DaveH

Thanks for the kind words, Matt & Scott. Very nice of you guys to say. Of course, I was just along for the ride, clueless rookie and all that, but it was a great experience and I learned tons and had a lot of fun. The end result? Oh well, stuff happens. Would have been nice to be more in the hunt though, I think we ended up like SEVENTH or something. <**> I do agree VERY much, Matt, that you guys had drums all locked up in 89...nobody was even in the same league as you guys that year imho. But that's okay, I've been arguing with the guys on this site who all think that judges never make mistakes. Great talking to you guys, it's been a while (me and Matt actually marched together in college, Hannum's line, which I'm told was kinda like Garfield lite. ).

No, it's not nuts at all. Some DCI judges are okay, many are not. They are underqualified and VERY poorly paid. WHY do people think they are so "godlike" in their calls? They're not (and I'm talking generally here, not about THIS particular issue since I didn't see the show)...lots of mistakes are made every season. B)

Wow, lotsa bashing here. Wonder how many creative ideas all these critics have come up with? The ideas are sure out there, but interesting nonetheless. The biggest issue about improv drill, I'd say, is that most people only see the corps once or twice so most wouldn't even notice or understand it was improv. I'd be pretty neat for multiple viewings, though. Isn't there such a thing as improvised dance? Improvised drill would me much the same. There would have to be some "ground rules", for safety if nothing else. Much the same as there are "ground rules" in most improvised music that prevents the whole thing from totally sucking. Unfortunately, I don't really see any corps taking such a risk though...drum corps is so programmed and over-rehearsed to begin with (even the big band "solos" are usually written out note for note). I for one would love to see it. The other idea is something more likely to be seen sometime (since it is, though odd, still something you can program and rehearse). I don't know how cool it would be til I see it, but I would think that would work VERY well for certain types of moods in the music. Since I think it would be unsettling to the eyes, the music would have to be something fairly disturbing as well...this idea would have worked great for Star 93 :P Another part of the issue, though, is that marching does represent "the pulse", and it's normal for the visual and audio to "line up" (how annoying is watching YouTube and having the sound be like second and a half behind?)...so even if it's cool, I would hope it wouldn't get overused. Cool ideas, bro. Thanks. Don't let the critics get ya down! :) Hell of a lot better stuff that the crap "innovations" these corps are coming up with thanks to all their new electronic toys.

I'm surprised noone pointed this out, but the whole situation is probably financially motivated. What I mean is, a lot of corps rely heavily on performance fees, perhaps more than usual this year with gas prices being where they are and the long haul tour. So, the corps that squeezed in those 2 extra shows probably didn't WANT to, but needed the money (I know how that feels! :P). BD, being one of the better funded groups with a solid business model, probably had the option to skip the shows and chose not to burn out the kids. And also, this whole topic really is dumb isn't it? It was bad enough with the stupid Acadamy arguments, but this?

Hey Scott, nice to hear from you. We've never met, I think, but I heard a lot about you from Matt and others at UMass. Didn't realize you were in the line all the way up to 92...wow. What are you up to these days? Yeah, the judges will do what they're gonna do, that's the way it goes (sometimes they even write "and that's the way you play THAT!" as their only comment on the excecution sheet! :P). They were gonna reward SCV that year no matter how bad they played, end of story. As for Matt's comments about 90, yeah that was a great line too...I preferred 89 though. :) Scott, in your opinion what was the cleanest line you were in out of all those years? Got a favorite show (overall)?

I thought the drumline was running around pretty good in 85 and 86 myself, you didn't think so? About the drumhead thing, I wouldn't call that progress myself. I think kevlar sounds HORRIBLE...a step backwards musically imho.

They did have a great sound...hard to do with kevlar heads too. Seems like a better job was done in the early years, with great sounds coming out of Vanguard 88, Devs 90 (we tuned in a weird way, but it worked well), Cadets 89 and a few select others. As far as no respect at finals, I really wonder if it wasn't maybe some sort of "rookie" deal with Aungst being in his first year in charge? I dunno, but I can't really identify any other reason why they would be SO disrespected at finals after kicking butt all year. Even Float, in his first year in Concord, didn't win even though he probably should have. But who really knows...sometimes the judges just blow it too. HORRIBLE call putting Cadets in 4th in 1989! An equally horrible call putting Vanguards line in first that year (a friend of mine once called them "a rolling garbage truck" ).

Someone talked the Cadets 89 line, so that motivated me to put up this topic. I'm going to split mine into Hannum years/Aungst years. Favorite Hannum line is going to be 1985. Favorite Aungst line is, yep...1989 (his "rookie" year no less, as the writer and caption head). Extreme honorable mention goes to Cadets 2005. Thoughts? (I did add 2007 to the poll since they've already been out there, but I'd say that'd have to fall under "favorites" because you really can't say if you think they're "best" until the whole season is done) p.s. sorry, I messed up the poll a little. "prior to 1983" was supposed to be a choice, not a title. Guess it'll just be a Hannum years and Aungst years poll.

lol...maybe Hopkins got threatened with lawsuits. :P I remember watching you guys back then and thinking "holy stress batman!"...definitely an incredibly militaristic (meant in a good way) mindset, which is why the old Cadets cleaned things to the razors edge. And yeah...89 was an awsome drumline, you guys got screwed. As far as scores, yeah I know how that is. Sucks to be getting an 18.8 like 2 weeks before nats only to end up with an 18.7 in the end.

How so?

Why?

SO which judge screwed up, the one on Thursday or the one on Saturday? ^0^

Not likely. Most corps perform during the day, even the big guys sometimes. Wouldn't work. Plus it costs a lot of money. Frankly, I'd vote for spotlights in a new york minute if they'd kill the amps (or, at LEAST regulate them so it's only for mallet percussion amplification and NOTHING ELSE).

Euphonimom, though you might not like it, SOME of them surely are. Just like some kids in a lot of other corps. Drugs are around just like they're around everywhere else! But, even though BD might have the rep...the VK guys were always the REAL deal as far as stoner corps go. I could tell you some stories!

I know...I misread it and tried to erase it... Sorry.

Luvs me some mello...it was kinda lame for you to erase what you wrote. Now *I* look like a jerk for replying to your "what have YOU done?" question.

You're certainly entitiled to disagree, I'm just offering my opinion here.

I've also performed in the orchestra pit for Les Miserables and Lion King in Tokyo, performed and produced shows for Universal Studios Florida, DisneyWorld, Tokyo Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea. I've composed shows for live performance in venues in Florida, Osaka, Massachusetts, Tokyo, and California. I've taught the Drum Corps Japan champions. Shall I go on, or should I just fax you my resume?

I marched Blue Devils, taught two division I drum corps, and have been performing professionally in America and Asia for the past 15 years.

Fair enough... They blow it sometimes (better?). Star 93 is an excellent example, I can think of 20 others off the top of my head...And that's just in the "overall" catagory...it's a lot worse when you get into individual caption screwups (that's why I said "all the time"). These guys are not all that great, folks...you might think they are, but they are lame, underpaid band director types...NOT musical geniuses.

And by the way, it really amazes me that a group of informed fans (such as ourselves) can be so supremely judgemental of the corps members themselves and their performance, and yet give these judges a "free pass", and treat it as though their word is law and they MUST be right and they must never make stupid calls. Trust me on this one, they blow it all the time (some much more than others). Many championships in DCI history were ruined thanks to utterly stupid and/or biased judging. (bias isn't even a point I touched on yet...I'll stick with incompetence for now)

It's not hard, if you are a good listener (or for a visual judge, a good watcher). It's pretty easy, really.

You are stupid if you think the DCI judges are "highly qualified professionals". Some of them are. Most of them are complete idiots, and couldn't teach a drum corps if their lives depended on it. And wouldn't know good quality if it bit them on the butt. You are surprised that the scores fluctuate? Many of them have no comprehension of what they are viewing, and that's the honest truth. I know, because I've interacted with some of those morons. Again, SOME of them are well trained and comptetent...but how well do you really think DCI pays anyway? If you think the gig attracts excellent people, in general, you are stupid.

Medea, right on the same page with you. Back when we marched, it was the new age of corps actually being cool with each other... I almost marched with you, by the way...I was at UMass (Hannum's school) and he made a hardcore pitch to me to march Star in 92 (my age-out year)...it all came down to money in the end though. I saw you perform all three of your years...many times in 92-93, and then at the Worcester Centrum in 94 (talk about being there at the beginning!. Great stuff...you must be very proud! What are you doing these days? (I don't know you, but I've been lurking and your posts are always pretty cool) Anyway, worrying about what to wear from another corps is stupid...any director that supports that crap doesn't help the activity much. Dave

That's just stupid. WHY should you "hide" your jacket for the summer just because you're with some other corps? Where's the solidarity? ESPECIALLY a freakin FOLDED corps! Members you are marching with should SUPPORT the fact you miss your corps (way too many corps have gone dead, right?). When I marched, we wore other corps shirts UNDER OUR UNIFORM on the field, if we felt like it. And noone cared. Wear your jacket proudly bro...don't let anyone tell you not to! And, by the way MY corps jacket was stolen...so I'll never have the pleasure again (I suppose I could hook up an "alumni thing" or something). Enjoy it, be proud of it. Until and unless the corps director ORDERS you not to wear it (and ask him why? and tell him what I said here and see what he says).