Sorry you feel ignored, Redeast. I really hope you get rid of those SS uniforms. I'm not a fan of Nazis. Although, I am a bit obsessed with WW2 documentaries.

A hip hop influenced show? That's a cool idea. As I tapped (or drummed) my fingers on my desk to the music, I imagined there will be several drum features.

I, unfortunately, am a suspect of this. I feel really bad about it now, but I think that it turned out fine in the end. In mid season in season 51, I decided to leave my drum line league (BEAT) and create a new one (NDoA). I was still pretty new to FMA (I'm STILL pretty new, but not as much as I was before) and I didn't know that if you leave a league, you're still in it's events. But one thing I did know was that it took time to construct and work with a league. It isn't easy, and it's very time consuming. But we've been doing pretty good so far! For a new league, that is.
Going back to my original point, I wanted to be a leader, a creator... I still do. I want to become a big on this site, like the rest of you who has been on here for a REALLY long time. And my thought process was: if i want to be big, i need to start something. So yeah, not my intentions to put a disadvantage on a different league, I sincerely hope BEAT was not affected be these actions a couple of seasons ago.
While this is true, I will definitely be sticking with ENCORE, FAME, and LEGS for a while... It'll probably take a really long time (like, until 2018 :')) until I decide to take another route. When that time comes around, I'll make it an important decision to do all of those things in the pre-season.

With all that said, good luck in season 53 ENCORE!

Nice RedEast....even though I'm not a big hip-hop fan, I can see where this would be a very entertaining concept. Did you know? For a small country, we send hip-hop groups to Las Vegas every year for their world championships and have won the gold the last few years. We even have a world famous senior citizens hip-hop group. No, I don't qualify for them.... Not yet at least!

I can see that happening, Tyler. There is a chance that he or she didn't know what would happen after quitting and thought that he or she could leave without anybody noticing. On the other hand, league hopping occurs, too; people join for events (usually newer, smaller groups who have a difficult time getting accepted) and bounce around from league to league joining events. Thankfully I haven't seen much of that happening lately.

Furthermore, I have no problem with someone wanting to leave in the middle of the season to search for greener grass or wanting to leave to run his or her own league. I, too, have left leagues in the middle of the season, but most (if not all) were leagues that weren't really going anywhere. Heck, some of them had founders who were rarely online. But I never would just join a league's events and bail. That's a bit rude. If you're unsure about what happens when you quit a league, just ask, and don't be a league hopper. Nobody likes that on here.

Thank you all who actually took the time to read my little show introduction!

Der Reich's directors finally had time to consider what would be a good uniform replacement for the SS-inspired uniforms of the ensemble. After much consideration of each vendor, the directors took to Band Shoppe and perused their wares and assembled a uniform for all members based on their products.

Regular Members:
Insignia Jacket IA9170 Package w/ modifications
(http://www.bandshoppe.com/Insignia-Marching-Band-Uniform-p/ia9170.htm)
Mods:
-Change Olive Polyester to Black Polyester
-Change HW825 Shako to HW592 Band Cap (http://www.bandshoppe.com/Marching-Band-Headwear-p/hw592.htm">http://www.bandshoppe.com/Marching-Band-Headwear-p/hw592.htm)
-No plume
-Black Gloves

**Front Ensemble Percussion do NOT wear the Band Cap!**

Drum Majors:
Insignia Jacket IN8067 Package w/ modifications
(http://www.bandshoppe.com/Insignia-Marching-Band-Uniform-p/in8067.htm)
Mods:
-Change Grey Trim to Scarlet Trim
-Change HW630 Shako to HW592 Band Cap (http://www.bandshoppe.com/Marching-Band-Headwear-p/hw592.htm">http://www.bandshoppe.com/Marching-Band-Headwear-p/hw592.htm)
-No Plume
-Add BU595 Chain Drapes - Gold (http://www.bandshoppe.com/Marching-Band-Uniform-Chain-Drape-p/bu595.htm)
-Add IN559 Full Back Capes - Scarlet Polyester with Black Reflections; Insignia is that of the "Balkenkreuz," the German Wermacht symbol during WWII
(Cape: http://www.bandshoppe.com/Marching-Band-Uniform-Cape-p/in559.htm)
(Insignia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht#/media/File:Balkenkreuz.svg)
-White Gloves

ColorGuard:
*Varies from show-to-show basis, BUT standard uniforms until show uniforms come in is shown below*
Custom Dress GS1581 Package w/ Modifications
Mods:
*With advice from authentic German housewives and traditionalists, the directors have opted for modifications that will transform the dress into something that looks like a traditional dirndl dress. The dress will be white blouse with a black bodice, full scarlet skirt with mini "Balkenkreuz" insignias at the hem, and complementary (black, white or scarlet, whichever was best) apron.*

Guard Flags/Rifles/Etc.
*Under the decision of guard director Bertha Bliss to conserve costs, the Guard will no longer be employing flags with standard uniforms. Guard will only be employing custom flags with the custom show-by-show basis uniforms. Instead, guard will be employing black rifles with their standard uniforms.*

Great write ups, Redeast! I love the time and thought you put into this... It kind of makes me excited to see what happens this season! Good luck in Greece tomorrow, ENCORE! Wenatchee just flew in at Athens, gonna spend the night at The Margi hotel in Vouliagmeni, and we're going to get an early start tomorrow morning with a nice bus ride to the Nafplion Music Festival. My performers are excited!

Unfortunately, I'm not with them on their European tour this year... I'm touring with my drum corps, which is just exciting! My assistant band director, Robert Domingo, is with Wenatchee. If you happen to see him, say hi!

I'm sure we'll run into Bob at some point on the European festival tour :)

Lol just realized that we weren't going to the kickoff in Greece :'). Our group still went over there... The apple blossom festival was just an expedition show for us anyway. We're preparing on a field near the hotel for our debut in Turkey on Tuesday

Thank you again to all who read my extensive write-ups. I'm just trying to spice up the forums as much as possible without being too overbearing!

Good luck to all who start off S53! Der Reich will be in Greece tonight, hoping to drop some "sick beats." I'll personally attempt to do a non-biased write up of at least ENCORE! D2 groups provided I have time. Also, look forward to my continuation of the Bi-Weekly reports, in which I do a detailed analysis of the Top 3 ENCORE! groups in terms of every caption available in the game.

Finally, I wish a warm welcome to Robinson Secondary School Marching Rams (corndogshuffle), JC Jets (jmartin105696), and James Madison Memorial High (JustJohn)! With the exception of Robinson, an experienced D1 group, both Jets and James Madison are D3 groups. May you three have a respectable, if not outright outstanding season in your respective divisions!

Thanks for the welcome REM! We hope to represent the league well, even though our comeback season could be a little rough!

welcome all--we are so lucky to have the Marching Rams! a beast in the activity!

Yesterday:

Nafplion Music Festival

http://cityofnafplio.net/en/blog/25th-nafplion-festival-24-06-03-07-summer-2016

Thanks for the welcome GC (And Aaron too), it's good to be back and we are looking forward to bringing home some hardware!

I knew I didn't come through two nights ago when I toyed everyone the idea of a write-up after the first ENCORE! contest in Greece. Tonight is no different because I am currently knee-deep in OITNB Season 2 and it's getting GOOD....

Whimsical excuses aside, I would like to moment to point out that our ENCORE! contest tonight was held in Istanbul, where, in recent reality, has suffered a tragic attack by terrorists leaving dozens dead and even more injured in several degrees. Religious or not, I'd like to request everyone to please pray or just send sympathies towards the people of Istanbul. It cannot heal the injured nor bring back the dead, but our thoughts and prayers can hopefully reach through word of mouth or through the modern miracles of social media to console the families of those directly and indirectly affected by this tragedy.


#PrayForIstanbul

Wow, I had no idea that happened. I've mostly been withdrawn from the news. Rarely there is any good news in the media. Therefore, I try to stay focused on the positive things in my life. I wish the world could be a better place; I know it seems corny, but I do.

****************************************************************************************************

Moving on to league announcements, I am welcoming ideas for next season's tour. I prefer that we use real places or events, but it is a fantasy game. Thus, I don't mind if the theme is fantasy. With other leagues, we've traveled to cartoon towns and gone on an interstellar tour. You can be as creative as you like or choose something more "down to earth" and realistic. We'll put your ideas to a vote.

Aaron, how does a tour focused on SE Asia sound? There's a lot of locations that would be amazing venues for contests, including:
-Tokyo
-Beijing
-Seoul
-Manila
-Singapore

And many more not-so-well-known, yet nevertheless breathtaking locales.
ENCORE! in the Orient. Something along those lines, I guess ;)

The Tour of Washington (Haha, I may be biased but it's still an idea) An event for every 2 days. Most of these are real events, but I had to make up others.

Kickoff day- Cavalcade of Bands-Pasco, WA

(Tuesday 1)- Tumwater Harvest Festival - Tumwater, WA

(Thursday 1)- Spokane Lilac Festival- Spokane, WA

(Saturday 1) Yakima invitational- Yakima, WA

(Monday 2)- Bands by the beach- Long Beach, WA

(Wednesday 2)- Sumner Band Festival- Sumner, WA

(Friday 2)- Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival of bands- Wenatchee, WA

(Sunday 2)- Seattle Music Games- Seattle, WA

(Tuesday 3) Clash of the Bands- Everett, WA

(Thursday 3) Mountains of Bands- Leavenworth, WA

(Saturday 3) Shocker Band Extravaganza- Waterville, WA

(Monday 4) Kennewick Rememberance Festival- Kennewick, WA

(WEDNESDAY 4) Olympic Music appreciation- Olympia, WA

(Friday 4)- Tacoma's March- Tacoma, WA

(Sunday) Whitewater music fest- Walla Walla, WA

Auburn FAME Championships- Auburn, WA

you can rename any of them if you want. Again, it's kinda a biased suggestion, but at least I made one :)

Okay, so far the themes are..

ENCORE! in the Orient.

The Tour of Washington


Just an FYI, I'm only looking for themes and/or locations, not dates. We'll still have events on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with an opening day, a Sunday in week 5, and a Championship. Sorry for not being clear about that.

How about, the Tropical Islands of the World,

Oops...
If you choose the Washington tour, I'll give you more events if needed.