BlooooContra

1. BD 2. SCV 3. Bluecoats 4. Cadets 5. Cavies

Any chance of getting the HOFF board to make sure he won't ever announce again? Or maybe we could NOT get ski masks and NOT take him in the woods and NOT beat him mercilessly. Just a thought.

Ok folks. Just came back from the BLOOOOOO home show. What a night! Here's a brief review of the show. I'm tired, so bear with me. Kiwanis- What a hornline! Dirty at times, but they finally found a group of kids that can crank out some volume, and with tone to boot. Visual improved, but still needs tons of cleaning. Great screamer. The crowd really dug them. They still look like an army of evil midgets. Seattle- Didn't seem to have the intensity I saw at Indy. Crowd loved the park n' blow. Welcome to the top 12. Enjoy your stay. Crown- Ugh. I used to love this show. Enough with the spritely, leaping, skinny guys. Guard ruins this show for me. The guy with wings during the ballad needs smacked, or maybe his staff instead. Hornline much improved over last year. Madison- Hornline can really play. Guard is lacking, though greatly improved late season. Ensemble and individual marching just isn't all that pretty. Some bad drill writing spots as well. Write them a finals show if you want them there. It seems like they have the talent. Altogether, a much better show than at Indy. Boston- Simply put, this is my least favorite drum corps show of all time. It makes me sick. Hooray for exploiting America's current situation! Woohoo! I think what saddens me is that I really got into their 00 and 01 shows. I'm left speechless after 02. Glassmen- Show changes make this a little less BorinBb. Still BorinBb nonetheless. Pretty clean marching, and the individual technique stood out in a very positive way- except the contras. Get some posture. It's August. Their ballad was a refreshing change from the norm. Nice flugel ending. Blue Devils- AHHHHHHH!!!!! For me, this show (the new, rewritten version) epitomizes the corpsgasm. The crowd ate up every last bit. Congratulations to the BD members and staff on making an incredible show out of a very weak early season show. Fabulous! Bluecoats- The crowd at the show was awesome. Before the show, 30 guys yelled out "If it ain't Bluecoats, IT'S CRAP!!!" Got everybody grinning. The show is amazing, though still fairly dirty. They have the product to smoke Glassmen and Boston, it's just a matter of reaching the others' level of cleanliness. Never heard a contra line groove quite like these guys. When viewing the Bluecoats, check out the BlueQ for a show. These 5 guys are just unreal! Retreat was nice. It's very obvious which corps the Bluecoats fans don't like. lol Old grudges die hard for the "best feeder corps in DCI." Madison is going to be a very interesting show this year. 5-8th place is anybody's guess!

Shawn, I HATE your avatar! I do like the Brigs' show though...

Hey, Bluecoats82, who are you? :D With the tshirts, the guy that did the main Urban Dances art, not to mention that snare drummer painting shirt, actually works the souvie booth. How's that for dedication?!

Gotta go with the 2 Blue corps, BD and Bluecoats. Both corps have a tradition of amazing sop lines and never disappoint.

The Bluecoats ties with Texas and the Austin area have worked out better than, well, at least I, expected. :D The numbers in 2001, the first year down there, were moderate. This year, however, nearly half of our audition numbers (which were mind-blowingly high) were in Texas. So whenever the corps travels down south, we make it a point to announce our ties with Texas. There's no other place (of course besides my bed in NE Ohio) that I'd rather be while on tour (except of course a maseuse).

So far I've heard the entire top 14 with the exception of Spirit. The most demanding IMO would have to be Blue Devils Cadets Bluecoats/Cavies Crossmen Phantom Will "Rubble" Wells Bluecoats Contra Line 00-01

I dut all of the time. Playing contra, there are many times when I can't see a drum major. During 01's Latin Sketches show, I was on the front end of the contra line most of the time, not able to see anybody's feet. Dutting became the only way to stay in time. Will RUBBLE Wells Bluecoats CONTRA Line 00-02

Perantucci definitely makes great mouthpieces. I'm deciding between my PT44 and PT48 for corps. Both are great for a player making a transition from something like a Helleberg to something toiletbowlesque like a PT88. Good focus, and huge sound. On a side note, I have to agree, Custom Music in Michigan is the greatest place in the world. I think I payed college tuition for a couple of the employees' children. lol Will RUBBLE Wells Bluecoats CONTRA Line 00-02

The 99 BD contra line was definitely awesome. 01 SCV line really impressed me as well. As for tough licks, check out 02 Bluecoats.

Antman was your BABYSITTER?????? I can't believe they let him near children. ;) The Bluecoats' brass staff is definitely Canada's greatest contribution to global society. Though some would argue hockey and beer. Let's not forget milk in a bag as well. Listen to Doug Thrower's 2000 arranging. That's pretty much all I need to say. :) Out of the options given, I'd vote for SCV, solely because of the man who decided to arrange Adagio for Strings and Prayers of Kierkegaard.

Loudest hornlines? Hmmm.... 99 BD was unbelievable. Ears were probably bleeding by mid-season 2000 SCV I was near the 50 down in front on semis night for Adagio for Strings. That was probably the best live musical moment I've ever seen in DCI. 2000 Bluecoats At the end of the intro there was a really hip drum lick that connected it with the first tune. Well... there WAS a really hip drum lick, but thanks to the hornline, it's almost inaudible. :) 2001 Madison Scouts Ok, ok, this wasn't the loudest. However, that opening impact scared the @#$^&* out of me the first time I saw their show. Oh heck yeah....

The 2002 Bluecoats are using a brand new set of Kanstul Bb sops, baris, euphs, and contras, as well as F mellos. From a players perspective, I couldn't be happier. I marched a couple of years on a DEG G contra prototype from the early 90s. This new Bb is a godsend. The horns are holding up nice and the detatchable contra bells are making it much easier to transport them without adding dents. The horns we are using have almost identical bore sizes of our previous G horns, so the sound is nice and purdy. ;) We hope you'll all enjoy the music we're making this summer. Will RUBBLE Wells Bluecoats C-O-N-T-R-A Line 00-02