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Kevin Meadows

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Posts posted by Kevin Meadows

  1. My first live viewing as well...actually my first viewing AT ALL. As in all years I avoid viewing online videos of shows until I see them live. Ahhh the Sevierville show....yes it used to be a regular stop on the DCI tour....my band director took me to my first show in Sevierville in 1985 and I’ve been hooked ever since....I miss Sevierville but Tennessee is lucky to have had the Nashville/Murfreesboro show and the Atlanta regional nearby. Lots of great shows within reasonable driving distance of TN.

    posted from the DrumScorps app

    • Like 4
  2. Every uniform I've seen so far this year except Phantom's is utterly hideous. Designers are outsmarting themselves. In my opinion uniforms are about Corps Identity, not show theme. I shouldn't have to look in my program to see which corps is coming on the field next. It ought to be obvious as soon as I see them step on the field.

    • Like 4
  3. I've watched drum corps shows for years but I've never been to finals. It's too late for this year but I'm seriously looking at going next year. However, I've heard it's difficult to get good seats. Is this true? I don't really want to go if I'm gonna end up sitting on the 10 yard line. I'd like to be between the 40s (doesn't everybody) but I can tolerate being between the 30s.

  4. I saw this for the first time this weekend (Nashville and Atlanta). I'd already heard about it but deliberately chose to NOT watch videos of it so I could gauge the full effect of seeing it live for the first time. One of the best GE moments and crowd reactions I've seen in several years. I'm generally not an electronics guy but in this case it is used beautifully. It doesn't make a difference to me whether the brass did the pitch bend or not -it works so well because of the integrated corps movement and chord progressions. Something does not necessarily have to be complicated to work. It's called General Effect - something that in my opinion has been sorely lacking in DCI shows in recent years.

    • Like 4
  5. Why do I stay? I enjoy the technical and musical achievement that is only reached in Drum Corps. I'm a drummer so I enjoy the musicality and expertise of 9 snare drummers sounding like one. Seamless Bass drum ripples. Tenors with octopus arms.

    Did I enjoy Drum Corps more 10-15 years ago? Absolutely. It's just different now. Not worse, just different. The aspects of Drum Corps that thrilled me back in the day are absent. No one is interested in just blowing your face off with a wall of sound. Even if they were, they couldn't because of the change to Bb. Anyone remember when corps were so loud you could literally feel it inside your chest? I do. I'd love some of the newer fans to be able to go back in time and see a show live from say the mid 90s or so. Then they would know what I'm talking about. I almost feel sorry for the newer fans that enjoy today's Drum Corps......I look at them and think to myself, "you have no idea how much more thrilling it was to see a live show 15 years ago"......I stay because each year I hope to feel that thrill once again.

    • Like 3
  6. Stay in Murfreesboro and check in before the show. It's an easy drive from there down to Atlanta the next morning. My wife and I have done this many times in years past. You will run into quite a few other drum corps fans at gas stations and rest stops along the way. It's a fun trip!

  7. Phantom Regiment: It was Phantom. So Phantom. It was everything you expect from Phantom: lots of bari and euph, emotional ballad, chevron, that halt thing where they kick their left foot out (I’m a wordsmith). Also, I really enjoyed the tribute to the late Manute Bol; that was an unexpected surprise.

    This.... :worthy:/> :worthy:/> :worthy:/> :worthy:/> :worthy:/> :worthy:/> :worthy:/>

    • Like 2
  8. Maybe you're exaggerating? You can count on just one hand the number of shows worth standing to clap over the past 10 years? Sorry to single you out, but I'm geniunely curious. Off the top of my head, just in the past FIVE years, I'd imagine few would dispute most of these were were worth standing in appreciation:

    2008: Phantom - Spartacus; Cavies - Samurai; Blue Stars - Le Tour

    2009: Crown - Grass is Greener; SCV - Ballet for Martha

    2010: Bluecoats - Metropolis

    2011: Cadets - Angels & Demons; Blue Devils - Beat My Heart Skipped; Crown - Rach Star; Phantom - Juliet

    2012: Crown - Common Good

    There weren't five worth standing for from that short list?

    HH

    OK maybe exaggerating a little bit :blush: but I should elaborate - I'm talking about shows so good, moving, and exciting that you are almost literally pulled out of your seat. Sure, I've seen plenty of shows I've applauded (deservedly) over the last 10 years, but I find myself applauding out of respect for the corps and their technical achievement, rather than an excited, emotional response. Regarding the list above, I stood for all of them but the most moving/exciting in my opinion were 2008 Phantom, 2009 Crown, 2011 Crown.

  9. You are by all means entitled to your opinion. But I likewise have seen a lot of shows, over a long period of time. Past or present, there's just so much more to the activity than for me to say "well, I used to stand back in the old days (which I did - I loved that old school stuff, and still do), but nothing excites me these days 'cause nobody plays loud anymore" - to say nothing of the fact that I don't necessarily believe that to be true. Are Crown's horn lines not loud enough for you? Cadets 2007? (I didn't particularly care for the show, but those kids could bring it.)

    Pundits have been predicting the demise of the activity since before you or I had anything to say about it. I don't think the answer is right in front of us, and I certainly don't think that it would be in the form of a return to the G Bugle - which in any case I don't see happening anytime soon. So....there you go.

    Thanks for the discussion,

    Fred O.

    I'll give you Crown - their hornline is the closest thing to 'loud' that exists today. I realize going back to G bugles probably won't happen - especially if money has anything to do with it. Wasn't that the reason for the switch to multi-key?

  10. I figured I might get flamed, or at least chided for my post. But I stand by it. Cipher's initial question is simplistic and subjective, and (at least to me) obviously fishing for responses that support the p.o.v. that things were better in the good old days. Kevin's answer is equally simplistic and subjective, and gives Cipher just what he's looking for.

    Maybe I should have said: "Ask a simplistic, subjective question, worded so as to elicit a particular response..." But that doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

    Holiday regards - thanks for the dialogue,

    Fred O.

    Well that's the way I feel so....there you go. Maybe it is "simplistic". But sometimes the answer to questions are right in front of us yet we can't see them. I do think things were better in the "good old days". One of the things that made drum corps exciting in my opinion, besides the technical achievement and high talent of the performers, was simply the volume in which they played. I've been attending shows for 25+ years and for the last 10 I can count on one hand the times I've been truly moved and excited enough to stand and applaud a performance. When I look back at what excited me in years past, it was when I was getting my face blown off. The performance level and sophistication is certainly better now....but it's not very exciting at mf. Until and unless DCI goes back to G bugles, Drum Corps will continue to die a slow death.

    • Like 1
  11. So looking forward to this show! My niece and Mother in Law are going with us - they have never been to a drum corps show so I'll be interested in their reaction. My niece is an accomplished trumpet player in her high school band so I'm REALLY interested in her thoughts! There's a small chance of thunderstorms - let's hope that don't happen!

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