Final Review Of Top 12

[jwillis35]

It occured to me that this is more of a review of the shows and of the year of DCI, so I have re-posted this on this forum. A similar post exists on the general discussion forum.

------------------------------

With many props to Nikk for his excellent summer-ending take on the DCI tour, I wish to offer my thoughts on what I saw and heard, as well as some opinions about the future of DCI.

First and foremost, many congratulations to all the corps for their sucessful summers and for the many memories you have provided your fans and the great education you have given to thousands of young men and women. This activity still stands as one of the best places for young people to learn music, travel, compete, push themselves, make friends, set goals, become leaders, and entertain. And I believe that DCI is healthier today, especially financially, than they have been since their inception in 1972.

I remember that in the 1980s we lost so many quality drum corps (27th Lancers, North Star, Geneseo to name a few), and after the 1993 season we lost Star of Indiana. A real blow to the activity I thought--although I really like how Blast! has complimented and brought interest to drum corps. Many of the corps folded due to making ends meet, financial costs and inflation, and even the IRS as with the Velvet Knights. But I have been pleasently surprised over the years with all the new corps that have sprouted. California today has become a hotbed for drum corps, the state of Ohio may very well have 3 corps in the top 12 soon, some corps have been saved (Southwind and Crossmen), and the east coast is thriving again with corps like the Spartans, East Coast Jazz, Jersey Surf, and the many others that compete out there. Not only am I pleased with the new life in this activity, but I am encouraged by the care that is taken in keeping these organizations alive. Perhaps these new groups have learned from those that didn't make it. All this during some very difficult times for our country when gas, insurance, and food are not cheap--and help is not easy to find. I applaud all of these new corps and I applaud DCI for helping to foster their inception into an activity that is so good for young people.

As for the corps' performances this summer, I must say that I enjoyed just about every show I watched. There were so many outstanding shows this summer and the quality from 1st place to 60th place (counting all the D II and D III corps) was really outstanding. However, here are some of my personal notes on what I remember from the various shows I saw.

Cavaliers - In Toledo you were good, in Columbus you were incredible, and what I saw for quarterfinals via the Cinema cast was beyond words. This is your dynasty. You have set the standard for the next 5 to 10 years and it will be fun to see how the competitive landscape changes over that time. Thank you for a most enjoyable and artistic show.

Blue Devils - Great brass, great drums, great guard. Show was a bit choppy for me through the first 6 minutes or so, then from A-train to the end I was blown away. That is the BD I love. And that ending was awesome, and I guess it was even better for finals. Please, Wayne, do a big band show in the style of the late 30s/40s groups but give it a bit of a modern twist without losing the dance feel. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman. I want it so bad...PLEASE!!!!

SCV - at first I didn't care for the show. When I saw you in Columbus I was starting to like it but still didn't quite go for everything. At the Cinema cast you blew me away. I know some poeple are upset at the 5th place in horns. Forget that. There were probably 13-16 unreal horn lines out there this year. The 4 corps in front of you have all won high brass trophies. Perhaps your finals performance wasn't as tight as you would have liked, but the show was a Gem. A true work of art, and it was nice to see SCV back to their old self.

Cadets - a good show with solid visual and GE built in, but because it didn't quite have what some of your other shows have had, you suffered in score. The tough thing for the Cadets is that we will always compare their shows to some of their masterpeices like 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, and 2000. In any case, good job of bringing Jethro Tull to the field. It was new and unique music and a tough sell, but you stuck to it and performed the heck out of it by finals. You should have won high guard!!!!!!!

Phantom - best brass book I heard all summer, and one of the best brass lines. Their drums are very good and deserve more credit than they are getting, and their guard was excellent this year. March better, integrate the guard better into the whole of the show, and clean the overall product faster and you will be top 2, if not win.

Bluecoats - Best show yet, and you have had a lot of great shows. This corps was so solid from top to bottom. Awesome brass line with excellent intonation, and the percussion section was also incredibly solid. The arranging of both the percussion and brass parts was simply outstanding. I wanted more "In The Mood" at the end of the show since I really felt this would highlight the overall theme of the show, "Mood Swings." Perhaps at times the closing material was a bit too disjunct and shifty, but that is nit picking. Overall, this was such an enjoyable show and you deserved top 6. The Bluecoats guard was, IMO, on the level of Cadets, Cavies, and BD. They were awesome this year.

Carolina Crown - did not see this corps live but I saw them on the Cinema cast, and I liked the show and the staging. Brass was excellent, but the singing is weird for me to see and hear. I got used to the amped corps quickly, but the singing in your show and the voice overs in Boston's made me feel weird. This is most likely because I am not used to seeing or hearing this at a corps show. More on this later, but congrats on a very nice show. Your performance levels are so good.

Madison Scouts - Definitely not the old Madison. This is not a bad thing. I think the Scouts did a nice job of integrating the new and old into this show. Now, I felt the first 4 minutes kind of lagged or perhaps just felt less connected or flowing. The ending of the show was great. The horn line can still play and the percussion was probably much better than their score. But all the percussion lines in the top 12 were outstanding this year. Just keep doing what you are doing.

Boston Crusaders - this was a beautiful show, very well staged, and the visuals were excellent even if they were snippets of forms and ideas used in past shows. This is no different than what the Cavaliers have been doing, or BD, SCV, or Cadets. Sometimes we as fans complain about these types of things, but the fact is that each new show cannot, nor should not, have all new forms, motion, music, ideas, innovations, etc. Why re-invent the wheel all the time when much of what we have already done works wonderfully. How many years in a row did the Cavaliers use that bending vertical line in the late 80s/early 90s? I enjoyed that each time I saw it. This was an awesome show visually, and I enjoyed the music very much. Your ballad was maybe the best on the field. It was at least right there with the Bluecoats and Phantom. Don't think the narration added anything to the show.

Blue Knights - a very regal show in some ways, but kind of disjuct in others. I loved the last 4 or 5 minutes of this show. Great stuff. The visual program was excellent, and your brass line was as good as ever. Percussion was tight and musical. However, nothing completely grabbed me. There were no incredible wow moments. You have the visual, but I think the GE needs beefed up some.

Crossmen - Best come back of the summer. You guys were scoring behind many corps at the beginning of the season, and now you are in the top 12. What an incredible job of making the right changes, teaching those changes, performing and cleaning those changes and selling this show. A very exciting show, and who knows how high this could have gone if this was the product you first started with. I want white pants!

Glassmen - when I first saw this show in Toledo I was not thrilled. Your staff did an amazing job of teaching this show, the concepts and ideas, and making the right changes. And the Glassmen just performed the heck out of it. When I saw you guys in Canton you were just awesome. Very mature horn sounds and a tough book, and the drum line was crisp and accurate, although maybe not as strong as the lines a few years back. I just felt the show needed more obvious GE and not so much of the subtle GE that you are so good at.

As for the rest of the competing corps that I saw this summer, many kudos for your outstanding performances. It was amazing to see how far Capital Regiment has come, and your brass performance in Columbus was one I will remember for a while. I just loved Pioneer's music this year and their closer was one of my favorites, and I was so impressed by the ballad that Spirit played. To the Colts, your opening of "American Overture" was great and the Old Man River segment was one of my favorites of the entire summer. Beautiful arrangements. It was a great summer and the competition was fierce and pushed everyone to greater heights.

As for amplifiers, microphones, and voice, here is my take: It was probably a good idea to pass this rule change because I think it alllowed for many of us (fans, DCI, corps, show sponsors, etc.) to honestly and effectively evaulate the merrits of this equipment. For so long we just debated using hypothetical situations, and we drew conclusions based upon those theories. Now we have concrete information, both positive and negative, that can be discussed and debated. So many corps used amps, many did so very well (Cadets, Cavies, BD), and some used the equipment well but for purposes that many people feel cheapens the activity, perhaps taking away from its traditional roots (Crown, Boston). My opinion is that what happened this summer is good for the activity. Many will disagree with me on this. That's fine. I understand. I always think it helps to try new ideas that have been in the discussion process for years. It helps because these ideas are tested and the fans usually end up playing a big part in whether or not these new ideas will continue or not.

Let me put it another way. For years, during the mid- to late-90s, many fans complained about shows not being entertaining, too "artsy fartsy." Hey, many of the drum corps have listened and more and more shows are crowd pleasing. I believe the same can be true of this latest ruling. Just because amps are allowed, or the use of mics and voice, doesn't mean all the corps will adopt this strategy of performance. In the end, these corps want to please the fans too, and their membership and support system often depends on their popularity. Maybe next year we will see corps just use better judgement, or find a better way to do amps and voice, or perhaps we will see less corps even attempt to use this equipment.

I am not sure what will happen with the petitions that are out there at the moment, and whether or not DCI will fully take them into consideration. I am sure they will, but this does not mean they will change any rules. But I do respect both sides and am sure that as long as communication is good and the dialogue is professional and understanding, that we will ultimately come to a better way for all of drum corps and its fans.

My personal feeling is that I like the amps when used well, but I am not sure about voice. Having said that, corps have been using voice for years, they have simply not been using microphones. In 1979, Garfield sang in their show (I think at the end?) and they were penalized for this I believe. Later, in 1984, they used singing again in their West Side Story show, but now they were allowed to and it worked perfectly with the show. That show is a classic. Many corps have sung at times on the field, including Boston's very clever and artistic use of singing in their 2000 production. So now we have added a mic to the singing and people are up in arms. Perhaps because there has never been a voice over or the use of a solo singer before in DCI. I think for many DCI fans the use of the mics and amps gives them the sense of being at a Superbowl pre-game show or some glitzy broadway production. They feel drawn way from the idea that the brass and drums should be the main focus. Even the modern auxiliary units are so much more exposed. I remember not that many years ago how people would gripe daily about how the guards were too exposed, too much dancing, too much "artsy fartsy" stuff, and they compared it too WGI. Now days I see more and more reviews where we are critical of a corps if they do not have the guard more integrated into the fabric of the show.

Let's face it, change is going to happen. Some of you say that change should not happen just for the sake of change. True. And some of you say that not all change is good. True. But you can't supress creativity. You can't dampen a person's right to try something or propose something, and ultimately change will happen because we all think differently. 20 Years ago that proposal to allow amps would not have passed. It passed last year because people are thinking differently and we live in different times. Different people are in positons of power to vote on those changes. Not all of them think like you or I. Change will just happen, and I don't ask you to support it or like it, I ask that we go through the proper channels to enhance it, change it, debate its merrit, and/or to propose better ideas. Get involved! This is the important thing. For all the bashing that George Hopkins takes on this forum (and on RAMD) the truth is that he is not a dictator. He does not control 50.1 percent of the voting stock in DCI. He has ideas, he proposes them, sometimes on this forum which is kind of like suicide. But he is tough and honest, and I think he sometimes proposes these things on this group to get both the negatives and positives. Hey, why not use this forum. This is a great place to get a feel for what fans like and don't like.

So there is some contraversy in drum corps today, and, yet, there are many positives--just like the old days. Drum and Bugle corps has been changing since day one, and today is a reflection of that change. But I remain optomistic about its future with so many new faces and performance levels that seem to get better and better. Finally, many, many kudos to you DCI for the Regal Cinema telecast. This was one of the best ideas in many years and I hope this continues forever. What a great money maker this could become, but more importantly, what a great way for me to take students and friends to see the great activity called drum and bugle corps!!!

Can't wait for the summer of 2005!

[LAMystreaux]

Nice review. . .thanks!

[Orpheus]

Another top-notch review! ^OO^

[mmadrazo]

awesome review... I like how you express your opinions. A lot of what you say makes sense. Thanks for the review

[Lance M]

Fabulous review. Thanks for sharing all of it.

[TexasPRfan]

Great Review!

Harvey

[caviechef]

It occured to me that this is more of a review of the shows and of the year of DCI, so I have re-posted this on this forum.  A similar post exists on the general discussion forum.

------------------------------

With many props to Nikk for his excellent summer-ending take on the DCI tour, I wish to offer my thoughts on what I saw and heard, as well as some opinions about the future of DCI.

First and foremost, many congratulations to all the corps for their sucessful summers and for the many memories you have provided your fans and the great education you have given to thousands of young men and women. This activity still stands as one of the best places for young people to learn music, travel, compete, push themselves, make friends, set goals, become leaders, and entertain. And I believe that DCI is healthier today, especially financially, than they have been since their inception in 1972.

I remember that in the 1980s we lost so many quality drum corps (27th Lancers, North Star, Geneseo to name a few), and after the 1993 season we lost Star of Indiana. A real blow to the activity I thought--although I really like how Blast! has complimented and brought interest to drum corps. Many of the corps folded due to making ends meet, financial costs and inflation, and even the IRS as with the Velvet Knights. But I have been pleasently surprised over the years with all the new corps that have sprouted. California today has become a hotbed for drum corps, the state of Ohio may very well have 3 corps in the top 12 soon, some corps have been saved (Southwind and Crossmen), and the east coast is thriving again with corps like the Spartans, East Coast Jazz, Jersey Surf, and the many others that compete out there. Not only am I pleased with the new life in this activity, but I am encouraged by the care that is taken in keeping these organizations alive. Perhaps these new groups have learned from those that didn't make it. All this during some very difficult times for our country when gas, insurance, and food are not cheap--and help is not easy to find. I applaud all of these new corps and I applaud DCI for helping to foster their inception into an activity that is so good for young people.

As for the corps' performances this summer, I must say that I enjoyed just about every show I watched. There were so many outstanding shows this summer and the quality from 1st place to 60th place (counting all the D II and D III corps) was really outstanding. However, here are some of my personal notes on what I remember from the various shows I saw.

Cavaliers - In Toledo you were good, in Columbus you were incredible, and what I saw for quarterfinals via the Cinema cast was beyond words. This is your dynasty. You have set the standard for the next 5 to 10 years and it will be fun to see how the competitive landscape changes over that time. Thank you for a most enjoyable and artistic show.

Blue Devils - Great brass, great drums, great guard. Show was a bit choppy for me through the first 6 minutes or so, then from A-train to the end I was blown away. That is the BD I love. And that ending was awesome, and I guess it was even better for finals. Please, Wayne, do a big band show in the style of the late 30s/40s groups but give it a bit of a modern twist without losing the dance feel. Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman. I want it so bad...PLEASE!!!!

SCV - at first I didn't care for the show. When I saw you in Columbus I was starting to like it but still didn't quite go for everything. At the Cinema cast you blew me away. I know some poeple are upset at the 5th place in horns. Forget that. There were probably 13-16 unreal horn lines out there this year. The 4 corps in front of you have all won high brass trophies. Perhaps your finals performance wasn't as tight as you would have liked, but the show was a Gem. A true work of art, and it was nice to see SCV back to their old self.

Cadets - a good show with solid visual and GE built in, but because it didn't quite have what some of your other shows have had, you suffered in score. The tough thing for the Cadets is that we will always compare their shows to some of their masterpeices like 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, and 2000. In any case, good job of bringing Jethro Tull to the field. It was new and unique music and a tough sell, but you stuck to it and performed the heck out of it by finals. You should have won high guard!!!!!!!

Phantom - best brass book I heard all summer, and one of the best brass lines. Their drums are very good and deserve more credit than they are getting, and their guard was excellent this year. March better, integrate the guard better into the whole of the show, and clean the overall product faster and you will be top 2, if not win.

Bluecoats - Best show yet, and you have had a lot of great shows. This corps was so solid from top to bottom. Awesome brass line with excellent intonation, and the percussion section was also incredibly solid. The arranging of both the percussion and brass parts was simply outstanding. I wanted more "In The Mood" at the end of the show since I really felt this would highlight the overall theme of the show, "Mood Swings." Perhaps at times the closing material was a bit too disjunct and shifty, but that is nit picking. Overall, this was such an enjoyable show and you deserved top 6. The Bluecoats guard was, IMO, on the level of Cadets, Cavies, and BD. They were awesome this year.

Carolina Crown - did not see this corps live but I saw them on the Cinema cast, and I liked the show and the staging. Brass was excellent, but the singing is weird for me to see and hear. I got used to the amped corps quickly, but the singing in your show and the voice overs in Boston's made me feel weird. This is most likely because I am not used to seeing or hearing this at a corps show. More on this later, but congrats on a very nice show. Your performance levels are so good.

Madison Scouts - Definitely not the old Madison. This is not a bad thing. I think the Scouts did a nice job of integrating the new and old into this show. Now, I felt the first 4 minutes kind of lagged or perhaps just felt less connected or flowing. The ending of the show was great. The horn line can still play and the percussion was probably much better than their score. But all the percussion lines in the top 12 were outstanding this year. Just keep doing what you are doing.

Boston Crusaders - this was a beautiful show, very well staged, and the visuals were excellent even if they were snippets of forms and ideas used in past shows. This is no different than what the Cavaliers have been doing, or BD, SCV, or Cadets. Sometimes we as fans complain about these types of things, but the fact is that each new show cannot, nor should not, have all new forms, motion, music, ideas, innovations, etc. Why re-invent the wheel all the time when much of what we have already done works wonderfully. How many years in a row did the Cavaliers use that bending vertical line in the late 80s/early 90s? I enjoyed that each time I saw it. This was an awesome show visually, and I enjoyed the music very much. Your ballad was maybe the best on the field. It was at least right there with the Bluecoats and Phantom. Don't think the narration added anything to the show.

Blue Knights - a very regal show in some ways, but kind of disjuct in others. I loved the last 4 or 5 minutes of this show. Great stuff. The visual program was excellent, and your brass line was as good as ever. Percussion was tight and musical. However, nothing completely grabbed me. There were no incredible wow moments. You have the visual, but I think the GE needs beefed up some.

Crossmen - Best come back of the summer. You guys were scoring behind many corps at the beginning of the season, and now you are in the top 12. What an incredible job of making the right changes, teaching those changes, performing and cleaning those changes and selling this show. A very exciting show, and who knows how high this could have gone if this was the product you first started with. I want white pants!

Glassmen - when I first saw this show in Toledo I was not thrilled. Your staff did an amazing job of teaching this show, the concepts and ideas, and making the right changes. And the Glassmen just performed the heck out of it. When I saw you guys in Canton you were just awesome. Very mature horn sounds and a tough book, and the drum line was crisp and accurate, although maybe not as strong as the lines a few years back. I just felt the show needed more obvious GE and not so much of the subtle GE that you are so good at.

As for the rest of the competing corps that I saw this summer, many kudos for your outstanding performances. It was amazing to see how far Capital Regiment has come, and your brass performance in Columbus was one I will remember for a while. I just loved Pioneer's music this year and their closer was one of my favorites, and I was so impressed by the ballad that Spirit played. To the Colts, your opening of "American Overture" was great and the Old Man River segment was one of my favorites of the entire summer. Beautiful arrangements. It was a great summer and the competition was fierce and pushed everyone to greater heights.

As for amplifiers, microphones, and voice, here is my take: It was probably a good idea to pass this rule change because I think it alllowed for many of us (fans, DCI, corps, show sponsors, etc.) to honestly and effectively evaulate the merrits of this equipment. For so long we just debated using hypothetical situations, and we drew conclusions based upon those theories. Now we have concrete information, both positive and negative, that can be discussed and debated. So many corps used amps, many did so very well (Cadets, Cavies, BD), and some used the equipment well but for purposes that many people feel cheapens the activity, perhaps taking away from its traditional roots (Crown, Boston). My opinion is that what happened this summer is good for the activity. Many will disagree with me on this. That's fine. I understand. I always think it helps to try new ideas that have been in the discussion process for years. It helps because these ideas are tested and the fans usually end up playing a big part in whether or not these new ideas will continue or not.

Let me put it another way. For years, during the mid- to late-90s, many fans complained about shows not being entertaining, too "artsy fartsy." Hey, many of the drum corps have listened and more and more shows are crowd pleasing. I believe the same can be true of this latest ruling. Just because amps are allowed, or the use of mics and voice, doesn't mean all the corps will adopt this strategy of performance. In the end, these corps want to please the fans too, and their membership and support system often depends on their popularity. Maybe next year we will see corps just use better judgement, or find a better way to do amps and voice, or perhaps we will see less corps even attempt to use this equipment.

I am not sure what will happen with the petitions that are out there at the moment, and whether or not DCI will fully take them into consideration. I am sure they will, but this does not mean they will change any rules. But I do respect both sides and am sure that as long as communication is good and the dialogue is professional and understanding, that we will ultimately come to a better way for all of drum corps and its fans.

My personal feeling is that I like the amps when used well, but I am not sure about voice. Having said that, corps have been using voice for years, they have simply not been using microphones. In 1979, Garfield sang in their show (I think at the end?) and they were penalized for this I believe. Later, in 1984, they used singing again in their West Side Story show, but now they were allowed to and it worked perfectly with the show. That show is a classic. Many corps have sung at times on the field, including Boston's very clever and artistic use of singing in their 2000 production. So now we have added a mic to the singing and people are up in arms. Perhaps because there has never been a voice over or the use of a solo singer before in DCI. I think for many DCI fans the use of the mics and amps gives them the sense of being at a Superbowl pre-game show or some glitzy broadway production. They feel drawn way from the idea that the brass and drums should be the main focus. Even the modern auxiliary units are so much more exposed. I remember not that many years ago how people would gripe daily about how the guards were too exposed, too much dancing, too much "artsy fartsy" stuff, and they compared it too WGI. Now days I see more and more reviews where we are critical of a corps if they do not have the guard more integrated into the fabric of the show.

Let's face it, change is going to happen. Some of you say that change should not happen just for the sake of change. True. And some of you say that not all change is good. True. But you can't supress creativity. You can't dampen a person's right to try something or propose something, and ultimately change will happen because we all think differently. 20 Years ago that proposal to allow amps would not have passed. It passed last year because people are thinking differently and we live in different times. Different people are in positons of power to vote on those changes. Not all of them think like you or I. Change will just happen, and I don't ask you to support it or like it, I ask that we go through the proper channels to enhance it, change it, debate its merrit, and/or to propose better ideas. Get involved! This is the important thing. For all the bashing that George Hopkins takes on this forum (and on RAMD) the truth is that he is not a dictator. He does not control 50.1 percent of the voting stock in DCI. He has ideas, he proposes them, sometimes on this forum which is kind of like suicide. But he is tough and honest, and I think he sometimes proposes these things on this group to get both the negatives and positives. Hey, why not use this forum. This is a great place to get a feel for what fans like and don't like.

So there is some contraversy in drum corps today, and, yet, there are many positives--just like the old days. Drum and Bugle corps has been changing since day one, and today is a reflection of that change. But I remain optomistic about its future with so many new faces and performance levels that seem to get better and better. Finally, many, many kudos to you DCI for the Regal Cinema telecast. This was one of the best ideas in many years and I hope this continues forever. What a great money maker this could become, but more importantly, what a great way for me to take students and friends to see the great activity called drum and bugle corps!!!

Can't wait for the summer of 2005!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[caviechef]

great job