dc oldtimer

Been staying at the Crown Plaza the last few years. I love the fact that, because of a cat walk to the convention center, you can walk indoors almost to the gates. And like many hotels, it’s in the middle of downtown town.

Crown Plaza. Stayed in a train car last year. It was pretty awesome! Small but good thing I was by myself.

You might be right. The man has more energy in his pinky than I have in my whole body.

Correct. The years when we took 16th place and fought HARD making finals. The time periods before and after those years where prime years of being one of the elite in the activity and many VFW, Legion and DCI Championships.

We can write a book can't we? Yes, very dark years where we nearly folded..... twice. Only to be saved by The Cavalier Cadets/Alumni and then Rosemont. The difficult times made us so much stronger later in our drum corps careers and in life.

Well, if you haven't noticed over the last, well, 50 years, rarely does the ending of any show of any corps that we see in mid-June makes it in the show come Saturday at Finals. ..... patience young Jedi.

First, as an FMM I welcome your son to the Brotherhood. He made a wise choice. Second, at a VERY early camp I attended, a staff member announced before a very short preview by the brass that as a staff, they "upped their game" as a progression from last year and the higher level of membership. I.e. Talent. So, it's seemed to be both.

My initial reaction the 'Coats show was "man, if this isn't WGI on a football field, what is?" But somehow, as an old fart, I sat there in amazement. I hope we don't see a copycat syndrome that sometimes we see. I think the style fits 'Coats but can't see someone like Phantom follow suit.

After 40 years of being part of this activity I can tell the OP this is not the norm. Are there snobs in the stands? Yep. Are there people who look at you and judge if you are from a corps they dislike? Yep. But all in all the people in the stands will talk to you about drum corps because this is not a main stream passion for most of this country like football (of the American kind) is. We are a tight group but I have found that passions run deep and you have to have a thick skin sometimes...... not unlike what's required here on this site. We sat in front of two local Rockford residents at the Rockford show. It was their first show ever and it sounded like they may have received some free tickets. Maybe as a good faith jester to the local home owners who were invaded by.... well.... us. Some corps do this and it's a good thing. Anyway they were a joy to talk to. After some chit chat I noticed they kind of didn't want to talk that much but this was a product of taking all this in for the first time. It can be rather overwhelming for newbies. Especially when the big corps start taking the field. And when Crown was done ..... well, I asked them what they thought and they couldn't answer exempt for a "wow". Still not sure if it was a good wow or bad wow. Anyway, I think many people in the stands are true "band geeks" and they just want to sit, listen and not interact too much so they can enjoy what is going on on the field. It is who we are but I have enjoyed many great conversations through the years and I love it when it's found that I know someone who they know..... which, of course can be good or bad :)

Great review! Thx!!

Go back to moving the championships around the country. I am getting tired of Indianapolis. I love being able to drive to Indy but I liked planning mini-vacations around DCI to other parts of the country more: Orlando, LA, DC, etc. ...... but PLEASE NO MORE JACKSON MS's!!!!! That place was REALLY BAD!! If they want to remain indoors, there are plenty of indoor stadiums to choose from.

I recently talked to a REAL old timer who marched in the early-60's. You can see him gradually get redder and redder as he talked about what drum corp has become. He refuses to ever go to a show again unless the activity reverts back to "its roots". I suggested he start looking at the activity as I do 1) accept the fact that the drum corps we know and love is long gone 2) just listen to the frickin talent on that field. He looked at me like I had a third eye. After I've accepted these two things I've actually enjoyed going to shows including the fact that I see people I haven't seen in a long time is gravy. Although, it’s interesting, back in the day (seems all us oldtimers say this ..... now even the 30 year olds) I was able to sit through 20 shows a year, seeing the same shows over and over again. Now, after my wife and I watched Atlanta on FN, we are pretty much done for the year. We got “drum corps’d out” pretty quickly. Not sure if this is a commentary for today’s state of drum corps or we’re just old. ..... or both. We’re going to Indy pretty much just for the social aspect of it but if we had to fly someplace to see it, we probably wouldn’t go.

Disagree. Are you saying that these kids are ready for the real world the same as a 30 year old who's gone through college, worked a job of 10 years, is married with with three kids? I think not. It's one thing to treat them as adults helping them grow, it's another to expect them to be adults. Have you hung out at the mall lately?

As an aged drum corps fellow, I would never boo the kids on the field. They work WAY too hard to deserve that. I've been boo'd before and as a 19 year old kid (THESE ARE KIDS OUT THERE!!... yes, I'm shouting) I can tell you it rips your heart out. If I could I would boo the judges and the DCI organization as a whole. I'm sorry, I just don't get what the Blue Devils have been doing the last few years. After watching their show last night I shook my head not understanding how the judges are rewarding these shows. Again, no attack on the kids. They perform wonderfully. I keep hearing "clean wins" but come on, if that were true there are many corps out there that are clean and are not in the upper echelon of DCI. My fear is that others corps will start copying BD's success. I can't imagine seeing 10 shows like that on the field. If there is, I am done. Thank God for corps like Cadets, PR, SVC, etc. who keep me coming back as they present some resemblance of “drum corps” not WGI with horns.

As a Cavalier alum I can relay that our two organizations fully respect each other on and off the field. While sitting in the first row in Madison a few weeks ago I had goose bumps while the Scouts played YNWA and the alums in the stands singing to it. Something Ill never forget. It's what makes each corp so special to the ones who have marched in them.