Madness in Madison - 10 July 2016 Madison, WI

[JoshClements403]

Ahh see below. Yes we have. Can you say Drunken Sailor or Russian Sailor Dance?

Legend of the one eyed sailor

[BlueByYou2000]

It was a great night of drum coprs in Middleton last night. We sat in the top row rignt on the 50 yard line. Not much time to write now but we enjoyed all of the shows, especially Music City and The Academy. I actually thought Academy had a chance to beat both Madisin and Blue Stars. Freag show design, brass and drums. Marching needs work.

Madisons show is nice but the last few minutes are disjointed and seem like random snippets and odd transitions to me. I donf understand the purpose of the jungle gym. Scouts drum line needs a lot of cleaning as they were very dirty during the first half of the show.

More later.

I was at the show as well and agree 100% with everything you said. I thought Acedemy sounded and played better than Madison and Blue Stars. I am a lifetime Madison fan and loved the 99 show, this one is not as good as 99 musically. Most of the music is very recognizable but your right, when they stray from the parts we heard on 99, it's very disjointed and really doesn't work.

What stood out to me most about Madison is there lack of volume (vs. Acedemy and Crown in particular). The only time Scouts were ear bleeding loud was right after drum feature with the lick from 99. However that impact has the loudest electronic effects I've heard in drum corps to date. I also agree that drums were filthy.

Madison needs a lot and I mean a lot of work on choreography. They have a major unison problem with body movements. I guess following Crown who brought the house down is no easy task as that corps is on an entirely different level in all aspects.

I love my Scouts but don't see them finishing any higher than they did last year, in fact wouldn't be surprised if they slipped 2-3 spots.

[henry7184]

It may be; I too have only seen the play once, but that was a very long time ago. My point was more that they could've called the show Jesus Christ Superstar and been fine, instead of me scratching my head, trying to figure out everything that was "Judas" related.

That's the problem with today's drum corps and the constant themes and storylines. You have 10.5 minutes....not enough time. I just don't try to figure anything out and enjoy the music, drill and guard.

[N.E. Brigand]

And herein lies one of my qualms with the direction DCI has gone. You can't just do straight up music and drill anymore. Unfortunately so much of what goes into scoring is totally out of the hands of the marching members. To be competitive you have to have a theme, you have to have a visual package that tells the theme clearly.....all things that are out of the control of the kids who are actually doing the show. And before someone jumps down my throat, I know it's always been that way as far as a staff deciding the show music, title, theme, direction, etc. But in today's DCI, to be competitive it seems like you have to have some obscure thematic production. A show like I marched with Scouts was just pure jazz.....there was no theme, no guessing...it had jazz in the title, we played jazz and it scored well because the marching members played that dadgum jazz show good. I remember Jeff Moore telling us something along the lines of "we're not here trying to tell the life and death story of a butterfly...we're playing jazz". Something like that wouldn't fly now.

I agree with you that we need more shows that are more like concerts and less like plays. Themes should be unnecessary.

That said, Madison did get 10th place and nearly 89 points in 2010 with a show that didn't even have a title. And had the material been a little more challenging and the execution stronger, I don't see why they couldn't place higher.

And there's no real theme in the Bluecoats' shows of this year and the previous two years years: they're basically just concerts with a visual motif (albeit with less drill this year than I'd like). Which hasn't set them back too much with the judges!

The problem with a theme or story is that if a corps presents one, then they have to make sure it's completely clear and that it carries through the whole show.

[CrownBariDad]

Legend of the one eyed sailor

That's the one I thought of.

[FlamMan]

I was at the show as well and agree 100% with everything you said. I thought Acedemy sounded and played better than Madison and Blue Stars. I am a lifetime Madison fan and loved the 99 show, this one is not as good as 99 musically. Most of the music is very recognizable but your right, when they stray from the parts we heard on 99, it's very disjointed and really doesn't work.

What stood out to me most about Madison is there lack of volume (vs. Acedemy and Crown in particular). The only time Scouts were ear bleeding loud was right after drum feature with the lick from 99. However that impact has the loudest electronic effects I've heard in drum corps to date. I also agree that drums were filthy.

Madison needs a lot and I mean a lot of work on choreography. They have a major unison problem with body movements. I guess following Crown who brought the house down is no easy task as that corps is on an entirely different level in all aspects.

I love my Scouts but don't see them finishing any higher than they did last year, in fact wouldn't be surprised if they slipped 2-3 spots.

I too was surprised that Madison's brass wasn't louder. Of course Crown was way louder, & The Academy was too. With regards to drums, and it pains me to say this...Scouts snares & tenors were cringe worthy during the first half of their show. Fuzz & filthy dirt everywhere. They got it together in the 2nd half & finished strong though. Quite honestly, I had Crown, Blue Stars, Academy & Crest ahead of Scouts in drums. This Scouts show just seems to stray from the original score too much & many parts seem disjointed & out of place. The dissonant company front near the end doesnt work for me. Company fronts are made for majors. The end needs a complete re-write of music & drill. Lastly, for the love of God...ditch most of the body movement. It adds nothing & is actually distracting.

Crown: I'm not sure what the theme is or the story that that they are trying to tell, but I didnt care. Musically they are great & this is the best drum line that Crown has had...& that horn line WOW!

Blue Stars: Very enjoyable high energy show. Lots going on visually. I thought they beat Madison.

The Academy: Their opening hit was the wake up call of the evening. Just fantastic. I Loved this show. The theme & message was clear & was easy to understand. This was my favorite show concept of the evening. I thought they beat Madison too.

Pacific Crest: Nice show, nice drum line which at times was really really clean.

Pioneer: Once again they have a large drum line & small horn line. I really like their uniforms. Its a nice clean look that looks like a uniform, not a costume.

Genesis: Huge drum line...10 snares, 6 tenors, 6 bass drums. Great to see a 10 man snare line again! This wasn't my favorite show, but enjoyed it none the less.

Music City: Loved it. A traditional drum corp show with classic drum corp music. This corp looks great on the field. One of my favorite shows of the evening.

Shadow: To say that I didnt expect this is an understatement. I assumed that Shadow was an upstart small corp. They took the field & appeared to be close to a full size corp. Shadow is the very first drum corp in the USA that is sponsored by a high school. They had a competitive band that is now a drum corp. This was their very first drum corp competition & they did a great job. I don't understand the name, but I hope that their future is bright.

Kilties: While it is great to still see the Kilts on the field, It was really disappointing to see 2 snares, 2 tenors, & 2 bass drums, & 6 color guard members. Here's hoping that the Kilts hang in there & are able to recruit new members.

All in all, this was one the most enjoyable drum corp shows that I have attended in many many years.

[swmstom]

The more I keep reading about Scouts helps me to feel as though I may know what I'm talking about...somewhat. I said when the first run of the whole show was put on facebook alumni site that I had big concerns about the ending. It remains the same but needs an overhaul. Bothers me to hear of dirty drums and less-than-powerful horns. That company front is designed to rupture eardrums and internal organs...seems like it might be a mosquito bite instead.

[bill]

I too was surprised that Madison's brass wasn't louder. Of course Crown was way louder, & The Academy was too. With regards to drums, and it pains me to say this...Scouts snares & tenors were cringe worthy during the first half of their show. Fuzz & filthy dirt everywhere. They got it together in the 2nd half & finished strong though. Quite honestly, I had Crown, Blue Stars, Academy & Crest ahead of Scouts in drums. This Scouts show just seems to stray from the original score too much & many parts seem disjointed & out of place. The dissonant company front near the end doesnt work for me. Company fronts are made for majors. The end needs a complete re-write of music & drill. Lastly, for the love of God...ditch most of the body movement. It adds nothing & is actually distracting.

Crown: I'm not sure what the theme is or the story that that they are trying to tell, but I didnt care. Musically they are great & this is the best drum line that Crown has had...& that horn line WOW!

Blue Stars: Very enjoyable high energy show. Lots going on visually. I thought they beat Madison.

The Academy: Their opening hit was the wake up call of the evening. Just fantastic. I Loved this show. The theme & message was clear & was easy to understand. This was my favorite show concept of the evening. I thought they beat Madison too.

Pacific Crest: Nice show, nice drum line which at times was really really clean.

Pioneer: Once again they have a large drum line & small horn line. I really like their uniforms. Its a nice clean look that looks like a uniform, not a costume.

Genesis: Huge drum line...10 snares, 6 tenors, 6 bass drums. Great to see a 10 man snare line again! This wasn't my favorite show, but enjoyed it none the less.

Music City: Loved it. A traditional drum corp show with classic drum corp music. This corp looks great on the field. One of my favorite shows of the evening.

Shadow: To say that I didnt expect this is an understatement. I assumed that Shadow was an upstart small corp. They took the field & appeared to be close to a full size corp. Shadow is the very first drum corp in the USA that is sponsored by a high school. They had a competitive band that is now a drum corp. This was their very first drum corp competition & they did a great job. I don't understand the name, but I hope that their future is bright.

Kilties: While it is great to still see the Kilts on the field, It was really disappointing to see 2 snares, 2 tenors, & 2 bass drums, & 6 color guard members. Here's hoping that the Kilts hang in there & are able to recruit new members.

All in all, this was one the most enjoyable drum corp shows that I have attended in many many years.

Kilts had guard, battery and brass missing this past weekend---real life commitments: work, school, family events (as example-wedding) for several--and illness for one.

Although there is one bass drum position open, 2 color guard and 4 brass positions awaiting the "right" people.