baritone9172

With the loss of Capital Sound and HYPE right before the summer season, there are now only 26 Open Class corps competing this summer somewhere across the country. Spirit of Newark, Les Stentors, and Memphis Sound are the only three corps that have not made their appearances yet. Mempho will be at their first show on July 21st. Spirit of Newark and Les Stentors will be making their first appearances this coming weekend. As for Open Class Quarterfinals in Michigan City only 22 corps will be making it out there. The corps who are not doing tour all the way to finals week are Mystikal, Incognito, Gold, and Blue Devils C. Hopefully they will all make it out next year.

Before the show even starts.... Who do you think will turn more heads at this show? Will OC manage to stir up more competition for the top 6 in Open Class or be at about the same level they were last year? Or, will Spokane Thunder put out a promising show that could potentially make semis or even a finals spot? Or... both? It will be interesting to see how they do against VK. I'm personally rooting for Thunder. I hope they to turn a lot of heads this year and vastly improve but I am no where near Washington State so this "fingers crossed" has no educated information behind it. To keep this thread going after the scores come in... If you were in Portland at the show, what were your thoughts about the programs? I hope both of these teams put out some great products. I love seeing tight races in Open Class.

1. Phantom Regiment 2. Blue Stars 3. Pacific Crest

Does anyone have any info on these guys so far this season? I over heard they have been doing even better than last year. I realize every corps claims this for one reason or another but apparently some corps are going to have to "look out" for 7th this year? Any details? Last season was probably their strongest in their short history. Granted that show was probably designed last year to peak in July (just a guess) since they didnt go to finals, they still were on a different level compared to years past. Show details? Staff details? Number details? Talent details? I heard that the overall vibe is GREAT for them but I have no way of getting more information on them. Perhaps we will all just have to wait for the scores to come out in a week and a half.

These "vets" you speak of must be aware that it is against DCI regulations to leave a corps and join another so late in the season unless they have consent from the director of their old corps. most people who have marched corps are aware of this rule... did their past director say it was okay for them to move on to somewhere else? unless of course, this happened before March

Do Les Stentors have to be reviewed again? And what about Legends? Even though Stentors were reviewed last year and were granted competition, don't corps always have to be reviewed 2 years consecutively? In that case though would VK have to be reviewed again too? I could be making that all up though. I thought I heard that before for some reason.

It would seem silly for Regiment to add Phantom Legion back to their organization because they JUST managed to get sorta, kinda financially stable. I do not think they would jeopardize their financial status so soon and add another program. IF they were ever to add it back though i would say it would be in 7 or 8 years while finals are still in Indiana (i forget how many years finals are there, i am just guessing). They could manage to put together a cheaper tour. It obviously costs a lot of money to have an additional corps on the road but if they could minimize the cost because of where finals are located, that is a bonus. I doubt this would happen anytime soon, if at all.

Or, you could march Pioneer. Like donnymusic said, you won't be an alternate. You will have a guaranteed spot as long as you have the money, probably. I also bet their dues aren't all that high. It is probably one of the cheaper corps to march at in World Class. That is just an educated guess.

So can anyone DEFINITELY confirm these two Open Class corps having 72 brass each? It seems as though one of them definitely does as Penguin is clearly marching with one (most likely Surf according to his/her post history). It would make sense that Surf is marching 72 if they had 60 at a standstill. What about Teal? Pictures on their websites say approximately 60 but about 10 or so people could always be missing at camps when your hornline is that large. Anyone, anyone?

Vanguard Cadets are on the schedule for Quarterfinals though. Strange they don't have it on their OWN schedule but they will be in TN on the 1st of August... so why would they trek all the way out there if they weren't going to finish the season in Bloomington? It would seem like a waste of money to tour like that.

bump read post above this one

So, this poll pretty much says Surf's brass staff was the best in 2007. For those of you who voted for this team, what definitively sets them apart from everyone else? I know that a lot of this could turn to be opinion based but what actions and steps did this brass team take that were that much more effective and notable than every other brass staff in Open Class that year? I am not trying to stir up an argument. Surf is the clear winner here. They had a great brassline last year. I would just like to hear about their teaching styles and extra efforts that allowed them to get their kids to such a high level. Also, do you think a different staff team may surpass what Surf's was able to accomplish last year? Are there any staff line ups that will prove to take a brassline to incredible heights for this coming season and how would they be able to do that? Hard question to answer in April I suppose but it should be some good conversation none-the-less.

the list of corps is here: Schedule List just click on the Open Class Quarterfinals text and it will pop up on the right

I realize that this thread isn't about Mystikal but I don't think they were planning on going to finals from the start of this season. I don't think they were ever on the schedule on dci.org for finals week. To answer your question: I believe there are 20 World Class, 23 Open Class, and 2 International all going to Bloomington. Subject to change I'm sure. Last Year: 22 World Class, 21 Open Class, 1 International

If that actually happened there is no excuse for poor management like that. I will not believe though that that happened as already read, a long time member of Fever refused that ever happening in a previous post. I have come across corps in more debt than Fever seems to be in now who manage to bring their kids home at the end of the season without anything as ridiculous as that. It does not take begging and i guarantee the Fever management staff did not think that was their last and only resort if this was the situation. Anyway... Fever's 04 and 05 programs were terrific. I never had a chance to see 2006 or 2007 though. 2004 and 2005: Quality stuff right there. Great show designs and always very well executed. I wish more teams could put out corps like Fever put out.

To be honest, they have had an incredible past 5 seasons. Last season wasn't the only year that would have shot them into even more success. They have been a very competitive organization and a worry to all corps who wish to make top 6 placement because Fever could have just gone ahead and taken it away from them. If this is the straight up reason why they called it off for this season (which imo is very possible although i know nothing about the organizations problems besides this) luckily $60,000 isn't impossible to recover from. It is a lot of money but nothing that will bury a corps immediately. If it is more than $60,000 then that could be a bigger problem. I also wouldn't blame some vets or rookies who decided to go somewhere else after they found out the corps wasn't going to finals. There was a lot of talent and hard work at that corps coming from membership and the ultimate goal has always been to show it all off finals night. It is sad that maybe no "loyalty" or "emotional attachment" was shown from the kids that they would decide to stay purely for the organization's continuity but if you lose the rookie base which would have been probably the easiest to lose (who have no emotional attachment yet to the corps) then you have a long way to go. And if a few vets leave then some other vets will start trickling out too because there is less and less hope as more bodies leave. I am not saying the kids lacked loyalty or emotional attachment to the corps but sometimes this will just happen and some people will make the dreaded decision to leave when leaving their first corps is the LAST thing they want to do. Recover from that debt Fever and come back strong like you did your first two years out! There is no doubt that your staff can pull that off.

I use dci.org as a navigation tool. If I want to hear news straight from corps themselves i use dci to grab those corps' web addresses. I also use dci.org for the field pass that is being put out 5 days a week. the other reason why I visit dci.org is obviously for the show information and tour schedules of corps. I usually rummage through every news article that is posted up there too which is sometimes only 1 a day. DC-eye doesnt count as an article of course. When it comes to NEWS though I usually go to corps websites directly. Occasionally i will come here for news but i usually only log on for discussion reasons, to express opinions or take part in polls. not much great news usually comes out of dcp to be honest with you all. the majority of informational posts are.... "i heard pacific crest has like 5 bari spots" or "mandarins folded. what a shame. i liked them" (neither are true of course) news that comes out of here is usually crap news. its negative stuff. it is important but i would rather read about it on corps websites. i would much rather hear about the positive things too. A lot of show announcements do pop up on here though. I will give dcp that. One good thing. I cant check every corps website everyday.

well, some corps only serve up mustard muffins so whachya gonna say now? By the way, lets say you spent an hour and 15 minutes eating. Take in account for the corps the travel time it takes to get there, about 15 minutes to unload and ready equipment, a typical warm up time which is about one hours worth, and then gate time. This all has to be about 15 minutes before Spirit went on too. Cutting it that close would be pretty darn stressing for staff and members alike. And if BOTH champions performed then Memphis Sound would have had to be at gate a half hour before Spirit. We could probably keep arguing this but I will just stop my end of arguing here. Mustard Muffins dude, mustard muffins!

Nothin' more professional than getting a mustard stain on your uniform for a World Class Finals performance! Ultimately I would think you would want this last performance to be your best. Think of the time and mental focus put in the morning rehearsal and building up to your own Finals show. You want to at least be able to focus for A FRACTION OF THAT TIME going to do your last gig of the season in front for thousands more people. You don't want to be rushed, cramming food and water down your throat on the bus only to get off 15 minutes later to go to warm ups. I know that part of drum corps is being ready for anything and taking all the bad things happening to you and turning them somehow into positives but we all know that in this situation, that is not the smart way to do things. You would never want to do that before prelims, semis, or finals, why do it for this last performance?

i stand corrected. however... it still would have been a b**ch to get there in time probably on empty stomachs

I heard that the Division III and Division II champion corps were suppose to do that last year but the corps backed out because it would have been a super super rush to get to the Rose Bowl on time. By rush I mean.. Announcer Guy-->"and in 1st place in Division III with a score of blah blah blah: Memphis Sound!" Instructors from the corps--> "Okay good job guys, no time to give you your medals right now or time to wait on this field to enjoy the victory, we got to beat traffic to the Rose Bowl. Giddyup!" Now I'm sure the Rose Bowl wasn't super far from the Div II/III stadium but these kids probably hadn't had anything to eat or drink for the past several several hours since the show starts in the morning. So to pack up and go warm up for another performance on another field within about 2 hours would be pretty rushed. Maybe I don't know the whole situation and am exaggerating a bit. I don't know. Maybe it will be a different situation though this year with Open Class and World Class Finals being at the same stadium? Anyone have any information on this maybe happening?

I hope at some point in the near future, whether it be a year or so, they do decide to have the little profiles for the Open Class Corps even if it is top 12. I think they should do it for more than that but Top 12 is at least SOME exposure. 27 Open Class corps in addition to the 20 or so World Class would be quite a few. When they first did the DCI website over I was very excited to see video clips. If Open Class corps had short video clips it would probably open a lot of eyes. Jersey Surf, Spartans, East Coast Jazz [hopefully will rise from being inactive] and Teal Sound clips would all astound the typical World Class fans who never managed to see an Open Class performance. There is a lot of quality that isn't noticed in Open Class. There is also a lot of quality not recognized in lower tier World Class corps too, a matter of fact. Those clips for those corps may spark some interest in viewers to go do more research on Pacific Crest or Trooper etc. It would also do the same for Blue Devils B or Oregon Crusaders.

Either from your experience watching corps practice or perform throughout the 2007 season, or from your own personal experience marching in the corps themselves, which corps from 2007 do you think had the best brass instructional staff? (Out of the top 20 corps in the Brass Performance Caption) By best i do not mean which brass team scored the highest because we all know what the scores were. In fact I have the corps listed in the poll from top to bottom 1st-20th in brass through the whole season. Some of the corps did not make it to finals week. I also do not mean which div II/III corps had your FAVORITE brass line. a good way to tell is which brass section came the furthest through the whole season or which brass section pushed through the greatest odds while being extremely successful. those two things can only happen if they have the best of staff.... and kids with the right attitude but that is besides the point. if kids had the wrong attitude it was the staff's job to motivate them the right way anyway. Feel free to explain your reasoning too. You can use specific names of brass staff and why if you wish, i know the poll just has corps names, i didn't feel like researching every caption head from 2007. Whatever you do, do not bash! I will start.... Memphis Sound gets my vote. From what I hear, the caption head last year was THE MAN. I can't say I have met him but I do believe he did some great stuff with that hornline. The brassline's actions speak larger than anything i could say had i met the brass staff. Having a hornline under the 30 mark and achieving an 18.50 at finals was awesome for them. I've listened to some of their work during the winter before the season began and they came a pretty long way. The staff really managed to get them to maintain a nice balanced sound through the whole show. I can't say the corps had the hardest brass book but I can say they wowed a lot of fans. They probably wowed themselves too. Honorable Mentions... Teal Sound Oregon Crusaders Dutch Boy ps: The Open Class forum has been very dead lately... hopefully this will liven it up a little. All the OC forum has had to offer the past several weeks was a lot of bickering and bashing.

mad scouts 03

xmen 02