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The question is directed to those of you who have actually been to a competition or two (or more) in 2011.

If you have not actually been to a stadium to experience drum corps LIVE in 2011, please, do not post here!

I am interested in finding out from the fans (myself included):

1) Which corps are putting out quality, entertaining shows this summer?

2) What are they playing?

3) How good is the brass section and how expressive are they in their playing?

4) Does the corps draw upon the music to evoke an emotional response from the audience?

5) Do people want to get out of their seats and cheer the corps on during their performance?

6) Is the corps' percussion section a star in it's own right?

7) Does the corps use the sounds and effects generated by the percussion effectively?

8) What segment(s) of the show is (are) mesmerizing?

9) How effective is the guard/auxiliary in the performance?

10) How well does the corps use color, contrast, shading, and such during it's visual presentation?

11) How well constructed, thought out and effective is the visual show?

12) Is the corps in constant motion during the entire show, or does the corps "mix it up" with moments of "stop-action"?

13) Does the corps use variations in tempo, marching technique, style, etc to convey mood and motion?

14) If this corps were the only corps in the show, would you feel that you got your money's worth?

If you can think of some good and pertainent questions, please include them in your post.

Let's have some fun, folks!

Yours in Drum Corps,

Ron Gunn

NOTE:

I'll be out of touch for a few days. I am headed for Madison, WI for the competition there. No internet access on the Greyhound bus! However, I can be reached via the cell phone number in my signature below.I will not be staying over in Madsion, unless someone gives me a floor to sleep on!

Edited by INSIDETHEFORTY
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The question is directed to those of you who have actually been to a competition or two (or more) in 2011.

If you have not actually been to a stadium to experience drum corps LIVE in 2011, please, do not post here!

I am interested in finding out from the fans (myself included):

1) Which corps are putting out quality, entertaining shows this summer?

2) What are they playing?

3) How good is the brass section and how expressive are they in their playing?

4) Does the corps draw upon the music to evoke an emotional response from the audience?

5) Do people want to get out of their seats and cheer the corps on during their performance?

6) Is the corps' percussion section a star in it's own right?

7) Does the corps use the sounds and effects generated by the percussion effectively?

8) What segment(s) of the show is (are) mesmerizing?

9) How effective is the guard/auxiliary in the performance?

10) How well does the corps use color, contrast, shading, and such during it's visual presentation?

11) How well constructed, thought out and effective is the visual show?

12) Is the corps in constant motion during the entire show, or does the corps "mix it up" with moments of "stop-action"?

13) Does the corps use variations in tempo, marching technique, style, etc to convey mood and motion?

14) If this corps were the only corps in the show, would you feel that you got your money's worth?

If you can think of some good and pertainent questions, please include them in your post.

Let's have some fun, folks!

Yours in Drum Corps,

Ron Gunn

So many questions,.. so little time.

You might have been better served asking us here just one or two questions. Otherwise, over a dozen questions asked all at once makes my head hurt, and my eyes roll back into my head, ya know ?

Edited by BRASSO
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So many questions,.. so little time.

You might have been better served asking just one or two questions here. Otherwise, over a dozen questions asked all at once makes my head hurt, and my eyes roll back into my head, ya know ?

My thoughts as well, but if I have time later I will try to answer some.

Edited by Michael Relko
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The question is directed to those of you who have actually been to a competition or two (or more) in 2011.

If you have not actually been to a stadium to experience drum corps LIVE in 2011, please, do not post here!

I am interested in finding out from the fans (myself included):

1) Which corps are putting out quality, entertaining shows this summer?

The first corps I can think about is the Madison Scouts! Wow! They look and sound very much like the Madison corps that won my heart in 1974!

2) What are they playing?

I don't know the names of all of the music they played. All I know is that I truly enjoyed the show! Both times I experienced it, Friday in Quincy, MA and in Lynn, MA on Saturday.

3) How good is the brass section and how expressive are they in their playing?

On a scale of 1 to 10, with the Madison Scouts of 1975 and 1988 being 10's, I give this Madison brassline a solid 8. There is plenty of room for improvement, but baby, they have come a long way! They sound like the Madison Scouts!

4) Does the corps draw upon the music to evoke an emotional response from the audience?

Does it? It most certainly does! An emotional response was definately eveoked in me! If I had been holding a baby, i would have been sorely tempted to toss it into the air at the end of the Scout's' performance on Friday and again on Saturday!

5) Do people want to get out of their seats and cheer the corps on during their performance?

I know i did and I did so at several points during the Scout's performances! Many people joined me at the end, before the last notes were played, the crowd was on it's feet!

6) Is the corps' percussion section a star in it's own right?

Super-star, no. Star, yes! I'm not a drummer, but I have been around drum corps for 40 plus years. I know a good drum line when I hear one. These guys are good! They are not Championships good yet, but Top 10 - Top 8 - maybe even Top 6 good!

Gotta go. I'll finish this later.

7) Does the corps use the sounds and effects generated by the percussion effectively?

8) What segment(s) of the show is (are) mesmerizing?

9) How effective is the guard/auxiliary in the performance?

10) How well does the corps use color, contrast, shading, and such during it's visual presentation?

11) How well constructed, thought out and effective is the visual show?

12) Is the corps in constant motion during the entire show, or does the corps "mix it up" with moments of "stop-action"?

13) Does the corps use variations in tempo, marching technique, style, etc to convey mood and motion?

14) If this corps were the only corps in the show, would you feel that you got your money's worth?

If you can think of some good and pertainent questions, please include them in your post.

Let's have some fun, folks!

Yours in Drum Corps,

Ron Gunn

Edited by INSIDETHEFORTY
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Since you put your phone number on your signature, can we all just call you and use up your minutes instead of typing all this out?

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So many questions,.. so little time.

You might have been better served asking us here just one or two questions. Otherwise, over a dozen questions asked all at once makes my head hurt, and my eyes roll back into my head, ya know ?

I see your point. I had difficulty myself answering the questions in the time I had available to me.

I will continue at a later time.

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Ron,

Here's a wordy answer to your wordy questions :)

I'm not nearly attentive enough to answer all these questions, but I did attend the shows in Glens Falls, Quincy, Lynn, and Bristol (and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express!). The line-up at these shows was almost identical: Crown, Scouts, Crusaders, Spirit, Crossmen, Jersey Surf (no Crusaders in Bristol). All of them were entertaining enough to keep me in my seat (except when I was giving a few standing o's), even when I was seeing them for the fourth time in five days. There was never a moment where I found myself muttering, "Oh, no, not that #$%& show again." I have no quarrel with any of the placements by the judges at any of these shows.

Here are some moments that stand out: seeing the Surf pit play the Piazzolla tango with roses clenched in their teeth is the most charming moment of their show. And their Avatar-like green guard unis make for a great entrance by the corps.

Crossmen's use of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was an inspired choice for what I gather is a young group. You could hear the oohs and ahhs at all the shows when the crowd recognized it (I wonder how many of them know it mainly from 'Shrek'?). In Bristol, where it rained off and on during the first half of the show, there was a great moment when the sun peeked through the clouds dramatically during 'Hallelujah.'

Spirit has a very engaging film noir theme, although they might be overdoing the sound effects. When the phone rang the first time I saw the show, I thought someone had forgotten to mute their cell phone. And there's a whole spoken-voice soundtrack in the pre-show that I could never understand, even after hearing it three or four times, because the audience chatters away through it until the music starts. They may need to rethink that part of the performance to grab people's attention. But the lead dancer in the red dress is captivating--she certainly gets the attention she deserves. 'Harlem Nocturne' was my favorite musical moment--I'm always a sucker for that tune. I should add that Spirit did a hell of a job in the full retreat at Quincy. There was a heckler in the audience during retreat, giving grief to a couple of the corps that just marched off without playing. "Play something, play something," he yelled. Well, at that point Spirit wheeled around to face the stands, and let loose with "Georgia on My Mind." Let's just say Spirit "won" the retreat.

Elsewhere, someone critiqued the whistling that opens the Crusaders' show, but I thought the guy did a great job. A lot of the effect, though, depends on the audience quieting down in time--if they're not dead still, it can be hard to hear. Maybe he needs a lavalier mike :) In Lynn, the Crusaders added the white sheet visual feature, which they hadn't used in Glens Falls. I thought this might have been because of the muddy field in New York. I think it could become very effective--for those who haven't seen it, there's a brass soloist under the sheet, which is held up by two tent-poles, and a couple of dancers who can be seen in silhouette through the sheet--but for now, it seems to slow things down, and the sheet or canvas or whatever it is may not be translucent enough. The emotional high point of the show is when the corps splits in two, with the drums at one end and the brass at the other. I'm not sure any part is "mesmerizing" yet. But overall, I've only been going to shows for the last three years, and so far this is my favorite Boston performance. They were clearly given a lift by the hometown audiences. But I think the judges got it right in having Madison slightly ahead.

I don't have much to add to what others have said about Madison. 'Empire State of Mind' ranks with the Bluecoats' 'Creep' as the most thrilling music I've heard from a corps this year. The moment where the four screamers come out in front of the pit, and the guard picks up the big drums consistently brings people to their feet. That was the emotional high point of all the shows I saw. The only fault I can find with Madison is just how much better the closer is (in my opinion) than some other parts of the show. I'm still ambivalent about the 9/11 choreography. But the closing moments are so powerful, they tend to override every other impression people might have had during the first 10 minutes of the show. The guard dance with the newspapers and briefcases is stellar. And it was very clever to have them remove their suit jackets when they pick up the white flags, because that adds the white shirts to the visual effect. (The patriot in me recoils at seeing white flags picked up right after '9/11' but I know I'm being overly literal in this reaction.)

Full disclosure: I have a personal connection to Crown, so I can't be very objective about their show and won't say too much about it. But I will report gasps and laughter (in a good sense) both when the pianist is crowd-surfed in during the pre-show and when the guard girl climbs the tower and falls backwards into the crowd below. This show rivets my attention from start to finish, and at each of the four shows, I saw cool things I had missed previously, usually on the part of the guard, which I'm not sure is getting sufficient credit (at least on DCP) for its performance this year. I'd like to see the kid on the drum set, who is outstanding, get a couple of more moments to shine. Also, everybody focuses on Crown's brass, and for good reason, but the percussion this year is spectacular. Obviously opinions differ wildly about Crown's music and design choices this year, but when it comes to the kids themselves, I don't see any weak links whatsoever.

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Ron,

We met at the Stanford show in the ticket line; I was up there to perform with FAC. Having seen both the Northern & So Cal shows, my short & simple answer is this:

BK is entertainment because they play famous wind ensemble music most musicians have either heard or performed at one time or another in middle or high school, and they play it loud. A lot. And in a good way. To be fair and balanced, I should also mention BK marches well and the Scottish tenor feature is fantastic. Back to the loud part, they do two complete pushes at high volume, which is a welcome departure from the usual:

"PLAY ATONAL Z# AUGMENTED 14th WHOLE NOOOOTE WHILE RUNNING AT 190...!!" / (requisite drum gahks & tenor fill for four counts & Running Hornline not starring an Austrian bodybuilder) / "PLAY ANOTHER ATONAL Qb DIMINISHED 12th WHOLE NOOOOOTE....!!!" / (Monkey Drumming ensues for 4 more counts while the Running Hornline ups the ante with two near misses and one collision) / "PLAY CHORD RESOLUTION WHICH WOULD BE A WHOLE LOT LOUDER ON G's BUT WE WON'T BEAT A DEAD HORSE THEEEERRRRREEE...!!!" Or something similar thereto.

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Ron,

Here's a wordy answer to your wordy questions :)

I'm not nearly attentive enough to answer all these questions, but I did attend the shows in Glens Falls, Quincy, Lynn, and Bristol (and I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express!). The line-up at these shows was almost identical: Crown, Scouts, Crusaders, Spirit, Crossmen, Jersey Surf (no Crusaders in Bristol). All of them were entertaining enough to keep me in my seat (except when I was giving a few standing o's), even when I was seeing them for the fourth time in five days. There was never a moment where I found myself muttering, "Oh, no, not that #$%& show again." I have no quarrel with any of the placements by the judges at any of these shows.

Here are some moments that stand out: seeing the Surf pit play the Piazzolla tango with roses clenched in their teeth is the most charming moment of their show. And their Avatar-like green guard unis make for a great entrance by the corps.

Crossmen's use of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was an inspired choice for what I gather is a young group. You could hear the oohs and ahhs at all the shows when the crowd recognized it (I wonder how many of them know it mainly from 'Shrek'?). In Bristol, where it rained off and on during the first half of the show, there was a great moment when the sun peeked through the clouds dramatically during 'Hallelujah.'

Spirit has a very engaging film noir theme, although they might be overdoing the sound effects. When the phone rang the first time I saw the show, I thought someone had forgotten to mute their cell phone. And there's a whole spoken-voice soundtrack in the pre-show that I could never understand, even after hearing it three or four times, because the audience chatters away through it until the music starts. They may need to rethink that part of the performance to grab people's attention. But the lead dancer in the red dress is captivating--she certainly gets the attention she deserves. 'Harlem Nocturne' was my favorite musical moment--I'm always a sucker for that tune. I should add that Spirit did a hell of a job in the full retreat at Quincy. There was a heckler in the audience during retreat, giving grief to a couple of the corps that just marched off without playing. "Play something, play something," he yelled. Well, at that point Spirit wheeled around to face the stands, and let loose with "Georgia on My Mind." Let's just say Spirit "won" the retreat.

Elsewhere, someone critiqued the whistling that opens the Crusaders' show, but I thought the guy did a great job. A lot of the effect, though, depends on the audience quieting down in time--if they're not dead still, it can be hard to hear. Maybe he needs a lavalier mike :) In Lynn, the Crusaders added the white sheet visual feature, which they hadn't used in Glens Falls. I thought this might have been because of the muddy field in New York. I think it could become very effective--for those who haven't seen it, there's a brass soloist under the sheet, which is held up by two tent-poles, and a couple of dancers who can be seen in silhouette through the sheet--but for now, it seems to slow things down, and the sheet or canvas or whatever it is may not be translucent enough. The emotional high point of the show is when the corps splits in two, with the drums at one end and the brass at the other. I'm not sure any part is "mesmerizing" yet. But overall, I've only been going to shows for the last three years, and so far this is my favorite Boston performance. They were clearly given a lift by the hometown audiences. But I think the judges got it right in having Madison slightly ahead.

I don't have much to add to what others have said about Madison. 'Empire State of Mind' ranks with the Bluecoats' 'Creep' as the most thrilling music I've heard from a corps this year. The moment where the four screamers come out in front of the pit, and the guard picks up the big drums consistently brings people to their feet. That was the emotional high point of all the shows I saw. The only fault I can find with Madison is just how much better the closer is (in my opinion) than some other parts of the show. I'm still ambivalent about the 9/11 choreography. But the closing moments are so powerful, they tend to override every other impression people might have had during the first 10 minutes of the show. The guard dance with the newspapers and briefcases is stellar. And it was very clever to have them remove their suit jackets when they pick up the white flags, because that adds the white shirts to the visual effect. (The patriot in me recoils at seeing white flags picked up right after '9/11' but I know I'm being overly literal in this reaction.)

Full disclosure: I have a personal connection to Crown, so I can't be very objective about their show and won't say too much about it. But I will report gasps and laughter (in a good sense) both when the pianist is crowd-surfed in during the pre-show and when the guard girl climbs the tower and falls backwards into the crowd below. This show rivets my attention from start to finish, and at each of the four shows, I saw cool things I had missed previously, usually on the part of the guard, which I'm not sure is getting sufficient credit (at least on DCP) for its performance this year. I'd like to see the kid on the drum set, who is outstanding, get a couple of more moments to shine. Also, everybody focuses on Crown's brass, and for good reason, but the percussion this year is spectacular. Obviously opinions differ wildly about Crown's music and design choices this year, but when it comes to the kids themselves, I don't see any weak links whatsoever.

Thank you very much! I completely enjoyed reading your views and insights on the corps in the shows you have seen! Now, i am a bit better prepared for this Saturday in Madison! Yeeeehaaaaa!

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