liebot

I guess? Seems really lame and bando to me. I meant "uncomfortable" as in "this is really embarrassing, I feel bad for the members that have to stand out on the field while this nonsense is going on."

Cadets use some recorded orchestral music as part of their pre-show (I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me knows what it is). Not really a big fan, but it's nowhere as bad as Cavies' pre-recorded music, which is just a whole bunch of weird ambient noise and some quotes from "Full Metal Jacket." It was just. . . weird, and uncomfortable, and dumb.

Are you not familiar with the NoVa/DC/MD area? These are all pretty close to the show site.

It's even better with the drumline/pit. Although the pit pretty much dances the whole time. Still entertaning. Their hornline is loud as balls, though. That encore was great.

You are thinking way too hard. I really honestly don't understand the distinction between F tuning and Crown's pre-show. It's music, it's being played in front of you, and if you enjoy it, let yourself enjoy it. There's no reason to get hypercritical and think "Hmm, how does this relate to the rest of the show"? It's just freaking music.

But that doesn't affect how we feel about the show, so "meh, that was kind of silly," right?

According to their tour calendar they'll be staying at Bowie High School in Bowie, MD. I'll probably be there to check out rehearsal.

This has nothing to do with Crown being God's gift to drum corps and everything to do with people being utterly confused by a drum corps fan that would rather listen to prerecorded synth and vocal sounds than a hornline playing music.

I guess we just disagree. I consider it more "wasteful" from an audience perspective to have to sit through a non-show pre-show than to have to listen to a horn line playing more music than I normally would have gotten to listen to.

Personally, as a fan, what turns me off is having to sit in silence through a whole bunch of dumb synth crap while some guard guy dances around and does nonsense characterization to "set up the theme" of the show. I don't want to watch that crap, but I feel compelled to because the corps is pumping their synth amps at level 11 and I'd look like a rude a**hole if I continued to chat with my friend throughout the whole thing.

What? No, seriously, what? You'd rather have a corps use a whole bunch of trippy, dumb synth effects and use some cheesy pre-recorded quotes from a movie than have them march and play some interesting, entertaining music? I really, seriously, don't understand. What turns you off about Crown playing a preshow as opposed to Cavies or Cadets not playing (but having) a pre-show? This opinion makes absolutely zero sense to me.

Yeah, remember that one time BD had a baritone soloist in 2006? Me neither, because you could barely hear it on the finals recording. (I'm agreeing with you).

I mean, are you really opposed to the idea of getting more drum corps than you usually would? This isn't like Cavies' or Cadets' (the only two other shows I've seen so far) pre-shows where it's just a bunch of nonsensical synth stuff and characterization. They're giving you an extra two minutes of great horn sound. Is it that big of an issue?

Who cares? If they can do it well and still have a successful season, why does it bother you so much?

They "wasted time" with all the "Promise of Living" preshow stuff last year and seemed to do alright. Edit: and really, the preshow is an excuse to be a little dirty/less than perfect on something while still achieving the affect. They don't have to spend an amazing amount of time cleaning because they just have to make sure it's presentable. There won't be a judge standing right in front of their bells judging every attack, release, accent, etc.

I have a feeling that they called it "A Sec2nd Chance" because they're playing a bunch of Second Symphonies and they came in second last year. They also begin and end with the same piece of music, done slightly differently, which is also an example of a "second chance." I mean, they've got the guard soloists (the two guys and the girl) out there already, and I'm sure they'll flesh those parts out and try and make some sort of story out of it, but frankly I'd be happy if they just stuck with the things the way they are.

Pretty sure it's another minute or two. The ending they have now was never supposed to be the ending. I'm sure they'll tack on something extra come one of the later regionals. Drum corps always do.

1. Why does it need a story? Can't it just be good music and cool drill/movement? 2. From what I hear, they've learned the ending. They're just waiting until they can perform it at the same level as the rest of the show before they put it in. Edit: as people above mentioned, it appears that they may have the ending in for the Normal show.

??? I know plenty of 15, 16, and 17 year olds from Texas that were in the corps during their first year down there. Not quite sure what you mean from your comment. If you mean that they couldn't take absolutely everyone that auditioned, then of course you're right. People get cut. That's what happens. But to say that they gave short shrift to some young Texas talent is just flat out not true.

Or, you know, the top-notch talent from Texas wants to march in the top six corps, the "G7." If Crossmen start to move up the ranks, I have no doubt they'll start to get a ton of talent from that Texas pool. Right now it's a matter of building a consistent program and slowly moving their way up. It'll take years before they stop the flow of talented Texas kids heading to Concord, Rosemont, Rockford, Ft. Mill, and elsewhere.

Corps have holes in June? Who knew? Seriously, though. . . hornline holes are not really much to be worried about. They'll get them filled.

So at what point does my "experience with the activity" become legitimate? Just curious. Ten years? Fifteen? Twenty? Or is it one of those situations where you'll always be older, wiser, and smarter (and therefore more correct) than I am? I'm not sure I like that system. But I digress. . . What's so innovative/great about Crown's show? The beginning of Mahler 2 - no one else has/could play a full hornline a cappela part with tons of body movement with nothing for timing except the DMs hands. The insane amount of body movement/dance/rolling around that they do, while playing is really impressive. They did a lot last year, but even more this year, and even better. The end of Mahler 2 is also really cool as they pass the parts back and forth between the Side 1 and Side 2 sections of the hornline. They're running for the first half of the Khachaturian, all over the place. The hornline/guard dancing stuff at the beginning of Danzon is pretty unique/entertaining. The requirements placed on the musical ensemble for timing in Danzon are pretty extraordinary, but it's also fun, catchy, etc. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone else performing a ballad like they do Nimrod this summer (which is kind of funny, considering BK is also playing Nimrod. . . but I can't imagine their take on it is anything like Crown's). The closer (the Mahler 2 restatement) is also excellent, and they're again running around the field like madmen. I mean, their show is just much higher, faster, and louder than anyone else I've seen so far. If this was just a matter of cleanliness I could see one of these two corps catching them but Toy Souldier, despite the cool music, is the typical "We're going to beat you over the head with our theme to the point of nausea" nonsense the Cadets sometimes put out, and the only coherent idea I pulled from the Cavaliers show was the annoying repetition of the piano part from "Mad World." Yeah, they do the "break down" thing where they get their rifles out and the tubas try and groove and then there are some screamers, but it's not really exciting or interesting. Beyond design issues, I'm really curious to see how Cavaliers new brass program works out. They're playing as quiet as the Cavaliers usually do, but without the same ensemble clarity that they had under Bertman, et. al. If they can figure it out this year they might be alright, but I think building the new program is going to take a couple of years. Granted, Cavies were by far the dirtiest of the three corps that performed, so who knows, maybe once they get stuff figured out their show will make sense. It's just kind of unreadable at the moment, which made it hard to get a sense of what was going on though. Please, Please, please, please, please ditch the intro though. It's the most cringeworthy BOA-style moment I've seen in drum corps since the emo dude from Cadets 2007 or the "Yowza Yowza Yowza" guy from BD in 2005. Look, I will be right here ready to eat crow if/when one of these corps catches Crown. I just don't see it happening.

1. Carolina Crown 2. Blue Devils 3. Cadets 4. SCV 5. Cavaliers 6. Bluecoats 7. Boston 8. Phantom 9. Blue Stars 10. Blue Knights 11. Madison Scouts 12. Glassmen 13. Crossmen 14. Troopers 15. Academy 16. Colts 17. Spirit

::shrug:: I call it like I see it. Feel free to mock me come August if Cavies win and Crown comes in sixth. There's just no way I see it happening, and frankly the person that said Cavies have a superior show to Crown is just delusional. The biggest GE moment of Cavies show right now is the hornline doing push-ups on the field. Wow, guys, really pushing the envelope.

If I saw a pep band play the arrangement of "Like a Prayer" that Crown does as clean as Crown does, I'd be impressed. Come on, it's not like they're just playing stock charts. Loosen up, have some fun. Oh no, pop music! Remember when eight corps played "Children of Sanchez" in. Or how about the rash of Earth, Wind, and Fire/Chicago from the late 70s/early 80s.