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I'm still of marching age so my story's still going. I first got introduced to drum corps when I watched the Cavaliers in a YouTube clip at my freshman year of high school band camp. We watched the ESPN clip that showed their 2006 program, The Machine, and I was instantly hooked. I told folks I would join them at some point even though I didn't know where they were from. I went all through high school unable to march and I thought I'd never be able to do it. Then I got a lucky break my freshman year of college and was able to take a trip to Legends out of Kalamazoo. Currently gearing up to march with them another round. I don't think I'll ever take that trip to Rosemont because I've found a home in the Mitten state. I may not be joining a world famous championship corps, but I know that the folks sticking around are building one.

One way to put it is that the Boston Crusader's were a part of my legacy. My sister marched from '68 to '70. My oldest brother joined at the end of '71 and marched from '72 to '77. My next older brother joined at the end of '72 and marched from '73 to '77. Guess who joined at the end of '73? I joined at age 14 and march '74,'75 and '77 to '79. My next younger brother marched '76 to '78 and my youngest brother marched '77 to '79. This means that in '77 their were 6 of us marching together in the Crusader's. Why 6 and not 5? One sister-in-law. Now you might be thinking that this would be the end of it but I'm afraid not. My sister, the one who marched from '68 to '70, got married in '70 to a member of the Crusader's who marched Boston from '67 to '70. They had 2 sons who marched in the Crusader's in the late '80's early 90's I believe. I had one other nephew, the son of my oldest sister, who marched with his 2 cousins in Boston. That would be a grand total of 11.

In recent years I've spent parts of my summer volunteering with a corps. Great people, but the blind spot regarding DCP is kind of funny. Staff, members, volunteers will go on at length about why DCP is such a terrible place, how stupid the posters are, etc. (all while continuing to read the forum daily) . . . then often in the same conversation they'll say something about a another corps, a judge, or something else that would earn them a permaban on here. Pointing out the irony of this earns you a blank stare at best. DCP is a very mild-mannered place. There are certainly some nuts on here, but the real crazies are out there on tour.

I'm taking the "wait and see" attitude on the instrumentation change. However, after reading the great analysis on DCI adapting its "product" for a wider audience and varying venues (in the search of more $$$$), it makes me wonder, when do we stop thinking of the students as "performers" and start thinking of them as un-paid employees?

Junior drum corps will still be a mobile music summer camp for middle and upper class band kids. I love the activity, but that's what it is. As far as rule changes go I think this will be one of the last major ones affecting on field content for a while, and honestly I don't think this one is that major. Next year every corps will feel obligated to use their new toys, but use will drop over the next few years. Doubt we'll see full blown marching trombone and sousa lines, just the occasional solo/soli. I know everyone sees this as a precursor to woodwinds but there are some pretty solid reasons as to why that's not happening any time soon. Anyone predicting some sort of DCI/BOA merger doesn't know much about BOA.

Yay 1990s

I know I ranted in one of the other threads, but the drama and hysteria over the proposal to make any type of brass instrument legal is really getting to be pathetic. The reactions on here are at best comical, and for some, well scary. Yes, we all love drum corps, be it today's drum corps, the years I marched 89-96, or any set of years before or after. Making any type of brass instrument legal is to me, far less destructive to the activity than synths, and I actually think, unlike amps balance, judges will actually address any issues that occur ( unless it's a mic'd solo, then see amps complaints). I'm sure the usual reasons that it will make it easier for more kids to join, add butts in the stands etc are being trotted out there by someone somewhere. I know many people feel we're just that one step closer to woodwinds. But the solution is really this simple if you hate this rule so much: Stop going to shows. stop buying tickets stop buying merchandise. stop donating Just stop. Walk away. I tried to walk away after amps, and actually attended a whopping 3 shows in 4 years. eventually no matter how much the synth stuff has bothered me, I'm still coming. Do I think some of how sousas or french horns or trombones could suck or be cheesy as hell? Well yes. We've had that end result many times long before it was voted in. Ya see folks, you can ##### about show design. You can ##### about rules changes. You can ##### about the G7 stuff. But you're still paying, so in the end, who wins? DCI, who just reported one of their most profitable years ever. Now, do I think some show design trends suck? Sure. Do I think synths haven't added anything beyond not needing food for the seat under my ### to vibrate? Yes. Do I think that the BOD has dropped so many balls over the years they've hurt themselves and the activity? Yes. But I still go. And as such, that's giving my tacit and financial support to DCI and it's corps, designers, judges etc to keep doing what they're doing. When the day comes woodwinds do actually become legal, or show design just totally loses me, I'll go. I've already cut what I spend on DCI down by over $1000 a year since 2002 as it is. Some of it now is just real life getting in the way, some of it is, well, certain things on the field just irritate the hell out of me. I'm ok with that, and apparently DCI is too, because not enough other people have done the same to a degree it hurts them. So if you hate this new rules changes, or the one adding synths, or amps, or Bb horns, or whatever....just go. if enough do and DCI feels a pinch, maybe they'll try to figure out what happened and try to fix it. Maybe they won't. But then I sure as hell won't be so disappointed logging on here and seeing so much negativity and drama. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I've never seen an activity where the participants in all of their forms #### on each other like I see in the marching arts. And we wonder why people discourage kids from doing drum corps. I'm not saying we have to be sunshine and roses, but Jesus H and the rest of the holy family, we;ve had brass from the beginning and all they did was add more types of brass. That's far less destructive to the sound of drum corps than the thunderous goo and static coming from speakers. Flame away, I don't care. Odds are I'll make fun of you

In light of the latest changes in instrumentation, and the previous addition of synths to Drum Corps International show designs over the last decade, I've been wondering about where Drum Corps International might be trying to go. Also, all the little comments from people in this group and other place have got me wondering where Drum Corps International is ultimately headed. At first, I believed that Drum Corps International was positioning itself as the best of the best in the marching band world; sort of the ultimate in marching music, and maybe one step above BOA/MFA and the various state and regional circuits. In that context, it would make sense for them to try to open up the instrumentation and be seen as being all that more inclusive and draw in more potential participants ( using their logic). Now after doing a bit of research, I'm not so sure that has been the goal for a long while. I began thinking about the person who proposed this latest change in DCI instrumentation, Jim Mason, and his previous drum corps involvement with Star of Indiana, Brass Theater, and finally Blast! at MEG ... I began thinking about BD Entertainment and how the recent BD shows have gone in a pretty different direction from the rest of the Drum Corps International activity and ticked off some of the "traditional" drum corps fans along the way. I began thinking about how many BD fans described their shows as more of a "Cirque thing" and I began looking more at what BD Entertainment has been doing through out their history... I also looked at what is being rewarded in DCI regarding visual, which used to be more heavily drill ( ala Cavaliers) but is now more of what BD does with movement ) visual... I also thought about who teaches where and their former connections to other staffs. I thought about the recent appearance of Crown on ABC/Disney's television parade. I thought about Crown's design connections as well. I also began thinking about Sound Sport and Drumline Battle. Finally, I thought about all the G7 stuff that I could bear to think about, George Hopkins' theory about there being only 6 super corps in the future back in the day when he first said it (paraphrasing here), and the whole MIM (Music in Motion) idea. I have some thoughts and observations about where I see "the powers that be" trying to move DCI, and by extension the marching music activity. While doing some of this hobby research, particularly about Blast!, one of the unfortunate things that I've found is that http://www.starofindiana.com/ is no longer up (Someone helped me find the old site in archived form, so I responded below with some updated information), so I couldn't go back and get Jim's or Mr. Cook's previous quotes about Star, Brass Theater, or Blast! history. Now, I understand who maintained that site, so I'm not totally suprised about the site is no longer hosted, but it's unfortunate that we no longer have this resource that is easily accesible (EDIT Found a way to view those old pages see another post below) . Luckily, I remember Star History pretty well. The next best thing I found was the blast! site here: http://www.blasttheshow.com/history.html I remember that Star left DCI after 1993 to pursue "Brass Theater" with Canadian Brass. They didn't want to "just" perform a 10 minute field show ( not really that educational), and they wanted to use more instruments and explore other performance opportunities. Brass Theater finally morphed into Blast! and the various iterations of Blast! For those that remember, Brass Theater added trombones, concert euphoniums, concert french horns, concert tubas, and mic'd vocals. Brass Theater also used Star's '93 uniforms, Star '87 dragon flags, theater lighting, and had reliance upon lots of music vetted from old Star shows and other Drum and Bugle Corps... Here's a clip of that for your reference. Pay attention to Thom Hannum's comment at 7:10 " it's setting the ground work for some future direction for different types of organizations". Is this foreshadowing of where DCI's currently is being pushed from all the way back in 1994? It appears that DCI has finally caught up with the original Brass Theater and Blast! Instrumentation (Not talking about Cyberjam or Shockwave for this discussion). Brass Theater lasted only for a few years. Next, I wanted to see how Blast! is marketed and see if maybe this is the route DCI may be gravitating towards. In the past, I've gone to the blast! website, and read the history section, which credited "drum corps", Star, and Brass Theater as the inspiration for Blast! . I always thought it was amazing for Mason and company to give credit to their past of Drum Corps and Star of Indiana, Colts, Madison Scouts, while moving forward with Brass Theater and Blast!... The current Blast! history section discusses one man's "vision of an incredible musical voice that had never before been realized… A form of performance in combination with a new kind of virtuoso musician that the world had never before encountered. It was the vision that drove the amazing and unstoppable engine that has resulted in one of the most unique, beloved and enduring forms of new entertainment." The current inspiration for Blast! has completely removed all references to Brass Theater, Star of Indiana, and Drum Corps/Marching Band in general... Internationally, Blast! is/has touring/toured places already successfully vetted by corps such as the Madison Scouts (Europe), The Cavaliers (Japan), and the Blue Devils (Japan) during previous visits. I wanted to find more information on this and went to the M.E.G (Mason Entertainment Group) website and found their Promo Press Release video which was VERY interesting to me, and everyone should check it out: http://www.megshows.com/promo.html There is a pretty obvious distancing of the Blast! from the marching band and drum corps worlds, yet they go to places where people have been exposed to/turned on to Drum Corps and play pieces that were proven on the Drum Corps field. Some of the comments on the video follow: It's "unlike anything that anyone has ever seen before" "It's music in motion, and dancing, and drumming" "Blast! is music put into motion with amazing imagery that takes you on an emotional journey. “- James Mason "What inspired Blast! was working with exceptionally gifted young musicians for over 30 years. ... It only seemed natural to try and feature this resource and expose this energetic group to the masses. What MEG does is visualize music." -James Mason "When Blast! first exploded onto the stage more than ten years ago they were so far ahead of their time that they invented their own genre." - MEG female voice... "...writing of a new album contains more original material this time aimed at the top 40 hip hop and dance market has already begun. This material, combined with the classics and state of the art technology puts Blast! in a position to create stadium, amphitheatre, concert hall, casino, large scale convention entertainment, world class theme parks, and television extravaganzas... In addition, MEG is creating a scaled down version of the Blast! brand to meet the overwhelming demand coming from smaller capacity venues..." -MEG female voice. To me, this looks familiar to things I’ve heard when talking about Drum Corps International corps. Next, I considered BD Entertainment and examined that organization’s résumé. I've included some of the venues they've performed in here, so they may easily be seen without following the link below if you don't want to do so: http://bdentertain.com/resume/ International Experience 21st Century Celebration – Osaka, Japan 5th International Drumming Festival – Seoul, South Korea Carnaval – Nice, France European Performances – Holland, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy Mitsui – Greenland, Japan Okayama Music Festival – Okayama, Japan World Cup Soccer – Trinidad Theater Experience throughout the United States Chicago, Illinois Cincinnati, Ohio Denver, Colorado Indianapolis, Indiana Los Angeles, California Madison, Wisconsin Orlando, Florida San Antonio, Texas SF Bay Area Ypsilanti, Michigan Corporate and Convention Experience Sporting Events Collaborative Performances Maynard Ferguson Bobby Shew Chuck Mangione Stan Kenton Buddy Rich Ralph Humphrey Dave Weckl Steve Houghton Peter Erskine Bob Montgomery David Garibaldi many more... Live Performances Appearances at movie premieres and television commercials Appearances at numerous sporting events and political inaugurations Appearances on The Today Show on NBC Closing Ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta (August 1996) Ellen DeGeneres Show Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon Live performance at the 5th International Drumming Festival – Seoul S. Korea Millennium Celebrations – New York City Opening Ceremonies for the NASCAR Chevy Monte Carlo 400 The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS 250,000 people annually Seen by over 1 million on PBS Special Events Academy of Friends 25th Annual Academy Awards Gala – San Francisco, CA Chamberlin Associates Holiday Party Grand Opening of Improvement Information Center Grand Opening of New Macy's Store – Antioch, CA Great America Winter Wonderland - Santa Clara, CA Holiday Christmas Party Chamberlain Associates – San Ramon, CA Hornblowers – San Francisco, CA Macy's Holiday Parade Kick-off – San Francisco, CA Nike Women’s Marathon Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale Kick-off – San Francisco, CA Opening of Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Information Center – Mountain View, CA Opening of Dougherty Valley Performance Center – San Ramon, CA Opening of Historic Golden Phoenix Hotel and Casino Condos – Reno, NV Opening of Pixar's Brave Opening of Special Olympics – Concord, CA Opening of Westfield Mall – San Francisco, CA Pixar Wrap Party and PR Events – Emeryville, CA Pixar's Monsters University soundtrack – Nicasio, CA (Skywalker Ranch) Pixar/Disney Wrap Party and PR Events – Emeryville, CA Pleasant Hill Senior Center Picnic San Francisco Convention & Visitor’s Bureau Annual Luncheon – San Francisco, CA SOCAP Convention – San Francisco, CA XL Entertainment School Performances YMCA of Silicon Valley “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” Event Looks like BD Entertainment is keeping pretty busy in a multitude of venues… Next I looked at what some of the other corps are doing Carolina Crown @ the 2013 Disney Parks Christmas Parade: Santa Clara Vanguard (and Pacific Crest and SCV Cadets) playing with the 2013 Los Angeles Phil Harmonic: So where is DCI headed? Look above. To me it appears that DCI is positioning itself to live in a "Blast!-like" world where they are not encumbered by "Drum Corps" history. This is happening by changing the product (design, rewarded design, instrumentation) little-by-little every so often until it gets to where it needs to be to fit into that "Blast!-like" world circa 1999. That’s going to tick off a bunch of people and they know it, so the slow and steady route has been the best way to go. So far so good. We’ll all react badly to different changes, and many of us will pit ourselves against others who have a slightly different version of the activity. Some "customers" will stop attending DCI shows, but other “customers” will still attend. The losses will not be enough at one time to destabilize the organization in the same way it would have been had DCI chosen to make all these changes at once. This will allow DCI to continue to be viable until they get to where they want to be, unencumbered by history and tradition and free to provide entertainment in motion all over the world! Yes, $$$$. So, people complaining on here will basically do nothing. There’s obviously a plan being set in motion. We are now there instrument-wise, visually, and getting pretty close design-wise. Yes, DCI groups are heading to stadiums as always, but they're also going to regularly venture into amphitheaters, concert halls, casinos, large scale convention entertainment venues, world class theme parks, and television extravaganzas... Visual will no longer emphasis drill, as that doesn't work as well in the smaller venues as it does in a stadium. This will help DCI groups to scale down (Sound Sport, Drumline Battle) in size and make-up to meet the demand coming from smaller capacity venues... Just look at where many corps and their sub-groups have been going lately. Do these locations sound familiar? Does that idea sound familiar to you? Read some of what I've found above again if it doesn’t. It sounds pretty exciting, eh? I really don't believe Drum Corps International cares that much about instrumentation anymore, or even the emotional stuff that so many use to define the “drum and bugle corps” activity. This is no longer about the "Drum and Bugle corps" artform, it's about a different animal. Drum Corps International is positioning itself to be something like Cirque, Blast!, Shockwave, MIX, or whatever. Drum Corps International is a business and the “students”, designers, and instructors are resources to be utilized. It looks like the wheels have been in motion to make this happen for some time; the seeds have been planted a long time ago, and we've been given hints of what is going to happen here and there. It’s just been baby steps to get to the ultimate place. Drum Corps International has been the proving ground where ideas have been tried, lessons have been learned, experiments have been conducted, and contacts have been made in order to get to something else. Now it’s time for the organization to grow up and go apply the lessons learned in the real world. It should be an interesting next decade for sure. I just wanted to point out that I'm not giving an opinion on my personal feelings about the conclusion above, but my conclusion is based on observation and what I’d do based on those observations made above; feel free to criticize however you want. It’s all good. You’ll notice that I have quoted people. Where named, I have found these quotes from the previous videos before the quote. This is what the people have said or written in the video. I don't believe that I've made anything up. I will say that it seems rather genius to test tunes, arrangements, and concepts in Drum Corps International with the hardcore audiences and then take the very best ideas from there to sell to a larger general audience. There are some pretty smart business ideas set in motion. The next logical step would be for DCI to further distance itself from the old "Drum Corps International" name and simply become "DCI", just as "Kentucky Fried Chicken" became simply "KFC" or "Sci-Fi" became "Syfy". They benefit from not having to maintain historical ties to "Drum and Bugle Corps". The instrumentation limits of Drum and Bugle corps go away, marching band stigma is loss, and "the art" of Drum and Bugle Corps can be expanded to DCI art. The DCI moniker will have great brand recognition. DCI's brand won't be as easily confused with that pesky "Drum Corps Associates" group as "Drum Corps International" currently is... Promote DCI (or MIM) through the experience and life lessons, and tout the performances and excellence as the ultimate in some "new" art form of music and motion, coupled with a cutting edge show design fitting various venues. Outreach to even more places in the world such as South America, Thailand, and even Eastern Europe. Maybe make a little trip to South Africa to raise awareness to the possibilities of music in motion. With the design freedom of DCI, the creative doors will burst forth and Boom!, new International markets will open up to tap. It's working for so many other American institutions, why not DCI? Ultimately Blast! or BD Entertainment will still be THE ultimate in this kind of experience, but there should be enough revenue to sustain this new activity and its designers for a good while. There could even be a larger market for many more paid performer wages. Taking what basically was started back in the early 90s with Star, Brass Theater, and Blast! and and applying it to Drum Corps International today seems to be the destination for "DCI" today based on what I can see.** **This is the "DCI Big Picture" stuff mind you, I haven't thought about the specifics on each member corps specifics and strategies, but you can see that there are certain organizations who are more actively and publically moving towards this than others. They're also doing things in their own ways, but collectively, the member corps are ticking all the boxes in my mind. Any thoughts?

Wow thats freaking awesome!! I love hearing stories of many family members marching all at once. It seems interesting.

ok i know the queen will say i can't help blurting out when i know who someone is but c'mon we all know so i'll do the honors . it's the great truman Crawford.

the craziness overrides the good that is here.

no. I would have said #### a lot more

and location can skew the polls done at the events

Thanks for the compliments, Lincoln. Your check is in the mail. Seriously, I don't know. I kind of think of the "other" social network Drum Corps discussions to be among the "kids", almost by default, because of the rash of young kids there that, generally, aren't on here. I've heard that FB and other sites have more drum corps discussion traffic, but I wonder how "serious" those discussions are. We've all had discussions with kids where we're, like, at their viewpoint. We get some of that here on DCP, but most of the discussion is deeper, more thoughtful, than just throwing a hissy-fit (which we do well here, too, sometimes). The G7 news broke here, the all-brass broke here. The serious conversations happen here even if they don't result in any more change from DCI than FB does. I've heard that FB will overtake DCP; I kind of doubt it. When I want an adult discussion about drum corps I go to DCP for the "inside scoop". But maybe that's just me.

Drummers Can't Internalize...? (It's ok, I'm a drummer too...) Mike

you're missing the point. it's the OVER REACTION of people on here. many people came in, grumbled, moved on to other topics. Some are still wailing and moaning like the doctor decided to use the whole fist. here and on the DCP facebook page. None are mad at me, because I'm being a voice of moderation here. I'm telling it plain and simple...if you don't like it, get the #### out! Spare us the drama

The funny thing (to me) is that the early 60s version of the 'Stripper" was done at a tempo of almost 130 - making it a tough strip number. Not unusual for the time... when I got to do it I used the Skyliner transition from "Little Old NY" to get the real bump and grind tempo. I always laughed at how Nick held onto that tradition/reputation - figure 1963 - 1990 is a pretty good passage of time. If someone had been a famous stripper 27 years ago I'm not sure I'd rush to see her (his?) act now... just sayin'... picture for instance, the 1973 SCV Color Guard reenacting the famous Bottle Dance... not sure it would have the same effect, but those girls could probably make it work - they were amazing. Very few things hold their value with the original performers for that long. There have been sooo many great bits, traditions, tunes, in this activity you can't come close to naming them all, or doing them honor enough.

not agreeing or disagreeing with you BUT DCP also has many who comment on the state of the activity and changes and havent set foot in a show in many years...Just an observation....not making a judgement

Regardless of who it was ... IT WAS TERRIFIC!!!!

I have a different name for their stripper - but those who know me know I can't remember names any more. I'm told by the old Rebs that it's the same guy that did the Stripper Dance on the Archie Senior Medley that appeared here... I'll think of his name as soon as I stop trying. Nick Rizzi! There it is. My peeps tell me Nick was the original Stripper, BITD... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC462LPfXiY

Major props to you, sir. You are the salt of the activity.

Well, I'm having a hard time guessing what those fans want DCP to be like. Everyone agreeing with DCI all the time? Everybody disagreeing with DCI all the time? Nobody upset by what is arguably the single biggest change to brass instrumentation rules in DCI's history? Everybody upset by the same? Since you are (I think) the most prolific contributor to DCP, and therefore perhaps the one who could be most said to set the tone here, are they actually mad at you?

The closest YR came to winning the Dream was in 1969 when the Hurcs beat them by a tenth (which turned out to be a 3-peat by the Hurcs) ... no doubt the Rebels were a fan fav at the Dream ... who could deny applause to Don O'Conner's 1963 striptease act in the concert ... AND IN FRONT OF THE NUNS!!!! Oh thse CRAZY Dream NUNS!!!! :-)

I marched there last summer and I've heard lots that they have a ton of kids coming out, how many will actually march is always up in the air though. This year they seem to have a lot of recruiting efforts in place like clinics and all that. It's hard to get kids to come since the whole marching band scene is almost non-existent up here. Indoor drumlines are starting to pop up in high schools all over, and a girl I marched with started a marching band in her university. I can definitely see the band/corps scene making a comeback, and the Saints will be a solid corps in a few years. I wouldn't be surprised if corps close to the border start having more camps in Canada, like BK(?) did in Calgary.

also he won the A.L. NATS 3 years in a row.

Yup - I'm not ciriticizing for not winning the Dream. In my not nearly humble enough opinion he's the single more successful person in the history of our activity, with maybe Wayne Downey in #2, but down by a stretch. And if, as I believe, the Royal Airs are the missing link between old style and new style drum corps that's another huge accomplishment guiding us like Moses out of the "pure bugle" era.

He might not have won a Dream, but he was a major contributing factor to a corps who in 1965 won the American Legion Nat’s., prelims. and finals, VFW Nat’s., again prelims and finals and the CYO Nat’s., along with the American Legion State title. Not too shabby.

For the most part, it's been my experience that the vast majority of drum fans "get it" and are very respectful of these things. There's always exceptions though. I generally sit lower at Indy and haven't noticed the chatter of conversation. However, in Atanta, for example, the concessions chatter is very noticable if your seats are anywhere near the concourse. The Georgia Dome is quite open from the seating to concessions. I've purposely purchased seats progressively lower in Atanta for that reason. Regarding the "Shouting Soloists" on recordings, I completely dislike those that put their individual voices in the show recording that others have worked so hard to perfect - for whatever reason. Cheer as loud as you can, but do it appropriately during the show. The individual call-outs and non-spontaneous shouts are inappropriate and disrespectful to the performers.

Yeah ... yeah ... yeah ... Prince this ... Pope that ... yada yada yada ... but he never won the Dream ... LOL ... Actually, in Bpt one year at the Bright Lights show (at season's end), he was Chief Judge and tried to come to our defense ... he failed to calm things down though and Grass ended up throwing $200 at him (DCA fine) and then leveling the brass judge ... let's just say that some of the physicalities that happened at Judges Meetings in the 60's, 70's and early 80's could make an ESPN highlights reel ... LOL ... virtually every corps participated and no judge was immune ... that's probably why Pepe laughed so hard ... Andy "I had my moments in meetings" Lisko

I was first introduced to drum corps in 2011. (my sophomore year of high schooland my second year ever playing a wind instument.) My band director at the time had our band go watch the bluecoats rehearse before their first show of the season. The only reason I went was because we had to go or else I wouldn't have gone. We were supposed to had bought tickets for the show later that night but I didnt because at the time I didnt really know what it was, didnt care what it was, and I thought it was lame because they didnt have trombones. I was miserable sitting in those stands in 95° weather watching a group of people just keep doing the same few charts over and over for about 2 hours. I was the first person to leave once we were dismissed. I had wanted to be spending my Friday anywhere else than watching some band do what I had always done. Fast forward to our next band rehearsal where the show was the only thing that everyone was talking about. I felt left out of the whole thing and after practice I went home and searched 'drum corps' on YouTube. After watching a few full shows, I was instantly addicted to the activity. It was from that day on that I knew that I had to be in a corps. I started reading everything I could find about DCI on Google and watching every video I could on YouTube. I attended my first show the next season and was blown away by the sound. I started playing euphonium in my school's concert band that year (junior year) and I picked up on it rather quickly. I eventually learned bits and pieces of different corps shows and fell in love with playing the euphonium. Presently, I'm a senior in high school and I'm saving up in hopes to march my first year of drum corps for the 2015 season. It's funny to look back and realize that a couple of years ago I didnt give a care in the world about sitting in stands watching people perform their shows because they didnt have trombones to learning a new instrument and saving my own money to be in this activity. I've grown to have a passion for drum corps and I'm really excited to be so close to being able to finally experience the whole thing!

Who the heck is Jim Mason, and what the heck is a Star Blast for that matter???

Did you type that post yourself, or were you dictating?

In before the Aaargh. If you have no idea what this is, shame on you!

Hey, look at that dead horse. LET'S GET IT!!!!

I watched the 1987 DCI Finals on PBS. Russian Christmas Music, Appalacian Spring and PR's entire show impressed the hell out of me. However, had synthesizers and ampification been used back then, I wouldn't have given drum corps a second look.

I suggest this thread be closed. There's already an active thread devoted entirely to this subject, whose first post by jjeffeory includes a whole lot of fascinating information about the history of Blast! and other quasi-corps enterprises.

You know, stupid as I sound, I would never have gotten this from looking at his picture at that age. If it's appropriate to introduce one story, he was judging Lewisburg in the early 80s and there was rain - I was in the judges room BSing with Pepe and this fellow came in and entered the conversation. He said (and Andy, don't get mad - I didn't make it up)..."you know, I saw the Vice President of the United States the other day and he said "hi _____ - The VP calls me by my first name" "I've performed in front of Emporers, Crowned Princes, Shahs, Presidents, Senators, you name it and received standing ovations and accolades... so you can imagine how I felt when the staff of the Skyliners came into last week's critique and informed me I didn't know the first thing about music or drum corps and I should ####ing resign" Pepe and I were laughing so hard I thought one of us would throw an embolism. I don't think I've known anyone in my life that could be so low-key and so powerful in the same breath.

if you think dcp is "the market," i've got some oceanfront property in arizona to sell you.

He was judging GE Brass on night in 80 or 81 and paid our drumline a compliment on his tape ... he said: "the best thing I can say about your drumline is that they don't bother me" ... :-)

This is the strangest way I've ever heard anyone ask for reviews. lol I should try this strategy with money. "Whoever has tens of thousands of spare dollars, but hasn't found anywhere to spend it, here is the bag you can put it in"

How about Drum Corps International. I don't see what has changed that requires a name change. The NFL changes rules and equipment all the time, but it's still called the National Football League. When games began being played inside, was there a push to change the NFL to the NSIFL (National Sometimes Inside Football League)? I understand this topic is supposed to be funny and lighthearted, but at what point is it overkill. I am shocked at how much folks are upset by what type of brass instrument members carry in their hands. Z

You're right, Garfield! I caught that after making the first post, then edited. Some might offer up this . . . Dumb Changes Intentionally.

George Hopkins

Well, then all I can see is that they're seeing what they want to see--or unable to handle pretty mild dissent--because DCP is very well moderated.

You haven't been paying attention. Proving them wrong will heighten their arts awareness to the level that they can understand the brilliance of the designer. Isn't that the goal?

Yes. That's a pretty easy distinction, as has been talked about often on DCP. It is much easier to quantify "intellectual engagement" when looking at a rubric and seeing how a performance engages. Entertainment, however, is purely subjective. To give a brief (ish) example: The film ANTICHRIST is definitely intellectual engagement. I would not deem it entertaining per say, but it engages intellect in many different aspects (visual composition, symbolism within story as well as literal aspects taking place, good acting, etc). The film TRANSFORMERS 2 is awful: poor acting, zero engagement, stupid dumb noise - its literally a 100 million dollar toy commercial and nothing more. Yet it made 100s of millions of dollars, was one of the most popular movies of the year, and might be deemed entertaining by a lot of other people (like maybe my 12 year old son). I can quantify the engagement of ANTICHRIST and TRANSFORMERS 2 (or lack there or, in the case of the latter). It would be difficult to quantify entertainment of either, especially in any sort of objective way.

Retha Cilliers was the single most important force in Drum Corps in her hemisphere. Her drive and organizational skills were monumental, surpassed only by her compassion, heart and fierce sense of justice. Literally thousands of South African young people had their lives immeasurably enriched by this symphony woodwind player who took on the responsibility to direct the birth and nurturing of the Drum Corps activity in her country. Like Nelson Mandela, who honored her work with the South African Field Bands, Retha is irreplaceable. Though she has gone, the mighty spirit she left remains, unbroken.

I want to see carnage on the field with trombone pass throughs at 220 bpm....Survivor DCI!!! Trombone suicides combined with SCV's cymbal line....I just can't wait for it!!

To Jeff's OP - Agreed. It is not the end of the world. As I posted in the poll forum, I seriously doubt you see any changes at all in the hornlines. Just some special stuff, Bone solos, maybe a whole Mellow section picking up Horns for a special section then changing back, etc. And lord knows I'd rather hear 10-15 kids pickup a Horn and bang out a cool section vs blaring the thing through the Synth. That change was much, much more radical than allowing someone to play on a different brass horn. And I'd bet you see 0 changes in hornline makeup overall.

Well played