jordsterr

He's live.

Fair enough. I will agree to disagree.

Just imagining the horn parts and drooling.

These cams to mind for me as well. The other one though is Phantom killing the DM in 2008. I didn't see it until prelims. Very effective and I believe the final "hype" they needed to push them over.

I mean, I saw it last night for the first time. And loved it! To your point, I don't hear people complaining about BK and their talking. I have heard criticism of Colts, but some of my students liked them best of all!

Those were the days. It was nice the 2 or 3 times a season they got dry cleaned, but setting up the whole operation again was a nightmare. And remember we didn't have quite enough buckles? We hoarded ours like gold so we wouldn't be the unlucky one without.

Talking all the way through it. I mean, it's a classic poem, but there's a lot of talking. I love it, but the Cadets have been criticized for less talking.

Here's a prediction. Cadets go over 99.15 and don't win. OK, it's a pipe dream but fun anyway.

Blue Knights beat Cavaliers in drums last night.

Ouch. If Rush likes it, I now hate it. Maybe it'll play on the Blaze. :)

I won't disagree that other groups are also doing difficult things. To be fair, there aren't a lot of groups beating them in anything :) But just because it might be less compelling to you doesn't make it safe. The tempi, the musical vocabulary and the body work are all extraordinarily difficult to achieve and the clean. Crown has the moment with all the trumpets spread across the field and the flying discs. BD has the jarring Fellini like "acting" sequences. Coats have WGI like opening "staging" that is less drill-y than others. There are other great moments this year as well, and I appreciate many of them. None of that negates that Cadets are not just clean but clean while doing really difficult stuff. That is most definitely not safe. As for predictable, I guess it's predictable for them to be hauling at 200 bpm ( yes, I got out the Dr. Beat and checked). It's also predictable to try things that people will criticize just so it's out there. The narrator, the costume changes, the stage, the tarps, the in your face optimism. So, yes, controversy ( although why this show is controversial is beyond me) may be predictable for them. Of course, I have to wonder why this show is so controversial and Troopers is not. Or Oregon Crusaders (with a spectacular horn line!) for that matter.

Yep. It was a disaster.

I could not disagree more. This is an argument that's been around for at least 20 years. This is a uniform that will never go out if style while all the other ones will come and go. There have been several trends over the years that we're cutting edge and then gone. But this uniform stays.

This. I am a self professed bleeding heart, blue dog, Rachel Maddow watching, don't trust anyone over 30, conscientious objecting, Hillary voting liberal. And this us my favorite show this year. There is nothing wrong with the occasional celebration of us. And if it's good enough for Stephen Gage, it's good enough for me.

This. Mathis der Maler is one of my all time favorites. Did it with a Div. 3 corps a dozen years ago. Wonderful on the field.

Safe and predictable? You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, but my view is polar opposite. The actual "what" is anything but safe. And the only thing predictable is that the design team was willing to go out on a ledge and try some things that might not be popular now but will be something others will have the courage to investigate later.

Hop once told me "Play angry music, and you'll have an angry year. Play happy music, and you'll have a happy year." This was good advice and has made for positive experiences for my students. I love this year's show, and it's clear that one can play a show that can touch positive emotions while still having some grit. The stick market crash/ Pearl Harbor segment show that. Last year Medea showed that. And of course, Blue Knights show that in spades. I think it's simply superficial to view art that touches positive feelings as somehow pandering. If anything, just judging from what people are writing all season proves that the Cadets are indeed in the tradition of the 80's by getting us to argue about what is art and what is drum corps. It's also interesting (and maybe hypocritical?) that these arguments aren't taking place so much about some other shows that are even more in your face regarding some of the same points argued about here.

This.

1, Cadets. What a beautifully emotional ending. 2. Blue Knights. I literally tear up every time. 3. Crown. Last minute and a half is the best thing in DCI this year. 4. BD. Transforming drum corps. 5. Coats. Loads of fun, and I like the WGI influence. 6. Colts. Something new.

I was in the 8th row in Nashville. It's live. Period.

There are literally no instruments being used today that would qualify as drum corps instruments 75 years ago. Even the snare drums with their free floating shells and Kevlar heads. When they added the first valve, it was "the end of drum corps."

You know, I get that it's a story on the internet, but the comments to the channel 6 news story are simply appalling. The level of public discourse is really somewhat repulsive.

I definitely agree with you, and yes, mixing topics is a problem. I am in no way excusing "college kids behaving like college kids." Nor am I excusing the band director. I am a band director, and I'm actually appalled. I also live in Columbus, and I don't believe he escalated things, In talking to friends involved, I also don't believe it's reasonable to place the blame on him. I'll admit I haven't spoken to everyone in the band. At any rate, I hate when one guy is assigned all blame and then nothing real takes place.

Again, I'm no arguing that what was done is OK. I'm saying that scapegoating one guy is wrong. It's placing all blame in one place. As I learn more, I see that some of things he was responsible for, and there may have been cause for discipline there. But much of what I've seen is not something he was involved in or could be held responsible for. Like much of what happens, one guy gets blamed and then fired, and everyone pretends that something substantive was done.

Look, I'm not excusing anything. The behavior is appalling, and I certainly put a complete halt to any hazing at my job on day one. I don't condone any of it. I just believe that blaming one guy and believing all us well now is stupid. I won't say I know the details of the investigation, but dismissing one guy is like dismissing the director of the VA. It's window dressing. I also think it's foolish to be surprised when college kids behave like college kids. And from reading what's out there, it appears that much of what people are saying is stuff that took place outside of any official activity. Now, I will say that HockeyDad presents things I had not heard before. I'm willing to change internet argument rules this just one time and be convinced that someone else's opinion is right even if I did not agree from the start. That said, what are they doing to "fix" things? Or are they assuming everyone is now scared into compliance?