Medeabrass

Very cool. I'll be sure to vote for the next round.

It's not as much about getting personal as it is reading between the lines. It's typical of any internet forum that I frequent for people to hold a certain suspicion of rookies who have an opinion that's pretty out there. It's what trolls and people with alterior motives do on a regular basis. Don't take it personally and realize it's just the way it is on a forum when you're a newbie.

Yeah, because Dallas is so scenic, sophisticated, and urbane...nice try though...go back to playing with your $30,000 millionaire buddies.

The stadium in Houston is about the most perfect venue I've ever seen a show. The stands are pretty close to the field and the first deck goes up pretty sharply...meaning you can sit close enough to get a good face peel while still being able to see the formations. I'm not familiar with the Dallas site. Also, if you're planning on going to San Antonio as well, Houston's a little closer.

What about Max Weinberg? lol

That would be Barry Hudson. Donnie Vandoren's right hand man while I was at Star. I asked him about that note at our reunion thinking it was circular but he said it was just one breath. The guy had (and still has) some serious lungs...somehow he found a way to stick of our alumni hornline of 150 brass...makes me laugh remembering that.

Somebody (I think a DCWorld writer) said something like that 88' hornline was the loudest in history. I can't wait to hear more jazz from Jimmer.

Listen to the '94 Brass Theater CD for an idea of what Jim can do with Rhapsody. It amazed me how he captured so much of the original. Canadian Brass loved it. The crowd in Lincoln center went nuts for it.

Years ago, I seem to remember hearing from one of my Blast friends that the Don Ellis estate is very very protective of who can perform his music. I also seem to remember that he said something like the "estate" was so impressed with Blast's treatment of Loss that they pretty much gave MEG carte blanche to arrange and perform any other pieces in the estate. ***This is the conjecture part*** I'm wondering if this same privilege would be extended to the Madison Scouts. I think there could be some great potential if it does. They know that Jimmer will give Ellis's music the treatment that it deserves and Donnie will be sure to have the musicians performing at the level it deserves. This might not be something they attempt this year but maybe eventually. Any thoughts?

Is there any chance at all that they'll ever have the roof open for finals? What a fiasco this is.

I just haven't noticed him with trash can lids on the field since '87 ;) ...but there's hope

As I understand it, Jim Mason made a large contribution to the Scouts. note ***CONJECTURE ALERT*** It also wouldn't surprise me one bit if somehow Mr. Cook was involved as an anonymous donor...this is complete speculation on my part so don't take it to the bank. I also wouldn't be surprised if some, if not all, of the "upper echelon" staff decided to work at a discount rate just for the opportunity to "get the old gang back together" one last time before they retire. I do know that Donnie and Jimmer care a whole lot for the activity and enjoy building a hornline from the ground up and being involved in the resurgence of corps (see Troopers '85 and Blue Stars).

Mr. Hannum's reputation from what I've seen is NOT to have a cymbal line but like you, I hope they reconsider for tradition's sake. At Star, it always seemed that percussion numbers were scaled down about as lean as they could go in deference to adding numbers to the hornline. I don't know if this is the reason why or if it was just coincidence, but it's just my observation.

Wes Bullock is an outstanding pick up for them. You won't find a more quality individual anywhere. He's been with Blast since day one and is (was?) a part of the day to day leadership. As far as I know, he's still on the cast, but I could be wrong. Anyway, there's nobody out there that can move better than this guy and he's outstanding at communicating so I look forward to seeing what he can do as a DCI caption head. Congrats Wes and best of luck!!!

There won't be any discipline issues next year...atleast not in the hornline anyways ;)

Good question. I always loved my Bach trombone.

It's not their rep I have a problem with. It's their sound.

Thank goodness. Both dynasty drums and brass are as tasty as a turd sandwich. The fact they sounded as good as they did is a testament to how good BD is. King brass and Pearl drums in their hands is something I would love to hear.

Yes I know this but I've heard that since Star left competition that Jimmer didn't have a desire to write for Jr corps unless it was with DVD or one of his proteges.

hmmm...I'm wondering if Donnie is going to be involved in some capacity. I didn't think Jimmer would arrange again unless Donnie or one of his proteges was involved.

7 years...1st place...1991

You know I'm not a homer when it comes to Jim for obvious reasons, but your point doesn't hold water when he's managed to take a huge chunk of the staff that made Star click over to Madison. Madison isn't a brand new corps and will have vets at every key position too.

Basically, look at Blue Devils today and that's atleast what we were going for. Todd Ryan has made some fine tunings to the technique since '93 no doubt. The backwards technique was never a straight-leg ala Cadets nor was it a pick your feet up and squat ala Cavies. You were allowed to have some knee bend as the legs were crossing but the idea was to be "up on the platform" and straight on the down beats. I don't think we as a corps got close to the desired style and uniformity until '93. Todd came in in '89 from Madison. Look at Madison '88 to get an idea of outstanding marching technique and the standard he was aiming for. When you consider that the whiplash 200+bpm shows of Zingali in '90 and '91 were not the norm back then, it took awhile to not only teach the technique to a new set of people, but to refine it for the much faster tempos. Star was still a work in progress as far as marching technique was concerned back in '93 although it was their best marching corps IMO (especially on foot technique...not to be confused with lower body techniique). I think Todd's perfected the high speed technique with BD.

For me it was this crystal clear moment when I realized what the whole thing was about for me. It was our last rehearsal of my rookie year in '92 and we finished a large chunk and after the first run all Jim Prime had to say to us (in a very matter of fact tone) was, "That's Perfect! Donald, let's move on." The man has THE best ears I've ever witnessed. He never let anything slide. If he said it was clean, it was friggin' clean. Those few seconds were even more special to me when in '93 he never issued that refrain again. That was an equally great hornline. It made me realize that that moment back in '92 was just that uniquely perfect. ...Scouts, I'm jealous...

This may come as no consolation, but I sometimes wonder whether if the activity would be any more healthy (or even exist at all at a jr level) if it wasn't for DCI. We'll never know but I've heard old timers talk about how there were problems on the horizon even way back before DCI was formed. Maybe (and it's a very big maybe), the braintrust behind the formation of DCI foresaw many imminent obstacles and took preventative action that's allowed the activity to survive in some form or fashion. Also, I think if we wanted to keep drum corps completely local, then a choice would've had to have been made to either limit the number of out of towners or do away with competition so there wouldn't be the urge to bring in "ringers" from across the city limits...I'm probably opening up a can of worms that should be addressed in another thread, but it's just something I've thought a lot about over the past few years. Maybe I have a cognitive dissonance that prevents me from being able to see the caretakers of the activity I love in a completely negative light. Finally, in light of current economic conditions, the dwindling size of the youth population, other sources of entertainment, and the many serious problems we as a society face, I'm just thankful and somewhat surprised there is actually a jr drum corps circuit at all. Lastly, be thankful that you have a drum corps to root for. I know if Star was still around, I'd root for them even if they decided to hail from beautiful Kazakhstan. I guess in some ways, we now get to root for the same team ;) (that statement probably makes some of the scouts alums stomachs turn lol)