DrummerParent

I heard a couple weeks ago that it was Crown’s decision but I can’t say first hand what really happened.

Surf should be in the class that best serves them and I believe that to be World Class. I’m sure open class corps members do as well, but I can say I know of previous Surf marchers that are or were last year at BD, Bluecoats, Cadets, Crown, Blue Stars and some on soloist roles. Without Surf, some of these now top performers may have never had the opportunity they do today. I can also say that after a pretty good season in 2019, they were looking at very close to a full corps in 2020 before Covid hit and would have been similar competitively to where Music City, Academy, and Madison Scouts are this year. Rather than questioning why they’re doing what they’re doing, why not support them so that they can survive and grow in the next few years as high school bands come back to life and get back to pre- Covid numbers?

Definitely a favorite show of mine this year.

First time seeing Mandarins. Easily my favorite Mandarins show (though my memory only goes back a handful of years) and I can see why they’re in the fight for a top six finish.

Last night was my first show live and really the first time I’ve watched much this year. Enjoyment wise, Phantom I think was my favorite show. For sure the best they’ve been in awhile. Last year was a sign of moving in the right direction, but wow, this year’s show is a treat. Cadets was my second favorite. Some really nice brass sound. This is my favorite Blue Devil’s show I’ve seen live and they were performing at a very high level. I expect they’ll win again and I’m fine with that this year since their show is enjoyable. Boston was definitely the next best to BD. Love the battery, the rest of the show is fine but not as enjoyable as some others. Crown. I appreciate that the show doesn’t have the cringe moments that last year’s show had, but unfortunately this year’s show is missing the moments that get fans out of their seats that last year’s show had. Brass sounds great. Percussion is inconsistent. Dirty last night. Will beat Cadets and Phantom in percussion when they have a good run but vulnerable to them when they don’t. Bloo- I need to see the full show. It took me a while to start enjoying the standstill but from the ballad to the end was good. The first part was probably good too but being in standstill it took me awhile to get into it. I like the percussion writing. Blue Stars- I enjoyed the show but I like it more now after I understand what it’s about. The costume change makes a lot of sense now. Music City- enjoyable show with some good brass moments. I liked the percussion writing.

Also, like last year, Crown’s percussion may have the toughest drill of any corps but they aren’t going to get much credit for that, at least not in the percussion scores.

Last night they were dirty. Missing a couple players may have caused some listening issues. Phantom and Cadets are close enough that when they have a good run, which they did, and Crown has a bad run (which they did), they’ll get beat. If Crown has a good run, they’ll likely beat both.

Unless other recent changes have caused a cascade effect, expect Travis will be announced somewhere in the near future. I know I’m being vague.

Yes. I had heard Thom was retiring so I was a bit surprised. Although he was listed as part of the creative team last year, he was still somewhat directly involved with the battery. My assumption is that he’ll step back from that and stick mostly to the upfront design and not much with auditions and rehearsals. But, as with most, my assumption carries little value.

I was surprised by that. I’m guessing your assumption is fairly accurate.

Can confirm Jim Coates is retiring. He’s stated it himself. Officially some time in November I believe. I am fairly confident Jim Williams (the current CFO) will be the new director but I cannot confirm that for sure.

I understand it wasn’t his decision but of Crown hired him, I wouldn’t be mad.

I should add though, Craiga likely has as much or more knowledge as I do. It just wasn’t my impression during my bit of interaction.

I know he’s talking about Harloff. But from what I’ve seen, Klesch carries more weight so I’m having a hard time believing Harloff could exert enough influence for Hannum to leave. I think he was just ready to retire.

So, corps should start working in their 2079 show now!

I’m not sure about that one. Klesch is the brass arranger and he and Thom are both neighbors and friends.

Hope it wasn’t a mistake. Compared to the caption heads and arrangers in corps ahead of Crown, Travis is young. Someday, I expect he will be the next Rennick or McNutt. I hope he gets that chance.

Has there been an official word?

That’s not how it works.

Definitely will be interesting. I would guess that the change is primarily a Subel decision / design team decision so one would hope they’d strongly consider how their creative styles mesh with whoever they hire. I assume Klesch is returning since I haven’t heard that he isn’t.

Sounds like they are going after someone currently in WGI. As mentioned by kdaddy, Mike Jackson (founder of and composer for Broken City, formerly SCV, Bloo, BK) seems to be the lead based on rumors. John Mapes is the other name I’ve heard (Pulse Percussion, formerly Blue Stars, BDB). Both highly regarded as arrangers and instructional leads with strong WGI connections which could help with recruiting. They’ll have the connections to build a top notch staff.

There’s another big name from the WGI world that is/was also a candidate but I’ve heard these names as well. Having direct ties to top WGI groups would be good for recruiting. I wonder if Mike Jackson would fill both Hannum and Peterman’s roles….

Thom Hannum retired. But yes, the rest are not being retained.

Thank you. I did know about both of these. I got confused by the titles and thought Paul’s position was Dan Schack.

Out of curiosity, where did you find this info? I knew about one but not all.