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Madison Scouts 2018


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On 4/9/2018 at 2:38 PM, BigBadMadMan said:

Possibly. Things tend to be cyclical.

Drum corps history more or less demonstrates that "cyclical" is not really part of how show designs and instrumentation and "progressiveness" operate. To put it simply, once that first valve was added way back when, they were never going back.

And it won't make any difference whatsoever whether or not George is still around. There are way more than enough directors and designers and instructors who are thrilled with the design trends we've seen in recent years and you can be sure they will be pushing for even more.

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What are we defining as "tough" and "bad ###"

To me, that BD ballad last year was extremely "BAD ###."  Or what about the opening to Crown's show?  That was pretty old school, and "tough."  What about the power that the SCV hornline played with in 2017?  Or, how about the aggressiveness of the SCV drumline? Or BD's drumline?  What about Boston setting people on fire?  that seems pretty "tough" and "bad ###" to me. (Clearly tongue in cheek on the last comment)

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2 hours ago, ibexpercussion said:

What are we defining as "tough" and "bad ###"

This is a really good point that I believe is often overlooked because it identifies two things that are not always easy to grapple with.  First, it reveals that the root of this issue (whether the activity is "tough" or "bad ###" now as compared to then) is subjective to how one measures value and time; is it static or evolutionary, absolute or relative?  Second, it shows how what one conceives of as "tough" or "bad ###" is not only socially constructed and therefore both evolutionary and relative, but also correlated to how they perceive of other concepts (like masculinity for example) that are also socially constructed and therefore evolutionary and relative even if they are perceived as static and limiting.  What I mean is that the activity seems to be static or absolute in that it is always "tough" because it has always been and will always be physically and mentally challenging to do.  Likewise, the activity also appears to be absolutely "bad ###" because it has been and will continue to be impressive to witness excellent execution of challenging performative material.  The issue is therefore aesthetic, and aesthetics are not good at maintaining a static position even if they seem to so; tastes evolve.  Just because the activity as a whole or the Scouts in particular is/are not presenting the same sort of perceived "toughness" that was witnessed or enjoyed either as a marching member or alumnus does not make the activity any less "bad ###" for those who engage in it or enjoy it now.  For example, even though I did not enjoy the aesthetics of Madison's show last summer I still respected and witnessed the "toughness" of the members who worked to be "bad ###" at executing their individual responsibilities.

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1 hour ago, ndkbass said:

.  For example, even though I did not enjoy the aesthetics of Madison's show last summer I still respected and witnessed the "toughness" of the members who worked to be "bad ###" at executing their individual responsibilities.

 I thought the Madison Scouts had the most badazz show/ theme/music/ uniforms/ ethos last season than perhaps ever before in their long and quite distinquished history. The theme last season revolved around some really baddazz male dudes that were engaged in an armageddon styled world, where society broke down ( or did not develop ) and devolved into tribal warfare amongst the various tribes, where human sacrifice, violence, fightings,  mayhem, by the male tribesmen was  universal. In the end, the theme seemed to have the tribal warfare never get resolved, but instead devolve further into  complete anarchy and chaos at the end with the closer. The facial expressions of the performers certainly wanted the audience to feel their male society dominated baddazzery via the Corps chosen theme..I can't speak for others, but their show at the end did convince me that the performers were at the very least" baddazz". Off the field, they might have been the nicest kids trying desperately to make a show work that struggled all season to connect with many people ( it seemed from my observations at shows I attended anyway) despite the intended goal thru costuming, make up, music, theme, props, etc to be replete with male baddazzery on full display.  How much MORE male baddazzery then do people want to see in future Madison Scouts shows than what was on full display last season  ?,.... as on a scale of 1-10 in male baddazzery portrayal, I thought Madison was an off the charts 11 last season in that regard.

Edited by BRASSO
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56 minutes ago, BRASSO said:

 I thought the Madison Scouts had the most badazz show/ theme/music/ uniforms/ ethos last season than perhaps ever before in their long and quite distinquished history. The theme last season revolved around some really baddazz male dudes that were engaged in an armageddon styled world, where society broke down ( or did not develop ) and devolved into tribal warfare amongst the various tribes, where human sacrifice, violence, fightings,  mayhem, by the male tribesmen was  universal. In the end, the theme seemed to have the tribal warfare never get resolved, but instead devolve further into  complete anarchy and chaos at the end with the closer. The facial expressions of the performers certainly wanted the audience to feel their male society dominated baddazzery via the Corps chosen theme..I can't speak for others, but their show at the end did convince me that the performers were at the very least" baddazz". Off the field, they might have been the nicest kids trying desperately to make a show work that struggled all season to connect with many people ( it seemed from my observations at shows I attended anyway) despite the intended goal thru costuming, make up, music, theme, props, etc to be replete with male baddazzery on full display.  How much MORE male baddazzery then do people want to see in future Madison Scouts shows than what was on full display last season  ?,.... as on a scale of 1-10 in male baddazzery portrayal, I thought Madison was an off the charts 11 last season in that regard.

That is a great question.  Again, I would think it depends on how one is constructing the value of what is or is not "bad ###" alongside what is or is not "bad ###" for a "Madison Scout."  I would agree that the show last year exhibited an interesting and potentially enormous amount of "badazzery" as you describe it.  For some, I think "badazzery" can only be described in nostalgic terms whereas others see it as a spectrum in flux with various mechanisms that predict/affect how "badazzery" is measured.  Last year's show was definitely not lacking in "badazzery" for me even if I was not the biggest champion of its design elements and artistic selections.

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On 4/9/2018 at 10:22 AM, Tim K said:

Any uniform will be closer to traditional than last year’s, but in 2016 a big critique was Madison was afraid of change. Last year’s changes proved Madison could change, and while I heard many Madison alums who were critical, I did not hear any complain when they made finals. I am looking forward to this year’s show, but I hope it has a Madison sound, feel, and look.

The Madison Alumni were largely supportive of the costume last year, a reaction the organization was fairly unprepared for.

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4 hours ago, Scerpella said:

The Madison Alumni were largely supportive of the costume last year, a reaction the organization was fairly unprepared for.

Boy, there's a lot to unpack in that one sentence right there. But luckily, it should result in the corps continuing to move in a positive direction.

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3 hours ago, MotoSurfBass said:

Boy, there's a lot to unpack in that one sentence right there. But luckily, it should result in the corps continuing to move in a positive direction.

My opinion is that for lack of a better description, the traditionalists have given way to the pragmatists. The uniform was read by the alumni as an honest attempt to go all in to improve placing.

 

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20 hours ago, Scerpella said:

My opinion is that for lack of a better description, the traditionalists have given way to the pragmatists. The uniform was read by the alumni as an honest attempt to go all in to improve placing.

 

Agreed, with the added note that the administration was not expecting that to be the case at this point. And frankly I would have thought the same.

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