For all you alumni out there who dislike the direction of the corp, I have a few things for you to think about. I joined to corp in 1987 and aged out in 1991. I was introduced to drum corp through my HS marching band director. After watching the 1983 and 85 shows I decided to audition. It was those shows, not the shows of the seventies or sixties that inspired me. It was watching 1980's drum corp that impressed me because it was what my marching band was doing......only a hell of a lot better! My band imitated what was going on in DCI at that time. That's what I wanted to do. If I was only shown dated corps from the 70s and 60s I probably would have auditioned for SCV instead. As good as those corps were at the time, high mark time in symmetrical straight lines did not look that interesting. The kids that Madison needs to recruit should be coming from the best HS and college music programs. The shows from our past (70s, 80's, 90's and early 2000's) are not the shows that top HS and colleges are doing. Kids don't want to go back in time so that we can relive our memories (and 88 was a particularly good one for me), they want to create their own. If the Scouts can't attract the best talent (both members and staff) our corp will eventually become irrelevant. Soon after it will fold, or at least become a senior corp for old scouts to relive the glory days. This corp belongs to the members and staff of today. This is their time. I for one am proud and excited for them. This is one of the best designed shows I have seen in past 20 years from the corp. I really hope they retire for good, Maleguena, Slaughter on 10 Ave., Malaga, Stan Kenton, Rhapsody in Blue, Strawberry Soup, and any Broadway tunes ever done. I really loved those shows and if I want to see them, I have videos (and a VCR as well) to watch. To the staff and members of the 2017 corp, congratulations! MYNWA!
Food for thought. I've talked to several current day members, and almost all of them said they really like shows from back in our day and that's what got them hooked on the activity and they wish they could march shows like that. They said they enjoy what they do now, but they don't always like the design, but they don't have any alternatives if they want to March.
It's not even the uniform that makes this show so undesirable; they look badass! The show itself is just designed in a way that makes it disengaging and lacking in energy. The music isn't enjoyable, either. I kept waiting for this big moment to happen and it never really did other than them Phantom Regimenting that one guy.
nitrox32 the reason everyone loved those shows and songs is because it was a tribute to big band jazz and Latin jazz era. there are hundreds of songs they could play that would offer the a similar punch. Every DCI show now is a series of great drum breaks, loud dissonant chords, over the top props and inaudible singing , yelling, and mic'd solos. I don't think young players are being taught or have the chops to play something like A mis abuelos. Every now and then a truly great concept and theme come up. Jesus Christ superstar, cadets 2001, scouts 01, to name a few. Scouts owned 80s and 90s by sacrificing some drill moves for awesome music. City of Angels still gives me chills. now I see an attempt to fit a round peg in a square hole( everyone joins the scouts to play "malaguena") and I don't honestly see shaper drill.
72yo long time drum corps nut, fan, and supporter of the Scouts and their high standards and tradition ... that ended today... where did this come from, who did this to the corps, and WHY? And more importantly, how does this benefit the young men who had to put in all that work just to produce something like this...... so sad....
I can't believe how many drops I counted. This is NOT the Scouts of legend. I could see the Norwin High School Band from Irwin, PA in competition with this group and winning. The show is Bands of America caliber not DCI
I didn't ever have the opportunity to march, but have loved drum corp, and especially the Scouts, for years. They are literally unrecognizable now. Do they really form a fleur-de-lis and play "You'll Never Walk Alone" looking like that? I am all for the evolution of any art form, but there is a difference between improving on the core concept and throwing away the core concept and turning in to something completely different that is diminishing the emotional effect rather than heightening it. Trombones are the least of your worries. I went to Brass Impact in Olathe last night after a few years of not being able to attend an event. Electric amplification...keyboards...vocals...pre-recorded tracks...more props than corp members. What's the point? Why not just play totally pre-recorded music over the stadium sound system and hire a Cirque de Soleil troop to perform? If that is the ultimate effect they want, just cut to the chase. P.S. SVC is really going to win with that show this year? All I could think was, "Wow, I bet they will be glad to get to the end of the summer and burn those stupid round platforms that they spend more time pushing around the field than they do playing."
These costumes are badass in photos. But when you are doing choreography in them, jazz runs, and even military bearing, something... changes. I recommend putting the horns and drums back in uniform and keeping the badass head dresses for the two featured guard members whom the story is about.
It's important for the show to reveal a range of emotion. The musical pieces and your theme should support a variety of mood changes, and ultimately end up in a place that's different from where you started. According to the scoresheet, something should change over the course of the show so that the ending displays a transformation of some kind.
This was awesome! I can't wait to see the full field! I think its awesome that they are trying to keep with the times, and I think the fact that the color guard uniforms are quite similar to the rest of the uniforms really helps to invite the audience to finally view the color guard as a part of the band, which they are! Overall I am SO proud of all the hard work they've done and can't wait to see them progress! Awesome job!!!
yes the Band indeed, man there are some alumni that have to be saying. wtf. i wonder if some alum are to emberassed to say they marched in this BAND once upon a time. Thank you former scouts, saw u first in 74 and loved the sound for alot of years after,
At Juliette Imel: That's fine, to enjoy and like the show. That's great the you do. I just argue that a corps should not lose their identity throught the generations. The Madison Scouts have kept their identity from the very beginning up until now. I think it's sad. Now you have the Santa Clara Vanguard, who's uniforms I can't stand, doing the same thing. What the hell is this crap about not wearing [your helmits???!!! That's cheating. I had to wear my helmit and sweat no matter how hot it was, and yes, with my bulky uniform on. SCV will always be red and green to me. And now it looks as though SCV may just win the DCI championship this year and so now all the other corps, perhaps, will follow and then well have a gurgled mess of generic corps with no recollections of their history and pride. The top five corps are destryoing drum corps in DCI. Sad. One diamond in the rough is the La Crosse Blue Stars. Their show this year is endearing this year. Their show is, as usual completely underrated. However they have not lost their identity at all. They have a no-frills, down-to-earth, back to the basics, symmetrical show which the crowd adores. So there goes everyone's argument about adding sliding trombones and losing your history, heritage and identity. Shame on Madisons staff.
To me the music is pretty blah as well. Overall, there is nothing really exciting or memorable about this. Guess we will see how it unfolds during the season.
Because unlike you, we see the value in different opinions and ideas. We aren't sheep who are told what is good and follow it blindly no matter what. There is nothing wrong with differing opinions. Unfortunately people today only have the brain power to call people haters and tell the. To go away. Some of us can handle differing opinions and others obviously can't.
What started many years ago as a competition of sound, formation and exactness has turned into a terrible rendition of a Cecil B. DeMille extravaganza.Too much show and not enough quality.
I sure do miss the days when Madison used to really entertain. I hate to say it but drum corps has become boring to watch. Too much artsy fartsy stuff. Just entertain me like the gladiator did. Lol. Horrible show.
At the end of this season, there will be a meeting at Madison between the new corps director, alumni, select marching members, and hired designers, who collectively will form the Madison Show Design Committee. (At the first meeting, everyone will sign a show design release form.) An annual 360 degree roundtable of show suggestions will begin-- the Show Design Committee will meet once in the preseason to select and agree upon the repertoire, style and theme of next year's show. Led by the show coordinator, and operating much like a staff of comedy writers, or an ad agency, or theater artistic directors, all parties will submit fully formed suggestions to the show coordinator on repertoire, objective, style and theme of next year's show. Committee members will be responsible for submitting complete and well planned theme ideas with repertoire selections, design ideas, costume suggestions, set pieces, drill formations, submit them to the show coordinator who guides the final vote. The show coordinator will have final veto power, but must implement the committee vote, in good faith. The committee will oversee the execution of the show at various points in the preseason, edit it, and come to consensus, in general about the continuing development of the content and style of the show. The show coordinator will be required to mediate, and adopt reasonable voted upon suggestions from the committee. As a result, the final agreed upon *overall* concept-- the show theme, style and repertoire-- will be, in part, the product of the input from all parties-- alumni, the show coordinator, the corps director, designers, and most importantly the marching members who will learn about the collective design process, responsibility of interpretation, and how not to take bribes under the table from a uniform company.
Luis Ewing Because this ba(NOT MADISON SCOUTS)nd has broken it's own core tradition and given into this current trend of non-drum&BUGLE movement. It's not living up to what it use to be:70's, 80's, and the 90's.
Sharad Dixit I'm not going to put them down. I like what they are doing and the kids are so talented but it certainly is not drum corps any longer and I loved that as well. I mean come on....marching trombones? The evolution of drum and bugle corps has stripped the activity of its identity. I personally would be satisfied if the current groups would own the fact that they have evolved into marching brass bands and start calling themselves that. At least then, we could put drum and bugle corps as we knew them to rest and move on
well, I WILL put them down ... because it is not drum corps ... and you don't have to re-invent the wheel to be entertaining ... drum corps is DRUM CORPS ... nothing more, nothing less
MUSIC SELECTIONS These symphonic pieces seem cacaphonous, unrecognizable, sputtering and clipped. Where's the hummable part? The harmonic or anthemic part? Where's the uplifting humanity to these pieces? This is a large-scale stand up and cheer music medium, which has at its heart big brass harmonic melodies, missing here. Here's what the opening number should sound like: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-y4LFHitRS40.html Haunting and beautiful. STAGING PROBLEMS At the opening, the corps is timidly shoved backfield, looking at the backfield conductor. Turn to face the audience. You are presenting a show with story elements. Define your character, balls out. Welcome the audience into the world of your piece. Don't turn your backs on them and play the first strains to someone the audience can't see, and as far upstage as possible. The guard members up front are involved in their own separate platform, splitting the focus. Immediately, right off the bat, this split focus is a problem. If anything, I'd turn the horns to face front, and have the guard do a Hamlet-like dumb show up front, like an encapsulation of what's to come. They dramatize and foreshadow the upcoming story-- the infighting, the tribal outcry and the scalping. Focused and clearly staged. Then at least the audience has some idea what to watch for in the show. Clearly the designers didn't know what they wanted, they have not identified a story progression, and you can tell from the very start they're hiding. No point of focus at the top. No impact. Change the arrangement of Pilentze Pee to have a high stakes ending, because right now it fizzles. This opening is a severe staging clarity problem that repeats throughout. At 3:36, what's the focus? What should we be looking at? The large pastel colored tribal drums look like they were designed by Faberge. The drummers lug them around at first like large purses, instead of shouldering them like lumberjacks do, but eventually roll them and prod them with their feet which is much more in character. Work on how these props are handled, in character. STORY Right now Madison has introduced tribal story elements, but not a complete story with a who/what/where platform, or even a simple pattern for the first six minutes. As a result, the audience is confused. Designers, help the audience by clarifying the characters' intent. The audience sees the entire corps dressed up in war garb, like Native Americans. This sets the audience's expectations for some kind of conflict. Much later, the audience eventually sees a two-person rivalry, a tribal outcry and a scalping, but what's the origin of the rivalry? Be careful, this is a typical land mine when creating a themed presentation-- you must choose a justified, cohesive through line for your story, or at least a followable pattern. If you're presenting us with this warring tribe, what are they fighting against? Are they one of us or one of them? Are they protagonists or antagonists? Does the audience like them or hate them? Set up who they are right away, and their objective, so the audience can ride with you. At 7:20 we see a random rivalry starting around the altar featuring the tribe's logo as two guard members size each other up before a showdown. It's pretty late to be introducing a plot element, and it's fairly simplistic and without background, allusion or insight, but whatever. Duality always works in large scale staging. The audience needs to take whatever story elements they can get, here. CONTEXT Historical? Mythical? Futuristic? Modern day social commentary on Native Americans? Right now it's unclear. Tell the audience, right at the top. Clarify the context. Mad Max? Fox versus Sac Indians? It should be clear to the audience, right from the beginning what your storytelling intent is. FUN Where's the fun part? Yes, violence is masculine, and murder in Spartacus got a standing ovation or two, but that was after a lot of painstaking story setup. Also, this is a pageant style outdoor show set in a football stadium. What should the audience cheer for? So far, it's all petty random infighting. As a buoyant set piece, I recommend a choreographed segment where the drummers roll the drum barrels while playing them during the drum solo and the whole corps has to jump over them-- make it the focal point of the piece to add some rousing unity before the conflict. MEANING Right now, there's no deeper meaning that the audience can glean from this story. What is the hand to hand combat scene at the end alluding to? Infighting? Or a sense of the brutality of tribal warfare? Where's the significance to our lives? The significance to the marching members' lives? As the season progresses and the story elements become more clear, the intent can self-solidify. But to win, the content of the show should relate to the performers' lives in some real world way. There must be something universal and unique about the show's observation. Some raison d'etre. Right now, the premise seems inauthentic and centered around a simplistic hand to hand combat between infighters, including a stereotypic scalping, which is trite and stereotypical, with no deeper context. What's the deeper substance behind staging this? Why bother? Are you just playing cowboys and Indians? Where's the sophistication and insight? How is the murder viewed? Is it revenge? Is it regretted? It is a source of identity for the tribe and why? What's the background of the tension? Right now it's hollow and without resonance. THROUGHLINE AND TRANSFORMATION What's the focus of the tribe when they enter? In the middle section? At the end? How have they changed? Typically, if you pick story elements like the strong costumed characters you've presented the audience here, you then have the obligation to develop a throughline, to develop a progression or pattern with a satisfying finish. ARTISTIC IMPETUS Clearly the theme "Last Man Standing" was selected because Madison is going through a masculinity identity crisis. I don't care if you choose Braveheart as your theme, if you do pirouettes and other modern dance moves like the dreaded "layout", it's just not masculine at all. Then again, Cavaliers this year chose a theme of the evolution of man and get this, every tune has the word "man" in the title or lyrics. Ridiculous and random. At least Madison chose tribal-themed symphonic music, even though the pieces seem overly percussive in their arrangement. AUTHENTICITY If I had to do re-design this show, I'd probably try to stage an authentic Native American story from their mythical lore. For authenticity, I'd recruit one or more Native Americans from the Wisconsin area to march and to represent their culture in the storytelling. If you're going to dress up, then tell a fucking tribal story. Authentically and with depth and insight. And if you are already telling Native American lore, help us out-- what is it? Or if you're telling a post-apocalypitc Mad Max story, help us out -- what is it?
I have been going to drum and bugle corps since the 1950's and I always respected the Madison scouts but since DCI came it is no longer drum and bugle corps, it is just drum corp. bugles should return and drum pitches individualized by individualized corps should return also. I remember when tickets were less than 5.00 and corps numbered in the 100's. I do not like the new drum corps to say the least. The Detroit lamplighters is the only corps to score a perfect 100.
And other corps have been beating Madison with generic DCI for years. Happened when I marched, when Crown jumped us despite having nothing to offer (just tires and boards). Happened with Glassmen in 99 beating out a very good JCSS show. And it has happened every year since. Nothing has stopped it. But hey, if Madison doesn't wear their unis, doesn't play a whole lot music, dances around, and has cool props, maybe they'll get a few of those generic DCI places too.
Scores and placement aren't what it is all about, except for the exposure. 95 doesn't look as cool if it isn't under the lights at finals. People don't remember those Scouts, how entertaining they were, how awesome it was to see them because it has been a long time since they were the dominant force that they once were. And it didn't happen overnight. It happened by years of being put 2-3 spots behind what the stuff on field said they should be because other show designs were more BOA. And those 10 guard applicants not showing up to audition because they were only a #10 corps last year.
i was bull shitting, madison never used to sell out, generally speaking it was year after year of crowd pleasing music. I suppose the crowds have changed big time too though, so oh well, i can say i saw years of them being pretty special,
This show sucks. Has nothing to do with the kids performing it. The music is God awful, the drill is thoughtless meandering. I saw nothing that would make me want to pay to go see them or even clap.
It seems all of DCI has gone from corp style of performance to like retro or broadway style marching , want the style of shows ,music ,and drum breaks of the 70's, 80's
7:12 I hear bird calls. That's what the choreography is based on. Birds. What's a tribal fighter's spirit animal? A bird? There's something off in the interpretation here. Tribal animals are wolves, coyotes, hyenas, lions, bears, not birds. I think it's the bird choreography that's confusing the show theme. 8:25
Is it hard for the performers to stay angry all day in practice and all night in performance? Is it hard for the performers to stay angry as these characters when there's no justification for it in the show, and the audience has no idea why these characters are angry? Does the show have a range of emotions, or just anger? Also, does the content of this show match the spirit of the corps in belief or vision? How?
I'm so sad for the members. They work hard and they have talent but because of the incompetent instructors, their show is a mess, music is not melodious, awkward uniforms and no clear idea for the theme of that show. This show is so confused, they won't be able to make 12 tops. So sorry for the young talent members.
Those damn trombones, the integrity of drum and bugle corps has created confusion and lost its place in history by incorporating band into drum and bugle corp. It all started with the three valve bugles, microphones, then the sound effects, voices talking and singing, non drill shows, and now band instruments. No excitement, no big sound, no professionalism, etc. Are the corps still call drum and bugle corps or just drum corps?
Tony Y they should be calling themselves what they are....marching brass bands and when they add the woodwinds which is inevitable, they should call themselves marching bands
What did I just watch? Is this really THE Madison Scouts or is this someone's idea of a cruel joke on a fan of over 35 years? I feel for those guys 'cause they're giving it all they've got. I don't want to say much more, I don't want to be too mean, bland and boring. Someone should be fired for putting these kids through that show. I don't expect to hear the same old Scouts year after year but they should still BE the Scouts. I love the Madison Scouts, I'm now very confused. That's all I'm gonna say.
There's a major concern about the design team this year, and their lack of awareness about image, assembling a story, presentation, and audience buy-in. They chose Mad Max as a masculine visual style for the show, but that's as far as it went. The show has only the weakest story through-line of tribal infighting. There's also a major concern among audiences about the uniforms and props looking curiously native American, a sensitive topic. And by the end, the audience is confused about the narrative elements-- what is this story trying to tell us at the end of the day? How is this show representative of Madison's raison d'etre? A band of brothers who scalp people? Looking back on this show, they started in earnest wanting to do a "masculine" show with the futuristic look and feel of Mad Max, but didn't develop the narrative through-line. There's no meaning behind the story. There's no humanity. There's no showmanship in random, ruthless post-apocalyptic tribal fighting. Worse, there's no connection to the music, and the choreography is painfully frenetic and just inappropriate for the chosen characters. This and Judas are two of the all time worst conceived marching shows of all time. Just ghastly. Dangerously incompetent. Almost as bad as Cadets choosing Shostakovich's tenth symphony about the millions killed by Stalin in Russia, and making it about neon colors because Neon is the tenth element. Shockingly ignorant. Something needs to be done to get these designers to hone their skill of responsible interpretation.
Amen Jesu, it just saddens me as they're by far my favorite Corps. I can't figure out the thought (or lack thereof) process to do stuff like this and Judas. C'mon Madison has never been overly artsy, I guess they care more about points than fans now......how'd that work out last year?
You're joking, but there are several instances of the choreography in this early season run that are bird like, hopping, ruffling, running along the sand.
absolutely horrendous!!! long for the good ol' days of precision marching, awesome horns. flags, dropped rifles, all that prancing around very distracting. don't consider myself an alum of this garbage
This costume is so intense, that it needs to be used as a potent spice. Unfortunately, the entire corps is dressed in this one costume. Also, this costume transforms somehow in appearance once movement is added, and doesn't work with this type of choreography. It's like dressing up in a suit of armor and doing pirouettes. Ridiculous looking.
3 questions come to mind. 1. Do the members know when they audition that they're going to be wearing this getup? 2. Why trombones? You can't hear them on the field. A waste of money. Looks like a marching band. 3. Where's Tim "the tool man Taylor", late of the "Last Man Standing"?
These are actually good points. It's clear watching this show that marching members must have a hand in the design decisions in the future. Design needs to be a collective effort by designers, alumni and current marching members.
Sorry but asking the members and alumni to help design the show is never a good idea. It can be hard enough to get the staff on the same page, let alone 150 members and 1,000 or so alumni.
Jim Pratt, DCI is now at the level of sophistication where the kids need to have a hand in selecting the material, selecting the theme and designing the show themselves. That's the next level of education these young performers need to broach. Face it, at the college level, it's not good enough for kids to just blindly perform someone else's design. They must explore the meaning behind the music, and bring a visual program to life. With carefully designed training programs, they will begin to develop the skills to interface with staff designers, and eventually take over. Think about how powerful and authentic that would be. Of course marching members must go through design training, just like all the other training they do. It would start with suggestions by the marching members for musical selections they'd like to do. Then, some training on how to develop a visual program, themes, motifs, color, forms, through lines, and story. The kids themselves will learn to visually evoke the mood or underlying story of the pieces. The marching members will interface with designers, who eventually years hence, hand over the reins to the most talented marching member designers. We can't ask these kids to be robots, blindly executing shows that are as ridiculous as this one. We can't ask them to blindly accept and perform this show's ridiculous derivative choreography, for example. It's to the point of torture.
LOL - agree about the torture thing. I understand the point you're making, but will disagree about design training starting as a MM. That will come with your days as a tech, should you decide to teach. I can't imagine having to take in, filter, and deal with the emotional angst of accepting/rejecting the ideas of 150 members on a daily basis. Maybe one or two who show promise - I've done that but on a writing/revision level. Also agree that the members need to understand the emotional content of the music but again, you do that with the entire corps up front. I always play the original piece and ask them what the mood is for this and that section of the music to reinforce what they are portraying at any given time. It doesn't require a hand in the design to understand that. All IMHO, of course - I may be a little old fashioned on this.
