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Madison Scouts 2017


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53 minutes ago, ndkbass said:

I have two thoughts about the 2017 Madison Scouts, their uniform, and their production for the season:

 

(1) This show is absolutely horrendous.  In fact, it is so horrendous that it motivated me to make this screen name and post on this forum.  This is something I have not felt the urge to do as strongly as I do now for the entirety that I have read this forum.  I have followed this forum anonymously for over a decade beginning while I was participating in the activity and continuing after I aged out.  This show reminds of the travesty that was 2009's Relámpago, which was my last year with the Scouts.  At least with Relámpago there was some enjoyable music for the audience to hear.  The selection this year is so disjointed and lacking effect that it does not allow for a coherent visual program to support it.  At least the battery and front ensemble seem to be decent.  The hornline, on the other hand, sounds horrible.  The guard seems about par for the course with the last few years; I saw drops in the run I viewed, but it wasn't atrocious for early season execution.

(2) The uniforms do not work at all, are super muddy amongst each other from up top, and blend in with the field.  Moreover, they are borderline appropriation of Native American imagery with the headpiece that mimics a headdress; particularly once you see any of the thematic descriptions of "tribe" they are using in their show branding across all media platforms.  This is a major issue, and something I hope does not plague them too greatly.  I am amazed that this was overlooked in early design reviews.  However, I must admit that I am not too surprised seeing as Peterson himself used to wear a t-shirt with a proverb on it that was supposedly a Cree proverb on tour all the time....only it is not actually a Cree proverb; it is a proverb introduced by (white) environmentalists in the late twentieth century, so, ironically, the administrative staff of the Scouts have been mistakenly appropriating Native American ideas and imagery for some time now seeing as Peterson marched in the late nineties and returned to staff in the late two-thousands.

 

I really hope the Scouts can survive this administration, but each year since 2009 (with a few exceptions) has shown their lack of overall ability to lead this corps in the present and into the future.

2 posts on DCP??

I smell a troll.

By the way, they scored tight to last years 9th place drum corps tonight.

Edited by Cop
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16 minutes ago, Runitagain said:

Wow lame review. I disagree 

Thanks for your review of my review! :19_kissing:

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3 minutes ago, Cop said:

2 posts on DCP??

I smell a troll.

By the way, they scored tight to last years 9th place drum corps tonight.

Nice red herring there, almost a false equivalency too. The amount of posts I make or have made says nothing about the veracity of my comments.

Edited by ndkbass
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11 minutes ago, Madcityscout said:

Yeah, I disagree with that review for sure!

Thanks!

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1 minute ago, ndkbass said:

Nice red herring there, almost a false equivalency too. The amount of posts I make or have made says nothing about the veracity of my comments.

Whatever Ring chaser! :) Just kidding - you are entitled to your opinion. I happen to think they are in a better position than last year, and maybe in a long, long, long time. 

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1 minute ago, henry7184 said:

Whatever Ring chaser! :) Just kidding - you are entitled to your opinion. I happen to think they are in a better position than last year, and maybe in a long, long, long time. 

Hah!

 

I hope you are right!

 

The costume minus head piece is a really cool attempt to bring real theatrical costuming to DCI. That is a great step forward for the whole activity. But I do not think it works in its current form, as many current iterations for other corps do not. For example, Phantoms is ok. But it looks like a Halloween costume upclose (think kids superheros). Devs is the only one that is clean up close and far away, and it works with and without the jacket. Blue Knights is an example of cool up close but also lost effect from a far.

 

Biggest visual design issue besides unreadable forms with Scouts (which again, is mainly due to uniform in my opinion) is that they do not really move the center prop. Maybe they will, but that really limits what they can and cannot do visually at the moment.  The choppiness of the music does not help, but maybe they will be better balanced with some of that too. I just do not see that potential with this raw design.

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7 hours ago, DrumManTx said:

As a whole I think it's a really solid base.  

REALLY digging the percussion book, they're smoking at times.  

The Snareline is tick city. Fuzz everywhere. They have a lot of work to do.

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1 hour ago, ndkbass said:

At least with Relámpago there was some enjoyable music for the audience to hear.  

Oh honey, speak for yourself : ) I love their music selections and source material, and really enjoy the way it's arranged --- just not the way it's performed yet. Music for Prague & Miraculous Mandarin have always translated very well to the field (see: Marian Catholic). Enjoyment is in the ear of the listener, but those pieces that form the bulk of the show are classics that are typically met with lots of applause, both in concert halls and on the field.

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5 minutes ago, Jake W. said:

Oh honey, speak for yourself : ) I love their music selections and source material, and really enjoy the way it's arranged --- just not the way it's performed yet. Music for Prague & Miraculous Mandarin have always translated very well to the field (see: Marian Catholic). Enjoyment is in the ear of the listener, but those pieces that form the bulk of the show are classics that are typically met with lots of applause, both in concert halls and on the field.

Well, since you mentioned applause, I saw the Scouts performance in Michigan City 6-25-17, & this Madison performance garnered the least amount of crowd applause & approval that I have ever seen...& it saddened me. The Madison Scouts have always been the crowds corps...a crowd favorite. That certainly isn't the case this year. I sincerely hope that the Scouts can survive this administration & what seems like a desperate sellout move to "play the game". This show needs major re-writes to make finals.  

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