Jeff Ream Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 On 6/9/2018 at 8:57 PM, Ron H said: With all due respect to the terrific eastern corps. You are tone deaf. The last several pages of this thread had everything to do with the eastern corps and nothing to do with MBI, which is the subject of this very thread. I'm sorry, but so many of you have good intentions but are completely deaf to what is really happening in the "All-Age" world. The All-Age drum corps are very, very much a localized circuit. And it has little or no influence in the larger drum corps community. And it has virtually NO influence in the marching band world. (From which ALL of our future members come from.) I've said it a couple of times and I'll say it again. While I believe that DCI is severely shortsighted in focusing on exclusively being a "youth" activity and blindly ignoring the adult "continuing education" aspect of drum corps , DCI right now is the only viable model of a national drum corps circuit. DCA ain't it. So what happens next? psst....some of us have been leveling criticisms at DCA for a long time now. Just saying 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 33 minutes ago, gregory11 said: I don't get it. What's wrong with MBI coming out as a class A corps then rebuilding the corps back up to the open class level within time. Are they to a shame to be class A? Or is open class the only way to go in DCA. All of the excuses for MBI not coming out seems overrated. I rather see MBI come out with 17-22 horns competing rather then no corps at all. Hope to see them back in 2019. Now watch, here comes all the excuses from everyone on DCP why they can't come back as class A. i wondered that too....just didn't want to be that guy that said it out loud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 6 hours ago, hairbear said: To return the thread to the topic at hand: With a history of sound business decisions and wise planning that they're known for, I think Minnesota Brass can get past this hurdle in fine form. It will take some very hard recruiting at the High School level to get the bodies in the horn line. Or a WGI winds, perhaps a soundsport team to build the numbers and talent. I have no clue how competitive the Minnesota HS Marching Band scene is or is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 (edited) 16 hours ago, gregory11 said: I don't get it. What's wrong with MBI coming out as a class A corps then rebuilding the corps back up to the open class level within time. Are they to a shame to be class A? Or is open class the only way to go in DCA. All of the excuses for MBI not coming out seems overrated. I rather see MBI come out with 17-22 horns competing rather then no corps at all. Hope to see them back in 2019. Now watch, here comes all the excuses from everyone on DCP why they can't come back as class A. I've been trying to hold my tongue on this ... but you're not completely off the mark. 12 hours ago, BigW said: It will take some very hard recruiting at the High School level to get the bodies in the horn line. Or a WGI winds, perhaps a soundsport team to build the numbers and talent. I have no clue how competitive the Minnesota HS Marching Band scene is or is not. The HS marching band scene in MN is weird and complicated. First off, there are two separate entities: competitive summer parade band and competitive fall field show band. - The summer parade band scene is specific to MN, with most of the groups and parades taking place in central MN aka "Michele Bachmann territory" (there's no "state" competition, just the Vikingland Band Festival in Alexandria ... two weeks from now). The activity has evolved to the point that some groups are learning over 30 sets on the street (each "show" is something like 3-5 minutes, and repeats several times throughout every parade). Most of the bands are HS-affiliated, but a couple are community ed. organizations that take in students from multiple schools (i.e. the 728 Cadets ... where a bunch of MBI members teach at/come from, and the Mankato-area 77 Lancers ... which is next to St. Peter and has instructors/members from Govies). Because of the intense, but short season, a lot of these kids have time to do fall activities/athletics ... or fill drum corps spots. It's also worth mentioning that a lot of these "summer" groups have strong indoor guard/drumlines (i.e. 728 Cadets). It's such a weird and niche activity to me, and I'll never understand its popularity ... but it continues to be popular, and many of those kids end up doing drum corps. - The fall scene also has no real circuit behind it. The closest thing to a state competition is the Youth in Music show at the Vikings stadium ... which brings in as many out-of-state bands as it does MN bands. Most of the bands are Twin Cities suburban high schools, with several outliers in southern MN and one super outlier in northern MN (Grand Rapids). There are a handful of bands that consistently travel to BOA regionals, and a couple that have gone to Grand Nationals. Of those ... Rosemount HS and Eden Prarie HS are the two that have made finals in the mid to top tier of the St. Louis Super Regional (mostly Rosemount). I've taught field groups on-and-off again ... so it's hard for me to gauge the popularity. Some traditional powerhouse schools have ebbed-and-flowed with recruiting. - The indoor scene actually has circuits behind it ... the Northstar Circuit for guard (not as strong or well-represented as it used to be, unfortunately), and the MN Percussion Association (which has consistently grown over the last decade). Edited June 11, 2018 by ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 29 minutes ago, ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar said: It's such a weird and niche activity to me, and I'll never understand its popularity Sounds like the entire drum corps activity in the minds of the general public!!! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 On 6/9/2018 at 8:57 PM, Ron H said: DCA ain't it. So what happens next? Four choices, I guess.... either stay in DCA, re-tool and join DCI, focus entirely on WGI/indoor, or fold for good. Whatever route the organization decides to take, whatever it feels is in its best interest... I wish them well. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 9 hours ago, ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar said: I've been trying to hold my tongue on this ... but you're not completely off the mark. The HS marching band scene in MN is weird and complicated. First off, there are two separate entities: competitive summer parade band and competitive fall field show band. - The summer parade band scene is specific to MN, with most of the groups and parades taking place in central MN aka "Michele Bachmann territory" (there's no "state" competition, just the Vikingland Band Festival in Alexandria ... two weeks from now). The activity has evolved to the point that some groups are learning over 30 sets on the street (each "show" is something like 3-5 minutes, and repeats several times throughout every parade). Most of the bands are HS-affiliated, but a couple are community ed. organizations that take in students from multiple schools (i.e. the 728 Cadets ... where a bunch of MBI members teach at/come from, and the Mankato-area 77 Lancers ... which is next to St. Peter and has instructors/members from Govies). Because of the intense, but short season, a lot of these kids have time to do fall activities/athletics ... or fill drum corps spots. It's also worth mentioning that a lot of these "summer" groups have strong indoor guard/drumlines (i.e. 728 Cadets). It's such a weird and niche activity to me, and I'll never understand its popularity ... but it continues to be popular, and many of those kids end up doing drum corps. - The fall scene also has no real circuit behind it. The closest thing to a state competition is the Youth in Music show at the Vikings stadium ... which brings in as many out-of-state bands as it does MN bands. Most of the bands are Twin Cities suburban high schools, with several outliers in southern MN and one super outlier in northern MN (Grand Rapids). There are a handful of bands that consistently travel to BOA regionals, and a couple that have gone to Grand Nationals. Of those ... Rosemount HS and Eden Prarie HS are the two that have made finals in the mid to top tier of the St. Louis Super Regional (mostly Rosemount). I've taught field groups on-and-off again ... so it's hard for me to gauge the popularity. Some traditional powerhouse schools have ebbed-and-flowed with recruiting. - The indoor scene actually has circuits behind it ... the Northstar Circuit for guard (not as strong or well-represented as it used to be, unfortunately), and the MN Percussion Association (which has consistently grown over the last decade). and given the climate, the fall season cant be too long 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: and given the climate, the fall season cant be too long Begins and ends the third week of September. LOL. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 9 hours ago, Fran Haring said: Begins and ends the third week of September. LOL. not that far off here anymore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larry p Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 I understand the Mn recruiting prob (believe me). I just wonder how Chops did it being in the same area as MB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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