MikeD

I like the comment about having the symphony orchestra play his music while marching...shades of Woody Allen and his marching cello! Mike

You are kidding, I hope....who else does this statement refer to...."One man hammered year after year after year until he finally got his way." The post makes it seem like one single person wanted this...and it was far more than that. Absolutely, the directors are in charge. Finally, enough found merit in the idea that had already been supported by their staffs for years, to pass it. You never know in advance whether something will work or not...in this case, it has...and very well...IMO, of course. Note that I said 'band world', not 'marching band world'. Mellos were designed to emulate concert french horns. Other brass innovations like valves were slowly added over time to get to the point of being 3-valve just like band instruments. Contras were added to create the tuba sound. Multi tenors were added to emulate toms, used on drum sets and in concert. I never said marching bands used them first. Timpani and mallets...the same thing. Mike

Thats's because there is no micced singing or narration this year. :P ^0^ Mike

Did the amped singing have any brass support behind it? Lots of corps do a short spot of acapella singing... And...how about percussion features? Many championship corps have had them too where the brass does not play. I don't think the little bit of no-brass last year would have impacted their score as you seem to be postulating, though I'm glad to see them up there now. What a great hornline! Mike

I guess I didn't make the idea that the phrase was supposed to not be taken seriously obvious enough. I thought the ^0^ would do that. My bad, I guess. BTW, I have no idea what you wrote, as it is no longer there. Must have been bad, I guess... Mike

Sheesh....did you not see the ( ^0^ ) I put there...it was supposed to just be funny. Oh, well, they don't all work, I guess. Mike

George specifically mentioned family and friends, not total strangers...the Email also mentioned using it as a way to introduce these folks to marching/music. It never said to stand outside a supermarket and get total strangers to vote...not that very many would. Seems kind of an odd analogy to me. Look at the anti-progress ( ^0^ ) petition...I see instances where a bunch of people from the same family are voting. It's certainly legal, and also OK morally, IMO. You have no way of knowing whether or not all of them are anti-progress or are just voting because dad or mom or bro or sis asked them to. Mike

Looks like more of the same "bash Hoppy" to me. Don't forget, the instructors have wanted amps for just about as long as Hoppy did. Finally enough of the voting membership agreed. I hardly think it was "hammered year after year after year until he finally got his way"...those people are highly intelligent and independent thinkers. Enough of them agreed that they are a good idea, that's all. Corps admins change over time, don't forget. It's not like it was always the exact same group being...er..."hammered". IMO that sort of attack on one person is also a smoke screen to NOT discuss the opinions about amps being good or bad. Drum corps has looked to the band world for instrumentation and 'hardware' for decades. Adding valves to horns, adding new horn voices like mellos and tubas, multi tenors, timpani, mallets, the rest of the percussion family. Amps are just another element of the hardware. Bands have looked to corps, esp starting in the 70's, for music and visual elements....the creative side of things...far more than the other way round. Even the competition world most bands operate under today is based on the corps model. Mike

Honk Honk honkhonk honk! (I'll be Harpo Marx!) Mike

Agree...this is the relevant text... IMO it's not a bad thing legally or morally, as long as each vote is made by the person, one per Email. That's how many online polls work. Mike

Oh, Paul, that's just so....20th Century! :P Mike

Same here...I ended up Cadets last (hey! I'm an alum!) and Crown next-to-last. Mke

It's a movement all-right. RobH's dog left it in the back yard this morning. :P j/k Mike PS...change the "MANY" to "FEW" and it's accurate.

Aren't they performing music from Carmen? Makes sense to have one on the field, IMO. Mike

From the "Drums making excellent kitchen equipment" department..... Garfield in 71...we played a Dolphin/49'er summer exhibition game half-time on our way to Dallas for VFw's...we stayed at a private school for a week rehearsing. It was AWFUL hot and humid in the Miami area...George Tuthill had the drumline rehearsing under some trees, and a couple of kids on bikes were watching us rehearse, away from the horns. We got REAL thirsty, so we gave the kids some money and asked them to go get us some cokes. Luckily, they came back with the soda. :P However, the bottles in those days were NOT the twist to open type, and we had no bottle opener. What we found was the rims of the marching timpani made EXCELLENT bottle openers. :) BTW....according to my folks, NBC showed our entire half-time show! In absolutely POURING rain...the largest Miami newspaper had a picture of our timpani/bottle opener section on their front page the next day, with water just bouncing high off the drums! Mike

I've seen posts about both the Cadets and Scouts that are of the 'spectacular' school of thought regarding their programs. I've seen the Cadets, and IMO it has a chance to be truly spectacular; it wasn't "there" yet when I saw them early-on. Mike

No matter what the change is, there will always be people who just can't get over it...you are absolutely right. Doesn't mean the change is bad. It just means that some people have rigid ideas of what they expect, and if it changes, they are out. IMO drum corps can't (and never has) base it's progress around those types of people, thankfully. Mike

There is no comparison...saying Bush does X so why can't Crown (or whoever) do the same is an irrelevant comparison. Other corps choose to use a single voice for naration or, as Crown did, a few folks singing. There is a difference between that and an entire choir. What Bush does is excellent, as Crown was last year. Mike

It's the title tune from "They're Playing Our Song", a tune I've always thought rather lame. I thought the same as you at Giant's Stadium (see my own review). Not that they play it poorly...just that it's a pretty weak number in any format! Marvin Hamlisch has never been a fave of mine, outside of "A Chorus Line"..one of my all-time faves. The original Broadway cast starred Lucie Arnez (Lucille Ball's daughter with Desi) and Robert Klein. Right...they were playing the Sunset Boulevard number you mention above...again, I said the same thing in my review of Giant's Stadium...they should have the Sunset Playbill where the Phantom one is (and vice versa), and when they do the little quote from Phantom, THEN pick that one up...to make more visual sense, anyway. Sounds better than the Neal Hefti-ish light jazz beat Regiment used in 89. I always HATED that spot in what was an incredible show. Hmmm...maybe they need soe amped narration. ^0^ Interesting that folks comment on this...as SCV was amongst the first to use match grip in the early 70's with Fred Sanford. Doesn't it though...the colors really work well for them. I love the spot where the guard basically fills the field with the brass down stage. Great review! Mike

What you call "stick out" is what others call "in balance". for me, the sound of vibes and the mid/lower marimba tends to get lost on the field, and the amps have helped those voices become better balanced. That you think they stick out may be due to the idea that they have been UNDERbalanced for so many years which you have gotten used to, and now they don't have to be. That's my take on them, anyway. That's absolutely correct! You could say that about anything added to corps over the many decades. Before they were added drum corps got along just fine. Once added, there was, in many cases, much kvetching abnd wringing of hands ("O woe is drum corps!"), and then they became the norm. Be it timps, 3-valves, mallets, starting on the field, ending on the field, etc.... Mike

Here is mine...just posted at work... 1. Cavies 2. Scouts 3. BD 4. Coats 5. BAC 6. PR 7. Crown 8. The Cadets Mike

At least the Cadets are being "true to the original" in that case! :P Mike

They were way down in Effect..especially visual...and down in guard performance. Mike

What Bush does works very well for them...if they could just find 4 or 5 more trumpets. My sister-in-law's son is one of the trumpets they DO have. As did Crown's last year with their vocalists. There is more than one way to create a great show, and IMO both corps did that. BTW...saw your review...it was a good one. Joe Itkor has created a nice pit book for Bush (was he playing at Bucknell, or was their 'regular' female timpanist there?). Personal "the more things change" note: Brigs do "Orange Colored Skies?. I played that in the first competitive corps I marched with, in 1968. Bucky Swan was our horn guy (he seemed to be the horn guy for just about the entire GSC back then! :P ). Bucknell also has a wonderful theatre, in addition to the field. I played a concert there with a community band I belonged to back around 1990, the Hanover Wind Symphony. The director was an alumnus, Mike

Large as compared to their total horn line size. And yes, at one point they were not all singing, but for a lot of it they were. Still doesn't compare to 1 or 4 people in front of 60+ horns. Mike