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This what we did: We contacted the corps (Bluecoats in our case) and said we wanted to donate to a member who was economically underserved. They identified the member in need. It worked well for us.

IMHO it's judges allowing "taste" to color their interpretations of the sheets. It seems many want to imagine that DCI is evolving into some high art form (deep meanings, intellectual underpinnings, etc...) when it is and always will be movement, spinning, and music on a football field. But you hear many designers talk about their designs as if they were approaching "broadway productions". Sorry to deflate the egos of so many but it's just band. I though Crown's production this year was a big slap to that mindset. It was more about excellence and entertainment and far less about the pretentious "depth of design" that some would have us believe is "high art". It was REFRESHING to see a program who's intent was (1) showcase the excellence of the members (2) engage and entertain the audience. Moreover an honest read of the sheets would reveal that you can reward such a design as it's meeting all the criteria on paper. Finally the performers are given product that is just FUN to perform. Who decided drum corps should no longer be fun for both members and the audience?

No one. Two of the three medalists were crowd favorites receiving standing ovations throughout their respective shows. The third crowd favorite came in 4th place. Nothing has changed: demand and execution still matters for the gold. A fun show or an intellectual show can equally accomplish that. And to echo MikeRapp’s question, who does decide if a show is fun or not? BD was hardly a crowd favorite this year, but the members seemed to be having quite a bit of fun in the victory run video BD posted on YouTube. And they’ve been getting quite the enthusiastic reaction after Moon River and Tank throughout the season I’m totally with you on deflating the egos of the designers, however. Just read the descriptions of the shows on every corps’ website. Quite pretentious and more often than not does not actually get communicated to the audience. Props to Crown for actually communicating theirs.

Who decided the other shows aren’t also fun? I have no issues with whatever Crown does, and you may love it as the pinnacle of the activity. But to imply that Crown focuses on fun while the other corps are focusing on not fun…that’s kinda snooty Ive always thought of Crown as the marching band every high school marching band wishes it could be. Which is a great idea imo for a whole lot of reasons. But to imply that Bluecoats isn’t at least as much fun…or Phantom or SCV…hard pass. P.S. Arguably the best show Crown ever put on a field was Inferno…which is as highbrow as you can get.

Corps do have to be nonprofits, which means they are tax-exempt, and (in general terms) the tradeoff is that legally any profits made have to go back into the organization, and not paid out to shareholders etc. (Drum corps generally don't have much in the way of profits anyways, so it's normally not an issue.) Anyways, to answer your question, nonprofits still can be run like for-profit corporations, and all of the big ones tend to be. In drum corps, many/most of them now have a Board of Directors (required) who hires a CEO/Executive Director to run the overarching organization, to each performing group under them (DCI, WGI, youth symphony, what have you) having their own director that reports to the CEO/ED. So in Phantom's case, the Corps Director only has to worry about running Phantom Regiment and not all of the other things that the actual nonprofit corporation does. Mike

Very true. In our case, we purposely wanted to sponsor an individual, not a fund.

i have reached out to corps also. i have also just given money directly to the student.

If DCP had a Poster of the Month it would give us another thing to argue over.

For me, there was too much "dead air" in the show during the lengthy percussion sections (whole beginning of show and then the lengthy amount of time leading up the brass-waving-streamers). I know it wasn't actually 'dead air', but it knocked me out of the excitement. The pit/percussion music during those sections didn't seem to really "build up" or excite me.. there were a few times it was increasing in energy/volume/excitement, then it just died down again.. too many hills and valleys. I'm a brass guy though, so I find most interludes of percussion boring, and Crown's were just excessively long for me. I will say though I found it MUCH more boring on Flo than in person, but in person I definitely was wandering during those length sections.

While we might all like to see corps take more risks, we don’t have to pay their bills.

That is freaking awesome! Job well done brother. If DCP had a Poster of the Month, you would get my vote.

I’ll echo @Cappybara & @MikeRapp saying who says the other shows aren’t fun, but I’ll also underline what I mentioned a million pages back and what all of the other dissenters are getting at in this thread: why can’t it be fun and a slap in the face to bloated intellectual designs, but still be well-designed and purposeful and detailed out from top to bottom? A design where every prop and piece of source music and moment of choreography serve to clarify the intent of the show, not muddle it. That’s how Crown regains their footing as a consistent medalist corps. That is the only missing piece in my opinion. Keep a fun show; great! Just make it make sense from top to bottom. Downside Up did that. Rach Star did that. Tilt did that. RHRN did not. Have fun moving forward - just make sense out of it.

Having one person running both the business and artistic side of the operation is what led to ‘Springtime for Hitler’.

Now that’s a formula!

One must also consider "The Emperor's New Clothes" on how it relates and the explanation of said design.

Wow. You say alot but not much meaning into it. Nice try.

I lift about 250+ every morning when I get up. Carry it all day; does that count? I’ll send them an email w/Q. 😂✅

I didn’t know that. Cincinnati is the Queen City, too. In fact, there was a drum corps called the Queen City Cadets from Cincinnati that all of the Acheson brothers marched in. My husband, too, before he went to Kilties.

Absolutely lol. It's a possibility. Right now, the Fro is going to Boston or Concord, whichever one would have him. He is planning to audition for both.

DCP: no stupid questions; only stupid answers. 😂 Think they advertise them on their sites when available.

I had two extra unused seats on the aisle in sec 140-row 8. Was happy to invite corps staff members to sit there and watch their corps. Along with some corps members, over the three days. They were grateful and polite. The oldsters on this forum have forgotten that we used to do the same thing when we were marching decades ago.

hell thats the airport

this triggered my inner wicked games fangirl

I will reiterate. Crown finished fourth in one of the deepest top 12s ever. We are sounding like they barely made finals. Boston won their first ever silver medal this year. In any previous season Crown would have won bronze.

I’d disagree with that, but I wouldn’t want the vocals if a corps did a Rush show. Love Geddy.

i am. which means i like to keep 50% of everything i own so i can keep watching 😂

This echoes my exact thoughts in such an elegant way. Everyone's hating on the show when they really have a problem with the judging

I also don't think that BD isn't winning fair and square. That staff knows what they are doing and the kids are incredible performers. Their shows check every box they need to to win. This year was well deserved for BD. Might not have been everyone's cup of tea, but they performed the hell out of their show and deserved the gold.

Forgive me for sounding uneducated here but aren't corps supposed to be nonprofits?

Thanks Mike for the balanced opinion .. which maybe I did not say well previously. I was simply trying to state if the opinion is Crown does the same thing(s) .. others are certainly near or in the same category. I still feel like this year was very different visually from anything they have done before. Musically. Ok. I’m probably convinced but I sonically like it.

BD's show..Tempus Blue was for 2020 when then the season stopped. So Scott Chandler and his crew knows what is being planned at least 2 yrs. AND....they were working with mostly members new to the BD organization. Not sure how many will return in 2023 but I don't think for at least BD it matters.

Dangit. I can't lift 40 pounds. So close.

Not quite Madison brother. The Madison threads few years back was mob mentality and cannibalistic lol. They would turn and feast on each other if one said the wrong thing.

Orwellian Wiress: You may not qualify for Corps Director, but I'd bet you'd make an Awesome, World Class ACADEMY Corps Mom, and Cherished Corps Volunteer! You certainly have good taste in aesthetics to go along with it. I guess you could be referred to you as "The Complete Package." LOL. I've always liked your DCP comments. Thanks and ENJOY!

No harm in putting ideas out here. I know how you feel. I still have a disagreement or three about how DCI structures their tours. One thing I have learned, though, is that the "rut" you speak of is not just a rut. It is the single most carefully analyzed, planned, structured, developed, debated, re-developed and revamped rut in all of DCI operations. The whole tour schedule is created in a process that spans more than the 12 months you would think it would. Where shows are held, what sequence of locations makes logical tours, when certain focus shows are scheduled to coincide with music industry conventions, what venues are chosen, who partners with whom to run each event, how many shows each corps does... all these choices are made based on dozens of factors that are closely monitored and/or negotiated far in advance. That is one reason why they can publish the tour schedule in November - because they already have it developed and agreed upon in September. Over time, that rut could shift. It would just take more than a couple of stars aligning to make a sufficiently compelling case for the change. Now you are speaking my language.

We haven't heard West Side Story in a while... <ducks for cover>

But will membership status get you entrance into the stadium under an hour & without the cavity search? 🤔😂

BD wins agains, completing their first 3-peat To most of DCP’s dismay Oh, and the Crown thread will once again be the longest thread of the season. They are the new Cadets

Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day!

If you are going to embark on seeing who missed in the 2022 predictions thread, I suggest packing a lunch (because you are going to be there awhile) and investing in one of those sitcom laugh tracks, because you will need something to take over after all the laughing you will be doing at some people's predictions.

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Your collection just went up in value

As someone who has too many books both physical and electronic and a bit of clutter (not fire hazard but still too much) I agree. As someone who loves to hold a physical copy of a book, I disagree.🙂

The reasons (from excellent sources) 1. Michael Boo’s passing. He was the go to guy for projects such as this and there is no one within DCI with the amount of knowledge he had who is also a gifted writer. 2. For whatever the reasons, DCI did not want to outsource the project. DCI is very careful of its image and protecting it would not be easy with someone who was not connected with DCI. There we’re people willing to help with such a project as volunteers, including someone who loves to write and can sometimes write DCP posts that are a bit long (I wonder who….). It never materialized. I know a group that wanted permission for such a project. It wasn’t granted. Declining sales of past programs may have played a part in the decision, but it could have been online. Online works for “Drum Corps World.” Overall, the 50th anniversary was a missed opportunity for DCI. With the amazing shows this year, so many corps that struggled to compete but still did so, especially in Open Class, this is a year worth remembering. Add to that a bit if nostalgia: the Anaheim Kingsmen rifle line, Bridgemen, Kilties, 27th with double flags and rifles bursting through a drum line, Garfield Cadets in 84, SCV and the Bottle Dance, Blue Devils in 94, you get the idea. This would have been the perfect opportunity for combining past and present.

I have two issues here. 1. Cincinnati does not have a dome. Paul Brown isn't a dome. 2. My travel time to the nearest show for me, which isn't a short ride already, would be nearly tripled. Also, the cost of regular season tickets to a show at a local high school are already expensive, I don't want to have to pay $100 per ticket just so all competitions can be in a dome. If you have a problem with the show getting rained out and "losing" money, I find that to be a problem that you can't view it as a donation and move on with your day. Sure it sucks when a show is rained out and you can't see live shows, but things can't always go your way.

Nice

You mean like 6 people on DCP who post the same fetid opinion over and over. Though there are thousands of comments from people on Facebook and YouTube from people who loved the show. But that doesn’t fit the narrative of a “disappointing” year for crown. But don’t let me stop you from carrying on with your version of reality.

I read 20,705 for finals.

Good point and well taken.

Well, GH was probably the top CEO in the world of drum corps non-profits according to his social media post. There will never be another one as great as "He".