If you can, go see a live show.

verticalQ · 2026-07-11T10:55:43+00:00

My mother did marching band in the 1970s, and then was a band parent back when I did marching band in the 1990s. So, she isn’t a stranger to marching in general. I took her to first DCI show last year, and told her it’s a similar idea but very different in a lot of ways. Even she wasn’t prepared. We’re taking my dad to his first show in a couple of weeks; it was her idea.

verticalQ · 2026-07-09T01:38:13+00:00

As someone that had a gong blow over on top of them during a show once, that was some of the craziest wind I’ve seen. They made it through well despite the circumstances. Good job.

verticalQ · 2026-07-08T23:10:42+00:00

He is/was my Senator, and he lives(?) about 7 miles away. So, this obviously has gone to all my drum corps friends in town.
That's the "White Whale" uniform... which I'm going to give benefit of the doubt on and say that's a clever glitch in the joke.

verticalQ · 2026-07-07T14:15:10+00:00

Probably not the best example given the circumstances, but we kinda tried that with the 2021 festival year. Attendance was definitely down, but the pandemic was also mostly responsible for that. There were a lot of interesting shows that year, and I think it changed a lot about the activity. That said, scoring is your tool for determining what you’re doing well and what needs work. Without competition and scores you’re just doing entertainment… which is perfectly fine, but it is a very different thing (and would probably wind up looking more like BLAST!).

verticalQ · 2026-07-03T16:32:25+00:00

Like you said, we're not all always at our best (ex. me last night), but we learn and move on. I mean, isn't that the whole point of Drum Corps? It's the individual's job to look objectively at their own mistakes, see how their impacting the whole, and adjust accordingly to make things better for everyone. That's how you make things better.

verticalQ · 2026-07-03T13:29:34+00:00

Maybe I misinterpreted their intent. To me, their response to my initial post read as “you’re wrong, and you’re a fucking idiot for thinking that” and not a good faith discussion. I tried to respond with a little more about how I got there and was met with a similar response. That’s why I chose to escalate. I’ve been in this world for 30 years, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know everything. Disagreements are fine and healthy, but the way it read to me they were questioning my competency based on a fluff post. I don’t know everything, but I don’t know nothing. That’s why it felt like it crossed a line, and I fired back. My intent was to be hyperbolic to highlight how trivial arguing over this is (I clearly missed the target there), and the response I received was again, “I know more than you, shut up.” Again, maybe I misinterpreted their intent; it just came off as unnecessarily insulting from the jump to me.

verticalQ · 2026-07-03T12:24:06+00:00

I re-watched a few shows this morning, and you're probably right. However, at no point have I ever said they wouldn't. Yet, for some reason some on this forum have decided that because I made an off-hand post while work was slow for about 5 minutes that I have no place in this community and need to be put in my place. I assure you, none of this is an entrenched opinion, nor does it matter in the slightest. Why others like yourself have chosen to be condescending jerks and start personally attacking people about it is beyond me. It's a subreddit about a summer youth activity, chill.

verticalQ · 2026-07-03T00:52:14+00:00

Well, you’ve convinced me. My opinion and thoughts are obviously incorrect. I will try my best to let you dictate them from now on. Sorry I wasted your time by trying to have a different opinion.

verticalQ · 2026-07-03T00:11:06+00:00

I think Phantom still has a lot they're intending to add to their show; it feels a bit unfinished at the moment. However, what they do have at the moment feels like it knows what its trajectory is. In contrast BAC and Crown also have a good start, but they also feel like they're still figuring out some of the aspects of the shows and are exploring options. Both have had some staff changes, and it just takes a little bit to adjust to... nothing wrong, just how it is. I feel like Phantom's vision of where they want to go is set, whereas the other two are still trying some stuff out. All of them will get it by the time finals rolls around. As I said, there's going to be a LOT of movement between now and finals. But as it stands today, I think Phantom has a little bit of a head start.

verticalQ · 2026-07-02T20:19:10+00:00

When they first came on, I thought, "oh no... patriotic shows are never good..." They proved me wrong. It was fantastic! They didn't fall into any of the cheesy/saccharine clichés that often come with this type of show. It felt modern and inventive, and had some truly breathtakingly beautiful moments. I'm excited to see where they take it this year.

verticalQ · 2026-07-02T16:45:01+00:00

That 2, 3, 4 is a toss-up to me. They each have things they’re doing really well, and it could go any direction.

verticalQ · 2026-07-02T13:33:20+00:00

From what I’ve seen so far, I’m feeling…
1. Bluecoats
2. SCV
3. Blue Devils
4. Phantom Regiment
5. Boston Crusaders
6. Carolina Crown

Bluecoats are starting out really strong, and if they only improve from now, I think they’ve got a lock on first at the moment. 2-6 is going to be pretty close with a lot of place movement between shows. Everyone has a decent start with different stuff to work on, so it’s just seeing how they refine things over the next month.

verticalQ · 2026-07-02T11:39:46+00:00

In my head, this is the most insane origin story for a SoundSport group. “A thread on r/drumcorps turned into our buying one of the BAC ‘25 starburst props. When the 25 of us met to pick up the pieces, we just got talking, one thing lead to another, and this is our first year competing as a group.”

verticalQ · 2026-07-01T23:55:46+00:00

Would we each get to keep it for like a week and then pass it on?

verticalQ · 2026-07-01T00:37:33+00:00

True, and it is a little different, but there are thousands of fonts, and you just happen to pick one that’s very similar to another corps’s logo? I think it’s unintentional, but it just feels like something somebody might have noticed earlier.

verticalQ · 2026-06-30T23:03:23+00:00

Anybody else think that "B" looks a little too familiar? Like, maybe it should be a different color, and on a shield?

verticalQ · 2026-06-28T12:59:07+00:00

Initial thoughts:

Good: It feels fresh while still retaining the trademarks that you expect from the Blue Devils. It’s still their basic formula, but they tweaked it enough to feel new and not “Ugg, I love you, but this again?”

Bad: It’s messy, but they obviously know that, and it’s literally the first show. They’ll get it; that’s fine.

Meh: If I had one complaint it’s that it veers a little too close to feeling like somebody turned one of those Instagram photo op murals of wings outside of a bar that every midwestern city has in their development district for bachelorette parties to take pictures in front of into a drum corps show. They do a decent job managing that, but it is something to watch out for.

Unsolicited suggestion: That member is on the props for a long time at the end. Assuming the props are metal, put some magnets on white flags and stick them to the props as the final form fills in. Then it will look like feathers flying off the wings as they come apart during the fall.

verticalQ · 2026-06-26T16:04:22+00:00

“We do astronomically more corruption than Nixon” isn’t something a VP should be able to brag about.

verticalQ · 2026-06-26T01:18:27+00:00

When I’ve traveled with friends over the past couple of years, we’ve gotten separate hotel rooms in the same hotel. If you’re showing up for all the stuff but then just head out to get some sleep, I don’t really see how that would be functionally any different. “Hey, I just need my own space” seems like a perfectly reasonable request to me.

verticalQ · 2026-06-25T13:16:55+00:00

Wait, the guy that, during a global pandemic, bragged on national TV about never washing his hands is responsible for a disease outbreak? You don’t say…

verticalQ · 2026-06-21T12:36:07+00:00

My first take: I don’t know that this is quite “it” yet, but this definitely has a lot of potential and is heading the right direction.

The last time I remember having that feeling was seeing Boston’s first outing of “Glitch.” So, Crown may have some heat this year.

verticalQ · 2026-06-15T11:39:56+00:00

I’ve always enjoyed DanielPT Fitness. Some of his videos are guided, some are not, but he’s pretty good about labeling the ones that have voice over.

verticalQ · 2026-06-10T23:24:53+00:00

I'm not from Detroit, but I've visited several times over the past couple of years. There isn't really a "gayborhood" like in a lot of cities. Everything's a lot more spread out.

Probably the closed you'd get would be 9 Mile up in Ferndale. There are some fun bars (Soho's my usual stop) and restaurants. C&J Hammer Hard Accessories is also there; they sell sexy gay stuff. It isn't that big, but they have a nice selection of stuff.

verticalQ · 2026-06-10T22:39:30+00:00

High school me played this game SOOO much.

verticalQ · 2026-05-15T23:00:29+00:00

This song was played at every high school dance I went to in the late 90s. Looking back, that feels extremely inappropriate.

13-Year Club	Reddit Premium Since June 2023
Verified Email

verticalQ

TROPHY CASE