Yes, a number of early DCI shows use a smaller judge panel, with a different scoring system. There are only 5 judges ...each with 20 points. While the spread is still 40 for GE and 60 for performance, the different evaluation rules will make a difference.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

As John Anderson said on another post: Based on the results of first couple of weeks of DCI seems that Cavaliers need to do more than ban cell phones. Madison beat them the other night. DCI rankings have them 9th and falling.
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Yes, it is always good to see the Cavaliers in 9th place.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Speaking of the DCI 'rankings' (which are based on the average scores for the recent week): 6/25-7/01

Rank/ Corps/ Avg. Score/ Rank Change*

1 Blue Devils 77.650 +1
2 The Cadets 76.320 +1
3 Carolina Crown 76.225 -2
4 Phantom Regiment 75.433 0
5 Santa Clara 73.900 +3
6 Bluecoats 73.450 -1
7 Madison Scouts 72.600 -1
8 Boston Crusaders 71.767 +1
9 The Cavaliers 71.200 -2
10 Spirit of Atlanta 69.633 0
11 Blue Stars 68.033 0
12 Blue Knights 67.900 +1

Read more: http://www.dci.org/scores/rankings/#ixzz1zOooRuiY
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

The Blue Devils are the first corps to break 80. All the corps are improving except the Cavaliers.

Looks like the Cavaliers are now the fourth ranked corps from the midwest with the Blue Coats, Phantom and Madison ranked higher. Blue Stars are close behind them. Nice to see Madison improving. Maybe they'll make the DCI elite eight. As Dave says, it is always nice to see the Cavaliers out of contention.

I think next weekend most of the corps end up in Denver with everyone in Minnesota the following weekend. Seems like it might be same as the last couple of years with Blue Devils, Cadets and Carolina. Although the top three are the same there are some interesting differences in the corps just below them.

John is correct about the Blue Devils being the first corps to break 80. However, that was in one of the few contests using a 'normal' judging system (8 judges). Most of the other shows held to date have used just 5 judges .. with a different mix each time. The score impacts will be different as a result.

The first 'big' show of all corps (July 14 in Minneapolis, I believe) will be VERY interesting.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

I don't know about the scoring system, but after seeing who one of the judges was in Orlando, I certainly question their qualifications!

By the way, Aloha! I'm writing this by the pool in Waikiki Beach!

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

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

1. It seems that the scoring plan they are using for their early shows focuses on PROGRAM, not PERFORMANCE. Look at the recaps. Probably the corps want the judges to focus on evaluating their programs, giving the members time to 'clean it up'.

2. The Cavaliers are consistently 1-2 points behind the leaders in each of the program evaluation captions, and just slightly behind in performance.

3. Not sure about judge qualifications or testing procedures anymore. Is there a training and evaluation program? It seems that new names just appear out of nowhere.

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

A number of interesting DCI shows in the midwest this week .. Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan .. as the corps pass through on their way to the first BIG DCI show of the year in Minneapolis.

The Minneapolis show is a 'preview of Nationals', since all the corps will be there. (This happens again later in Texas and Atlanta.)

26 corps in total, about 7 ½ hours. YIKES! That is a lot of drum corps.
Ticket prices are $30 (‘end zones’) - $60 (mid-field, top). Parking and additional fees also apply.

You have to really like drum corps to pay those prices and sit through a show like this. :)

DCI MINNEAPOLIS 7/14

Show Site TCF Bank Stadium 2009 University Avenue SE Minneapolis, MN 55455
1:30pm Blue Saints
1:47pm Racine Scouts
2:04pm Colt Cadets
2:21pm Legends
2:38pm Music City
2:55pm Govenaires
3:12pm Cascades
3:29pm Teal Sound
3:46pm Crossmen
4:03pm Colts
4:20pm The Academy
4:37pm Troopers
4:54pm Glassmen
5:11pm Intermission
6:00pm Spirit of Atlanta
6:17pm Blue Stars
6:34pm Madison Scouts
6:51pm Blue Knights
7:08pm Boston Crusaders
7:25pm Bluecoats
7:42pm Intermission
7:59pm Santa Clara Vanguard
8:16pm Phantom Regiment
8:33pm Carolina Crown
8:50pm The Cavaliers
9:07pm Blue Devils
9:24pm The Cadets
9:41pm Minnesota Brass
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

For a time, the Cavaliers were sinking every week .. and seemed to be in danger of dropping out of the 'top 12'. But, they seem to have recovered a bit in the last week .. now only about 6 or 7 points behind the leaders.

The results from Minneapolis will be interesting. Might see some corps doing extensive program changes if they fail to place well.
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer; quartermaster 1964-66; asst. drum instr. 1964-70

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

The only surprise I see in these scores from Saturday is the Cavaliers a place or two higher than I would have thought, over both Madison and Spirit. It's still early, and Devs and Crown are tight - should be an interesting summer. I might actually go see quarter finals at the movies for the first time in a long time.

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

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

John Anderson posted some interesting comments about 2012 on another thread:

Last time I liked the Phantom Regiment was 1976 in Philadelphia--American in Paris.

I've never seen Carolina live but from what I've seen on the DCI site videos they remind me of Star of Indiana. That would be another hot dog stand visit.

Frankly, it's so bad that I only go to shows to see the Blue Devils and visiting corps from east of the Sierra Nevadas--hoping one of them will be entertaining. Only time that's happened recently was 2011 when the Cadet's did their Angels and Demons show.

I think my wife has the best idea, she took her Kindle to the last DCI show so she has something to do instead of being bored my most of the corps performances.

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Ha! I agree about the Kindle. Ruth would do that too

I'd say that the very esoteric 'theme' shows are what dismays me the most. Operatic/ classical/ 'original' music. Then; dancing, costumes, props, electronics. The percussion 'pits' (which really ARE the pits.)

In addition, drum corps is now practically a private fraternity for college kids looking at music education ... who else can afford this in terms of $$ and time?

Not sure how this helps local communities either. But then, they really don't want to.

End of rant!

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What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 1963

I don't have a problem with the theme shows themselves so much - I actually did them when I was a band director. But I think Jim Fetty put his finger on it in another post. They chop up the music so much, either for the visual aspect of the show or for copyright issues, that you can't really understand what they're playing. It never really mattered to me if I actually "recognized" it, because a good melody is appealing whether you've heard it before or not (you have to hear it for the first time somewhere!). But melody left the drum corps scene long ago, with rare exceptions (Cadets this year, and some parts of Crown's show).

And John is right about Carolina being similar to Star of Indiana. I had the exact thought in Orlando.

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

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

Tonight's DCI rankings had Cavaliers in tenth with Spirit of Atlanta moving ahead of them. The rankings are based on average scores over the past week.

This is primarily because the Cavaliers haven't competed since Saturday in San Antonio and the other corps have improved their scores. They tied with Boston for 8th with Atlanta behind them. Expect they are franically trying to improve their show so they can at least make the elite 8 in Indianapolis.

The Blue Devils and Carolina go up against each other this Friday and Saturday. Looks like at two corps race with the Blue Devils seemingly able to keep a one point gap. Rockford seems to have jumped ahead of the Cadets.

You can improve your show during the season if it's good to start with. The problem the Cavaliers have is that the show isn't good to start with, so improving it becomes much more difficult. 10th would be the Cavaliers worst finish since 1982 (11th).

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

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

Sounds like the Cavaliers are desperately putting lipstick on their pig!
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958 - 1963

Have only seen Blue Devils and Santa Clara live. Based on what I saw of Santa Clara any corps below them must be pretty mediocre. I think they are in 5th in the rankings so to me that doesn't say much for Bluecoats, Madison, and Boston as well as the Cavaliers.

From discussions I've seen it seems this is a mediocre year. Blue Devils show isn't as good as what they and the Cadets did last year.

I hate to see Blue Devils pulling further ahead of Crown as the weeks go by. I don't have anything against Blue Devils - just tired of seeing the same three corps win every year! As old as it must have been for the decade of the 60s seeing the Cavaliers win all the time, imagine the same three corps winning 30 out of 40 championships since 1972!

Everybody is together in Atlanta tonight, so we'll see where they are two weeks before nationals. If Spirit can't beat the Cavaliers in their hometown, they probably aren't going to beat them this year.

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

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

Is Atlanta REALLY the 'home town' for Spirit? I mean ..NOBODY really has a 'hometown' anymore. The members come from everywhere and audition .. march for a year and are GONE.

The Cavaliers are from Rosemont? Ha. That is just where their office is. Ditto with Phantom, Madison, Boston, etc.
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What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Blue Devils hold onto the top spot in Atlanta, but several other changes. Cadets back on top of Phantom (and winning drums); Boston over Cavaliers, but Cavaliers ahead of both Madison and Spirit. The top 12 seems set (Crossmen can't quite get in), but the order could still change. And Crown was a little closer to first last night.

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

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

Yes, BD are staying on top. It is interesting to watch the rate of score improvement .. all the top 6 improved at least 3 points over last week (except Carolina, who improved 2 points).

Boston improved 5 points and, amazingly, the Cavaliers improved 4.5 points! (That lipstick is working!)

I'd agree that the top 12 is probably set. The order of top two may still be in doubt ... but they will be the top two.

The rest of the top 6 might be a surprise.
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The margin between the Blue Devils and Carolina stays about a point. I'd be surprised if the gap closes. Don't really want to see the re-incarnation of Star of Indiana win a title.

Looked at the recap and Carolina was 7th in drum music caption.

Still pulling for Boston and Madison to knock the Cavaliers out of the elite 8.

John said: Don't really want to see the re-incarnation of Star of Indiana win a title.
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DB: Star of Indiana .. now THAT was one strange drum corps. They started a lot of bad trends .. including the use of silly props.
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John also said:

Still pulling for Boston and Madison to knock the Cavaliers out of the elite 8.
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DB: Might not be Madison, but probably will be Boston.

Except that the night after Atlanta, Cavaliers were back on top of Boston. Hard to figure right now. And Crown was only .2 under Devs that night.

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

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

well, there was a time (in the distant past) when drum corps would have an 'off night' in performance and actually see their scores DROP. (and the reverse)

That seems to NOT be the case now .. at least not very often. You see the same corps with the same scores, show after show. Same spread. If a corps makes changes in its show, there can be a score change .. but they ALL do that too.

Amazing.

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