ashevillemurphy Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I for one am along for the journey ... no matter how long it lasts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
md60 Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 The activity is holding on by a thread. Thousand of corps, hundreds of corps,50 corps now 22 because one left in the middle of the season. The fan base is dwindling because we are losing interest. Rarely see a corps in a local parade in the town thier from and if you do the guard is in t-shirts and gym shorts and waving to the crowd like a politician. Corps have to be seen more by the community they take their name from. Would you donate to a corps thats from Boston but rehearses and spends over a month in california without a show. Not going to rant anymore. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. DRUM CORPS IS DYING and by doing your math maybe it will be just 7 corps in a few years. Whatever the distraction or other interests the open class and dca corps are smaller and smaller every year. Sad thing going on. and also please keep winterguard at WGI where it belongs. THese costumes and props are rediculous. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hostrauser Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Of the 43 remaining active DCI corps this season (in Open and World), California has 11 of them. Literally a quarter of DCI is in California now. And to think, there have been at least a half-dozen MORE California corps that have come and gone in the past decade (Fever, Incognito, Esperanza, Mystikal, Alliance...) This is a state with horribly funded schools, arts programs being razed like wheat, and high cost of living. How come DCI is (relatively) thriving? My belief: drum corps is basically a "regional" system out here. Many of the CA corps do not do a full tour; some don't leave the state at all. Yet the state still has what is basically a three-week tour in June/July. DCI's survival will require at least a PARTIAL back-tracking to the "regional" schedules of decades pasts, where corps maybe only cover 1/4 or 1/3 the country before Finals. All corps shows like San Antonio, Atlanta, and Allentown need to be gotten rid of (meaning, get rid of the "all corps" requirement). I would be perfectly fine with DCI World Prelims on Wednesday night being the first time all year all the corps are competing together. I understand DCI's drive towards visibility and applaud their efforts to get the activity out there... but the current model just is not sustainable. Reality is going to triumph; you can work with it or fight against it, but it's going to win. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 (edited) Thousand of corps, thier from WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. DRUM CORPS IS DYING and by doing your math THese costumes and props are rediculous. I'll make a bargain with you... I'll " do the Math " if you'll "do the English and Spelling ". Deal ? Edited July 12, 2012 by BRASSO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The activity is holding on by a thread. Thousand of corps, hundreds of corps,50 corps now 22 because one left in the middle of the season. The fan base is dwindling because we are losing interest. Rarely see a corps in a local parade in the town thier from and if you do the guard is in t-shirts and gym shorts and waving to the crowd like a politician. Corps have to be seen more by the community they take their name from. Would you donate to a corps thats from Boston but rehearses and spends over a month in california without a show. Not going to rant anymore. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. DRUM CORPS IS DYING and by doing your math maybe it will be just 7 corps in a few years. Whatever the distraction or other interests the open class and dca corps are smaller and smaller every year. Sad thing going on. and also please keep winterguard at WGI where it belongs. THese costumes and props are rediculous. And, we're off...... Surely, you would acknowledge that this "month in California" is the first time in 72 YEARS that "a corps from Boston" has done such a thing? For those folks who are not from New England (which must include you since you would otherwsie know better), the Boston Crusaders have ALWAYS spent their preseason/move-in in New England. In addition, the corps has traditionally performed in the Bunker Hill and Dorchester parades, the Quincy and Dedham Flag Day parades, and most years FOUR parades on July 4th. In fact, over the last few years, the corps has ADDED Boston area performances, if for no other reason than it now hosts no less than THREE DCI shows in the Boston area, plus its annual Spring Fling performance. To set the record straight, the BAC now has roughly DOUBLE the amount of public performances in the Boston area than it did when I marched over 30 years ago. The corps' local footprint is now larger than ever, not smaller. As part of a bargain with the California corps, BAC committed to a West Coast tour this year for the first time in its history....and it has borne fruit. Last summer, BOTH BD and SCV came to the home show in Lawrence, MA, and this year SCV is coming again. It is disingenuous to suggest that this organization is somehow undeserving of support. I further reject the hyperventilations on this thread and others about the demise of drum corps being imminent due to the untimely demise of Teal Sound. The sad truth is that only the uppermost management of Teal truly knows the reasons for their debacle. While tragic for the kids and staff, Teal folding is no more a harbinger of the death of our activity than was the sudden demises of Northstar, 27th Lancers, Bridgemen, Defenders, Alliance, Bengal Lancers, and all the other World Class New England drum corps who folded 20-30 years ago. Perhaps your time might be better spent supporting the corps who are still getting it done rather than denouncing their tour decisons? And for the record, BAC will have no trouble selling out it's show on August 2nd in Lawrence, MA, with or without you. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Not going to rant anymore. Good. Otherwise, you never know, you could die before the next Corps does. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackstar Posted July 13, 2012 Author Share Posted July 13, 2012 I've read most of the replies. Yes the sky is falling. Wake up. I didn't write this because I hate the activity. I wrote it because people need to wake up. When I marched in 84 we had three large divisions. Easily 30 plus corps in class A and Open Class. But people say we're having the most competitive year ever. If you got 2 or 3 corps battling it out its good. But don't sound like the old joke about the Russian rowing team, in a two boat race Russian finish 2nd, America finishes next to last. I knew someone would find teams that dominated thier sport. When they ignore the fact that not only can the Yankees win but so can the Marlins, Pirates or Reds, (not the Astos or Padres, they flat out suck every year) But once again this isn't possible in DCI. I wonder what really would happen if The Academy came out and started beating the Blue Devils and Vanguard early in the season. Yes big jumps have happened but what, twice in 41 years? But I'm not the kind of person to yell fire. I'm a firefighter so I'm used to giving solutions which will be presented shortly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I've read most of the replies. Yes the sky is falling. Wake up. I didn't write this because I hate the activity. I wrote it because people need to wake up. When I marched in 84 we had three large divisions. Easily 30 plus corps in class A and Open Class. But people say we're having the most competitive year ever. If you got 2 or 3 corps battling it out its good. But don't sound like the old joke about the Russian rowing team, in a two boat race Russian finish 2nd, America finishes next to last. I knew someone would find teams that dominated thier sport. When they ignore the fact that not only can the Yankees win but so can the Marlins, Pirates or Reds, (not the Astos or Padres, they flat out suck every year) But once again this isn't possible in DCI. I wonder what really would happen if The Academy came out and started beating the Blue Devils and Vanguard early in the season. Yes big jumps have happened but what, twice in 41 years? But I'm not the kind of person to yell fire. I'm a firefighter so I'm used to giving solutions which will be presented shortly. youre putting corps like you mentioned on the same playing field...problem is they arent..Of course a bottom tier corps could beat the BD BUT 1st they have to be at least as good 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 A few years ago, I was in an airport in Jacksonville Florida. The airport was filled with young people--late high school early college age young people. , I saw names like Troopers, Madison Scouts, and Boston Crusaders on luggage and coats. I learned they were headed to winter camps. I also take lots of photos at shows and some corps have posted my photos on their Facebook page. People want to be "tagged" and before I approve their request, I check their profile to make sure it's actually the person. I've noticed a good number call Florida or Texas home. There seems to be quite a bit of interest in drum corps in Florida and Texas. Sadly the Florida corps have not been able to sustain themselves, and the only Texas corps that have been strong have been Skyriders and Crossmen, both corps that were formed elsewhere and moved operations to Texas. While I do not think we will ever get the number of corps in the 50's, 60's, and 70's, I believe there is still an interest. The problem is getting a corps started and keeping it afloat, as other posters have mentioned. When DCI was formed, the purpose was to provide uniform standards in judging and provide a forum where drum corps could be governed by drum corps. Given what happened at different shows with different rules, this was necessary at the time. Maybe DCI needs to redefine its mission. Perhaps it needs to encourage the formation fo drum corps and help these new groups be sustainable from the start .There are corps that could share their models of success. The Bluecoats have had a business model since the mid 80's and it's probably not a coincidence that the corps became more successful as the organizational aspects became stronger. I am impressed with Carolina Crown as a drum corps, I'm even more impressed with the organization overall. At one time DCI did have growth of the activity as a goal. Denver and Birmingham were selected as cities to host finals for this reason. Perhaps now it is more essential than ever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Quite often I see people talking about how big it was in the 60's and 70's. I was there since 1970 and have to say that although it's not drum corps popping up anymore but rather being replaced by high schools doing drumlines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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