soccerguy315 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 My .02 follows.My Favorite for the last few years is Carolina Crown. Why? Because they are not located in a "Drum Corps main stream location" and despite this they have the whole country talking about them. They perform exceedingly well without the benifit of longtime history that many other corps have. They play "recognizable music" to my old time drum corps ears. They don't appear to have a staff that says "do it my way with my far out selections and my far out wierd movements". Finally, they have, as previously mentioned, become a "powerhouse player" in a reatively short time. More "power" to them! "Cookie" Yankee Rebels Alumni what is a "drum corps main stream location"? Is that code for Concord, Rockford, Rosemont, Santa Clara, and Garfield*? *Garfield = PA/NJ location as you see fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplecrownforever Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 We agree. Crown arrived fairly late on the scene and it is nearly impossible not to play music that older corps had time to claim "dibs" on. There are not that many different pieces that would translate well on the field to not have repeats. I think the different takes on the repeats are great. Now i guess Crown could have Klesh compose original pieces but then there would be those claiming flaws and lack of tradition and familiarity in the music. You said it, all corps do repeats and it is amazingly difficult not to. Remember when Crown went out on a limb with the "Industry" show? Didnt work that well or translate. It's just not fair to ask the new guys to come up with their own "niche" when the older corps have called "dibs" on the mainstream. If it were up to be I would probably have done what Crown has done to this point. They now the personell, the staff, and the resources. Maybe they can afford to try going out on a limb with original music and or arrangements again. Have only seen Crown for the 2007,2008 and 2009 seasons. Other then the Cadets who hosted the Giants Stadium show and the Jersey Surf who had a big rooting section on Aug 2 at the same venue, the Carolina Crown had a "huge" ovation when introduced at that same show. This from a Corps that hails from South Carolina, not exactly around the corner from New Jersey. Their "Wall of Sound" has accumulated an ever expanding fan base here in New Jersey. If they can play another corps material from another year and possibly improve upon it, I don't have a problem with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PR ROCKS Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Congratulations, Carolina Crown, you have now created your identity - World Class Silver Medalist Corps - not a bad identity to have. Keep up the great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchromik Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I disagree completely. Crown does have their own identity. Their brass sound is BETTER than Star ever was. While their style does seem to have similarities to old Star, remember that Star does not exist anymore. I think we should embrace the similarities, as we wish Star was still around, and maybe this would be what they would be doing... one could only hope.The brass sound is uniquely theirs now. If you blindfolded me, and put BD, Cadets, Cavies, Phantom and Crown in front of me, I could easily tell them apart. The rest would be tougher as they tend to generate a generic sound. These five are distinct with their sound. Thats identity. Their use of body movement is another level than even Star was doing, which makes it their identity now. The similarities in brass technique and approach is only natural given many of the staff's previous experience with Star. It thrills the Star alums to no end to hear it taken to the next level. But that is where the similarities end. They have had their own unique identity for some time. They are taking great and challenging music and presenting it in a far more crowd friendly fashion then many who have come before them. That is a tricky balance. Over time Crown will further develop an 'identity' with the crowd, even if it is just a 'sound'. I kind of hope it is that sparse and fluid. Personally I think that the only 'identity' a group really needs is the way the teach and treat their students. I think that will naturally result in a given 'sound' and maybe even a given 'look', but I don't feel the need to pigeonhole them in a given programming niche. Maybe this comes from my background with the Chameleon Corps, but I like when corps stretch their self imposed boundaries and challenge the audience a bit. For example Cavies '007', BD 'Carpe Noctum', Phantom 'An Amercian in Paris' to name but a few. Mark Sylvester once told us that if we look hard at what we think is unusual or maybe even uncomfortable at first, we will usually find something really cool and new. We just had to wrap our heads around it. Works a surprising amount of times. As for sound, I would be curious to hear your thoughts when you hear the Star Alumni next year on concert pitch horns and a slightly evolved technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Cavaliers played St. Michael the Archangel from Respighi's Church Windows in 1994. The slow section...none of the material that Crown used was used in the '94 show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Not any code at all.......just an opinion. With respect to the east coat, where I'm from......my idea of the hotbed of drum corps activity was not the Baltimore area where I grew up, all our drum corps, both Jr, and Sr. were on the southern fringe of the bigger action farther north. Central PA had maybe 45 corps active then , with the Philly / South Jersey area another lage group of corps, both Sr. and Jr. including the premier All Girls Corps in the country. Then in northern NJ and NYC, all boroughs, there was another 45 to 50 corps of various levels of activity. Connecticut and RI had about 25 corps, both Sr. and Jrs. The Boston area is known nationwide as a hotbed of drum corps activity going back to WW I times. If you open up the net around each of the areas you will have lots of activity in New England going all the way over to Western MA and then on to Albany, Binghamton and the entire eastern part of NY State, not including the greater Pittsburgh area. Many parts of the country are or were very active, CA north and south, and Wisconsin, as well as the greater Chicago area. just read the old Drum Corps World Or Bobby Bella Rosa's mag. There were not, however, that many in the east below the Mason Dixon Line. Especially in the earlier days. There were a few sucesses. Did you know that a Miami Corps won a national championship many years ago? "cookie" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCImonkey Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I love this thread. Would it have mattered if Crown had finished 4th playing Cavies Over the Rainbow and Cadets Somewhere? This arrangement was BRILLIANT and it fit the show perfectly. I don't think corps sit around and say....crap, we can do that piece, so and so did it that year. Or Geez, we can't do WSS because Cadets are doing that show this year. Troopers didn't think so, Crown didn't think so either. Crown's take was so different, it really is a moot point. Did Cadets even play Somewhere this year? Trying to recall......hmm What about Bluecoats playing Children's Hour of Dream? Shoot, I could close my eyes and picture 1996 BD and those colorful suits. Music will get used and re-used OFTEN. You say you don't associate Engulfed Cathedral with Crown even though they played it 6 years before Cavies. You know what? I don't associated Sensemaya with Cavaliers. When i think Cavies, that's the last show that comes to mind. I guess the thing is... Crown's Sensemaya was NOTHING like Cavies. ...and honestly, Cavies Engulfed Cathedral was nothing like Crown's, so I don't mind. Cadets closer in 2007 was Crown's original closer for their 2005 or 2006 show. They ended up not fielding it, but it was all over Youtube. I didn't think that was a big deal either. Lastly, Crown's identity is this. POWERFUL BRASS, ACCESSIBLE and ENTERTAINING MUSIC and SHOW CONCEPTS, ...and so far somewhat lighthearted. The last dark show Crown did was our Jekyll and Hyde show and it wasn't that dark....or incredibly sophisticated. I would not be surprised to see Crown go a bit dark soon. Keeping their identity of being a chameleon corps, they will certainly surprise us. (maybe even all black uniforms) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mason Dixon Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 (edited) what is a "drum corps main stream location"?Is that code for Concord, Rockford, Rosemont, Santa Clara, and Garfield*? *Garfield = PA/NJ location as you see fit. I interpreted that as California or the Midwest (so yes, to answer your question) each of which have a preponderance of corps and a lot of history. While PA/NJ only currently houses two World Class corps, there's a lot of history there as well, certainly from the Cadets but also from the still-active Crossmen, even though they've moved. The Carolinas don't have near the same history in the activity. EDIT: Or, you know, I could let cookie answer the question ;-) Edited August 10, 2009 by Mason Dixon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrothgar15 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Crown probably has a stronger identity than most finalist corps today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaners Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 *** i have not read this whole thread so this does not apply to everybody*** HAHAHAHAHA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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