Galen

Are you taking nominations besides the ones listed? If so, I'd like to nominate Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City UT. It's a gorgeous venue that's not too big and not too small (seating capacity ~50,000), and could really be a good off-season championship venue:

Bit of a rough night for that group from Vegas.

Corps performing at Bayonne this year will be in for a nice treat- a brand new artificial turf field that was literally just finished off this past week. Never been out to a show here, but from every picture I've seen, the previous field has looked, shall we say, difficult to march on, so this should be a very welcome upgrade for everybody performing here.

Here is part two of my season preview. Much later than I intended due to some serious computer problems over the last couple of weeks, but better than nothing. Regular updates will resume in the next month. http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/2015/07/2015-season-preview-part-2.html

Racine Scouts are on right now. They have only 4 kids in the horn line, and two of them aren't even marching tonight. Drum line is pretty good, though.

I'll share my brief thoughts as a spectator, as the reviewer covered a lot of what I'll say already: Colts: Reminded me of a cross between drum corps and watching/listening to Garrison Keillor on the radio. Feels like a cheesy Guys and Dolls-type show. Opening set with the corps lying down in a chalk outline formation was VERY good, probably the best visual moment of the show. Can't wait to see the closer on the move. Crossmen: Kinda liked the new uniforms, didn't really care for the concept of the show. The paper airplane props looked flat-out ridiculous. Nice arrangement of Jubal Step that's a little more faithful to the original piece. Boston: I'm assuming the poles that are getting pushed around will have banners or crests or something similar hanging off of them at some point. I can't help but laugh at the notion that they advertised that they'd actually be playing the traditional arrangement of Conquest but barely played a lick of it throughout the show. Way too much singing for my taste. Crown: Had to watch this show from field level because I didn't get back to my seat in time. Hornline was ear-percingly loud for almost the whole show, very little dynamic contrast here, but some astoundingly good technical playing. I really liked the early quotes of the 9th Symphony, but the closing bit felt VERY out of place. Bluecoats: I really didn't care for all the sampling going on. Sure, it's a very interesting effect going on, but to me, it blurs the line between real, authentic performance and just pressing a button on a machine. Cadets: My favorite show of the night, hands down, as they played and marched the crap out of that opener! Drums were rocking throughout the program, but arranging-wise, the show seemed to drag and get repetitive in the second half of it. Cavaliers: Didn't really get the show at all, but visually I recognized some elements of Gaines drill, which was nice to see again. Note to the show organizers- it would be better if you started the show 30-60 minutes later so fans aren't being blinded during the whole second half as the sun sets.

Looks like I picked the perfect time for a hiatus.

The 2015 season is just around the corner, which means that it's time for my annual season preview! Part one is now available, and part two will go online next week: http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/2015/06/dci-2015-season-preview.html

I hear Warren Buffet has a few million lying around he's not using- maybe he could loan it to some of our fantasy directors

Greetings, directors. It's been a quiet off-season so far, and there have been several reasons behind that. Between commuting back and forth from Chicago for my job for the past six months and planning for my upcoming wedding, I have not had much time to focus on DCPI. On top of that, I've come to a point where I really no longer have the time needed to devote to making DCPI the premiere fantasy corps league on the internet. Therefore, I have regretfully made the decision to step down as Executive Director, effective immediately. However, I am happy to announce that Kevin Pogue (hostrauser) will be taking over as the next Executive Director. Kevin has extensive experience of how the league works from his many years as a competing director, and he also has a great knowledge of the league rules. I have every confidence that Kevin will run DCPI in a stellar manner and is the right person to lead it going forward. He has already been making preparations for the upcoming season and will be providing all the details for Season 24 very soon. Stay tuned- it's going to be a fun season! It has been my great pleasure to serve as the Executive Director for the past 8 seasons, and I wish everybody the best going forward. I'm not going away for good, however, and you may just see me jump back in to the competitive waters some day in the future. Sincerely, Matt Briddell

I tried that many, many years ago (around season 5 or 6, I believe), but only did a few little snippets on Finale that I posted here.

Back to regular updates after the fun with this year's bracket tournament. Anybody remember Alton IL's little stadium? That's the subject of today's review: http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/2015/04/alton-il-public-schools-stadium.html

This year's bracket tournament has concluded, and Scott Chandler has been chosen as the "Most Influential Person in Drum Corps"!

The Final Four has concluded, and we've got an all-BD matchup set for the championship. Click here to preview tomorrow's championship matchup. http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/

Bump- last day to vote for the final four!

After a short delay, Final Four voting is now up and running! Click the link below to vote for the semifinal winners. http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/

We have our winners for each bracket, and the Final Four matchups have been set! Check out the voting results here and tune back in on Monday for the Final Four voting: http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/

Today's the last chance to vote for the elite 8 winners. Tell your friends!

Blue Devils are dominating the bracket tournament, claiming 5 of the 8 spots in the Elite Eight! Check out the full results here and get ready to vote for the Elite Eight winners tomorrow at 8:00 AM CST. http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/

Voting for the Sweet Sixteen matchups is underway. Click here to go to the voting links: http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/2015/04/drum-corps-bracket-tourney-sweet-sixteen.html

It certainly appears that way. BD is definitely enjoying a much better tournament than last season (when only one of their entrants made it out of the first round and was gone after the second).

Voting for the second round has concluded. That crashing noise you heard? That was the sound of the bracket getting blown up as many, many favorites fell to upsets! View the full results and Sweet Sixteen matchups here: http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/2015/04/drum-corps-bracket-tourney-round-2.html I'll be taking a day off tomorrow for Easter, and we will resume with the Sweet 16 on Monday.

Careful folks- the last few posts are veering towards getting this thread locked down.

From the sound of things, it appears that the state legislature will be revisiting the legislation and making some adjustments that would offer some (and I stress SOME) protections for minorities, specifically, language saying that store owners can't use the law as a basis for kicking people they don't like out of their stores, as well as providing some sort of housing protections (details to be worked out later); however, this does NOT appear to apply to churches, private schools and other similar institutions.

Round 2 is now up and running. If you want your favorite to avoid an upset, you need to go vote! http://marchingarenas.blogspot.com/