jwillis35 Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) If you have a show with the top 8 corps (or 7 of the top 8) in attendance you will sell lots of tickets. It doesn't matter whether it is Tournament of Champions, DCI Sponsored, or a local show. The TOC, in general terms, was a way for the G7 corps to put pressure on DCI to accept the fact that certain corps attract more and deliver more for DCI; and therefore these corps should be paid more. For a while TOC shows tried things like having some corps perform before the show (small groups), each corps would do a special encore standstill after their show, and then they experimented with a mass corps performance to close the show. Ultimately this fizzled (as I thought it would) and became unmanageable. I am not a fan of TOC and see no purpose for it. It's DCI competition...end of story. Half the lineup of a TOC show would draw a nice crowd and give some lower-scoring corps a chance to appear in more shows, and it would give other show sponsors a chance to attract a few bigger corps. Having said that I will admit it's nice to see the top 8, or top 7. I would just prefer we save those special moments for big regional shows. One cool thing about TOC is the rotating order of the lineup. Edited July 19, 2017 by jwillis35 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terri Schehr Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 17 minutes ago, Highwaydude said: I would usually agree TOC shows draw more but this years TOC in Dekalb was missing Crown, BlueDevils, and BlueCoats.. So I did not go this year and I bet I wasn't the only one who didn't attend Dekalb because of that.. But if the top 7-8 Corps are performing.. yes it would sell out or be close to it. It was leaner attendance than usual. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 5 minutes ago, jwillis35 said: If you have a show with the top 8 corps (or 7 of the top 8) in attendance you will sell lots of tickets. It doesn't matter whether it is Tournament of Champions, DCI Sponsored, or a local show. The TOC, in general terms, was a way for the G7 corps to put pressure on DCI to accept the fact that certain corps attract more and deliver more for DCI; and therefore these corps should be paid more. For a while TOC shows tried things like having some corps perform before the show (small groups), each corps would do a special encore standstill after their show, and then they experimented with a mass corps performance to close the show. Ultimately this fizzled (as I thought it would) and became unmanageable. I am not a fan of TOC and see no purpose for it. It's DCI competition...end of story. Half the lineup of a TOC show would draw a nice crowd and give some lower-scoring corps a chance to appear in more shows, and it would give other show sponsors a chance to attract a few bigger corps. Having said that I will admit it's nice to see the top 8, or top 7. I would just prefer we save those special moments for big regional shows. One cool thing about TOC is the rotating order of the lineup. Fortunately, and ironically, the original intent of the TOC show concept is now pretty much moot, because there are so many elite corps now. And perhaps the first few years of TOC shows had something to do with this. I don't know what the magic formula is for a drum corps lineup. I do think kids want to see the corps that have led the activity in recent years, especially high school band kids. What percentage of the crowd would come anyway? Impossible to know. I'm just glad there are so many corps worth the price of admission now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 The primary original intent was MORE $$$ for the G7 corps...and that concept has not changed at all. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I go to several shows a year and never think about whether it is TOC or not TOC. The important factors are: date, location, my other scheduling issues, corps playing. If the first three items mentioned don't work out, something designated TOC means nothing to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 14 hours ago, Hook'emCavies said: Heck, I remember in 08 I was there to watch open class corps and no one was sitting in the crowd until Cadets or Crown came in the field. I see this, too. To each their own preferences, of course. But given this relatively small community of mms, staffs, and fans, I wish more people would show up for the early performances. It's a lot of fun to watch what the less prominent organizations are doing. Sometime soon, one or a few of them might be top 12. And as a BTW to anyone showing up for seats late: Stay out of my way until the performing corps is done! Geeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gak27 Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 14 hours ago, IntercalaryTurtle said: TOC at Massillon last year was incredible, hope the crowd's the same this year, or maybe not so I can get better parking 14 hours ago, oldbandguy said: Secret to better parking at Massillon is..... 1) arrive the day before (you can watch Blooo rehearse all day OR 2) don't use the main entrance road (I think it's 16th street) try to come in on the east side of the stadium. Another tip: If you're up for an approx. 1/2 mile walk, park at the Target store on Lincoln Way: Target to Stadium path Did this last year and saved a LOT of sitting in traffic... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geluf Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Those of us on DCP are a minority: we want to see everyone. We're in our seats from the jump to catch every performance we can. This is not at all the case for a major chunk of DCI's audience. For many, the top 8-10 *are* DCI, as far as they are concerned, and they consider it a waste of time to bother with anyone below that threshold. It's a harsh reality that I wish weren't true, but it is. You see it even during finals week, where fans hang out in the lot with a top group rather than go into the stadium to catch lower-tiered performances. Only finals night itself seems mostly devoid of this issue and that's because you're literally only dealing with the Top 12. The elite for the year. TOC shows are a recognition of that, and a response to it. What I would like to see done to them is to tweak the format a bit: Have your big draws but then reserve two slots for corps outside of the usual Top 8-10 bubble. Rotate them in and out so different corps get to do it, and the random draw helps ensure that at least part of the time they get a later time slot, sandwiched between the bigger draws so people see them. Get some exposure to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 3 minutes ago, mjoakes said: I see this, too. To each their own preferences, of course. But given this relatively small community of mms, staffs, and fans, I wish more people would show up for the early performances. It's a lot of fun to watch what the less prominent organizations are doing. Sometime soon, one or a few of them might be top 12. And as a BTW to anyone showing up for seats late: Stay out of my way until the performing corps is done! Geeze. This is very true. I have been on tours more years than I care to remember and have seen support on line for OC or as you say the less prominent and have said " put you money where your mouth is but it's same ole same ole. I have seen some with barley an audience. If people want to turn around the so called importance of the smaller corps then support them. MONEY will help with that change for sure. ASK WGI where their money comes from. Although WC is a sell out, without the HS A guards there would be no WGI At least not like it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 14 hours ago, jwillis35 said: If you have a show with the top 8 corps (or 7 of the top 8) in attendance you will sell lots of tickets. It doesn't matter whether it is Tournament of Champions, DCI Sponsored, or a local show. The TOC, in general terms, was a way for the G7 corps to put pressure on DCI to accept the fact that certain corps attract more and deliver more for DCI; and therefore these corps should be paid more. For a while TOC shows tried things like having some corps perform before the show (small groups), each corps would do a special encore standstill after their show, and then they experimented with a mass corps performance to close the show. Ultimately this fizzled (as I thought it would) and became unmanageable. I am not a fan of TOC and see no purpose for it. It's DCI competition...end of story. Half the lineup of a TOC show would draw a nice crowd and give some lower-scoring corps a chance to appear in more shows, and it would give other show sponsors a chance to attract a few bigger corps. Having said that I will admit it's nice to see the top 8, or top 7. I would just prefer we save those special moments for big regional shows. One cool thing about TOC is the rotating order of the lineup. I agree....The TOC idea has been rendered a moot point as it originally pertained to throwing the G7 folks a bone. Having said that, and this may be a minority opinion, but in retrospect, I believe the original G7 controversy actually was a boon for BAC in the long term. When we were in the middle of that debacle, several Boston BOD members told me that this was it....they would do whatever it took to ensure that the Boston Crusaders would never again be excluded from the table. Within months of this event, the board doubled in size, financial and organizational goals and objectives were set, and entire organization became focused like a laser no longer on survival but on excellence. And here we are, in 2017. As for the primary architect of the proposal, perhaps those chickens are coming home to roost this year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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