Medeabrass

TDECU Stadium, 3875 Holman St, Houston, TX https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=cavaliers.org_3jn85huq84ad0ka0mck4sum4bc@group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago&pli=1

That's weird. I emailed their website and they said they're at Kingwood Park High School. I wonder if there was a last minute change.

Does anybody have a list of housing sites? In particular, I'm hoping to find Crown. I can't find the info on their site anymore.

On one of those repertoire wish lists several years ago, I requested they do Chandelier thinking there would be no way they'd ever do it. Glad I was wrong.

HOLY FARG!!! Just listened to that Destination Moon piece for the first time. YES! Perfect for them. Lots to work with with just this one piece.

28 years later and still nobody has the balls to touch Belshazzar's Feast again. So much good material in the source music.

Brasso you rang my memory. We most definitely stayed at Endicott College in '92. I'm I'm 93% sure (see what i did there) that they stayed there in '91 as well. Now whether or not this is where George put in the Cross I can't say for sure lol.

Tim, the place we were at didn't even have a football field. It seemed like we were rehearsing on a courtyard. It's really foggy. It could've even been some kind of boarding school for all I know.

Mingus, I believe that's from the UT Dallas or UT Arlington stadium (can't remember which) the week of finals. I remember members that year saying the tape they laid down on that turf got melted in and Cook had to buy new turf or something. As mentioned in the post quoting the drum major Bobby Hullet, the cross was learned before their Lynn Massachusetts show it was put in somewhere nearby. I might be confusing things but I remember in '92 we got to stay at a small college in Massachusetts before the Lynn show (dorm rooms and everything) which was the same place they had stayed in '91. I seem to remember hearing it was chosen for it's proximity to George (obviously that decision was made before his death). I also seem to remember the vets getting to visit George's grave. A little bit of Googling of George, I noticed he was buried in nearby Malden. So, a small university or college somewhere near Malden, Mass is my best guess. I'll let someone from '91 fill in the gaps.

I get the feeling the cat is out of the bag. Edit: And I agree with all of your points.

OPEN THE ROOF!!! lol

I get it. I'm not even suggesting anything should change. Just illuminating an aspect of how we find ourselves where we are now. One of those being that the competition element could be a reason there's a disconnect with the audiences who buy said tickets and souvies. I'm just recognizing the nature of the beast as I see it. Drum Corps was the best possible thing for me at that age because it combined my 3 favorite things: sports, competition, and music.

The cat's out of the bag. DCI is impervious to complaints from the fans. I have been a part of shows that have garnered huge complaints. I feel like I've been on both sides of the so called "innovation" fence as a performer and now as a fan. It's weird that we allow "new toys" to supposedly foster creative expression, yet I look across the activity and most of what I see is derivative. Every now and then a corps really takes a chance and does something truly revolutionary. Then, the next year I see a bunch of followers doing those same things (badly out of context usually) just because they think it's required or cool. I haven't seen the sheets, but from the outside looking in, it's pretty apparent the "new toys" become a compulsory element over time. Whether this is a judging bias or an actual element on the sheets I don't know. Body movement comes to mind as an example. Sometimes, I think it's the competitive nature of drum corps that limits true creativity and not the rules of the game. On the other hand, if it wasn't competitive, how could we truly reward or penalize for following or not following said rules? It's the nature of the beast. The older I get, the more I realize how pointless and ego-centric competition in art really is. In my opinion, more beauty is created when one endeavors simply for the love of doing as opposed to the chance to feed my ego and claim my art is somehow superior to yours. 21 year old me woulda said "are you sh****n' me" to that statement but pursuing greatness to be better than the next guy in and of itself can be limiting. It potentially leaves a lot of achievement on the table. I still find elements of the activity that amaze me. The proficiency of the brass lines is superior now and I spend much more time in the lot to get an unadulterated sample. I think I'm getting better at filtering out that which I don't like and fully appreciating that which I do. For what it's worth, last year was probably the best year I've witnessed in a long long time. The activity is what it is and I hope I will always find new ways to love her. Maybe this is how 60 year marriages work.

Explosions in the Sky. Any of it

I'd say the reason you no longer have the PBS broadcast at least is because you no longer have Bill Cook. He was the driving force behind that whole deal. When he left the activity, so did PBS. I don't think that's a coincidence and it has NOTHING to do with the product on the field. I was once lamenting the current product and attendance but I'd say over the last 8-10 years, we've seen a return to very entertaining shows and the shows I've gone to have been packed and close to capacity. Those who don't like the current product (not directed at you) have been crying about the imminent demise of the activity going back to my days in the early 90s but I don't see the end in sight. There are new band kids being made every year to replace those whose tastes refuse to evolve. Hey, there's nothing wrong with Elvis. Just don't get mad at the current generation if they don't like Elvis and everything else from your generation.