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If I could translate for Ghost, in Boston a “local yokel” is anyone who is not from Boston, unless you are from Cambridge, and in that case you are a Communist. 😊

DCI should work a deal with one of the major social media sites to broadcast the shows on their platform. For example Twitter could air the shows, pay DCI for the rights to use the content in turn to gain insight into the viewers and advertise. Here is the opportunity: Revenue for DCI in the millions Broadcast to a broader base of people expanding branding and growing the audience around the world. Technically competent to air the broadcast without terrible service. No cost to viewers.

He must have been quite popular at lunch break. "Hey guys, let's go sit with the accused murderer..."

So you're saying that George Hopkins is like Gollum? Yeah, I can see that.

First time on a discussion board?

" Memorial Stadium in Baltimore had the bleeping pitchers mound. " Yes, and when you turned "backfield", there was no backfield, just a symmetrically curved outfield wall that guaranteed instant disorientation. There were no yard markers, naturally. It was a baseball field, after all. There was a rumor about an orange cone somewhere, but I never saw it. The Manning Bowl was my favorite. I'm with Ghost on that. The audience was so close it was like playing in some oversize outdoor nightclub. What a great vibe.

I can only imagine the side eye that guy was getting.

a few years back, twitter made $15 million in revenue off of broadcasting 10 NFL games. So $1.5 million per game on average. let's just say that dci somehow got 1% as many viewers to watch as those who viewed nfl games, which is highly unlikely, but we'll go with it. that comes to about $150000 of revenue for twitter for 10 dci broadcasts, so an average of $15000 per broadcast. dci isn't that popular. sorry.

The world drum corps hall of fame isn't associated with DCI correct? Isn't it also run by really old people? Maybe they are waiting on their dial-up internet connection so they can update their Geo-Cities website? Just saying that no one in their right mind should give a care about the world drum corp hall of fame.....in fact my guess is that 99.9% of even rabid drum corps fans even know that it exists.

New era, new era, new, new, new, new era.

Same thing will happen to a new thread prior to Labor Day, I'm afraid.

Can we delete this thread and start a new one? With actual posts about staff comings and goings? This is now 21 pages of off-topic rubbish.

Whether there is a “rough side” of Salem could be a matter of debate, back in the day or today, strange side, yes, it does proudly claim to be the “Witch City,” but like Swampscott, another town that borders Salem, all the problems come from Lynn. As a former Lynn resident, I beg to differ. Now if Arbella was still competing, I do not question whether, as Ghost called them, local yokels, arrived. Salem boys hated whenever any other boys went near Arbella girls.

Boston didn't need any assistance with the local yokels.

Cavies posted this and perhaps others would also enjoy.

Oh, it looks like I was right about six or seven pages ago. After all, my husband was at the meeting and voted for the proposal. 🙄 Back to lurking.

Bluecoats have a few. Nothing like what BD has been able to do, but Doug Thrower has been with Bluecoats since roughly 1990 (?). Someone on here may have the exact date. Same with Dave M. (co-brass caption head). But those two have been with Bloo for nearly 30 years. They really are the foundation of the staff, and their management team is outstanding. It is nice when you can keep staff around for a long time. Some staff may be alumni, but others may come from other drum corps experiences. Doug and Dave (with Bloo) never marched Bluecoats and are both from Canada. The Blue Devil's best visual technique guy and cleaner is a former Madison Scout. Wayne Downey marched with Santa Clara Vanguard and won a ring with them. It's been well documented that Bluecoats have a number of designers and teachers from old Garfield Cadets/CBC days. The key, however (as you noted) is to keep people around for a long time, providing they are doing good work. BD is simply in a better position to do that due to finances and the structure of their org.

I picked Madison Scouts, “New York Morning” ... I am still upset “Empire State of Mind” was a sync right casualty on the BluRays.

The fact only 34 people have registered an opinion on this topic, during what should be DCA's time to shine in the run up to the Championships, is an indicator of where things are going. I wish DCA the best and would be sad to see it go but economic reality and societal changes have put the handwriting on the wall. Corps are folding when there is a strong economy. How will they do when there is another downturn? More will disappear when the current generation of leaders and administrators retire or otherwise decide the activity is no longer worth their time and effort. I don't foresee the next generation running with the torch. IMHO, the best lifeline for DCA would have been a loose confederacy of strictly regional circuits until it was ready to be a national organization but that ship sailed long ago.

the group discounts for bands at DCI is pretty good. Especially if you have a large band. It gets butts in seats from the hotbed that is marching band in the midwest. when i taught bands in KY and IN, most all of them ended band camp with a trip to see DCI whether it was semi's or finals. There's just loads of good bands in that area, that feed into the corps as well as the audience.

1. BD - Because I absolutely LOVE high-concept shows and this was classically one of them. One of the many things (subject matters) in the world that I wouldn't have known about had it not been for this show. BD seems to do this a lot and I really love it when they challenge me mentally. Also, whenever I watched this show this season, I would be surprised by how fast the 12 minutes would go by. 2. Cavaliers - My alumni corps. This show felt very on-brand and I just loved the passion put into this show. 3. SCV - Lots of hiccups this year in regards to visual and design but I just love hearing their musical arrangements. I'm also a sucker for a dominant mello line. 4. Bluecoats - I'm not a Beatles fan but I really loved the unique musical arrangements. Though, "Hey Jude" was just a little too pander-ey for my taste. Also, visually, I thought their field was a little too busy. But still enjoyed the show very much. 5. BAC - I've always enjoyed their guard and it's a pleasure to watch them. 6. Blue Knights - I love how cinematic in nature their shows are. This one is no exception. 7. Mandarins - I loved their trumpet feature! I've really been increasingly impressed with their hornline. 8. Crown - Great hornline as usual. Didn't connect with this show as much but I loved their ballad!

When DCI started after the '71 season and the Rules Congress's that immediately followed, the number 128 was agreed upon at the intervention of and plea of Bob Holton, at that time the director of the then St. Andrew's CYO Bridgemen of Bayonne, NJ. (At that time the St. Andrew's Bridgemen wore cadet-style white jackets and shako, gold trim, and black pants.) The idea of the Congress was to maintain a clear but full marching, manuvering, and musical activity in which as many kids as possible could participate. At the time, the usual corps was much smaller but Bob said his corps actually had two hundred members if he did not audition and place limits on participation. Don Warren, Jim Jones, Rick Maas (a judge from the Central States Judging Association) and various corps directors debated the point for a half hour. At that time, insurance also required adult supervision (read adult chaperones) on each bus of minors. Bob Holton showed that in 3 buses with chaperones and mms, 128 mms could be accomodated. The drill writers liked the number because of the way it could be subdivided evenly. The vote in favor was almost unanimous with some objection from a few smaller corps who have since faded away from my memory. I was present for this meeting and for the subcommittee, full committee, and voting sessions for the first five congresses; I voted in favor of the motion.

Oh yeah he was found guilty too. Belonged to a gang who beat someone to death in bathroom of a state park. Boredom boy was the lookout. Kind of like watching Psycho and not wanting to take a shower. Didn’t want to go to a state park for a while.😧

I got to know several of the folks with the Renegades.... and if they were "ruining" their drum corps career, you could have fooled me. It appears to be an awfully high horse you're riding on here. Folks like Larrie Dastrup, Jeff DeMello, Chris Nalls, Bonnie Ott-Thompson, and others.... BD stalwarts (one of them is still involved with BD's BOD, from what I understand) who sure seemed to be having a great time with the Renegades, enjoying their "second time around" in drum corps.

Well, you know the old saying, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”

He’s right because no announcements can be made prior to 9/3.

1) lack of marketing 2) lack of a decent championship venue coupled with a venue not near where most of the corps come from ( aka closest corps is an hour away)

Ruined? That seems harsh. Can't fault a performer for wanting to perform. Mike

The hard truth is much of DCA's fan base that was there in the 90's and early 00's is dead (literally) or too old to get out much now. I don't know that I ever saw a Championship crowd bigger than 5,000 - 6,000 and much of that crowd was made up of alumni and their families. Few people with no direct connection to DCA were being pulled off the street. DCI has the advantage of a limitless farm system of high school and college band kids with parents willing to do and pay whatever it takes to let Jack or Jill live out their DCI dreams. And every town DCI goes to has high school bands who want to see what it's all about. I remember being starry eyed when the Scouts, Bridgemen and Suncoast Sound came to my high school. Which name would pique the interest of a high school kid more, Blue Devils or [insert name of DCA corps here]?

He’s an arrogant ### so there’s that... 😂

Can you believe the lack of tact from some people? Comments like that say way more about them than you.

Sure. Ful tour for DCI can be up to $5000, not counting camp fees, travel costs to camp etc. Most DCA membership fees are what $1000 tops at least in the NE, more in the other regions, but I haven't see anything close to $2k yet. So ok, I can pay says $1500 tops, work all week in the summer to pay that off or put money aside for DCI, get training from many people that have taught and marched in DCI and several more may still do both....and then next year try out for a DCI corps with that extra knowledge and the opportunity to have saved up cash to help pay for it? Sure. My last year marching in DCA was 1996. In that corps, I am going to guess that probably 25 members did DCA, went and marched some DCI, then came back to DCA. Several kids in that corps later went on to march in DCI. many of them came back to DCA later too. A few of them went on to teach for years in DCA and DCI, with one still teaching a top 6 DCI corps....and got his start as annoying 15/16 year old baritone player in the DCA World Champions. Many DCA corps had this for several years...kids came in, learned, went to DCI, then came back after. Now, not as many come back ( tho Bucs recently posted a cool picture of everyone there with their DCI corps jackets on).

I’m almost 50 and thought this was the best year from top bottom we’ve had in a very long time. Don’t think it’s age more so personal preferences.

Had the "pleasure" of attending Lake Eire Fanfare for two or three years at old Veterans Stadium. A laundry list of things wrong with that place. Parking, souvie area, no hieght. But the blast zone was incredible!!!

Wow I thought this topic was about next seasons staff changes.

And even better folks to hang with well into the wee hours after finals!

A viable solution is for this circuit to become a part of DCI as an all age circuit whereas these groups can perform and be scored in DCI scheduled shows throughout the season within these organizations geographic regions. Which from what others have stated actually exist now. If these groups have a all age show only it would still be promoted by DCI since that is for the most part what DCI is a show promoter. Maybe DCI all age groups are still managed by the current DCA staff yet under DCI. A DCI all age Championship if needed would take place in Indy, but I have no idea what the logistics would look like since there are a lot of events currently going on already. Perhaps a all inclusive performance by those all age groups declaring a winner within whatever categories they currently have in place. Where and when is what needs to be decided. This would allow for all corps regardless of Class to begin and end their seasons at the same time. Also would be of value with recruiting for all age groups too.. Mind you that this is all speculation. I’m going back to the World Class forum now. I’m exhausted and out of suggestions.

Thanks for posting. I'm telling ya, someone needs to stop chopping onions.

Yes foreign corps have competed at both DCI and DCA over the years. Most recently for DCA it was Kidsgrove and Heartliner. I have yet to see where DCA would dictate over DCI or WGI so no idea where that comes from. And mistaken idea that DCA corps are mainly/only training corps for DCI. Some younger members used DCA as a stepping stone to a DCI and some don’t. Think you’re seeing a youth vs older dynamic that is just not there. And to judge by other comments are you saying that since DCA isn’t as big or successful as DCI should the DCA corps just go away? This should NOT be a DCA vs DCI thing as there is a lot of overlap between the circuits. And if one fails it will affect the other in a bad way.

I am surprised no one has yet mentioned the hills and valleys in the field at Sevierville, Tenn before it was replaced.

In an ideal world, DCA would complete its competitive season the weekend before DCI Championships in Indy. Unfortunately, that would require DCA corps to begin some sort of meaningful, competitive action about mid-May. We’ve all heard the many reasons why starting earlier is just not possible. Or, maybe it is. . . How about a 4 weekend series of judged indoor standstills using brass and percussion only? The field show component, with Color Guard and other enhancements beginning a month later. Using the same standstill music, plus. Here’s hoping DCA can have productive meetings over the off-season and design a more workable model for 2020 and beyond.

And I expect there will be so much to discuss that the OT stuff will be minimal.

Historical question: when did the top junior corps begin to surpass the top senior corps in technical achievement? 1950? 1960? 1970?

I can remember being out east, Salem,MA to be exact. Both Regiment and Madison were housed on the rough side of town. One night the local youth came by wanting to start trouble....between the two corps, we didn’t have “problems” with them after that night.

That is a crazy unique list!

Wait. There is a pipe scale?

Long before he moved into the beach house of the guy who made out with Ferris Bueller's sister.