After spending the day at Mercedes Benz Stadium I have some thought. The top three finishers last night were the Santa Clara Vanguard, Blue Devils and the Blue Coats. Seem to me that your score was dependent on the amount of props and such you brought out on the field as much as your musical and marching prowess, thus why Vanguard was the number one corps last night. Their finish was spectacular, but could have been just as powerful without the props. The extensive use of props slowed the night down as they ran at least a half hour behind.'
It almost appears that it is a mandate now that every corps begins their program with the members laying down on the field. Personally, I don't get it. Also having gymnasts doing tumbling routines now is a part of the "show". The Madison Scouts are no longer an all male corps, they have a female soloist as part of the act. Several corps had a vocalist or group of vocalists. Extensive use of trombones now and the occasional French horn as well. Lots of time with no music, just running around the field to get into position while the pit provides some rhythm. They are beginning to lose me.
Yeah. They mostly lost me about 15 years ago, though BD and SCV appear to be moving back towards music now.
Unfortunately, with rule changes, it seems like there's now a list of boxes that have to be checked for DCI to even consider you competitive. Amplification, some use of trombones or french horns, props, etc. are kind of a fact of life now.
BTW, some history for you: Madison has now had six women take the field:
The first was Bonnie Howard, who played the part of "Alice in Wonderland" for that show in 1971.
In 1980, the corps did a VFW show on the way home from DCI to make a few extra bucks, and VFW still required a flag presentation (which DCI had long since abandoned). Rather than sacrifice other members to do a flag presentation, they had three girlfriends who were traveling with the corps don uniforms and paint fake mascara mustaches and do the flag presentation.
In 2006, Rebecca Hershman played the part of "Carmen" for the show which was based on the opera. She later married Jon Newcomb, who was drum major of the corps for a couple of years. They now have a daughter, who Jon has correctly ascertained is the first "purebred Madison Scout".
To give this an aviation tie-in, Jon brought their daughter to Oshkosh last week!
This year, Megan is both the first woman to not be called a "guest performer" and the first who is in a section outside of the color guard. She represents the "soul" in their show, which is entitled "Heart and Soul".
There has been a survey this summer asking questions about what people think of allowing anyone in, and I hope that next year, Megan comes back as one of many.
