Found this on my local listings:

DCI will broadcast Finals Wednesday night on ESPN2. Check for local details in your TV Guide.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

It would be interesting to hear comments from any alums who watch this show!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

The DCI form of shows is certainly entertaining, and I'd venture that it's becoming more so in the eyes of people that support it.

For me, it's just not Drum Corps as I knew it. I can't watch it the same way I used to, and it just doesn't carry the same level of excitement any more.

I wish they would acknowledge that this form is not the Drum Corps format from which it grew. They talk about how long the history of these corps goes back and I notice that there isn't ANY inclusion of ANYTHING that happened prior to DCI.

My opinion is that Drum Corps just doesn't exist any more. It's now DCI - Dance Corps International - and it will ultimately combine with the band format, signs of which we are already seeing.

So, I think it best to remember Drum Corps as it was, the way we knew it pre-DCI. Let those memories live and let DCI have its pageantry. Just keep them separate.

The DCI world is worthwhile. But it's not Drum Corps.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

I forgot it was on...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73, 78-79

I watched it. It was okay, but I get frustrated that they cut so much out; they only showed portions of each show. I really enjoyed the Blue Devils' show this year. Man, they rocked the place, especially the first five minutes or so. Unvelievable. I just went to DCI.org to see the scores, because my two favorite drum lines were Blue Devils and Blue Coats, and now I know why. I really liked what I saw of Phantom's drums as well. Uhh, can you tell I was a drummer?

Did anyone go to see quarter finals in a theater? I did, just outside of St. Louis. I drove about 45 minutes to get there, only to be greeted by a sold out sign. Not to be daunted, I promptly bought a ticket for The Simpsons Movie and walked right into the DCI theater and got the last available seat. I felt a little guilty when other people who had prepurchased tix came in after me and had to sit in the aisle, but I soon got over it. I even offered to give up my seat for a young lady, who didn't want it. They were playing the music pretty loud, too, but after a while they turned it down - I think because we were probably drowning out the theater next door. I brought my trusty Edirol R-09 digital recorder and recorded it, but I forgot to check my batteries and only got the first couple corps before it died.

I really hated the narration in Garfield's show. I couldn't get past it and I think it jaded my perspective.

Santa Clara's field show, I thought, was really excellent. I still marvel at how much the drums have to move now. Granted, the snares aren't on the leg, and the sling is a thing of the past at that level, but still... wow. AND playing technical material? That's what really amazed me about Blue Devils' drum line. Constantly moving, so much body movement. And -- and, and and -- I didn't even fully appreciate the complexity of the music until I went surfing sites last night and got videos of what they really were doing. Nothing short of phenominal, in my humble opinion. BTW, thank god for Vic Firth promo's, eh? Those are pretty cool; you can learn a lot for nada.

Carolina Crown's guard really caught my attention a lot, but I can't tell if it's just the outfits or what. Definitely cool stuff. OH,oh, oh - and how about the laser simulation the Blue Coats' guard did? Nice. Very nice.

The only thing I regret this year is not being able to see any live shows this year. Too many time conflicts for me. It doesn't help that no one else in my family really likes it like me. I'm on my second round of kids now, and now that I'm back closer to some good corps activity in IL, I'm thinking about seeing if my younger daughters would be into it. We'll see.

Okay, I broke subject out of subject matter, so it's time to go back to work.

There is no taking away from the talent the members have but it is not drum corps to me.

My only comment, after the telecast, was that the gypsies should be riding the horses, chasing the birds. . . . .Seriously, I thought that this program featured "musical athletes" not drum corps.

As far as the narration, no one that ever marched has to be told how this feels. . . .We have all felt that or we wouldn't have stayed in drum corps!

What did you do in the Corps? bass drum

What years were you a Corps member? '57-'62

If you missed it:

The 2007 DCI World Championships broadcast on ESPN2 will be rebroadcast on ESPN2, split into two one-hour episodes first on Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. Eastern time and then on Thursday, Sept. 27 also at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Set up those recorders!

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

I caught the last 45 minutes of the show. As in the past (including the last few PBS broadcasts) it spends too much time on talking heads and the off the field stuff. I'm tempted to send ESPN and ask them to provide a definition of "Splooie" next year. I believe they spent more time on the Cavalier's pre-performance activities than their actual field performance.

It was interesting that they had an interview with Steve Young (retired SF 49er quarterback) from the Palo Alto show. But it also shows the focus is not on the performances. The broadcast did better demonstrate the absurdity of the Cadet's narration than one gets from attending a contest. I didn't realize that corps members were actually wearing a microphone transmitter--when I saw the Cadet's show in Palo Alto I thought they were playing a tape.

I wonder if DCI has rules regarding someone jamming the Cadet's microphone frequency or broadcasting with a rogue microphone.

THAT would be fun!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73, 78-79

After watching the DCI broadcast, I think that it would be an absolute HOOT to broadcast an authorized comment.

BUT, I wouldn't want to do it DURING their show ... that actually would be disrespctrful to the corps members, who are really doing the best they can. Like booing the corps because you don't like the choices their staff makes. Bad form and uncivilized.

BUT, if you could do it AFTER their performance?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

I actually talked to a member of this year's Cadets last week (he teaches drums at a local high school, and I taught him in elementary school). He wasn't crazy about the narration either! Apparently Hopkins fell in love with the idea and was close to covering the entire musical show with talking, but the kids talked him out of it. From what this kid said, there wasn't so much of it at the beginning of the year, and he kind of enjoyed the novelty of it. But as the season went along, they kept adding more, and it became distracting even to the corps members. It will be interesting to see what Hopkins does with it next year.

By the way - DCI has enlarged corps size next year to 150 members. It will be interesting to see how each corps rations their membership now.

And - today's trivia question - can anyone tell me why the limit for DCI corps was originally set at 128?

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73, 78-79

I agree with John Anderson about the ESPN broadcast of DCI. Way too much time with interviews, talking heads and background. Terrible presentation of each corps program.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

128 is the amount of members that fit on three buses. But today's buses are larger, so it's an obsolete rule that was bound to change.




It's ashame you guys don't like modern drum corps. It's really good if you open your mind and not compare it to the stuff they used to call drum corps.

Jim Snyder wrote:

It's a shame you guys don't like modern drum corps. It's really good if you open your mind and not compare it to the stuff they used to call drum corps.
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answer: You like what YOU like and I like what I like.

I LIKE "the stuff they used to call drum corps". That is the "drum corps" that I like. Maybe my "mind is closed" and I live in the past. Too bad.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

I'm glad I have a new VCR tape to add into my rotation. I'm done. The only good thing was the commercial for the Marine. Truly military.

Jim Snyder wrote:

It's a shame you guys don't like modern drum corps. It's really good if you open your mind and not compare it to the stuff they used to call drum corps.

Answer: I watched the entire show in Palo Alto. With the exception of some of the Bluecoats charts and the Blue Devils music. It was boring.

If they played music that was entertaining, I wouldn't mind if they floated around like amoebas or added saxaphones and flutes in the corps. It's just boring.

Aside from the Blue Devils performance, the highlight of Palo Alto show for me was seeing the new Leland Stanford Junior University football stadium. Have to take in a Stanford football game sometime soon.

I mostly miss melodies. It's tough to walk out of the stadium whistling anything you just heard in the shows these days! And, as a DRUMMER, I'm offended by the lack of rudimental playing involved, which was the fundamental of the activity at its founding. I never paid much attention to the guards anyway, so they don't bother me so much (except when I try to imagine some of the guys when I was in the Cavaliers doing today's dance moves - that thought makes me lose sleep...). I'm also a musician (have a degree and everything!), so while I understand and appreciate the complexity of today's modern shows, it's just not entertaining!

Evolution isn't always for the best...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73, 78-79

I have to agree with Bob about the lack of rudimental drumming .. one of the "cores" of tradional drum corps. But, with the high speed and complex movements on the field now, "real" rudimental drumming would be near impossible.

And the tuning of the drums is horrid! No "bottom" sound, no real tone definition. They all sound like table tops!

Blue Devils seem to do a fairly good job with their drums though. Their prime drum solo this year was clever and well done.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963

I happened to watch DCI the other night on ESPN.

Cavaliers - You could almost make out the melodies of the Billy Joel music.

Cadets - Shut up a play. Yes the execution was fantastic, but just because you have amplification, doesn't mean you have to use it.

Blue Devils - I thought were great


Phantom - Thought they were great.

Santa Clara - Liked the V formation at the end. I thought the horn line was going to go into a bottle dance for a minute there.

I'm not trying to relive my past, but when I watch a show, I want to have something to relate to. And I just can't relate to it anymore. The shows are just too abstract or obscure for me to get into it.

Back in 1982, I thought Phantom pushed Drum Corps to the edge by doing Spartacus. I thought Cavaliers the Planets show in 1986 was innovative too. Then Star of Indiana pushed it over the cliff with their Disney show and Drum Corps was never the same.

Back in the 1990's when Cavaliers and Madison did their Pirate and Niagra falls shows, they totally lost me. I have been lost ever since.

But what really threw me was the Pioneer giving up the banana boat uniforms for the Celtic theme, and the Colts putting away the whole river boat thing.

Harpo, come back, we miss you.....

What did you do in the Corps? Cymbals, Bass Drum, Quads

What years were you a Corps member? 1980-1983

JIM EIDEN:

Your comments were very perceptive. The Phantom and Cavaliers shows you mentioned were good.

Bring back some sanity to drum corps.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-1963