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After reading through this thread and seeing some of the comments that have ben made, I thought I would add my two cents.

First, let me start off by saying I was in attendance at the show. Was a great night for drum corps as there were no clouds in the sky like last year. I have to say, I admire the courage Fusion corps showed on Saturday night, being the very first corps on the field for the new season and then having to deal with a unit warming up a few blocks away and you could hear their Dr Beat going off and it would have over-shadowed any corps that would have been on the field. Fusion has new unis and they are really great looking. I thought they had a nice quality of sound from the hornline. The drumline seemed a little hesitant at times but I put that off to first show jitters which everyone showed Saturday night.

Bushwackers came on pushing the envelope like they usually do(really loved the psyco circus show last year). Smaller hornline at this time but I am sure they will pick up a few bodies during the season. Although the hornline was smaller than in the past, they had the impact when needed for the show. Battery had a tenor on the sideline so I am assuming he was a new member learning the show and will be added when he learns all the drill. Bushwackers were assesed a one point penalty for being undertime, but you have to admire the courage since they knew going into the show this was going to happen. Kudos to them. I know this is not the first time this has happened to them.

Reading showed tons of controlled aggression during their show. I really enjoyed what I saw but the first time the horns came up to the sideline and wailed, I expected my seat to move back a bit but that was not the case. I loved the use of the herald horns in the opener! I was kinda disappointed that the tenor line did not have a feature that was as good or better than last year's feature, but seeing the show and getting the concept of what they were trying to accomplish, I understand why this was not done. There were some issues with the show and again, I wrote it off to first show jitters. I look forward to seeing them add to the show as the season progresses.

Hawthorne came on the field a few horns short of a full hornline, at least that was my impression please correct me if I am wrong. The show really has potential! The hornline and the drumline both had issues on Saturday night but there again, I wrote it off to first show jitters. I really loved the way references were made with rumps throughout the show!! I think Cabs have a really good show this year and look forward to them doing well.

Cabs alumni. What can I say. They always come out and entertain the crowd and this year was no different. It's great to see their show as it's a blast from the past. Cabs competing unit showed respect for the alumni corps by standing at the endzone and watching. I love to see shows from when I was a kid and loving the activity then.

Jersey Surf, I'm sorry, but I am not a big fan of your show this year. First things first, unplug the corps and be done with it. Amps and speakers do not belong in drum corps and now keyboards are being used and I am not talking marimbas or xylophones either. The show was just not drum corps.

As for the scores from the show, I really did not feel there was a 5 point spread between Reading and Hawthorne, however, I can see this spread shrinking as the season progresses.

Now, on to the comments made about Reading. To everyone who thinks Reading is ruining this activity, you are so dead wrong. Reading has set a standard by the way they are doing things during rehearsal. They utilize every minute they have. I was at a rehearsal last year with the drumline and was very impressed with what I saw. When they stopped, they stopped and there was no talking from the field, all the talking was done by the staff. It's a proven fact you perform the way you rehearse. I'm not saying that other corps are not doing this, I don't know because I am not able to see how they rehearse. But to beat Reading, you will have to raise the bar in your own program. I realize I am probably going to have to wear a firesuit after this. Oh yeah, one other thing, I am pro everyone. I enjoy going to the shows and hate like anything to see corps not on the field due to issues.

I wish the best of luck to eveyone this season and may the corps with the highest score win. ($1 to Jeff Ream)

Reading your review of Reading, the one thing I noticed that you didn't mention was that they were out of steam like a few others did as well as the members that had apparently fallen. 3 members were reported to had fallen during the performance. Where those accounts by previous posters not true? I'm very appreciative to reviews and opinions. But the closer you are to any particular corps, the views and opinions seems to change somewhat on their behalf.

You noted you have been to Reading's rehearsals referring to work ethic and such.. its no secret how they work. But unless you have sampled all corps work ethics and field etiquett, you presume that they work better then the next.

I appreciate that you were at the show... and I hope your take on both corps corelate to their performances, but it seems a bit off from the other people who have posted before you. Like VOReason has said, maybe the HOPES of certain fans sway somewhat the preception of what people see apposed to what actually happened.

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Looked at the numbers- I believe they very much described what happened. Keep in mind the brass and percussion people don't give a fig about how many people fall unless it affects the performance musically. They DO give a fig though if their safety is in jepoardy and if need be, will say the heck with the show and get them out of there if they don't get up/recover. Only had one close call over the years, and am thankful I didn't have to get that clarinet player off the field... scary. Was the field turf or a choppy grass surface? if the field was poor, falling isn't as frowned upon, even though everyone does have to march into the same chuckholes....

I think the visual numbers were very appropo for the issues brought up. The numbers were below that 80 by a solid margin. For that matter, performance numbers were below the 80 mark in many of the subcations, it was book that was over. Nothing out of sort.

And really, given the general range of finals numbers-- 15 to 18 points is plenty of room for growth over the next 6-7 weeks. From that perspective, the 80 isn't bad. There will be more growth out of visual numbers than that (20 or more points), plenty of room to work with.

And finally, Fran can tell you how a certain DCA corps won the first contest by over 5 poiints, and even more than that against his corps, and how Sun still overcame the gap by season's end. It's not an impossibility. It's been done before. No reason for everyone to walk off and shake their heads in frustration about anything... :laughing:

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Saw the comment about Scranton Last year- Reading clearly won, there's no issue- Horn-wise, I'd argue and so did other knowledgeable people that MBI had the better brass book by a couple of slivers. Performance levels were also very close But that's one part of the overall picture, and we're talking gaining a couple of tenths here and there when the rest of the corps is gouging out huge holes number-wise in the other captions....

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"You have a very nice drum corps."

:blink:

:laughing:

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So...how was Surf?

Very cool patriotic-themed show... and a terrific baritone soloist.

Surf didn't perform their entire drill... but what they did was handled pretty well for so early in the season.

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I'll also agree to disagree here with Scott and others on this side of DCP. I liked Surf's use of the electronic keyboards... I thought it added to the show.

Ducking for cover now. :laughing:

Edited by Fran Haring
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It appears that this thread has totally hijacked this section of DCP. Is there nothing else to talk about?

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Looked at the numbers- I believe they very much described what happened. Keep in mind the brass and percussion people don't give a fig about how many people fall unless it affects the performance musically. They DO give a fig though if their safety is in jepoardy and if need be, will say the heck with the show and get them out of there if they don't get up/recover. Only had one close call over the years, and am thankful I didn't have to get that clarinet player off the field... scary. Was the field turf or a choppy grass surface? if the field was poor, falling isn't as frowned upon, even though everyone does have to march into the same chuckholes....

I think the visual numbers were very appropo for the issues brought up. The numbers were below that 80 by a solid margin. For that matter, performance numbers were below the 80 mark in many of the subcations, it was book that was over. Nothing out of sort.

And really, given the general range of finals numbers-- 15 to 18 points is plenty of room for growth over the next 6-7 weeks. From that perspective, the 80 isn't bad. There will be more growth out of visual numbers than that (20 or more points), plenty of room to work with.

And finally, Fran can tell you how a certain DCA corps won the first contest by over 5 poiints, and even more than that against his corps, and how Sun still overcame the gap by season's end. It's not an impossibility. It's been done before. No reason for everyone to walk off and shake their heads in frustration about anything... :laughing:

The grass was very thick at that show

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