Madison Scouts 2013

[oldbandguy]

Highest corps score since 06 and best drum rank since then too. Congrats to entire drum staff. Some RX noticed and that's a good thing!

[FlamMan]

When was the last time the Scouts drum line was the highest placing caption in the corps? 1978 maybe?

[bobjective]

I said it at the beginning of the year that the scout's' drumline was smoking! But at the time no one was giving them credit. Well, they are one if the best lines in drum corps! They could easily be top 3 next year. Lee Beddis and his staff have my deepest respect. And after talking with Robert Smith, if we think the horn line is awesome now, just wait. We haven't seen anything yet. Visual/guard I don't know about them. That's another story. Maybe it just takes longer. Or maybe those judges have a built in bias against Madison in those captions. But to me those two captions are the weak links for the Scouts right now.

[Plan9]

To the corps of brothers....Madison Scouts: When you wake up today after completing in the 2013 DCI Finals I wanted to leave you with a personal thank you....and to your staff. Your 75th anniversary production was wonderful and touched the hearts of many veterans and non-veterans alike.....and you performed with power, grace and dignity. Never Walk Alone indeed!

[mbviking]

Hornine was definitely solid this year, and the drums were a pleasant surprise. Finishing 5th is no small feat considering where they were a few short years ago. As to the color guard. I remember a day when the Scouts would enter the field and you could see a confident, bad-a** attitude from the entire corps. Now, you can still feel it with the drums and horns, but then there's the guard. Now, here's where I know the red negatives will come flying. I know this will probably offend the "PC" crowd out there, but the Scouts guard just has too much of a "Tinker Bell" quality to it that just doesn't fit the rest of the corps. Considering the theme of this year's show, it was almost comical to watch the guard prancing and spinning around while the rest of the corps is singing "You'll Never Walk..." Could that really have been any less military? The Cavies guard has maintained a physical, macho style over the years that has served them well. The Scouts....not so much. I think the time has come to rethink the whole approach to the guard.

Edited August 12, 2013 by mbviking

[fecontra]

To the corps of brothers....Madison Scouts: When you wake up today after completing in the 2013 DCI Finals I wanted to leave you with a personal thank you....and to your staff. Your 75th anniversary production was wonderful and touched the hearts of many veterans and non-veterans alike.....and you performed with power, grace and dignity. Never Walk Alone indeed!

AMEN BROTHER

I wore my Madison tour shirt yesterday to help the corps home. The level of the top twelve ( maybe 16 ) has gotten so high your placement should not be looked on as a failure.

THANK YOU for this year's wonderful show!

frankiE

[BigBadMadMan]

I said if in another thread, but I fully expected what happened last night to happen. Sad, but the writing was on the wall.

[Mad75]

I said if in another thread, but I fully expected what happened last night to happen. Sad, but the writing was on the wall.

What I find very interesting though is that the pervasive reaction is that all is well!...Nothing could be better! Yes, there are positive take a ways such as what the percussion line accomplished (bravo!). But, for all of the early season hype and hoopla of dramatic maturity and improvement across the board seems in the end to be just that...Hype! Is Michael Gains available ? There's obviously a whole lot of work that needs to be done along with proper personnel to be put in place before the Scouts make any realistic attempt to start working towards the top half of this mountain called the top 12.

[MadMenMom]

As a parent of a current (3rd year/age out) Madison Scout - I have refrained from commenting on threads. I do not have a drum corps background, but my husband has an extensive one - and I have an extensive theater background. So - here are my thoughts - for what they are worth ....

- hornline was very strong but needs some good high-note trumpet players (like they had in 2011)

- mellophone section was strong and enjoys great parts from Robert Smith's scoring

- drumline was great this year and needs to keep improving

- can't really comment on low brass or pit

- color guard has great potential but is sorely underutilized; they need to take advantage of the strength and talent of the members and design a drill that is much more physical and athletic

- drill....hard for me to comment on - had lots of interesting elements (many of which I think were missed by people), but it was also lacking; they need to combine the "retro/classic" rotating line and company fronts with cool, innovative movements

Now let me add - I LOVE the impact Madison has on the crowd.

I love the support of the alumni.

I love that people who have no association with Madison love them.

This show touched so many people in so many personal and emotional ways - and that is an incredibly special accomplishment.

I am so proud my son chose to be a Madison Scout (other higher placing corps would have been closer for him - but he wanted Madison) and our family will forever be Madison Scout supporters.

MYNWA

[Tim K]

Personally I thought that 2013's show was the best Madison show since 1999. It had all the elements that Madison fans love and while they did not place where they probably wanted, they scored higher than they have in years. Madison celebrated its past while being competitive in a contemporary setting. People have been quick to write off Madison or dismiss them as sentimental. I would love to see Madison cause a little stir next year. And quite frankly, if audience response is any indication of a show, Crownhands down had the best, SCV was second, but Madison would have been third.