So what'd you guys think of the Countdown?

[Fran Haring]

See....in our theater, whenever dennis said something awkward, I just turned around and laughed at him. He was pretty lighthearted about the whole thing, and usually laughed right along with us.

So Nick.... did you get to Chick-Fil-A before the show? We did!!!

Fran

[euponitone]

So Nick.... did you get to Chick-Fil-A before the show? We did!!!

Fran

Actually, I wound up in NJ for the countdown this year, instead of the theater 15 minutes from my house I guess thats how it goes sometimes...but given who I had sitting behind me, and some other cool people I met, I'd say it was worth it...

Edited April 26, 2008 by euponitone

[JustABandMom]

A little inside scoop on the Kingsmen Alumni. Some of our members were going thru certain medical conditions. I believe the soprano you mentioned has a brain tumor therefore he was having a bit of trouble remembering his drill. We had some members that either had a knee, foot, shoulder, or back conditions that were aggravated by choosing to march. They we out there having the time of their lives popping advil every 4 hours during practice loving every minute of it. Most had not march in 20-40 years. I had not march in 20 years myself and was extremely blessed to be part of the experience.

I was wondering how many alums you had marching - the size of the corps looked huge! What years did you have represented, and what did you do to practice - distributed music electronically ahead of time with rehearsals of drill the week of? Or did you have a few rehearsals during the preceeding months for those who could make it? And where did you get the marching tymp and other -er unusual marching instruments? I guess they are being used in alumni corps today. My friend and I got a big kick out of the old style marching and routines. The contrast in styles is astonishing and yet so fun to see together. Everyone looked like they were having a wonderful time. But what a different era that was back then!

[JustABandMom]

So what's the deal about the Countdown - I see what it has turned into - as far as the format and all. But what did it used to be?

[bloominmom]

Saw the show at the Tinseltown Theater in Plano, TX.

Cons:

• Only about 20 people in the theater.
  
• When the show started, obviously nobody was in the booth. Lights didn't dim. Looked like somebody had to go ask for them to correct that.
  
• When the show started, the volume stayed at about 10% (same as the pre-show "elevator" music). Watched the entire Bluecoats show at that volume. After I asked the guy who was checking tickets in the lobby to raise the volume level, it seemed to go to about 25%. Very disappointing.
  
• Picture was fuzzy. Seemed like the projector was out of focus.
  
• Supposed to be enhanced for widescreen, but didn't look like it was being projected in widescreen.
  
• I thought the ads said "5.1 Surround Sound". Sounded like "mono".
  
• When the show was over, lights didn't come back up. We had to leave with the reflected light from the previews on the screen (which apparently had started automatically).
  

Pros:

• Getting to see a handful of other Drum Corps fans.
  
• Getting to see a little bit of the Kingsmen Alumni Corps.
  

Major Pro: The early season vignettes DCI did of a few corps. VERY cool peak into the shows and corps as they were taking shape.

Bottom Line: If it weren't for the extra vignettes, I'd once again be walking away from a "Countdown" thinking the only reason to bother with this is to see other Drum Corps peeps.

Aside:

OK. I'm joking here. Joking...

HEY! Delucia and 2007 Crown!... Get a room already!

Crown was great last year and they deserve any props they get, IMO. And it's really cute to see how much Delucia loves that show.

It's been awhile since there's been a show that so clearly connects with such a large part of the audience like Crown's. So many of us have been waiting for a long time to be able to connect like that. I totally get it.

[CrunchyTenor]

I was wondering how many alums you had marching - the size of the corps looked huge! What years did you have represented, and what did you do to practice - distributed music electronically ahead of time with rehearsals of drill the week of? Or did you have a few rehearsals during the preceeding months for those who could make it? And where did you get the marching tymp and other -er unusual marching instruments? I guess they are being used in alumni corps today. My friend and I got a big kick out of the old style marching and routines. The contrast in styles is astonishing and yet so fun to see together. Everyone looked like they were having a wonderful time. But what a different era that was back then!

I first heard about the Anaheim Alumni drum corps project in July 2005, before it officially became the KAC. We wanted so badly to do it, but sometimes life conspires against you!

The KAC had regular monthly rehearsals, plus some sectional things for percussion, guard and brass. Rehearsals were pretty well attended based on pictures posted throughout the preparation. There were several out-of-towners who would come in for the monthly rehearsals, but the sectionals were more widely attended by locals. There was also a week-long camp the week of finals, as well as a dress rehearsal at the Long Beach show

While the majority of KAC members were Kingsmen alumni, they early on invited guest performers the opportunity to wear the blue cadet. I had a lot of friends, both Kingsmen and VK alumni, marching in the corps.

The marching tympani are a great story by themselves. What you saw were the same tympani they marched from 72, 73 and 74. They were sold by the corps to another SoCal corps in San Diego, the Golden Statesmen. They were later purchsed by a local youth band program in the San Bernardino area. The director of that group, since folded, still had them in storage. They were carefully restored and repainted to the same pattern they wore in their Kingsmen junior corps days.

As nice as the Dynasty drums were, I can't help thinking how cool the corps would have looked with a line of chrome Ludwig Super Sensitive snare drums! Which reminds me, wait till you see the Cavaliers' restored snare line with their alumni corps this August.

Don't be surprised that a lot of young people walked out before the KAC performance at the Countdown. Walking back through the tunnel to the field at the Rose Bowl before the KAC was like being a salmon swimming upstream. Too bad those people missed a great performance. I'm thinking they're the same ones that leave Dodger Stadium in the 7th inning to beat the traffic.

Garry in Vegas

Edited April 26, 2008 by CrunchyTenor

[K-Swiss]

No one left at my theater. We got up, and Steve told us to sit back down, so we did. And it was amazing.

[bloominmom]

Watched the show in Bloomington, Indiana. About 60-75 attendees, pretty quiet crowd, a few corps jackets (Cavies, Colt, Crown)...volume too low, but other than that, it was a great presentation. I loved the '08 previews. Commentary was well-done...added to things without getting in the way. Loved the Crown enthusiasm from Dennis...he clearly captured the way a lot of people felt about this show and how it connected with the '07 fans. If this show once again gets the nod from fans the way it did this summer in by winning all 5 Hot Chops contests, is there any hope DCI will ever catch a clue about the meaning of "general effect?"

[Leland]

To add the Kingsmen at the last minute..hype it up...and then only show four minutes of a fifteen minute performance was a let down.

So that's why it seemed so short! I thought I had lost my mind due to the three jumbo margaritas I had beforehand.. I mean, the long workday and it was past my bedtime.

I don't know what kept attendance down. I talked to an employee and he said Thursdays are usually dead. I told him the DCI show usually does better than 14 people. He was right today, the parking lot was only 1/3 full. I'm thinking a Thursday showing didn't help, only showing corps from 05, 06, and 07 kept some people awayand the weather was threating rain.

I almost didn't go myself, honestly. I had seen all of those shows before (except Kingsmen), and in the same format, thanks to the Quarterfinals broadcasts. Plus, I was only marginally interested in seeing them again. If they had corps from other years as well, the lineup could've been more enticing.

But, one of the other guys at work dragged me along, and I met an oldtimer (he had marched back in '53-56) at the bar & grille next door before the show. The three of us had a good time watching the corps.

About the theater: I rode the Metro to the Hoffman multiplex near Alexandria, VA. It was maybe a quarter full, I'd guess. Just one screen, not two overflowing screens like the first live simulcast a few years ago in a different theater. The video was at a good, high resolution, but movement got blurry (that wasn't the margarita effect ;) ). The sound was too quiet, and when I went the second time to ask them to turn it up, I heard the sound guy call back over the walkie-talkie and say, "We don't know what else to change, but that's as loud as it's going to get." I keep getting the impression that the resolution of the audio just isn't up to snuff anymore, either; maybe it's the microphones, maybe the theater just isn't tuned for music, maybe it's the (shudder) trumpets, who knows.

It seemed like a loose, fun crowd. We were making up noises to fill in the gaps in the audio, applauding the cool stuff, etc.

What I've got to say, however, is this: This was a good excuse to get out of the house, hang with some friends, and watch some drum corps. It would not have been nearly as fun if there was nobody worth talking to. Past broadcasts were almost like reunion banquets, where I'd move around to sit with four or five different people as the show went on. This wasn't quite like that, but it was close, and it was plenty fun anyway.

Edited April 26, 2008 by Leland

[Powderkeg]

I was wondering how many alums you had marching - the size of the corps looked huge! What years did you have represented, and what did you do to practice - distributed music electronically ahead of time with rehearsals of drill the week of? Or did you have a few rehearsals during the preceeding months for those who could make it? And where did you get the marching tymp and other -er unusual marching instruments? I guess they are being used in alumni corps today. My friend and I got a big kick out of the old style marching and routines. The contrast in styles is astonishing and yet so fun to see together. Everyone looked like they were having a wonderful time. But what a different era that was back then!

There were 287 members altogether.

It turned out to be the same number that 27th marched in 1994 although it was not planned that way. The drill was written for 300. We had a few members who dropped out here and there and a rifle spot that was occupied by two different people and both of them were injured outside of the drum corps and had to drop out. If I remember correctly of the 13 open spots two were rifles (23 vs 25), two were contras (23 vs 25), two were baritones (48 vs 50), one snare (15 vs 16) two tenors (10 vs 12), two bass drum (10 vs 12) and two flags (Coast Guard and one other).

Here is the breakdown by section:

46 Sopranos including about a half dozen who played B-Flat trumpets

15 Mellophones

1 Alto

16 French Horns

48 Baritones

23 Contras

23 Rifles

32 flags

4 Nationals

12 Honor Guard

15 Snares

10 Tenors

10 Cymbals

10 Bass Drum

5 marching tympani

2 marching xylophone

5 pit

8 drum majors

1 color guard captain

The members came from 11 states and Canada. The furthest member from Anaheim lived in Connecticut. Approxmately 80% of the members marched in the Kingsmen at one point in their drum corps careers. There were also about a dozen who were a part of the 1975 corps which folded a month before tour.

The oldest member was 81. The youngest member was the daughter of one of the Kingsmen Alumni who was 17 and played cymbals.

The first "official" rehearsal was November (Thanksgiving weekend) 2005. There were monthly Sunday rehearsals in 2006 and in the winter of 2006/2007 went to two day (Saturday/Sunday rehearsals each month. Had a four day camp in June 2006 and June 2007. Had a seven day camp leading up to the August 10 performance that went from 9:00AM to 10:00PM each night just like the touring days. The only time we actually had everyone (287) there at the same time was during the August 2007 seven day camp. There were also weekly (Tuesday night) rehearsals for the local brass line and anyone else who wanted to show up.

Unlike any Alumni Crops to date, the Kingsmen marched a full drill from beginning to end with a stop period for the traditional concert. The drill for the opening number was taught to the corps in June of 2006 and each month a portion was added with the final piece of the drill taught in April of 2007.

The Tympanis were the originals that were carried by the Kingsmen from 1970 to 1974. We found them in a storage space in San Diego County somewhere. A couple of the percussion guys restored them to look exactly like they did in 1972.

The powder blue uniform was an exact replica of what was worn by the corps from 1969 to 1974. The only discernable difference was the zipper being in the back instead of the front.

There were 28 members on the field that actually marched the 1972 Championship season. The 72 corps was 108 members total. There were Kingsmen alumni represented as early as 1961 (Charlie Groh and Bill Borges) and had members from most years that the Kingsmen fielded a corps through 1982.

All of the music was from 1971-1974 and was arranged by Mike Duffy, Kenny Norman, and Kit Squires.

The rifle work was a combined effort by the 23 gals that made up the line. The rifle section leader was Brenda (Markham) Murray who wrote and taught the rifle line through much of the 70's.

The drill was written by David Weinberg (Kingsmen and Blue Devils alum). He reviewed ancient video and photographs to recreate portions of the drill from the 1970's shows including 1972, 1973, and 1974 scaled to a 287 member drum corps.

The championship flags (DCI, CYO, US Open, World Open) were recreated by Bob Jacobs. The military flags were donated by Tom Day (Bugles across America).

Our adopted home was Western High School (Anaheim) and California Baptist University Riverside. The seven day August 2007 camp was held at Cal State Long Beach.

Edited April 26, 2008 by Powderkeg