BigBoom

Jay is indeed a wise man (hold snickers and laughter please). He has summed up nicely what we hope to do with Hot City. I hope we are able to be a unique, exciting, and fun musical experience for players and audience members alike. I've tried to encourage recruiting by telling people, "It's park and bark, Baby." Plus, it would be awfully hard to march in flip flops! I didn't even order a carrier for my new FFX due to arrive today or tomorrow. Only one problem with Jay's post: Does anybody other than the Young Guns have hair to let down? Looking forward to playing our a^$#s off and having a great time....without music stands. Patrick Sweeney Hot City Mini Corps (2005-_____) X-Streams (1985-1992) Colts (1972-1977, 1980) "Yes....All that noise IS really necessary."

I was going through the old audio archives and have to throw Blue Stars 1975 onto the table. Certainly not the finesse of today, but ballsier (not sure that's a real word) than just about any show ever. If memory serves me correctly, they received a 5.0 and a 4.9 in difficulty to SCV's 4.9 and 4.8. SCV ended up winning top drums but that 1/10 of a point difference in difficulty maybe could have been more. That Blue Stars' snare line kicked some serious butt. Boom

Chris, Thanks for the words of encouragement and the generous offer to allow access to the musical vault. Jay and I began talking about that possibility this AM. We will definitely take you up on your offer. This is going to be fun! When is LMS 7? Patrick

Replying to myself: The above only applies if they are playing the music of The Propellerheads. I have no idea if that's the case or if the reference is to some other "Propellerhead." Boom

Go to the link below for a Propellerhead bio. They were pretty big stuff in the 90s in some circles. http://www.mp3.com/propellerheads/artists/.../biography.html Boom

The people signed on to the MC so far are, for the most part, from Phoenix and the surrounding area. We've got a couple of out-of-towners (Denver and Indianapolis) but the rest are local. I've been hoping to find a name that had some sort of musical connotation, as opposed to a name that might apply to a youth soccer team. Considering the lack of specific longitude and latitude coordinates that identify home, I'd like to be From South of Nowhere (there is a place called Nowhere, AZ., population 0, that is northwest of the PHX metropolitan area). Ideally, a creative, somewhat funny moniker would be nice. Ay-yah-yah...this name thing isn't easy. All suggestions appreciated! Boom

Funny: I was considering earlier the moniker of Thundering Javelinas. I've got to say, there's something about the Death Valley-thing I like, even though it's in California. Maybe we could be The Death Valley ______?_____ from Southwest of Nowhere. Nowhere is a real place in Arizona, population 0. Boom

Keep them coming. Some make me laugh, some make me think, some make me wonder. I'm still hoping for the one that makes me say, "That's it!" Boom

Some great ideas! Keep 'em coming! Boom

I believe the effort to get a minicorps off the ground in Phoenix, Arizona has reached the launch sequence. We've got some great players on board, though more horns are needed, and some great support in getting a musical program together. To repeat from a previous post: The plan is to play a Tower of Power show, or Tower of Power-type show, taking some oldies like perhaps Squib Cakes mixed with some newer things like This Type of Funk, throw in a ballad such as Still a Young Man, and put it all together to make a nice 10 minute show. The exact repetoire will be finalized shortly. It will be a beat-crazy-motor-booty affair characterized by smokin' brass. With the above description in mind, please suggest some names.......please. Our braintrust is not coming through on the name so we need your help. Boom p.s. Let me know if you're interested in being part of __________________ (?)

raladyaz, I sent you a PM last week and haven't heard anything. If you see this, please post or e-mail me directly at: bigboom014@yahoo.com We're approaching critical mass and I'm putting together an e-mail list to message everyone concerned. We've rounded up 6 or 7 brass players, depending on the day, and I expect to hear from more very soon. Anybody else out there interested, post or contact me. Things are rolling! Boom

Like so many others, I aged-out of drum corps (Colts), finished college, faced reality and got a job, started drumming for a rock and roll band, quit job, faced reality and got another job, fell in love, got married, had kid, paid bills, kept drumming, had little interest in the whole activity because I was so far removed from it. Over the last decade, things calmed down, caught up with old friends, went to some drum corps shows, got serious about drumming again, and now at the ripe old age of 46, working to get a minicorps off the ground in Phoenix, AZ. Hope to make this 21-piece endeavor represent all that is fun about drum corps and none of what sucks. If we're insane enough to agree to a parade, it'll be on a couple of flatbed trucks. Boom

Thanks Strutta and everyone else for the advice and encouragement. We're getting some traction folks! It seems people are out there and interested. Spread the word to anyone you know with brass experience who might be interested in getting this going. An organizational meeting is getting closer with each new person who shows interest. Boom

Thanks for all the good advice. I'm hoping that getting in contact with Academy alums, parents, and supporters such as myself, will help find some players. All advice is accepted and appreciated, so keep it coming! Boom

Superb! We are gaining momentum. If anyone else is out there and interested, please post and we'll set up a friendly meeting to discuss things further. For a little more detail, I'd like to do a Tower of Power show, or Tower of Power-type show, taking some oldies like perhaps Squib Cakes mixed with some newer things like This Type of Funk, throw in a ballad such as Still a Young Man, and put it all together to make a nice 10 minute show. The exact repetoire is open for discussion but that vein is where I'm coming from, perhaps best summarized as a beat-crazy-motor-booty affair characterized by smokin' brass. Any other thoughts? Boom

Great question. I'd like to go G but I think we'd need to get some interested people together and make a collaborative decision on this. A big factor will be current equipment that horn players possess, or are willing to buy. Glad you're interested! What do you play and what's your preference re: e-flat or G? Boom

Oops....still figuring this thing out. You'd think with a jillion or more people running around out here, sweating their butts off, a few would be perusing the DCP forum. Boom

I posted back in early July to see if anyone was interested in discussing the possibility of forming a MC in PHX. The response was underwhelming, though I've got to thank Strutta for some good advice. By my count, there are 18 spots still open. If you're interested in discussing what this project might look like, feel free to either post here, PM me, or e-mail me direct at: bigboom014@yahoo.com Thanks! Boom

esutheprairiedog, I've posted on other forums a couple of times claiming that the Osage Precisionnaires' show from '75 and '76 were way cool. I'm glad to see someone else recognizes that and I'm not the Lone Ranger. I'll add a disclaimer that I was NOT a member, but rather thought it was pretty cool to see a drum corps playing Tower of Power and Santana at a time when most people thought Tower of Power was some sort of nuclear generating station. Boom

It is all terribly dreadful! I traveled to Indianapolis on the 30th and had not seen any of the corps using narration prior to that show. Understanding that there was a possibility that this change might be for the good, I think it's safe to say I went with an open mind. I found out later that the Cascades had a technical problem that led to their not using narration that night. I rather enjoyed their show. It was abominable last night with the voice over. I was horrified during the Blue Devils show in Indy and that horror was repeated during last night's broadcast. For me, the narration ruined an otherwise potentially great show. The Blue Coats' and Cadets' "say it, don't play it" drum features were laughable if not for the implications for the future. It is mind-boggling that the genre has moved to the point where scores are improved by having some guys voice drum parts. Between voice overs and such "say it, don't play it" percussion (?), things will get worse. For decades, drum corps has been quite lemming-like in how successful shows are aped on down the line. With the judges rewarding this stuff this year, I have a dark view of the future that includes every D-1 corps offering some sort of rediculous audible addition to their programs. Speaking only for myself, it will be unbearable. I know that some other poster on DCP forums has used a sign off that said, "Make It Go Away..." During both the Indy show and last night's broadcast, I found myself with my hands over my ears and uttering those very words. There have been many wonderful changes through the years that have improved the activity. Narration is not one of them. If evolution is a natural and inevitable part of drum and bugle corps, the evolutionary cycle is close to completion. The current species bears very little resemblance to its origins, and the amplified human voice is just the latest characteristic that accelerates its path towards becoming unrecognizable. In response the specific question of which narration was most annoying, put me down for: All of the above. Boom

I must correct myself re: my post previous. The Osage Precisionnaires played Evil Ways and Still a Young Man in their '76 show, not '75 as I stated. But '75 did have Saeta by Miles Davis and Chick Corea's version of Spain. The combined books of '75 and '76 were sweet, though the perfomance level of '75 was much superior. Boom

My favorite is the overlooked and forgotten 1975 show of the Osage Precisionnaires. They played Squib Cakes and Still a Young Man by Tower of Power; Evil Ways by Santana; and threw in Strawberry Soup and Slatka Pitka by Don Ellis. They came from nowhere and took 14th at DCI that year. It really was a COOL musical book! And for the record, I wasn't a member of the Precisionnaires. Boom

Thanks for the review. I'd like to throw in my opinions on a couple of matters, stating up front that they're just opinions and I make no claim to their being indisputable truths. First off, I agree completely with your observations about "concept shows" and in fact, realized that you were able to state one of my major concerns much more clearly than I would have been able to do. I'm reminded of the old military acronym of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). I would challenge anyone to be able to accurately interpret any of the themes of last night's shows, with the possible exception of SCV's, without either the program notes or the announcer's intro. According to the program notes, the presentations are incredibly grandiose in intent, but from my viewpoint, not so grandiose in delivery. Jester: Extremely hard to do anything with 9 horns. They started with 10 but one contra player walked to the front, sat down his horn, and stood there through the entire show. I assume he's new and doesn't know the parts and the drill. Fine. However, when 10 percent of your hornline is standing at the 50 yard line, it's a distraction. Kudos to the kids for their devotion to the activitiy but I'm guessing it's going to be hard to keep Jester going. Mystikal: 2 of 18 horns stood on the sideline....I thought the drumline was the bright spot. They played a relatively challenging book and played it well most of the time. The bass line in particular has got some swagger. They played some tasty and difficult parts. Personally, I like the uniforms. If they can keep the core and add some bodies, Mystikal could get interesting. Academy: After years of hoping to see a quality drum corps come from the PHX metropolitan area, I'm excited about what The Academy has been able to do in such a short time. Organizationally, I think they're smart to go slow to go far. Once past the appreciation of this being only their second year on the field, uh... not much to say. This was the quietest 63-person hormline I've ever heard in my life. I was expecting to see some paint get peeled after barely hearing the previous two corps' hornlines and that just didn't happen. The drumline was similarly uninspiring. I know the whole genre has become more "musical" but I dare say if you took all of the 32nd notes played by the entire drumline and put them together, I don't think you'd end up with more than about 4 measures worth. Lots of 1/8th notes, 16th notes, extended tacits, and a few obligatory eyeball-high accents. The guard's orange unis didn't do it for me either. PC: Back to "theme".......Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to submit to you that this "Water" is just tepid and perhaps stagnant. I'm still trying to figure out if the chunks of oddly shaped metal toted around by the guard were supposed to represent ice, sleet, water, vapor.....I just don't know. If I hadn't been told this show had to do with water, I would have been beyond baffled to try to figure out those metallic chunks. Overall, the show seemed...well....boring. Again, I had this great anticipation of finally seeing a D-1 corps that has been getting some great reviews and then.....blah. On the bright side, the snareline was impressive. SCV: With SCV, the letdowns decribed above with The Academy and PC were reversed. Based on some of the early scores and reviews, I expected to see a Vanguard corps that was in serious need of an overhaul. As their show progressed, I couldn't help thinking of Mark Twain's line, "......the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated...." These cats are good! Their show is strong musically and visually and they seem to enjoy presenting it. Put away the black veils and funeral clothes because there is a lot of life left in SCV. I loved the goal line to goal line start and the excellent use of the field throughout. I throw them bonus points for having the juevos to do something different in marching the snares lower and using match grip. Personally, I thought the spread between SCV and PC should have been much bigger. That their guard scores have even been close is befuddling. As my wife, who has only seen three drum corps shows in her life, said, "Pacific Crest's 'dancers' detracted from their show whereas Vanguard's 'dancers' really added to theirs." I agree. Okay....closing thoughts and ramblings: *When the crowd consistently goes bonkers for a drum feature, no matter how brief or poorly executed, is their reaction due to the rarity of such drumming occuring or is it because audiences actually like to see drum features? While I'm thrilled that the trend of parking the drumline silently at the back of the field for 3 minutes has been reversed, there's still an amazing amount of non-drumming and/or incredibly simple drumming going on. *Note to all uniform designers and design teams: If you're going to put guard members, male or female, in skin tight body gloves, maybe you should make one's physical condition and audition requirement. I felt sorry for some of the kids stuffed into outfits they had no business wearing. Ouch! *If the judges are insisting on "concept shows," the concepts should be apparent without having to be explained. Again, if anyone could have made thematic sense out of what was put on the field last night without help from above, they're a heck of a lot smarter than me. Beyond smarts, I don't want to have to work that hard to figure out what's going on. *Still stuck on "concept shows," I'd like to see a show that highlights one or more of the following concepts: Power; Musical Mastery; Groove; Fun; Uniqueness; Anti-Lemmings....... Okay.....out. Boom

One of many memorable moments in my 9 year drum corps career took place in a small town in Illinois in 1975. I was marching snare with the Colts and I was using the locker room head along with a couple of my partners. Three or four guys from the Fox Valley Raiders were in there also and were being harassed by a larger group of high school football players. While we contemplated going to the FVR's aide (we didn't really care for them either but......) a large contingent of Kilties came in, having heard about the situation. The Kilties were basically out to defend the honor and integrity of all drum corps members and wanted to know if the football players had a problem with drum corps guys such as them. The words "no problem.....no problem......no problem......" were uttered rapidly and the players evacuated the locker room quickly. The Kilties told everyone else in the locker room that if they had more problems with those dudes, just let them know. There were no more problems. *Footnote: There were whispers all year that the Kilties were marching some members of questionable age. I think that whole group of questionable aged members is who appeared in the locker room because they looked like my dad and his friends.