crown fan Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 why can't their identity be that they have an outstanding awesome brass sound and that they have been very innovative and unique in their show designs. at least that's what I've gotten from them over he past three yrs. but I've heard that they've made some minor changes over the past few weeks to help their show out. and they've proved over the couse of the entire yr that they can perform with the traditional top groups, so I think they are very deserving of their scores. IMOI would love to see them pull out a top 3 spot in finals and definitely a championship sometime in the next few yrs is certainly attainable for this group I'll second that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I was thinking the same thing this morning. Crown will finish top 3 this year and win their first championship next year. If you know this would you mind telling me what the stock market will do next week? (Not that I disagree with you, BTW) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyBecky007 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 why can't their identity be that they have an outstanding awesome brass sound and that they have been very innovative and unique in their show designs. at least that's what I've gotten from them over he past three yrs. but I've heard that they've made some minor changes over the past few weeks to help their show out. and they've proved over the couse of the entire yr that they can perform with the traditional top groups, so I think they are very deserving of their scores. IMOI would love to see them pull out a top 3 spot in finals and definitely a championship sometime in the next few yrs is certainly attainable for this group I agree! Their brass sound makes me melt.. haha XD Come on, Crown. Let's be in the top 3! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lincoln Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 (edited) Garfied's show in '82 was so different that there were times when the judging community didn't know what to do with them. It was a huge risk and as much as it was rewarded come finals, the potential that it would fail was not far away. I remember seeing them for the first time in Toledo, Ohio and walking away not really knowing how to react. What were they thinking by putting a flower into the guard's hair instead of wearing head gear? Those who weren't around the activity then may laugh at a change like that, but back then it was huge. There were others who did not like what they were doing at all. Other corps had paved the way to doing asymetrical drill but Garfield did an entire show with it - using forms that made no sense. The guard was promoted to being central and not just complimentary. Percussion suddenly became part of the form and not a central unit marching up and down the center of a form. To this day, I haven't seen a corps change the activity as much as '82 Garfield did. One way you can tell is look at everyone from '83 on - everyone wanted to do what Garfield had done. Crown's show this year is great. They have been building up to this point. The music is wonderful and the visual is complex. However, lots of what they are doing has been done before. I'm glad they are getting the recognition they deserve. Edited August 1, 2009 by LincolnV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Garfied's show in '82 was so different that there were times when the judging community didn't know what to do with them. It was a huge risk and as much as it was rewarded come finals, the potential that it would fail was not far away. I remember seeing them for the first time in Toledo, Ohio and walking away not really knowing how to react. What were they thinking by putting a flower into the guard's hair instead of wearing head gear? Those who weren't around the activity then may laugh at a change like that, but back then it was huge. There were others who did not like what they were doing at all. Other corps had paved the way to doing asymetrical drill but Garfield did an entire show with it - using forms that made no sense. The guard was promoted to being central and not just complimentary. Percussion suddenly became part of the form and not a central unit marching up and down the center of a form. To this day, I haven't seen a corps change the activity as much as '82 Garfield did. One way you can tell is look at everyone from '83 on - everyone wanted to do what Garfield had done. Crown's show this year is great. They have been building up to this point. The music is wonderful and the visual is complex. However, lots of what they are doing has been done before. I'm glad they are getting the recognition they deserve. Very well put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimchim Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 One of the all-time underrated charts is '82 Garfield's "Cuban Overture." I still consider that the definitive drum corps rendition. The soloists are AMAZING. 1982 was just a great year for drum corps. From #1 (Blue Devils) down to at least #10 (Sky Ryders - try "Faces" and "Macarena"), it was incredibly listenable. #13 Suncoast was great, too. Another underrated chart is the Crossmen's standstill that year -- "Canto del Viento," I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kstein Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Very well stated, LincolnV. As one who witnessed Garfield in 1982 up close and personal, they were brave and bold in ways that were truly mocked at the beginning of the year and then applauded at the end. They were on the edge of being irrelevant or being great, and their unbelievably good show design and (at that time...and probably now) unsurpassed work ethic pushed them over to the side of greatness. Crown is a lovely corps with a terrific horn line, but I haven't seen anything terribly innovative from them. They have matured into a wonderful organization through and through, but with the very impressive shows from the Devils, Cadets, and (my darkhorse) SCV this year, I think they're going to have a tough time being a top 3 corps. We've seen them grow in professionalism and polish, but I haven't seen the hunger and drive to push them over the top...yet. I wish them much luck in getting to that next level. Cheers! Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Very well stated, LincolnV.As one who witnessed Garfield in 1982 up close and personal, they were brave and bold in ways that were truly mocked at the beginning of the year and then applauded at the end. They were on the edge of being irrelevant or being great, and their unbelievably good show design and (at that time...and probably now) unsurpassed work ethic pushed them over to the side of greatness. Crown is a lovely corps with a terrific horn line, but I haven't seen anything terribly innovative from them. They have matured into a wonderful organization through and through, but with the very impressive shows from the Devils, Cadets, and (my darkhorse) SCV this year, I think they're going to have a tough time being a top 3 corps. We've seen them grow in professionalism and polish, but I haven't seen the hunger and drive to push them over the top...yet. I wish them much luck in getting to that next level. Cheers! Karen Wow, what wonderfully insightful comments on the heart and soul of a maturing corps. Excellent post. And I agree 100%. The activity needs a new push and Crown certainly has the foundation to instigate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 "They were on the edge of being irrelevant or being great..." I wonder if this is a marker of an eventual sea-change in a corps maturation; Crown has yet to be on the verge of collapse, strife, hardship (beyond the expected trepidations of starting a new corps from scratch). Could this rise they're experiencing now be just the first push up, and are the due for a collapse to close-to-irrelevancy, before another pheonix rise to greatness, ala Cadets '78 to '82? Other than Star has there been a corps that had a straight-line advance to the top without falling back substantially mid-way? In the investment world there is the old "50% rule": every great rise will suffer a 50% decline before advancing again. Is this Crown's future? (pfft. Like any of us know the future!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedEye Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Excellent words LincolnV. I think one of the key points you make is innovation must involve risk, and that is something I haven't been seeing in Crown's shows the past few years. They actually seem to making much safer choices than they did as a younger corps. They once utilized an entire extra semi to cart around giant chess pieces that formed the centerpiece of their show, creating some really unusual staging opportunities. In '04 they were the first to introduce microphone singing (to many pans, but it was truly something different). Then of course there was the year with tires and boards. If none of those things can be considered truly innovative, in that they didn't start trends that were then copied by others, they were at a minimum definite risks and certainly interesting. But the past few years, not so much. While the quality of the execution has increased dramatically, and the shows are pleasant and well-constructed, they have included quite a few familiar pieces, which bring with them instant audience recognition and appeal. That's not much of a risk. Innovation usually makes people uncomfortable at first, because it comes off as being completely foreign, and only after a period of time does it gain acceptance, and then acclaim. As Lincoln and others have said, the big moves Garfield made were completely out of left field. There has been much talk about their '84 WSS story lately. If you go back and watch it in context with the other shows of that year, it still appears to be 10 years into the future. While everyone else was still largely symmetrical, and standing still for whole songs, they kept moving and flowing like a living organism the entire time. It took the competition until the end of the decade to get up to that level. Star is the other corps that really shook things up. Of course there is all the talk about '93, but it actually started in '90, when they made their big jump. That year their drill moved MUCH faster than everyone else (even Cadets). Hornlines just didn't run like that at the time at all. A few years later, everyone was on board. In '92 they introduced a lot of body movement in Amber Waves (and of course a lot more in '93). A few years later, everyone was again catching up. The abstract Medea show spawned years of sub-par imitation. I would really like to see Crown go out on a limb like this. Perhaps it will happen next year. For those that do use the word innovative about them now, I'm interested to hear examples of why. The way I see it, they play really well (but not dramatically better than others, or their scores would be way out in front), move well (but their drill is just comparable to their grouping, not significantly advanced), use a lot of body movement (been done by Star and more recently, Blue Knights), have neutral uniforms with accents that change with each show (also been done). Where is the cutting edge stuff? I'd LOVE to see it in the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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