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The World Series of Drum Corps


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FWIW, I think Blue Stars are more than capable of finishing in the top seven this year.

and should have

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I agree. DCI should stand tall and tell G7 or WS or whatever they are going to name themselves, that it is all in or all out. That's what DCI did with the world class corps from regional circuits until they all disolved. And that was with the Hopkins/Gibbs thought process running the show. Time for a taste of their own medicine. Either you are DCI, or you are not...but you don't get the best of both worlds, especially after the threatening tones the original proposal contained. It's this simple,

say what you mean and mean what you say.

I think DCI should turn the tables and say, "you all said if we didn't do it your way, you all were leaving DCI. Good bye!" That would give the Seven the "spanking" Jason spoke about in the other thread. The DCI schedule comes first, and if certain corps say they are refusing to appear at a scheduled event, they are out of DCI. The only way of return is through contractual agreement to perform at all DCI shows they are scheduled for.

"If you are going to bluff, you must be prepared to have your bluff called." - Arnold Schwarzanegger in Twins

DCI, call their bluff. That's my advice.

from the buzz in Indy and talking to those who know, the 16 non G7 corps are 100% unified against this with no wavering. However it seems not all G7members are fully kept abreast of everything, and do get a little mad when things get on here or elsewhere.

the cnn.com article didn't help their mood either.

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I have been reading page after page of comments about this G7 proposal, looked at the original powerpoint presentation and spent a few moments tinking about it and quite honestly, I am more confused by it than ever. Drum Corps International has for years wanted to attain the same notoriety and name brand as the NFL, NBA, MLB and NCAA and guess what? They have succeeded! Talk of the "mighty" wanting more power and influence, breaking up the league or conference, revenue streaming, voting power, performing venues...it all sounds eerily familliar to many of collegiate and professional sports headlines over the past 5 years.

I was a member of 2 of the proposed G7 corps during my 9 years of marching and I am somewaht embarassed by the actions these organizations are taking in the effort to enhance and propogate the activity. I am also a band director of a very successful competitive marching band and I am not sure what message this may send my students about the activity. I certainly would have to think twice about encouraging participation in drum corps after they graduate for high school.

Drum Corps International always held a very prestigious place in the eyes of music educators who cared about the quality of the marching arts. Often times, marching bands are the brunt of bad jokes or the recipient of poor treatment from their athletic or dance peers. Drum corps was the example that demonstrated that the marching arts could stand on equal ground. This undermines the unity of activity and threatens to splinter the already depleted ranks to a point where it will be a challenge for anyone to thrive.

Is this really about money? Here's an idea, cut the prices of the tickets. Really, for my family of 4 to attend finals in Indy it would cost over $250.00 just for the show, program, parking, food (maybe if we just order drinks) . Maybe too many folks have said "no more". I can now spend $18 bucks to watch quarters at a theatre or $30 to watch semis from the comfort of your home. Not quite the same experience, but much more economical. $100 for the DVD's? I thought the corps were footing the licensing costs for copyright permission. Where does that money go? $75 for CD's? Guess I'll just wait for the audio dowloads and spend $4 for who I like instead of having to listen to Blue Devils' screeching and cluster chords to nowhere.

I wonder how the Blue Stars feel today...? .1 away from 7th place, geez guys that's just too bad. Just not G7 material I guess. Bluecoats? Crown? Incredible organizations and deserving of their placements and accomplishments, but where were these groups in 1980 when DCI was packing the stands? I know, I marched with one of those groups and we were in the stands in about 50th place wondering what it must be like to make semis and what we had left to wear to go to finals! I think Blue Stars and Madison and Boston and Troopers might be a little put off by notion that they "just aren't good enough to make any influence in the activity".

This is just insanity. Let the G7 go off and do their thing for as long as they can sustain it. I believe it will last for about a year and people will be in an uproar over the circus-like atmosphere that the G7 propose at every show and people will be begging for it to go away. It will be too late of course because the most important resourse in DCI will say, "I want nothing to do with this craziness!" That would be the young men and women still looking at drum corps as an activity worth pursuing. Our young people aren't stupid, they will know they are the unwilling participants in a money-making scheme and will say enough is enough. The "other corps" will most likely continue to try and sustain the activity, but if it can't survive with all the groups working together, what makes anyone think it can survive with a split such as this?

All I can say is I am glad I marched in a more civil time where the only competition took place on the field and not in some meeting room. Get ready people, the party is over. Spend $39 and get the FanNetwork and watch the shows while you can and talk about "I remember when..."

you should send this to the G7 directors.

in fact I saw a group of 7 people with tshirts in Indy doing their own little G7 protest. for guidelines reasons, I wont say what the front of their shirts pselled out when lined up correctly, but on the back each member had a G7 corps, and threw in some facts that kinda threw it back in those corps faces about "what if's" that would have excluded these corps at certain points in time.

and i know several of them marched in G7 corps

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I think it's all the "new ideas" that people dislike about the current state of DCI. And the new ideas don't go away. Just look at amps. Can't get rid of them now because the corps have invested so much into them. In fact, Hopkins has used the existence of amps as an argument for pushing electronics and amped horns. Just read his rules proposals and you'll see the creeping rationalizations.

Well corps did dispense with marching xylophones, marching marimbas, marching tympani, and the U.S. Flag Color Guard. :sad:

Edited by Joe Salvatore
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Just to respond to a couple of the minor details in your post:

I thought the corps were footing the licensing costs for copyright permission.

DCI pays for the music licensing and permissions (on behalf of the corps) for all of the products they sell.

$75 for CD's?

Not sure where you buy your CD's but DCI is currently charging $29 for the 2009 CD and $29 to pre-order the 2010 CD. This is the highest price they charge for any CD. [source: the DCI store on their website right now.]

Look - I just saved you money. :sad:

All I can say is I am glad I marched in a more civil time where the only competition took place on the field and not in some meeting room.

Don't be fooled. There were things that happened in meeting rooms back in the day, too. I cannot think of a more competitive group of individuals than the corps directors I have met over the years.

But... we just didn't hear about all the fun and games because Al Gore had not invented the Internet yet.

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the cnn.com article didn't help their mood either.

Does anyone have any insight as to how this article FOUND its way to cnn.com, anyway? It's not like Anderson Cooper is keeping his ear to the pavement in front of Lucas Oil Stadium. Leak by a non-G7er?

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Does anyone have any insight as to how this article FOUND its way to cnn.com, anyway? It's not like Anderson Cooper is keeping his ear to the pavement in front of Lucas Oil Stadium. Leak by a non-G7er?

Not me. :thumbup:

Jeff, you willing to own up to any such leak?? :sad:

:thumbup:

Edited by garfield
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Just to respond to a couple of the minor details in your post:

DCI pays for the music licensing and permissions (on behalf of the corps) for all of the products they sell.

Not sure where you buy your CD's but DCI is currently charging $29 for the 2009 CD and $29 to pre-order the 2010 CD. This is the highest price they charge for any CD. [source: the DCI store on their website right now.]

Look - I just saved you money. :sad:

Don't be fooled. There were things that happened in meeting rooms back in the day, too. I cannot think of a more competitive group of individuals than the corps directors I have met over the years.

But... we just didn't hear about all the fun and games because Al Gore had not invented the Internet yet.

Wow, DCI pays for mechanical licensing and copyright permission? What a crock of crap that is for DCI and a sweet deal for the corps! As a band director that sweats the details with that stuff, my program foots the bill for every second of every show I put on the field. If I do a 20-second snippet of a song, I may pay $1,000 for permission if I really want to use it. If I can't afford the copyright fees, I don't do it and I need to come up with a cheaper alternative. You can't even enter a BOA show without having proof of having paid the copyright permission for every selection in your show. I can't even imagine how much money DCI is shelling out for that little privilege. The corps should pay that, period. They may think twice or three times about what they play. There, I just saved DCI a boat load of money. In terms of your last comment, I am certain there were meetings back in the day, but they weren't made so public and the members of the corps were certainly not put in the middle of the situation. I just got 3 of my staff members back from tour and they said all of this G7 nonsense was an enormous intrusion during the last week particularly. Sure the directors were competitive but what happened on the field was where it counted, now, this crap is spilling out into the field and the stands, that's wrong, no matter what you may think. Al Gore didn't invent the Internet, George Hopkins did, just ask him. He probably wants the revenue stream to start flowing from it now and would like more voting power over who gets faster connections.

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Not me. :thumbup:

Jeff, you willing to own up to any such leak?? :sad:

:thumbup:

Question #2 would be why CNN ran with it. Maybe that's what I'm more interested in. I mean, everything's out here now. I don't need to know about sources & leaks. Just how and why a story made it to CNN.

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