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Madison Scouts 2014 -- Playing the Music of Stan Kenton and Don Ellis


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I'm looking forward to the Scouts in Omaha this year. I haven't seen them in years. They have the makings of a great show and I can't wait to see what the staff can do with tweaking it.

I just wish they were on the fan network more often. Grrrr

Go Scouts!!!!

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The show is revealing itself nicely. I watched some recent footage.




Edited by Cop
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Scouts are very catchable for Blue Stars, BK & Boston. Honestly Boston is probably ahead of them right now. The GE and Visual scores are absolutely killing Madison, even with the apparent changes. Unfortunately not a new situation for this corps. Hopefully they just need time to get used to the changes before they can widen the gap and go after Boston.

I'm curious what the music scores will be once R. Isoda stops appearing on the panel. He seems to value Blue Stars over Scouts in the music department more than any other judge.

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The new ending is brutal. 2 thumbs down to the Scouts design staff for coming up with this anticlimactic snoozer of an ending. Who wants to see & hear a drum corps show end like this?

Same stuff different year. Scouts are never gonna break through. They're gonna likely be passed by a couple of corps below them and end up fighting to even stay in finals. Ho hum. *yawn* I've resigned myself to it. That's the reality. They aren't going to get better or place better.

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If viewing drum corps on fan network makes you and your friend bored, maybe this activity is no longer for you guys. I've viewed every show I could get my hands on as well as live here in CA. Even the smallest of corps made me feel excited here in 2014.

ALSO: If you ever view a dance production that has a solo dancer sloooooowly walk across the stage, chances are it's symbolic of time, Just like in a movie if a scene fades out and fades back in,, that also means time has passed. Oldest staging trick in the book.. ;-)

My advice is that you read more books, and view less drum corps on FN. Life is too short to be bored viewing Madison Scouts.

There it is. You dont like Madison youre wrong.

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There it is. You dont like Madison youre wrong.

The activity just sucks for you, I find good in every show. There is a kid on the field spinning and playing for me, I like it.

I'll view as much as I can all season, and never be bored with a full day of viewing FN or live. See the difference?

I'm the guy who does three day music festivals and will not be bored with any performance in front of me.

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The activity just sucks for you, I find good in every show. There is a kid on the field spinning and playing for me, I like it.

I'll view as much as I can all season, and never be bored with a full day of viewing FN or live. See the difference?

I'm the guy who does three day music festivals and will not be bored with any performance in front of me.

You would sit at a music festival for 3 days if you hate the music? I dont like rap music or country so i wont sit for 3 days of those types. Different genres appeal to different people. You clearly said "Life is too short to be bored viewing Madison Scouts." I dont like this show. I have been a Madison fan since I started watching the activity. Just because i dont like one show apparently I need to go read books and not watch FN. We watched a bunch of other shows and we were into them. If you can have an opinion about the show so can I and just because our opinions are different doesnt mean Im wrong and should leave the activity that I love.

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Same stuff different year. Scouts are never gonna break through. They're gonna likely be passed by a couple of corps below them and end up fighting to even stay in finals. Ho hum. *yawn* I've resigned myself to it. That's the reality. They aren't going to get better or place better.

Have you seen the show, or are you just following what the judges are saying.

Take a look at last night's recap for example, who dropped them, same judges that always do.

I'm not going to get bent out of shape that Marie Czapisnki dropped them, she has since that ####### ######## drill her late husband wrote in 1979, and he did as well.

You don't think the corps will get better? How many times have you seen the show this season? You should see the number of things they have cleaned/tweaked since spring training and the direction they're going.

Have a conversation with the members, they're great guys and working really hard. They were great to chat at during the Macy's rehearsal when alum's from all the way back in the 1950's were in Madison last weekend working with the current corps and cheering them on as they performed at drums on.

Oh, and that list includes Scott Stewart.

If you don't like what's going on, there are people you can voice those concerns with. Dann Peterson, Chris Komnick, etc are more than willing to talk/listen.

Edited by tesmusic
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Have you seen the show, or are you just following what the judges are saying.

Take a look at last night's recap for example, who dropped them, same judges that always do.

I'm not going to get bent out of shape that Marie Czapisnki dropped them, she has since that ####### ######## drill her late husband wrote in 1979, and he did as well.

You don't think the corps will get better? How many times have you seen the show this season? You should see the number of things they have cleaned/tweaked since spring training and the direction they're going.

Have a conversation with the members, they're great guys and working really hard. They were great to chat at during the Macy's rehearsal when alum's from all the way back in the 1950's were in Madison last weekend working with the current corps and cheering them on as they performed at drums on.

Oh, and that list includes Scott Stewart.

If you don't like what's going on, there are people you can voice those concerns with. Dann Peterson, Chris Komnick, etc are more than willing to talk/listen.

I knew you'd be the first to bite, but yes, I've seen it and I have zero interest in speaking to corp management about it. It's only one alum's opinion. I don't expect anyone to care. It is what it is...their competitive trajectory has been this way for awhile now and I don't for see a change anytime in the near future.

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Scouts took out the closing music of their show. Probably in an effort to create contrast from how loud most of the show is, or build the concept more... I am sad and disappointed. They edited the ending last year for the worse as well :(

Plus the concept is still not getting through well with the single character. They're trying more experimental approach with less gimmicks, and I applaud them for going that route, but unfortunately their choices are not efficient enough. It's very much about the music in this show, but visually the audience doesn't get many efficient cues as to "hey it's a time trip through several decades". While they enjoy the music (or at least I do), the concept gets a bit muffled.

It could be worse. If this show were done by Crown/BD unfortunately we would see them resort to cheap ploys, unneccessary gimmicks only achievable by having a greater budget $$$$$$$ (buying success, or the drum corps equivalent of bad DLC), & stereotypes/caricatures including but not limited to:

1) backdrops changing throughout the show starting with drab Mad Men-esque illustartions eventually changing to generic 70s font and color marketing.

2) fedoras and briefcases in the 50s section, affros and pantomimed drug usage in the 70s section

2) disco ball light effects (using stadium lighting as the source)

3) a "peace sign" as a single drill set during the trumpet trio end section because the audience is stupid and won't "get it", or perhaps actually writing the years in the drill sets for lack of creative inspiration.

4) sound-bytes from each decade somehow-but-not-really relating to the show,

5) a slight costume change; adding color to the uniforms towards the end section via some sort of flag or garb revealed at that time a'la 1989 PR drum break

Ugh. And the sad part is that would actually add GE points...

Also, they'd march and play better.

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