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Back in the day, I would gladly trade Schlitz for Pabst.

If awesome things happen and nobody knows, then they didn’t happen.

Incoming!!

Please don't talk about JohnD like that - he keeps the lights on here! 😁 Mike

I just heard something awesome!! Just wanted to announce that.

I got a secret oooo look at me secret secrets

Just returned from Cadets camp. It was a good experience with some nice surprises.

I like my tin-foil hat

i am still trying to figure out if there's ANY management in DCA period

How dare you even think about attending a Cadets camp.

Sorry, not worth the insults I will get. I had a great day with the Cadets...that is all.

Not a current picture of bell tower - methinks they have it completely wrapped on scaffolding for the next year or so. Actually, with the scaffold it kind of looks like a DCI prop

sometimes it is a question of what insurance policies stipulate. Some consider youth 18 and under. Some 21 and other. Some insure the organization without stipulation of membership. Today some policies are more specific if non-adults participate. Depends on policy type and what State one is working with when policy is written.

I watched the show the other and forgot to post my thoughts, but thankfully I remembered! Whew! What a show! Excellent staging, the drill was brilliantly designed, music meshed very well with the visual design, and those marchers were amazing! I am extremely proud of this school. Those kids are incredible and how about that staff! Very well disciplined!

Lol as a teacher would say “grass don’t grow on a busy street”. And we’d say to ourselves “doesn’t grow on concrete either”.

nice to see one corps willing to be transparent

it may be band, but you got many people making their livliehood on band

the pied piper was a front because everyone knew he could take the heat for opening his mouth

i went to one last year since it was actually close. good stuff.

Heh... as I continue to ease my way out the "active involvement" door, I am becoming more clueless than ever. And that's OK with me. Bit of a different setup on the DCA side compared to the DCI side, from what I understand.

2007 sounds right to me too. I’m clueless on how management is set up in either circuit. Hades I’m still trying to move my brain from tick system to Box whatever today.🥵 Thats I ask so #### many questions here... 😛

I know, right!

Never saw a part in there where the elite organizations got evaluated... Mike

Your recollection is incorrect.

My problem is when specific questions are asked and response is to trust DCI without any information. And your response to who makes these decisions is to say who DIDN’T make them (deep state). Looking back the only time you actually answered a question in the last few pages is by quoting someone else. Seriously if you know what you claim you have a great opportunity to put peoples minds at rest with real info. Instead you take the road of getting snotty with “what’s an executive board”, etc

Don't recall a lot of trashing replies to those who type up their thoughts from visiting any corps auditions/Winter camps and giving flowing opinions. You may want to hibernate until ST begins to cut down on possible stress attacks.

Cadets can use all the positive PR they can get.

Considering there hasn’t been any information on how this decision was reached or who reached it.... confidence = zero.... We’re DCI.... trust us....

If you refer back to the 2017 DCI Strategic plan, it would appear that the "Member Affairs Committee" would be the ones responsible for creating the proposal... which was then approved by the DCI Board and instituted for 2020. I will also add that the vast majority of the new criteria were included in the materials/requirements that Pioneer received during the evaluation/reinstatement process in the fall of 2018. That would lead me to believe that the development of this new structure/criteria was already largely complete (as the timeline in the above plan would suggest) at the time that Pioneer was suspended and going through the evaluation process.

Say what you want. Not opening myself to the trashing I will certainly receive for saying anything positive about the Cadets.

Then how did it occur? And WHO made the decision for the smaller corps...

Really? This is ridiculous. "Deep State"? Who, exactly, do you think this is? "Arbitrary"? What makes you believe this? Hashtags? #GetaGrip #QuitMakingThingsUp You're watching too much politics. #It'sBAND

I think so too. It's a lot better than "You march plates until you pay your dues" thing.

Having the flub line definitely makes the whole group better. At least some of those snare and tenor players in Vandegrift's battery probably marched flubs in past years and were much better prepared to move up because of it.

Went with the VIP package because it's worth it. (Yes. Ghost will be heading East next June for 10 days or so. First Concert In The Park also. That will be interesting with three young granddaughters, their parents, and my "drum corps doesn't interest me wife". Memo to self. Don't forget to bring some folding chairs since we're doing the museum stops as well and park at Post Office Square so I can get the chairs.)

I do find it interesting that both proposal to go from 128 maximum members to 150 members; & 150-154 had to go to a rules congress, be debated, and voted on. But the minimum numbers (both OC &WC) are put forth arbitrarily from the DCI Deep State apparently without being voted on. #NotMyDCI

I am re-posting this from The Cadets' thread (with a presumption that Mr. Dixon, in his magnanimous spirit for the love of all things drum corps would not object. If so, I apologize.) When the Open Class qualifications were re-stated and the new financial requirements placed for future World Class membership, I immediately wondered what DCI would ultimately look like if this applied to every corps now in order to compete in DCI 2020. Would DCI ultimately be only California corps and the Boston Crusaders?

Vista Murrieta was great, that was a refreshing and different approach as much as I love watching Texas bands all day. Colorguard and drums especially were a real treat, but the band held their own for sure. Personally had them in finals.

I'm not so sure. With what I'm hearing, it's possible that the reality is that USBands is now gutted and will never regain any ground given due to Hop. It needs a new box, new wrapping, and fresh competitive blood. It's obvious that the geography can support the circuit, it just can't support one run with that legacy. I'm sure you're wrong about Cadets "going away" if they lose, sell, or shut down USB. There are LOTS of corps that do not have secondary income streams and still manage to show up in Indy each year. In a not-at-all ironic turn of events, the corps may be forced to compete "on the cheap" and remind itself and its members/supporters of a time before costumes and props when frenetic drill and favored reporatories brought fans to their feet. The old guy led the corps into the "new" age; maybe it's time the new team leads the corps in a little reminiscence and remembrance that the phrase was not "Zig, Zig, Zig". Time to Zag?

You have some nerve blaming the alumni for the fact that the ex-director is a pedophile and a serial rapist. Let me throw “allegedly” in there for the purposes of this board not wanting to get sued. I guess the victims are to blame as well huh. 🙄

Other than 4 or 5 every drum corps is on thin ice.

So if the reason behind larger corps is more volunteers to help... what is written down in DCI policy on number of volunteers and their duties? And STILL waiting for written DCI policy on when those 55 and plus members will be counted. Sounds like another instance where DCI going on belief that everyone will be on the same page.. when there isn’t a page. Shades of the assumption that corps could police their own ranks (Pioneer) and corps that pass initial screening will always be financially secure and not need checked.

And the alumni who got together to create the upheaval in Cadet-World remain silent, sitting on their wallets and dreaming of Elk's Parade. You broke it, you own it!

Again... if the concern is how many adults they have, check THAT. Requiring more kids does not assure more adults. Pioneer was way over 55 members - did that assure them of adequate adult staffing?

When Jim was in Kilts jr, they were in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1974 and the corps director was thrown in jail for going the wrong way on a roundabout. You can’t make this #### up. 😂

We had to collect $$ to bail a guy out in 76. Seriously.

We had a guy in my local junior corps who missed a parade because he was "seeing all kinds of colors, man." No further explanation needed. Ahhhh.... the 1970s. LOL

I recall a time or two when a member couldn't make it because he was in jail...

Better to talk about efficiency than "harder to create and learn". Drill based programs require FAR MORE work up-front by the designer. But that work is supported by very mature software tools which have focused on increasing the both the productivity of the designer and efficient transmission of that information to 130 performers. Choreo-based programs require FAR MORE work during the instruction phase since the design is merely a sketch in someones brain. This mode of instruction is frequently used in the winterguard world where the maximum number of performers is far lower and the performers have far more training in dance. Of course you'll often hear "choreo-based" is far more difficult to teach from those who wish to gloss over the rest of the story. Difficulty for the performer to execute to perfection? Better to ask: Are the performers adequately trained in dance to successfully dance for entire production? No they are not. So ( just like we do when moving from "real dance" to "colorguard dance"), we move the level of expectation down when hornline members are asked to dance. So the standards are lowered. Also -- can the performer successfully play their instrument while traveling in a choreo program? No -- you can't really dance while you play so instead we see blob-fluttering from point-to-point and then standing and playing. Also the motion becomes meaningless without huge props to give the motion a destination. So huge props are used to create interest. Traditional marching is a form of choreography. But it allows performers to create music while moving (which IMHO is the very HEART of drum corps). And because the movement in INTERESTING and the balance of negative space to performer space is constantly evolving, you don' t NEED the crutch of giant props to provide a destination to the motion. The use of space itself is interesting and pleasing. I'm a huge fan of "drum corps dance". It's awesome to see a full ensemble pull off some great choreography when they're not playing. And I love seeing the choreo that's performed while they're playing but NOT traveling. But blob-flutters are just awful and are IMHO a severe dilution of the art. Choreo-based shows works great in winterguard where the music is a recorded soundtrack. But it fails miserably when the musicians need to actually -- you know -- make music.