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usmc5577

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  • Your Drum Corps Experience
    '79-'81 Cambria Cadets / '82-Guardsmen / '83-'85 Garfield Cadets / '85-'05 USMC D&B
  • Your Favorite All Time Corps Performance (Any)
    '79 Guardsmen / '87 & '00 Cadets
  • Your Favorite Drum Corps Season
    '83
  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    VA

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  1. BTW Loved your '84 show! Classic BD. Loved you guys even more after you fed us at the Canadian border. Best meal I ever had in all my years of drum corps.
  2. First I've seen this. That is so funny. ROFL. It was also almost 30 years ago (is it possible we are that old?)
  3. I recall that a Christmas show was considered following the 1984 season as well a Pat Metheny show. Both were ditched. But in 1985 the Bridgemen did a Christmas show and Blue Devils played Pat Metheny, which is one of my favorite shows of all time. I believe the Bridgemen may have picked up on the idea after we decided not to do it and that we decided not to play Metheny because BD had already decided to. Of course, I may be wrong on some or all of this. It was a long time ago and old-timers disease is creeping in. One thing I am sure of is '85 BD was bloody AWESOME!
  4. I was in a theatre, as well, in Northern Virginia. Agree much with what you had in your review. Here are some additional thoughts. Keep in mind that this was in a theatre and it was my first viewing of the corps. Glassmen-Couldn't help but like their sound. Very nice. Madison- Any show in which one can fart at any time during the show and no one would hear it must be a great show. Hope they can continue to improve without having to play stuff they have already played. i.e. create new classic shows without redoing old classic shows. Blue Knights-They wanted to be more accessable and I think they went a long way in attaining that goal. A thoroughly entertaining show. Blue Stars-WOW! I've not heard the music they're playing before, but I like it. A lot. Great show! SCV-I think you would really have to be a Bartok fan to like this show. As one who has not heard this music before, I found the show to be a bit pretentious and definitely inaccessable. Some really nice visuals, though. Phantom-Largely not-so-great show but with a handful of seriously WOW moments. Cadets-Gotta like the way they execute that show. Accessable and entertaining. Like a machine out there. Awesome drum feature. Crown-First half of the show was AMAZING. Couldn't figure out why they weren't scoring better. Then came the second half of the show and suddenly I understood. It lost all momentum and never got it back. Their color pallate was beautiful and elegant. Blue Coats-Another show where you can fart at anytime and no one would hear you. Love the energy level but, visually, it seemed to be lacking something. Didn't seem to be on the same level as the other top corps. Nice to see them doing so well. Cavs-Definitely outside the box. Tons of energy and very entertaining. They always have the best visual package. Would like to see them take it but they won't because... BD-They gonna win. If you were to say, as quoted above, that "their show was hands-down the most unpleasant show I have ever experienced. Musically grating and annoying" then my guess is that BD would say "mission accomplished". I agree that this corps is uber talented and execute the snot out of the show. I would also say that said show is poo-poo. Seriously, is this the future of the activity? Where a corps can win with most of the crowd sitting on their hands? That's a sure-fire way to esoteric your way out of a fan base (yes, I used the word "esoteric" as a verb). Last year they were the best corps to sit on a chair, cross their legs while sitting on a chair, walk around a chair, stand on a chair, etc ad nauseum. It's a shame the staff can't give the kids a show that gives them the satisfaction of, not just winning, but hearing the crowd go ape because they're so entertaining. There! I said it. Cathartic experience complete. I feel better. Hellcats-Hell yes! Well done, gentlemen. 'nuf said. Peace out.
  5. I refuse to participate in this poll as the Cambria Cadets are not listed as one of the options.
  6. Well said David. As I recall, my first Drum Major there had 2 purple hearts. I'm pretty sure he didn't get them out of a crackerjack box. He was, and still is, an awesome Marine. Not sure how the all-knowing and all-seeing Mr. Porter missed him. Maybe he needs to double-check our service record books. Might be an eye-opener for him. Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. John Adams, 'Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials,' December 1770 US diplomat & politician (1735 - 1826) See also: Stupid is as stupid does.
  7. DO NOT try to underestimate the Cambria Cadets. It is not possible to do. The highlight of my years with them was when we beat the Mellodears. Those of us who marched in small corps know how memorable they were. You had to LOVE drum corps to march with them. Goodness knows, we didn't march with them to win
  8. I respect the fact that you didn't care for the Marine D&B. However, there may be some things that you might want to consider.It is miportant to keep in mind that they have a totally different mission statement than do DCI corps. DCI corps spend all year refining an 11 minute show that is evaluated by a judging panel. The Marine D&B's task if far more than that.What you saw on the field is maybe a quarter of the what they do (concerts, pat openers, ceremonies etc). Also, keep in mind that they are Marine musicians and the word Marine comes before the word musician. So in addition to performing, training takes place to ensure that their martial skills are kept sharp. Keep in mind that there are Marines out there that have been deployed to Iraq and Afganistan. They have a lot on their plate. The point is that they are not a DCI (nor DCA) corps and don't pretend to be. So it would be fundamentally unfair to do so. It is their job to demonstrate all that is good and true about the Marine Corps while instilling patriotism and pride into ta vast and varying audience. This is far different that appealing to a small judging panel. I write from the perspective of having marched both DCI and with the Marines. Trust me, I know the difference between the two. Hopefully, you understand a little better the difference as well. With respect, Jim Drass SSgt USMC (ret) BTW- I wonder how my old DCI team would fare against your '91 Bluecoats.
  9. The point is that if you listen to Crown they sound remarkably similar to Star. I know that Porgy has been done by several corps but Crown would sound like Star. So if you want to know what Crown would sound like playing Porgy and Bess, listen to '88 Star.
  10. Crown hornline, Star hornlline, what's the difference. Both sound so much the same (and that's not a bad thing). Love Spirit but it's a totally different sound.
  11. They've already done it. It's called '88 Star of Indiana.
  12. Here's a thought. Be better than the Bucs. Corps need to raise their game instead of waiting for the Bucs to fall. May the best corps win, even if its the same corps every year.
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