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50 years from now would be a hoot! ... I'll be 115 and 6' under ... while there still would be percussion, the marching part of it will most likely evaporate ... I can see the activity being renamed to Moving Musical Arts ... because in my mind, the activity is now movement - not marching ... and ... I envision more of a move to indoor (broadway style - BLAST! type) shows ... :-)

At risk of throwing this thread down a rabbit hole, I think this has more to do with corps getting their changes finalized and getting to the level of clarity that their members are capable of. The Cavaliers were not going to catch Crown last year. Crown was doing what they were doing way too well, and as a result, there was a clear competitive line between them for most of the season. A similar line existed between Vanguard and whoever was in third at a given time. Vanguard was great, but they weren't going to catch Cadets or Coats. It can look like those corps are being "slotted" into groups, but in reality the numbers just represent the consistency of those corps' performances from night to night.

I read this and see that you want it to fail ~ and in the process see DCA fail. Not even give it a chance to see whether or not it works, works well, squeaks along, just all out fails. I'm sure others felt that way with previous rule changes. While I was not around at the time when I hear people speak of allowing women in corps, that this was the closest to the same feeling of all out failure, drum corps is ruined forever, type of response. Yet here we are close to 50 years later..... I don't have a crystal ball and I don't think I stand any chance of being around 40 or 50 years from now to see what happens, but my gut instinct is that people will look back on this and think that in the end it helped the activity, not hurt it. The adults ARE deciding what they feel is best for the activity. They are looking towards the future, not the past. The only people looking at the past and expecting it to stay where it was are you and people like you. I once sat in a friend's basement and watching him trying to hook up his computer with music running it through his amplifier and lights. I thought he was nuts, that it would never really work or be something someone would want to spend so much time with. The man is a millionaire and you see his work every time you arrive at a casino, a stadium, and such. I didn't see the big picture, just what was going on at that moment. That is really how I see people look at all changes that I have seen in drum corps. Some people are still stuck on the giant downsides of those changes, others begrudgingly accepted them and moved on, a few gave up completely and never came back to see what happened, if they worked or they failed. And many, they watch what is going on today, recall the past fondly and yet look at the current product and think OH MY GOD! That is AMAZING!! Who would have though we would be doing this now?!? Thankfully I think there are far more people who fall into that last category than then others.

They have been ever since the 1920s, when Gretsch, Conn, and Ludwig decided to start selling bugles with valves. At that point, the horns stopped being bugles.

Ok less debating on "Slotting" and more discussion on 2015 Crown! Oh I did finally get my Crown Christmas Ornament =) Now I'll have to hunt down the equipment truck on the road so I can find my name on the side of it.

Funny irony as an aside to the Cadet discussion: Sun Bowl yesterday in El Paso saw the Blue Devils lose to the other unit who wore uniforms of maroon, gold, and white! Congrats ASU. The irony is that Duke marched several members of the Cadets drum corps (vets of '14 and '15) who refer to their unit as D.U.M.B. (Duke University Marching Band.) It must be very schizophrenic being simultaneously a Cadet and a Blue Devil, ho, ho.

just as DCI WGI or guard or percussion auditions can be very different. YES sometimes a member can fit into both and no need for the audition BUT often it's about the possible members together side by side. Bottom line YES it is an expensive activity all around BUT as I have told people at auditions or just in general , life is also about choices and the fact sometime we CAN"T have it or do it all.. MAKE A CHOICE. sometimes it's necessary in life. AS far as amounts, dues on either end winter or summer, doesnt come close to actually paying for a member in many cases. Try sending a kid away for an entire summer to some camp, feed them , lodge them, transport them and teach them....jmo

I got BluRays Essentials collections: Classics and Champions 1 & 2. I know most of these shows by heart, but they look and SOUND GREAT on the Essentials collections. What a joy to see these old, favorite shows in crisp BluRay quality! Particularly meaningful when considering we might lose streaming these old classics to the lawyers. Merry Drum Corps Christmas to my fellow band geeks!

it's more than slight attendance. it's growth in corps, it's growth in visibility, Soundsport, Drumline Battle. DCA is already bringing in the kids. Look around DCA. Corps are getting younger every year

The folks that voted were the adults. They voted as they thought best for the long-term success of their corps and DCA as an organization. DCA is less and less a "different animal from DCI". Many marching members join a DCA corps, then do DCI, and then some go back to DCA again. The ages of DCA members in many of the corps are younger and younger. A young gal who worked with the pit for the band I teach was in the Buccs pit...she is 24...and she was the OLDEST member of their pit.

Lets leave out of the equation need for whatever reason. How about just plain ole WANT. If want is the reason then whats the problem. IF those in charge feel a need or want then so be it. You are wrong about a few things though. You are equating audience, member, concepts, etc etc to the past not the present or future. The climate all around the activity has dramatically changed in the past several years and those in charge BETTER change with the climate or there won't be a DCA period. Just look at a few corps that did make some contemporary changes this year. This attitude shift away from ( because it's always been this way ) has and will continue to be an advantage to these iconic corps. Knowing your product and who it serves internally is something many corps , especially if you go way back didn't get and most of those are where?..GONE ! You also are assuming that whats BEST is not to change or have any particular change.

With due respect to Jordan Koenig, this would never past the Cesario test. First the colors would clash with the maroon and gold, unless of course he was deemed to be part of the guard. The headgear, although Carolina Crown unique, would blend into the turf unless he joined the Cavaliers. And Hopkins will spare no $$$ in the budget to pay royalties to Phantom who already have the licensing dibbs for evil Queen Joan.

If that is really their approach, it's kind of interesting. As long as they don't resurrect the evil queen and dress her up as Miss Clevel...

Agreed, Belleville had very sharp uniforms. Others from the old days that I have always loved seeing were those of St. Rocco's of Brooklyn, and the Lt. Norman Prince "Princemen" of Boston. Also, many of the corps of that era either wore cadet style jackets like BAC (SKEK, MK, IC. Revere, St.Mary's of Beverly), or satin blouses like Blessed Sac, that looked sharp on the field. I actually liked the look of uniforms from that era better than today's.

Excellent post Horn Teacher. Another point the OP has to consider is that members are being asked to pay less than half of the cost of a member's participation. The corps raise the rest through fundraising, donations, performance fees, etc. Some corps have begun to reduce the number of camps that members must attend in favor of using tools like SmartMusic. This not only reduces member costs of traveling to camps, but reduces the corps cost of operating the camps (rental of facilities, feeding everyone, travel costs for staff and admin, etc.). This helps keep member costs from increasing.

The camp was a rousing success with over 430 participants...that's about 100 more than PC and BD had at their separate camps/auditions last year at this time. Details on the PC site. http://www.pacific-crest.org/2014/12/pcbd/

honestly...speak up. There's one problem...those that have the power and make the rules already voted, and the genie isn't going back in the bottle. I fully expect guitars etc to be rolled out in the next few years too. DCA has been staring a HUGE stat in the face for several years now, and finally started taking action: their audience base is older. and slowly but surely it's dying off.For many still around, traveling to shows is less and less likely.So to continue to pander to that or to make changes that will help bring kids along and get on the bus? I'll be the first to ##### about Yowza like shows. I fully expect at some point to have C2 preach to us, or see Hop take a shot at a show that didn't live up to expectations and try it out with C2 for redemption. And I'm sure i'll be less than polite. Then I'll see a show like Tilt that would never have worked without the rules changes. I'll see shows in the band world like I saw this fall from West Deptford HS, Brick memorial HS, Southern Regional HS or Red Land HS that made electronics etc work for them and the show without being abusive...and I'll see the number of kids in those bands start showing more interest in DCA and I'll feel better that DCA will be around in 20 years when I'm a crankier 65 year old man than I am at 45

Geneva Appleknockers 1970's uniforms were ahead of their time, polished, understated, looked good up close and far away and corps members looked tall. I liked Carolina Crown's 2013 uniform and like Troopers uniform any year as long as their guard wears a dash of yellow. To be honest I listen to the music first and see how the visuals fit later even though I was a guard/marching instructor except for Crossmen in recent years. The guard always seemed to be melodic with the music. Maybe we need a thread about flag colors that match the music that match the uniform too!

I agree 100%.

Just about any show is fine with me. As always, they'll perform it at a high level. HOWEVER..... the amount of spoken word MUST be cut down to the bone, if not missing altogether!

Also, in that top 8 group only 27th didn't win a championship. While not a tragedy, because there are enough real ones in the world, you wish they could have won one.

i said no, but when i thought about it i know of someone who never marched and still has a corps tattoo. the thing is this person has been working with this corps for a long time and for many people who marched this corps, a summer without this person just wouldn't be the same. i'm sure many corps have a similar person on staff/volunteer.

I hear what you are saying... maybe it is my personal perception though. If I saw someone with a Blue Devils tattoo, my first thought would be "they marched BD." If I saw someone with a New England Patriots tattoo, my first thought would be "they are a big fan."

Would a Couchmen tattoo be acceptable? http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=89745641314 I kid...

That is a fun question... If it's projected that 50% of marriages will end in divorce I don't think getting a tattoo of a wife would be a good idea. Ever. Especially not a new one. I think it's more likely that I'd still like my dream corps 20 years from now than I'd still be married. Happily married is a completely other story too... (I'd never get a tattoo of any organization I wasn't personally a part of. Just clarifying before someone takes that too seriously)

by this group, I assume you mean hardcore volunteer types? At my corps, these people were honored with the opportunity to wear the same necklace that the members wore, which is a big deal, IMO. I don't know if all corps have necklaces in addition to jackets, but a lot of them do.

And they are still as dirty as ever.

The Cadets drumline is better.