scraps of melody), and at the moment Mandarins are, to me, a swirl of loud, well-played, unconnected musical thoughts. At least on the livestream. Sometimes you just gotta be there live to appreciate it, and maybe this is one of those cases. https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/the-riot-at-the-rite-the-premiere-of-the-rite-of-spring "Looks to me like the Mandarins show is right on target. Genius!" posted from the DrumScorps app