Drum Corps International 2012

Any band geeks around? Had a great time at the championship finals in Indianapolis. Loved seeing some of my favorite corps perform (though they didn't place as high as I'd hoped). The most overwhelming audience response was for the Madison Scouts, who placed 9th. I think their show just really touched the nostalgic heart of long-term DCI devotees. My favorite shows were Carolina Crown, Phantom Regiment and Madison Scouts. Cavaliers were good, but no real wow factor. Still, I think they should have placed higher than 8th. HATED HATED HATED the Cadets show. The Christmas theme was odd, but I was actually with them (musically, at least) until they took it to the religious level with the Christian symbology. It took me right out of the show and reminded me that this would never be considered acceptable with any other religion in the US. By the end, I was just angry.

I haven't followed DCI in a few years, but when did they start allowing electric keyboards and pre-recorded material? It was very distracting and really seemed to be the antithesis of what the competition is all about. Luckily, not everyone utilized these new trends, but I was a bit shocked to see it was even allowed.

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Most of the pre-recorded material seemed to be for "pre-show" as the corps would set up on the field, but sometimes, it was spoken word material or some odd vocals. They keyboards just confound me. They are neither percussion, brass, nor color guard. WTF?

It was a bit odd seeing the competition in an indoor stadium, but the acoustics were really quite good. Especially for moments when the corps would deliberately play with their backs to the audience. The effect would be almost ethereal.

I was a member of the North Texas Drumline (probably the most renown drumline in the world), I had friends in Velvet Knights, Phantom Regiment and Santa Clara Vanguard. I also knew a guy in the Cavaliers color guard (who is surprisingly heterosexual, lol). Back then, we did an exhibition performance for PASIC that was attended by Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth. We actually filmed the show professionally which was part of an instructional drumline video sold nationwide. My 15 minutes of fame, I suppose.

The trip this year was really for my mother. We used to watch the DCI finals every year back when PBS would broadcast it. We'd been to a couple of regional competitions, but this was her first visit to the finals and she was SO EXCITED. Now that Indianapolis is the permanent home of the DCI finals, we may go more often, especially since the only broadcast that exists any more is in movie theatres.

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I know someone who was with the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corp while in college. She was in the color guard. I remember they showed this on ESPN a few years ago. I kind of wish they would do that again.

I don't know about DCI allowing the electric keyboard, but I know my college marching band let anyone join, regardless of what you played. So we had that stuff and a couple of guys who played the electric bass and people who didn't want to march on the sidelines.

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I don't follow DCI nowadays, but I'm glad to hear about the Corps each summer. Drum Corps are near and dear to my heart. My grandfather founded one, my parents met in one, and my brother marched for 3 years. I never got the bug to do it.

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