D.C. Aye-Yie-Yie!

What a show! God I miss drum corps! I had a fantastic time on Monday night heading to Toledo with my sister and her boyfriend Christophe to see the DCI Summer Showcase. It was a GREAT mix of corps. Best part was that, being so late in the season, they were very polished (for the most part).

We got there just as the show was starting. After leaving Val & Christophe to park, I get my general admission ticket (to the tune of $20 ?!?!??!?!) and wander into the stadium. Not 10 feet in, I run into my friend Bob, who apparently came up with my old corpsmate Chris. At intermission got to wander the souvie booths and ran into several old friends and former students of mine and caught up. The evening was everything I had hoped it would be!

My thoughts on the corps...

Pioneer
Poor Pioneer. I say that with the utmost respect. They're the corps that never grew up. In some ways, I respect that. They were that last holdouts with G bugles, but they've never managed to make that leap to the "cool kids' table". They cling to their traditions, almost always playing a very loosely themed Irish show and never seem to be taken very seriously. As much as I pity their never-ending mediocrity, I admire their tenacity to hold onto the soul of drum corps. They sounded good (I didn't get to see how they marched, arriving a bit late) and scored in the respectable mid-70's.

As I ascended the bleachers and passed the director, Roman Blenski (and his signature hat), I was reminded of my own era of drum corps. As much as I bemoan the direction of drum corps these days, I do wish Pioneer would take a few reasonable steps toward modernizing their show so they could fulfill the dreams of so many bygone div. II corps and make the top 12 - for the honor and remembrance of Drum Corps Midwest and the lil' guy.

Pacific Crest
A fine corps with a good sound and a decent show. I had a hard time getting really sucked into it because their lack of upper body control was a big distraction. This led to them tiring quickly, phrases being dropped, timing suffering slightly at times, and a general lack of cohesion. It made me want to instruct again - DESPERATELY! That's the kind of stuff I'm great at fixing.

Their uniforms left something to be desired as well. All black with a dark teal triangle. This made the drill somewhat hard to read as they blended into the field too much. Black can be sharp and intimidating, but you need a bolder accent color to be able to see the drill clearly. Drumline had some sloppy moments and the guardwork wasn't particularly interesting or difficult, but it was a good show and (when they weren't sounding tired) was well in tune.

Academy
WOW! I hate weird shows I can't hum. I've been a judge and have a music ed background, but when I'm in the stands I'm Joe Schmoe who wants a familiar tune running through my head on the drive home. This show had none of that - and I LOVED it! My pretentious scholarly side must have won out for these guys. The brass book was SO exposed and they did it wonderfully. Foot technique was a bit inconsistent, but the balance, blend, and timing between the drumline, pit, and hornline were AMAZING (most of the time). Unfortunately, at this point in the season, credit for demand is tough to factor in. Ya got what ya got, and mistakes hurt the score. The tiniest of timing errors stuck out. There weren't many of them, but they became an elephant in the room (or on the field). BRAVO for tackling a show like this! Watch these guys! This show will KILL them in September!
...oh yea. You're done this week. Bummer.

Colts
Old school drum corps. I loved the show. Now if they had only practiced it more...
Colts have been rather stagnant for decades. Always entertaining and good enough to be considered one of the "big boys", but never a top 6 contender. So continues the tradition. Mild sloppiness and slightly frayed edges abound. Not quite to the point of distraction, but enough to keep them in their familiar place. Same old Colts. That's not meant to be disparaging. I LOVE the show, but they need some sort of Underdog-style "super energy pill" to boost them up just a notch or two to make the big time. After watching them for nearly 20 years, I really wish they'd stop treading water. I want to see them bring familiar music back in vogue, and it seems they may be our last, best hope to do so.

Madison Scouts
"Night of the Iguana" is a show title that both excited and scared me. Madison doing Latin jazz is usually a good thing, but something in the title spooked me. Madison had let me down a lot over the past few years and, like most of the drum corps community, I wanted to love them again. The new uniforms were interesting. A bit of the old school 60's flavor, but streamlined for the new millennium - a good design. They managed to win me back...mostly
The hornline is awesome - loud, characteristically a bit bright, and polished. The drumline is tight, intense, and energetic. The guard...well, not so much. They are the weakest link.

Okay, forgive me for the following:

They have a few guys in the guard that are - how shall I say this - a bit husky. Now, this isn't meant to criticize those members, but when I marched, you hardly ever saw a corps member - let alone a GUARD member - who was much overweight by the end of the season. You work too hard all summer to be ABLE to stay fat! The guard members in question did fine and kept up with the rest of the guard reasonably well, but therein lies the problem. I don't think the guard staff was working these kids enough. The mediochre execution and low-demand work are hints, but the fitness level of the members is the giveaway. My first season, I lost 55lbs, mostly on a 2 month tour! I didn't watch what I ate, I didn't put in any extra work than was asked of me, the staff just rehearsed my ass off (litterally) and we nearly won the title.

I must say, though, with those leather-style biker outfits with the buckles, all I could think of was "Weird Al's" Fat video. I know - pot calling the kettle... Anyway, when the staff goes soft, so do the kids.

Phantom Regiment

Clean, crisp, professional. The show is wonderfully designed, the guard is tight, the percussion is clean. The hornline is a bit inconsistent in tone color. The high brass is a bit too bright (especially for Phantom) to blend as well as they should with the low brass (which as always is wonderfully dark and rich). The character portrayal by ALL members is wonderfully believeable and projects well, at least for the stadium I was in. The musical choice and overall show style was so signature Phantom, I half expected a finale with gigantic 20 yard wide banners and The Wedge. It was Classic Phantom and I loved every minute of it - 'nuf said.

Glassmen

Those of you that have read my annual review of corps know that I try to like Glassmen every year. I always give them a fair shake, and they always dissapoint me. They're usually quite good from a performance standpoint, but the show isn't usually conducive to either grabbing the audience (or at least me) or showing off the strength and talent of the performers. At least , not enough.

I don't know who this corps was in the Glassmen outfits, but it wasn't the corps I've been politely enduring for 18 years. I LOVED This show. The arrangements were INCREDIBLY clever, mixing themes from "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", "Sabre Dance", "Hungarian Rhapsody #5", and a several other tunes that evoked images of a carnival to create a musical tapestry that was simply fun as a day on the Midway! The visual design was well-paced and the use of specific characters tastefully subdued. Design, to arrangement, to performance - the whole package was just...well...FUN!

It took them 18 years, but Glassmen finally has a show that I just can't help but enjoy. Bravo!

Sadly, this year I won't be seeing the big screen event, so I'll miss out on a lot of great corps. Still, having not been to a live show in at least 5 years, I think it was a good trade off. You're not subjected to some cameraman or TV director's idea of what's important. You can focus on what YOU want to see. Plus, there's something about having a live brass line blow you back a few feet that sends tingles up my spine just thinking about it.

Next time, I gotta remember to have money for the souvie stands.

"The Final Countdown!"

I apologize to my non-MySpace friends who have been without my whimsical ponderings for the past couple of weeks. With the new job looming, I've kept any job-related blogs confined to my MySpace blog (grudgingly) because I can lock it down to "friends only". Some of the stuff I tend to post regarding my current place of business, can be construed as - how shall I put it - somewhat unprofessional, hence me desire to leave there. My new place of business (which I have the utmost respect for, given the initial impressions I've gotten) is pretty tech-savvy and might have occasion to read it. Not a wise move to post any grievances regarding your employer for all to see, even if they are your soon-to-be-ex-employer.

Anyway, if you want those blogs, let me know or add me on MySpace. If I can trust that you or my blatherings won't leak to relevant parties and compromise my or my new employer's professional integrity, I may consider sharing my stories and news about my soon-to-be-former employment. As for anything about my new job, I'll be keeping a pretty tight lid on that. It's a very professional place and I don't want to do anything to screw up my new opportunity.

Anyway, on to personal (and safer) topics...

Last night I went with my buddy Chris Rohn and his wife to see the DCI countdown show on the Big Screen. I was going to boycott this one, due to my disfavorable attitude towards the direction DCI has been taking the last 10 years or so, but with a good friend along for the ride, it was worth bending my principles a bit for the social aspect of it.

It was a decent compliation of the top 6 shows of the past 3 years of DCI Finals, as voted on by the fans at DCI.org. I can't say I agreed with the fans' choices entirely (my brain still hurts whenever I see a Cadets show from the past decade or so), but aside from that, it was fun. I still have no idea how Carolina Crown was able to produce so many IMPECCABLY in-tune chords in one show!

There were FAR fewer attendees than most of the DCI events I've been to. Probably due to the limited scope of the event (the past 3 years tends to exclude old-school drum corps afficianados and all but the die-hard drum corps fans) and the increased access to the event at other locations.

Also, the audio was a bit screwed up at the Walled Lake location. At first, it was tinny and soft, but after Chris complained, they cranked up the volume a bit. Still, even after that, the theater only produced the right channel. Chris and I complained to the manager, who was superficially appologetic, but unwilling to offer any kind of reimbursement to resolve the situation.

Meh - lots of other theaters showing the DCI events these days. I've been going to this theater for every DCI Big Screen event I have attended so far - mostly because it was the only one showing it at first. Now that other local theaters have joined the bandwagon (pun sort of intended), I'll just go to the Livonia location from now on. A bit closer to me and hopefully without the apathetic management and better facilities.

I pick up my freshly restored laptop from my friend Chris DeLaney later today. The guy's the network administrator for a local school district and a techno-whiz. He was able not only to wipe my laptop down and re-install XP (not an easy thing, given the Frankenstein nature of Compaq's innards), but he was able to save all my files and charged me a pittance for the work! The guy's a genius and a saint.

Anyway, only about 23,000 seconds to go here! I wonder what fate has in store for me! Could I possibly be blessed yet again? Will I just resume to even-keel? Could I be due for and audit by the Universal Forces of Karmic Balance?

I'll be vigilent, but right now, I'm gonna soak up all the happiness I can and wallow in gratitude for the past week, sure to be regarded as the best week of the year...

...Then again, I have a new job starting up next week. Could even BETTER times lie ahead?

And Now For Something Completely Different...

I could write a blog venting about all the shit that's hit the fan this week, but that's wholly depressing and boring to read, so instead, I'll give my opinion on the recent rule changes for the 2009 season recently proposed by DCI and my thoughts on the activity (in regards to DCI) as a whole.

Suffice it to say, I am not a fan of the direction DCI is taking drum & bugle corps. Here is the letter I wrote to DCI:

For what it's worth (very little, if the current direction of the activity is any indicator), I would like to state my wholehearted disapproval of the recent rule changes put into effect for the 2009 competitive season.

There is a fine line between innovating and re-inventing an activity, and DCI has been treading further and further past this line each year. I was a member of a DCI level Div II in the early 90's and saw the furor created by the addition of a 3rd valve. "Old School" corps veterans insisted that it changed the sound, made corps too easy, etc., and I tended to ignore them. I was simply pleased that we were now able to play more notes and have a fuller, richer texture to chords. Similar arguments were raised, I'm sure, with the the addition of the 2nd valve, rotors, and of course, the addition of the pit percussion.

Now, however, it seems as though DCI has been instituting rules to make drum corps more of an art form than an experience. Gone are the days of spine-tingling, bright, in-you-face shows, filled with pageantry and excitement.

The rule changes being approved by the Board of Directors over the past several years seem solely for the benefit of making the "artist's" visions become reality more easily by removing all possible obstacles including changing instrumentation to fit more standardized, mass-marketed equipment that the sponsors already produce. In other words, the recent rule changes seem geared solely to the designers and instrument manufacturers, not the participants or the fans.

I was opposed to the move to Bb horns. This was touted as a benefit to the smaller corps, as they would now be able to buy inexpensive, standard horns, rather than more expensive G bugles. Yet for the first several years, only open class corps were allowed to use them, thus setting a standard that required most smaller corps to go to the great expense and time to completely replace their existing horn lines in order to be taken seriously. This conveniently created a demand for the manufacturers to only produce their higher profit margin, mass-produced instruments already in production, rather than have to make a smaller profit on the more custom made G bugles.

I still resent the move to Bb bugles. It's a different (though yes, arguably more concert-like) sound than the activity has established, but it's not Drum & Bugle Corps. The addition of amplified voice, electronic synthesizers, and (as I see coming) woodwind instruments makes this an entirely different activity.

If DCI wishes to continue down this road to becoming a summer BOA program, by all means, create one, but I have had enough of DCI preaching that it is trying to preserve this great activity in the cloak of "evolution". DCI has stopped evolving and has gone to recreation at the expense of what was once a great and exciting activity to watch and perform.

I, for one, will be taking my ticket money to DCA from now on. A bit mired in the past, perhaps, but infinitely better than what has transpired in DCI. DCA may be slow to "evolve" at times, but they at least have a sense of what their supporters and fans want, as opposed to the corporate, self-involved, and pretentious interests guiding DCI's recent decisions. DCA is still DRUM & BUGLE CORPS.

If you want to mess with format and structure, create a new genre. Make a "Field Show" class. Maybe even combine a few contests to gain crossover fans. Grab the favorite brass quintet of your choice and take it on the road. It's proven successful and audiences will go to see it (including myself). But if you want to call it Drum & Bugle Corps, keep the standards and practices that make it so. It's not drum and synth and woodwind and guitar and voice corps - it's DRUM & BUGLE CORPS.

Call me a Spartacus wanna-be, but until DCI comes to it's senses, I will be boycotting all DCI events (along with most of my fellow disgruntled corps veterans) and spending my ticket, souvenir, and concession money at DCA shows.

Sincerely,
Paul D. Keiser
Northern Aurora Drum & Bugle Corps
Baritone 1990-1994

DCI: Apocalypse or Resurrection? A rant…

I went to see the Cinecast of the Drum Corps International Quarterfinals show last Thursday night. Rather than give my impressions of the corps, I must cover the discussion being held by every drum corps fan throughout the country relating to the most controversial part of the evening: George Hopkins's whiney tirade.

George Hopkins is the Devil incarnate.

There. I said it.

How the HELL they fit his head into that stadium, I'll never know. For those of you that missed it, the Cadets were about to take the field. "Hoppy" stops them as they're setting up and DEMANDS that the field be re-lined. He then proceeds to march them OFF the field. They had just relined it at the intermission about 4 corps prior, but he, being the know-it-all egomaniacal ass that he is, decided to stop the evening and put everyone on hold for them to re-line the field for HIS corps. The boos reverberated from Pasadena to every theater showing the Cinecast throughout the country.

George Hopkins has been systematically undermining the drum corps activity for the last 15 years or so. He has been the one leading the charge for "innovations" like moving to Bb bugles, allowing electronic amplification of the pit percussion and voice, and has even been pushing to allow woodwinds and other band instruments on the field. Through his domination of Youth Education in the Arts (YEA, who operates both the Crossmen and Cadets drum corps), he has managed to strong-arm many of his proposals into the DCI rulebook, all in the name of "progress".

Beginning in 1993 with Star of Indiana's infamous Medea show, it began to look like Hoppy's dream would come true: to turn drum corps into an "artform". Pop, jazz and showtunes gave way to esoteric minimalism, bizarre props, and obscure classical pieces and contemporary original composition that bore NO resemblance to the goose bump-raising electricity the corps of days past would generate. Rather than fans exiting the stadiums humming tunes from corps performances, they would leave with '?' hovering over their heads.

Most corps for the past 10 years or so seemed to try this route at least once (with a few blessed exceptions like Bluecoats). Thankfully, there seems to be a backlash now and many corps seem to be going back to toe-tapping, hummable melodies and accessible music the majority of the audience can enjoy. A balance is being struck in the battle of art vs. entertainment and "old school drum corps" vs. "progressive drum corps", no thanks to George Hopkins.

A few of my thoughts on Hoppy's "progressive" ideas.

Drum corps is entertainment, pageantry, not art. Art makes you think. I don't want to think when I'm watching drum corps. I want to be struck with raw emotion and amazement. I don't go to fireworks to contemplate the dichotomy of good and evil, either.

Drum corps shows should not need a libretto or narration. The human voice is neither a drum, nor a bugle. A neat effect when the full corps sings something – on occasion – not a pivotal focal point of your damned show. If I want thought provoking themes, I'll go to the opera.

If you need a generator, power chord, or batteries to perform your show, grab the famous brass ensemble of your choice and go perform it on stage.

'G' bugles vs. 'Bb' bugles. I've softened on this issue – mostly because the fight is lost anyway. Bb horns have a completely different sound, and yes, a better sound. I don't care. It's not a "drum corps" sound. I wouldn't be so bitter if it wasn't rammed through under such bullshit pretenses. It was supposed to help smaller corps by making it possible for kids to bring their own horns and make purchasing instruments cheaper. Yet, they weren't even ALLOWED in div II/III the first 2 years! The only corps that were allowed Bb horns were the ones who got whole lines sponsored by Yamaha and other manufacturers. Meanwhile, smaller corps had to completely replace their horn lines, at great expense, in order to keep up and be taken seriously. Follow the money. Political bullshit.

Bravo for exposing your kids to different music, but you're performing for the audience, not the fucking judges and your overeducated, pretentious music colleagues. We outnumber them and pay for the damned ticket. Teach your kids performance technique, theory, and maybe even a little music history, but leave the broadening of their musical horizons to the school music programs. I didn't pay $20 and drive 100 miles to hear music I would turn off if I heard it on the radio.

WOODWINDS ARE FOR BANDS, NOT DRUM AND BUGLE CORPS!

I'm a purist. I have no problem with progress, but redefining a genre is different. That's not progress, that's replacement. George Hopkins, if you want a new idiom, start your own damned circuit. Drum Corps International is for DRUM CORPS.

Okay, this rant isn't as eloquent and certainly not as in-depth as I'd like it to be, but I could go on for days.

Coming up next: Seasonal unemployment and missed opportunities

DCI Quarterfinals: A Recap... (Repost from MySapce)

For all of my drum corps friends out there who couldn't afford to go to Madison or get to the theater telecast, here's a taste of what you missed from what I saw of the telecast...

DISCLAIMER:

Everyone's a bit of a purist to their era - myself, doubly so. The opinions expressed herein are those of me as a fan - and a stubborn, closed-mined one at that. I'm also, obviously, a bit Brasso-centic. Take it for what it's worth and feel free to disagree. I recognize my shortcomings as a fan. :)

Southwind - Missed 'em (had to get the kids fed before leaving them with the sitter)

Capitol Regiment - Nice show! Understandable, fluid, and a decent sound to boot! They'll continue to climb slowly up the DCI ladder.

Blue Stars - Back in the top 12 within 3-5 years, easily. A great corps with a long, proud tradition - worth supporting! Simple Gifts is always a great theme and fun to play with.

Crossmen - I hate the new electronics in the activity. I hated them when they crept into marching band, and DESPISE it in drum corps. However, Crossmen used it in a fun, kitschy way. A fun show to watch. "My Hump"! ROTFLMFAO!!!! Had hints of VK, and those that know me KNOW how that affects me! Stomping my Red Chucks with laughter!

Colts - Sadly, creeping back to their "yardstick of mediocrity" role, but a solid, relatively "old school" flavor. I enjoyed it as a show. They step up their technique a bit, they could have gone father.

Spirit - Nice, bright sound! Fairly benign show, but again, fun to watch and easy to relate to. Clever arranging (old man river/old black magic), if a bit lacking in 'oomph'.

Glassmen - (sigh) Okay, my apologies to all the Glassmen alums here. Every year, I give them a chance. "Maybe this will be the year I like them," I say. Every year, I politely applaud for the kids working their butts off (as I do for every corps), but feel like I've been talked down to by an art critic. Moment of brilliance: the closer, as Beethoven went deaf. Heart wrenching, yes, but hardly makes up for butchering his work for the past 7 minutes. Only other time I liked them was when they did "Just A Gigolo" at retreats.

Madison Scouts - Again, my apologies to the Mad Alumns. I liked the new unis. Simple, with a touch of flash, and very Madison. I only wish the sound were the same. When did Madison become Cavis wannabes?! No in-your-face, "this is drum corps - deal with it!" sound. A few sparkles of the old, cooler Mad Scouts in the sop solos, but largely a Cavies wannabe show, but lacking the compelling visuals, flowing design concept, and impeccable technique. My suggestion - get back to your roots, boys.

Boston Cusaders - Good. Nice. Liked it. Not stellar, but nice. Though, that one out-of-place half-archway bugged me the entire closer.

Blue Knights - Skipped 'em for a smoke. I NEVER liked Blue Knights - not even when they did Star Trek music, and I'm a HUGE Trekkie! Inconsiderate? Perhaps. Sorry.

Carolina Crown - Alright Northern Aurora alumni, remember when we used to BEAT these Mo-fos (and Glassmen and Bluecoats, for that matter)?! Good show. Nothing remarkable I immediately recall.

Santa Clara - Interesting concept. Looks exhausting as hell to perform. I enjoyed it, but was a bit befuddled at times. I want Mr. Moto's gig, man!

Bluecoats -Ah, the Bluecoats. You can always trust them to be themselves and not be ashamed of it. My new favorite corps. Lush, full chords, groovin' rhythm, a toe-tappin' good time! Yea, dirty, I know, but it almost gave it an authenticity. 'Course, that could be a biased spin from someone who was looking forward to the show and has lots of Coats friends.

Cadets - Um.... Uh.... WTF!? Sorry, Hoppy. I'll NEVER be okay with DCI becoming what BOA has become - even if your daughter's cute. To many distractions and not enough opportunity to show off how talented the horn line is! Yea, they can do short punches cleanly, but what about full, rich chords? Can they play in tune? Relies too much on characters, electronics, and props. Reminds me of Plymouth's Kiss of the Spiderwoman show a few years back - in every bad way.

Phantom Regiment - CLASSY! Nice dark, 'Phantom' sound. Biebel 'Ave Maria' brought the first set of chills I had all night. $10 says they pull out the wedge on finals night just before the final chevron. Back to basics did them good - take a lesson, Scouts!

Blue Devils - a GREAT choice of theme! Godfather Love Theme lends VERY well to the medium! Clean, powerful, not quite as jazzy as I would have liked from Devs, but a fantastic show. Almost reminded me of SCV shows of the late 80's-early 90's era like Fiddler, Ms. Saigon, and Phantom.

Cavies - Nothing can stop these guys. Toned back the innovative drill a notch (what were they gonna do next, jet-paks for 3-d drill?), but kept it right up there. They always keep me riveted (riveted - machine - get it!?). Okay, sorry 'bout that... Clean, compelling, and right where you'd expect them. Oddly enough, the most successful innovator as far as the activity goes, and yet the oldest unis out there (Cadets don't count anymore - 2-sided...huh?!). The Borg-meets-Tron-like guard unis were surprisingly effective, if a bit over-designed.

Overall impression:

There seems to be a battle over whether the activity should move forward and cater to the artsy-fartsy crowd of pretentious designers, or pull back a bit and get back to their roots and their fan base. I am, obviously, a fan of the latter. It's good that there is an actual battle over this now, as opposed to the seemingly activity-wide movement to pretention there was a few years back. I appreciate the balance it creates, the discussion it provokes, and the way it draws ALL the butts back to the seats. I hope it stays this way.

It was my understanding that the move to Bb horns was to darken the sound and make it more concert-like, and make it less expensive for smaller corps to get horns (G's being custom-made for corps and a bit more expensive), yet the corps that seem to fight for Bb the most seem to be the ones using the horns the most percussively and had the money to buy entire new lines ever couple years! Sorry, deep-seeded and old pet peeve of mine.

Okay - retorts?

Paul Keiser
Northern Aurora Bari - 90-94