2019 Phantom Regiment

[Land_Surfer]

1 hour ago, xandandl said:

as long as Cesario and Chandler have anyone's ears in the activity, those opposed to costuming will be considered old fogeys.  Interesting never is there a mention of conflicts of interests, certain persons making their livelihood off of units buying costuming, or that one's influence with sponsors is in direct proportion to the sponsors' products being bought. You know, the theory that goes "The activity is for the kids, right?"

It hasn’t been for the kids since on-field warm-ups!  

Drum corps is a wealthy kid’s activity... money talks and talent walks!  

[Mello Dude]

56 minutes ago, Land_Surfer said:

It hasn’t been for the kids since on-field warm-ups!  

Drum corps is a wealthy kid’s activity... money talks and talent walks!  

It's true for the most part..sad really.  Performances are amazing but it's been "yuppyfied"

 

[Tim K]

1 hour ago, Land_Surfer said:

It hasn’t been for the kids since on-field warm-ups!  

Drum corps is a wealthy kid’s activity... money talks and talent walks!  

In many ways, kids today do have far more than previous generations. That being said, I graduated from high school in 1981, college in 1985. In my high school years, on the field warm ups were still going strong. Phantom Regiment would have almost a pre-show with Leroy Anderson’s piece “Phantom Regiment.” I can recall back in the day knowing  kids who would have loved to march but had to work to pay for college claim only “rich kids” marched and some of the so called “rich kids” who worked pretty hard to march. 

Even when dues, fees, etc. were lower, drum corps was always a rich kids activity for those who could not afford it and it’s probably more the case today.

[Rocketman]

Let's say Regiment had the best talent of anyone out there last year and still put out last years production. Do you really think that would even have finished in the top 6? I don't! Whomever is coming up with the concept and design of these shows (I won't even go down the musical arrangements road because we know who is doing those) is doing a disservice to the corps, the members, alumni, and the activity. I said it before and I'll say it again, they are turning into the Pioneer of the (for now) top 12. They don't do anything that offends you, but nothing all that memorable either.  

[Jeff Ream]

2 hours ago, Land_Surfer said:

It hasn’t been for the kids since on-field warm-ups!  

Drum corps is a wealthy kid’s activity... money talks and talent walks!  

or talent finds a way to make the money because many sports programs cost a helluva lot more.

 

but why let facts ruin a good bitter rant

[Land_Surfer]

2 hours ago, Mello Dude said:

It's true for the most part..sad really.  Performances are amazing but it's been "yuppyfied"

 

Not sure “yuppified” is the right adjective.

[johnpendell]

3 hours ago, Land_Surfer said:

It hasn’t been for the kids since on-field warm-ups!  

Drum corps is a wealthy kid’s activity... money talks and talent walks!  

I wouldn't say it's a wealthy kid activity... I'm trying to think of one person I know that's marched that didn't do some sort of fundraising or money saving. It's very expensive, but not impossible if you aren't in an upper class. I will say it's impossible to know how much talent has been missed on due to finances but...it's not something you can really approximate. 

[tesmusic]

51 minutes ago, Rocketman said:

Let's say Regiment had the best talent of anyone out there last year and still put out last years production. Do you really think that would even have finished in the top 6? I don't! Whomever is coming up with the concept and design of these shows (I won't even go down the musical arrangements road because we know who is doing those) is doing a disservice to the corps, the members, alumni, and the activity. I said it before and I'll say it again, they are turning into the Pioneer of the (for now) top 12. They don't do anything that offends you, but nothing all that memorable either.  

Will Pitts has been since he came in as brass arranger in 2015. Wes Cartwright was artistic director during that time as well, but in 2018 Cartwright left, leaving Pitts virtually running the design process.

[queenanne_1536]

1 hour ago, Rocketman said:

Let's say Regiment had the best talent of anyone out there last year and still put out last years production. Do you really think that would even have finished in the top 6? I don't! Whomever is coming up with the concept and design of these shows (I won't even go down the musical arrangements road because we know who is doing those) is doing a disservice to the corps, the members, alumni, and the activity. I said it before and I'll say it again, they are turning into the Pioneer of the (for now) top 12. They don't do anything that offends you, but nothing all that memorable either.  

I don't think they would have made top 7 with that show, but we will never know for sure. A greater level of talent would have improved it, because it would have improved performance things across the board, in turn improving the whole - like greater presence, projection, artistry and cleaner work by the colorguard, crisper and cleaner visuals and drill, and better over playing by the musical ensemble, among other things. That being said, design would have hugely held them back if they had the most talent on the field. That show was probably the sloppiest top 12 show I have ever seen from a design perspective, but greater talent would have taken them further. It absolutely would not have been top 3 if they had the top 150 most talented individuals. Then again, Crown's show was also a big mess (albeit not the catastrophic mess Regiment's was) and talent alone kept them in 4th. 

On the flip side, I don't think the membership of the 2018 corps would have fared much better than 11th had they performed Bluecoats, BD, or Vanguard's show exactly as we saw them perform it, because all the performance things that make up the whole would have been greatly diminished. They simply don't have the talent required to pull off shows like that.

As I said before, Regiment's focus first needs to be on design. When their design improves, their placement should improve (gradually), which would improve their talent, which would improve their placement further.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by queenanne_1536

[Jeff Ream]

7 minutes ago, queenanne_1536 said:

I don't think they would have made top 7 with that show, but we will never know for sure. A greater level of talent would have improved it, because it would have improved performance things across the board, in turn improving the whole - like greater presence, projection, artistry and cleaner work by the colorguard, crisper and cleaner visuals and drill, and better over playing by the musical ensemble, among other things. That being said, design would have hugely held them back if they had the most talent on the field. That show was probably the sloppiest top 12 show I have ever seen from a design perspective, but greater talent would have taken them further. It absolutely would not have been top 3 if they had the top 150 most talented individuals. Then again, Crown's show was also a big mess (albeit not the catastrophic mess Regiment's was) and talent alone kept them in 4th. 

On the flip side, I don't think the membership of the 2018 corps would have fared much better than 11th had they performed Bluecoats, BD, or Vanguard's show exactly as we saw them perform it, because all the performance things that make up the whole would have been greatly diminished. They simply don't have the talent required to pull off shows like that.

As I said before, Regiment's focus first needs to be on design. When their design improves, their placement should improve (gradually), which would improve their talent, which would improve their placement further.

 

 

forgive my bluntness, but talent can only make #### so much better.