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Updated DCA Season "Forecast" Post-Landisville


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In particular for our resident weather buff VOReason, here goes... :tongue:... based on what I saw at the Landisville, PA, show:

Buccaneers: More clear skies ahead.  (I would say "smooth sailing"... but that is a way-too-obvious seafaring reference. LOL)  However, it's no lock here. There's still a chance of at least one corps raining on the Buccaneer victory parade. 

Cadets2: Mostly clear, with a few clouds in the form of a not- yet-finished visual show.  We'll see how quickly the remaining clouds can dissipate once the back end of the show is 1) finished visually, and 2) makes more sense as a result. 

Fusion Core: Early-season clouds  are beginning to give way to a mostly sunny outlook.

Bushwackers: When the show's finished, some of the recent cloud cover will begin to give way to brightening skies, with a chance for nice weather come Labor Day weekend.

Edited by Fran Haring
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Should start working on my review, I'll be off Bastille weekend and going to a demo at the Simeone Museum where they'll be running their 1936 Bugatti LeMans winner as well as three other great French Race cars. Good to diversify on stuff. :satisfied:

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Thanks, Fran, for the weather update.    If you were responsible for the weather for this show, directors should hire you for their events:  it just doesn't get any better than it was on Saturday night.   The Mrs. and I got out our old Corvair convertible to make the trek from Wyomissing.  Simply a beautiful night.

First off, let me qualify myself as an "attender" and not a "poster" so take my comments with a grain of salt.  Generally, I watch the show rather than comment on it.

1.  ENCORPS- I was pleasantly surprised to see this corps' appearance.  With their intention to "bring back" a DCI corps to northern New Jersey, I'd say they're off to a great start.   I can't imagine the challenges one faces to start a new corps today, but they had a good number of members on the field and did a really nice job.   Gotta wish them well.

2.  I still struggle with "unfinished" shows.  This is July folks, and there are only 7 more weekends until the main event.   Perhaps if there were some way to carry over competition  points into Preliminaries, I wouldn't have come away with the feeling this was, obviously, a Pre-Season event.   At least when I go to Spring Training games for baseball, I don't expect to see a polished product; but once the season begins, I'm paying to see their best.  As it currently stands, you only have to win one event to win the DCA championship--September 2.  Nothing else matters.   Ever go to an opening night of a theatrical production and after the Second Act be told to come back on closing night for Act 3??   Maybe it's the frugality of the Pennsylvania Dutch in me, but if I PAID for it, I want to SEE it. 

3.  I'm a Bucs "homer," so I'll get over this next issue:  I miss the "Balance in BLUE."   Before Reading came on the field, I was looking outside the fences and wondering, "Where the heck are the Bucs?"   Can  you imagine the fan base of the Bluecoats murmuring "GREEN" when they marched on.   Nah, something seemed sooooo wrong.   Then it appeared the "Bugganeers" were sailing the ship into the shallow waters of the marshes!   I have to admit, though, the use of flyswatters at the end of the show was cute.   Forty years ago, whoever would have thought the words drum corps and CUTE would be mentioned in the same sentence?  Man, I must be getting old.

Looking forward to Big Sounds to see the finished product. 

Fran, please tell me I won't need an umbrella!!

 

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15 minutes ago, Arrrr Kissinger said:

Fran, please tell me I won't need an umbrella!!

 

I sure hope you won't!!!   LOL

I agree, it was absolutely perfect weather for  drum corps... all day for the corps rehearsing, and then for the show at night.

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9 minutes ago, Arrrr Kissinger said:

.

2.  I still struggle with "unfinished" shows.  This is July folks, and there are only 7 more weekends until the main event.   Perhaps if there were some way to carry over competition  points into Preliminaries, I wouldn't have come away with the feeling this was, obviously, a Pre-Season event.   At least when I go to Spring Training games for baseball, I don't expect to see a polished product; but once the season begins, I'm paying to see their best.  As it currently stands, you only have to win one event to win the DCA championship--September 2.  Nothing else matters.   Ever go to an opening night of a theatrical production and after the Second Act be told to come back on closing night for Act 3??   Maybe it's the frugality of the Pennsylvania Dutch in me, but if I PAID for it, I want to SEE it. 

 

 

I somewhat agree with that. If it is a $10 ticket for 10 corps and you miss a few closers no big deal, but when it is a smaller show and you pay end of season prices you want to see a full show.  I know corps have issues, rain can make them lose a weekend outside, sometimes equipment trailers have issues and make you lose practice time, but ultimatly if you want to perform at shows you need to give a product that the fans want to see. 

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that wasn't end of season prices. and quite frankly, given all C2 and the entire cadets/YEA organization has been through the ast 3 months, I'm just ###### happy they are on the field.

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There are so many elements and forces at work that are causing the later and later show completions. The Bucs seem to remain immune to those forces, and from observation, it seems to be a combination of exact scheduling, very, VERY efficient and well-planned rehearsals, and a diamond hard corps infrastructure.

-Many Percussion and Guard members aren't really ready to go until indoor season is finished. It may surprise some, but if a DCA corps said to choose, most will ditch the corps for Indoor. I don't see that as some 'evil' thing, I see it that those people find their indoor organizations more of their home and where they belong. Of course they'll choose where they feel they belong more!

-Many DCA corps are finding it more difficult to find of all things... Brass players. My guess is that it's partly that many DCA corps use related Indoor staff and allied organizations to pull in their guard and percussion. For whatever reason, they can't grab the horn kids out of the HS Bands they staff to the extent they need to. I can't answer why. Different mindset? Parents? Maybe. Maybe they need to recruit out of the Indoor Winds activity as it grows.

-Shows are becoming more and more complex. Again, the Bucs seem to be largely immune to this pressure. In another thread, it was discussed that perhaps they need to go with show minimums of between 7:30 to 8:30. I know some squirm on that, but I've seen shows at the scholastic level that do a lot in a 7:45ish time frame and are very satisfying to watch and enjoy. I just think less might actually be more for many DCA organizations. The Bucs would easily adapt, this isn't some kind of anti-Bucs rule. Every time those reindeer games have been implemented, they adapt. They're not stupid. I've mused that they've become a lot like DCA's Blue Devils in one aspect: They can create whatever they want in the way they want and make it work. Case in point, they're Bugs scouting for a picnic and winning. Heck, I could see them do a show about Uno the card game using this music and getting a ring. The creative staff's become pretty much transcendent. :satisfied: (Main theme at 2:45, when they do this I want a thank you credit. :laugh:)

 

Just my tuppence on the issue....

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