Hello everyone, after a very successful season and seeing all these new and old faces returning to the game, I thought it would be cool to set up a press release for all show programs in season 70. Anyone can post their show concepts for any or all of their groups; there is no word limit. In fact I encourage lengthy posts. We need to start getting more creative on this site to spice things up. Im hoping that this can be a start. With that being said, I'll go first.


Season 69 was a very strange and experimental season for The Panthers. We decided to put the music of Miles Davis on the field once again, while also showing how he influenced advances within the Jazz genre. We had a fairly successful outing, placing 7th and beating some pretty amazing corps, including our rivals Pride of Peachtree. This season, the staff came to the consensus that it would be beneficial for the corps to continue in the experimental lane. That is why ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce the season 70 program for The Panthers Drum and Bugle Corps, The Downward Spiral.

We went the rock route before and were disappointed at the scores we got. We felt that Sounds of Suburbia was a better program than judges gave it credit for, and we decided that we once again want to prove that rock and drum corps can coexist. We decided to go with the music of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails because their sound is a unique one that has not been attempted by a drum corps in FMA history. With the funds that we have gathered over the years, and the massive profit we gained from last season's Masters of FMA, we have bought synthesizers, distortion machines, keyboards, and many more pieces of electronic equipment. Make no mistake, we will not mask our signature Panther sound too much, but we feel that adding to it can only make it better.

The program will be our corps most ambitious yet. The selections will include Mr. Self Destruct, Piggy, Heresy, March of the Pigs, A Warm Place, I Do Not Want This, Eraser, The Downward Spiral, and Hurt.

The corps will start out the show by ominously marching onto the field while playing Mr. Self Destruct, setting the tension early on. This is where we introduce the audience to Lost, a man who is at his breaking point. They will continue through the piece until its conclusion, signifying the end of the opener. After a brief pause, the corps will begin the next piece, Piggy. The visuals we have imagined for this section of the show are very rough and aggressive. Our main aim here is to put the audience in a state of shock and repulse them with the ugliness of our main protagonist's hatred for people.

Once Lost's mental state is explained, the corps will continue to show his aggressive nature with March of the Pigs. This particular piece will showcase our distorted guitars and synthesizers. The odd time signature will surely throw people off as well, and this is the main objective. This will be the most chaotic part of the show, with guard members attacking each other and Lost reveling in it all. During this part of the show, snippets of Heresy will also be played, as it is a song about "killing" God. Lost will figuratively strike down God by destroying a cross, ultimately allowing himself to take control of his life.

The aftermath of the chaos will be clear. The corps will be in disarray, and it wont even look like drill on the field. With his life seemingly in check, Lost continues his journey while the corps plays A Warm Place. While everything seems like it is going fine at first, the song eventually becomes quite dark in tone, and the guard begins to unmask the facade that Lost has managed to put up. The ballad ends with snippets from I Do Not Want This, as Lost realizes his mistakes in killing God and deciding not to care. He has become something artificial and has lost his humanity.

The corps then goes into a quick drum break, where the song Eraser is played in the background. Lost realizes that he has hurt those around him, as he sees them all decend into madness. He thinks of one solution, to kill himself and rid the world of his ugliness while curing himself from his pain. He pulls out a gun and contemplates what he wants to do, and there seems to be a glimmer of hope when he hesitates. Then abruptly in the middle of the song, The Downward Spiral is played with our electronics, and Lost makes his fatal decision.

Our closer is the emotional core of the entire show. Hurt is not triumphant; rather it is tragic and somber. The corps starts out singing with meloncohly, then they play the song as one would during a eulogy, and the guard that was so aggressive the entire show finally realizes what path they are on, and they make the change to prevent their own demise. Lost for a brief moment is able to reflect on his life, and more importantly his mistakes. He realizes that even with all that he went through, taking his own life was the biggest mistake he could've made. He regrets his decision, and the show ends with the iconic and shocking distorted guitar chords, with the line from Reznor over the speakers reading, "I would keep myself, I would find a way."

We wanted to do this show not to glorify suicide, but to show how ugly it really is, and how a horrible world can cause a man to take his own life. In today's society, people make this choice everyday. We shouldn't criticize them; rather we should try to learn from their decisions and make our own lives better, for ourselves and the ones around us. Hopefully, The Downward Spiral can not only make strides in FMA, but also influence its audience to appreciate the sanctity of life, and to treat each other better.

This seems like a cool idea, I'll take a shot at it and hopefully others will follow.

Minutemen Drum & Bugle Corps Season 70 Program: Till Death Do Us Part
A show based around the lives of two star-crossed lovers as they journey through life in their pursuit of love; And no, both lovers don't die at the end of the show, this isn't Romeo and Juliet(or a Phantom regiment show). This show features a repertoire of famous love songs, starting with Careless Whisper, except its played by a trumpet soloist since wind instruments are still banned in Drum Corps. The show ends in a happy ending, with both lovers driving off in a wedding carriage, said carriage being the one used in Carolina Crowns 2016 show except it was repainted and refitted so we could use it in this show.

Blue Thunder Percussion Season 70 Program: The Voices of Percussion
A concept based of a stock indoor show that a friends school did this year. The show is meant to highlight the different instruments and sounds a percussion ensemble would have. The score has been rearranged to include a 1 minute snare solo, 3 quad breaks, quintuplet mallet runs done at 500 bpm, and voice samples done by a Morgan Freeman impersonator. The visual ensemble took a page out of Rhythm X's 2018 show and included many percussion instruments and props that would be moved around and played on during the show.

Sapphire Independent Season 70 Program: No One Is Alone
The shows central idea is that even if you feel alone in the world, you will always have those who will help you no matter what. At the beginning of the show a soloist performs a weapon routine, followed by everyone else in the ensemble who are using flags instead of a weapon. Throughout the show this soloist will slowly become friends with the other guard members, culminating in a ending were everyone has a group hug after the soloist catches a rifle throw. This show will be performed to "Yuri On Ice", a beautiful piano piece that fits well with the central concept of the show(No I don't watch the show, I just like the piano piece from it).

Legacy Regiment Season 70 Program: Bells On A Winter Solstice
Another stock show, one that my band was going to do for their 2018 program but couldn't due to budget restraints. My version is a tale told on the background of a winter wonderland, a place of magic that fills visitors with hopes and dreams when they go to it. This show will include a drum break were everyone in the front ensemble will play a mixture of Vibes, Bells, or Sleigh Bells while the Battery play a remix of Big Time Rush's cover of "All I Want For Christmas Is You". At the end the entire ensemble will play "Carol Of The Bells" on loop until either the judges give them a perfect score of 100 or security kicks them out.

Thank you for reading this through(or at least thoughtfully skimmed through it), I hope this inspires others in the community to contribute to this forum and be more involved in FMA. I wish all of you luck in Season 70.

Southwind is excited to return for its first full Season since 41! We are playing homage to our Season 39 show, "An Appalachian Memory", considering this Season's show to be a Part 2!

Show Title:

An Appalachian Fantasy


Repertoire:

Appalachian Morning - Paul Winter
The New Moon in the Old Moon's Arms - Michael Kamen
Earth Song - Michael Jackson
Appalachian Spring - Aaron Copland
Test Drive, from "How to Train Your Dragon" - John Powell

The corps is raising its level of performance, and is excited to field, "An Appalachian Fantasy", as we continue to work towards regaining our Division I status!

The Dragon Regiment are back for their 3rd season, and is excited to try to work hard and gain a Div. II spot. In their first season in 65, they did pretty well, but fell short of the finals by 3 points. That was a great start, but what can you do with a Grade II show?

After coming off a heartbreaking season with a score that recessed 2 points, this season they are going to be playing a spin off from last year's ET.

Show Title:

Space

Repertoire:
Mars- The Bringer of War - Gustav Holst
Jupiter - The Bringer of Jollity - Gustav Holst
Space Odyssey - Alex North (Based on Also sprach Zarathustra - Richard Strauss

League:

CLASS

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Also with 2 seasons under their belt, the Jefferson High School Marching Dragons have some hope after coming in 2nd in ENCORE's Div III championships. Though their first year was much better they were happy with most of their scores, but they expected better.

This year's show is a lot like the Dragon Regiment's.

Show Title:

The Planets - Gustav Holst

Repertoire:

Mars- Bringer of War - Gustav Holst
Mercury - The Winged Messenger
Jupiter - The Bringer of Jollity - Gustav Holst

League:

ENCORE

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With one year under their belt after focusing on their hard parts for the School show, the Dragon Drumline is back. We don't know how well their going to play but, they are showing promise at drumline battles at the Marching Band events.

Though only having one season, the Dragon Drumline is expecting to make the finals with the Grade III show. They will be playing our Dragon Regiment's show from last year, but made for percussion only, the show will be dominated by the pit. You can find the show at Grand Mesa Marching's website

Show Title:

Extra Terrestrial

Repertoire:

Extra Terrestrial 1
Extra Terrestrial 2
Extra Terrestrial 3

League:

APE

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The Dragonaras did a similar thing as the drumline because their parts were so hard and in the best interest of the band they focused on one thing. I think we know how well they will do this year as they always look to improve their GE score.

With one season under their belt, they wanted to WOW their opponents and fans this year. They are expecting themselves to make it to the finals. With their show WOW

Show Title:

WOW

Repertoire:

W Pt 1
O
W Pt 2

League:

WGU

This season, the Nashville ensembles will each be performing a show entitled "The Century Quest". Each show will be different from the others, and will portray the goal of each group to hit the 100 point mark and make FMA history in the Drum Corps, Marching Band, and Drumline divisions. As an added GE feature, all of the shows, when played together consecutively backwards, tell the judges to give out a 100.

ALRIGHT!
Right now I only have the guard on, once I get my other groups up and running I'll post them later.
Virgo's Twirling Maidens takes the floor with our show "HAppy little Accidents" as a tribute to Bob Ross, yes the typo is intentional. Because... “We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
- Bob Ross