Questions about the 2002 Scouts

[notelvis]

I'm sorry you missed the sarcasm in my post. I just wonder what kind of shows we would be seeing if directors bought into Stewart's theory of what drum corps should be instead of the current theory.

I think it would look a lot like DCA!

[notelvis]

I think Madison 2002 is just one of those shows that I love listening to on CD, and hate watching.

~>conner

Yeah.........you've pretty much hit the nail on the head here Connor.

It was pretty clear to most folks on the road by the first week of August 2002 that an era was winding down at Madison. I saw the 2002 Scouts perform at least 20 times and liked that show a great deal.....at least in terms of how the horn line played.

Was it one of the best Madison Scouts shows? No. Did it deserve to be in finals? I can honestly say no to that as well. The visual program was not up to par and the corps was, as has been written here, pretty dirty.

None of this means that the show wasn't worth the effort to watch or hear. It was more entertaining than a number of the corps who were comfortably in finals that year.

David

[drochau]

<----BIASED

Drumline wasn't bad that year either.

NOTES!! ^0^

[ScoutsCaviesfan]

Mr. Rochau, I really enjoyed the 2004 shows at Menomonie, WI and Madison, well done!!

[hboyce]

I watched the 2002 Semifinals performance live. It was like they didn't care. I had first seen them live the year before and was perplexed that it could be the same corps.

[oldtimedrummer]

IMO, Madison's show in 02 was like a piece of Swiss cheese, full of holes. Their visual package and guard were not good, not to mention the dirt in the rest of the corps. How can you run a top notch TOURING corps without a cooktruck? Scott Stewart did a lot of great things, but, IMO, a change had to be made. Thank goodness for Sal Salas (DCI Director of the year) and his talented team. IMO, it's just a matter of time before Sal &Co. have the Scouts back at the top.

[glory]

No cooktruck? Is that so? Was that the case before 2002 too? What did they do?

HH

[madalumni]

No cooktruck? Is that so? Was that the case before 2002 too? What did they do?

HH

I think 2002 was the only year they didn't have one. And from what

I remember, I think it was due to a break down. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Anyway, we definately had a full fleet when I marched. But admitedly, what they

had was in serious need of repair/replacement. What they have now is a huge improvement

and well worth the financial resources!

[notelvis]

I think 2002 was the only year they didn't have one. And from what

I remember, I think it was due to a break down. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

Anyway, we definately had a full fleet when I marched. But admitedly, what they

had was in serious need of repair/replacement. What they have now is a huge improvement

and well worth the financial resources!

This is a matter of semantics.

Did the Scouts have a kitchen in a semi-trailer in 2002? No. They did not nor had they ever had a kitchen in a semi-trailer before 2003 when they bought a third hand kitchen truck which had been used previously by both the Colts and Emerald Knights/Nite Express.

The Scouts did, however, have a truck about the size of a Ryder truck pulling a trailer. This vehicle was outfitted with bunks to sleep a number of cooks, carry a refrigeration unit and freezer. This cook truck and pantry (the trailer) was on tour in 2002 and the corps did not miss any meals. (although a couple were delayed due to bus problems on the long trip home from California.) Scott Stewart generally did his best to secure housing in schools where the cooks could use the kitchen and the corps could eat inside at tables...something the Scouts were still getting more often than not as recently as 2002.

The biggest issue with this smaller truck was that virtually any volunteer could drive it (albeit some were better than others) and that was one less Commercial Drivers License holder that the corps needed to move from point A to Z on tour. And face it, getting enough drivers with CDL's to cover a corps for it's entire tour is getting more and more difficult. I've maintaned a CDL because I enjoy volunteering to drive corps buses. Most people with CDL's have them to earn their livelihood and they can always earn more money driving a truck or driving for a charter bus company than they can for a drum corps.

Back on-topic though, in this modern era housing with use of the kitchen is hard to secure and rarely worth the extra hassle. Corps do need the added flexibility of carrying their own self-contained kitchen. Beyond this, there is a certain degree of status too. I imagine that the Scouts would have needed to move up to a full-blown kitchen truck within a season or two whether there had been a change of director or not.

David

[Scerpella]

This is a matter of semantics.

Did the Scouts have a kitchen in a semi-trailer in 2002? No. They did not nor had they ever had a kitchen in a semi-trailer before 2003 when they bought a third hand kitchen truck which had been used previously by both the Colts and Emerald Knights/Nite Express.

The Scouts did, however, have a truck about the size of a Ryder truck pulling a trailer. This vehicle was outfitted with bunks to sleep a number of cooks, carry a refrigeration unit and freezer. This cook truck and pantry (the trailer) was on tour in 2002 and the corps did not miss any meals. (although a couple were delayed due to bus problems on the long trip home from California.) Scott Stewart generally did his best to secure housing in schools where the cooks could use the kitchen and the corps could eat inside at tables...something the Scouts were still getting more often than not as recently as 2002.

The biggest issue with this smaller truck was that virtually any volunteer could drive it (albeit some were better than others) and that was one less Commercial Drivers License holder that the corps needed to move from point A to Z on tour. And face it, getting enough drivers with CDL's to cover a corps for it's entire tour is getting more and more difficult. I've maintaned a CDL because I enjoy volunteering to drive corps buses. Most people with CDL's have them to earn their livelihood and they can always earn more money driving a truck or driving for a charter bus company than they can for a drum corps.

Back on-topic though, in this modern era housing with use of the kitchen is hard to secure and rarely worth the extra hassle. Corps do need the added flexibility of carrying their own self-contained kitchen. Beyond this, there is a certain degree of status too. I imagine that the Scouts would have needed to move up to a full-blown kitchen truck within a season or two whether there had been a change of director or not.

David

Some of you folks are not seriously saying that a lack of a proper cook truck did Madison in in 2002?? There was no cook truck for Madison when I marched 77-78, nor any other corps except SCV's "Miss Amana". For many years after that situation remained the same. I couldnt tell you exactly when it happened but my understanding that drum corps carrying around their own food production staffs with them is a relatively recent development (last 10-15 years?) And is a pretty good indicator of one of the reasons there are so many fewer corps nowadays.

To Orpheus: With respect to the "Evil DCI conspiracy theory" against Madison, what you have taken is a correct and demonstrable proposition, which is that Madison's competition philisophy diverged from DCI's in the late 90's, skewing heavily in favor of shows that were more frankly exciting for the paying customers and for it they were penalized, and characterized it as some kook fringe fantasy.

Did the performance level decline? Yes. Were they top six caliber? No. (in 2002 probably not even top 12) Were they almost consistently the crowds favorites for much of the 90s? Absolutely. Were they one of the only reasons many people paid their money and attended DCI shows which were starting to become esoteric and unfathomable? Absolutely. Has DCI "seen the light" and started to reward shows with more excitement and appeal and accessibility? (And no Im not talking about "WOW! look at the straight line" type of appeal some of you have) Absolutely.

So I would say not only is it true that much of Madisons decline (not all of course) had to do with philosophical differences, but that the rest of the activity has for whatever reason swung back to the direction of Scouts way of thinking.

All I can say is Thank God for Scott Stewart and Madison Scouts. Without them drum corps would be a very different thing today.

Edited October 8, 2005 by dans24103