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Thank you to all drum corps Moms for your time, monies, patience, & sacrifice that you've made supporting your kids participating in school band & drum corps programs. I never saw this shout-out video from 2014 so I thought I would share something positive. This is a tough one for me losing my Mom a couple of months ago. I could never repay her (and Dad) for the sacrifices that they made for me. Have a great day!❤️

Not just fife....when I joined BAC in 1980, it was 1, 2, Open, Closed....because I had been a rifle in school. Forty four years ago!

Tell me about it. What I do now is go back and delete all my posts. All the nice things I was saying… gone. You really crush a lot of goodwill when you get nasty with someone just having fun and being conciliatory. It doesn’t reflect well on the corps you support no matter how unfair that is. People are human and they remember.

Back when my mom was in HS she was part of a fife and drum corps. Rather than teach music they decided every note was a number and wrote it out by numbers to teach the other kids

I think I was the only French horn who could read music when I showed up at a Norwood Park practice in September 1971.

Fewer shows seem to be bringing in more fans to the shows that remain

I just came to delete my account but had to take one last look. The same nasty ###### who think they know everything about everything are still here making the honest, nice people sorry they ever came here. I hope drum corps survives but will only if they change the way they do things. Sexual harassment and rape will continue as long as they allow some Final Awards given to the corps each summer to continue to be named after some of the biggest sexual perverts the activity has seen.

Can only imagine the amount of time wasted having each section writing down each note. It might have been easier in the long run teaching the horn line how to read music.

I get it. You can’t even be nice on here.

Our school has hosted a couple of shows in the past & they were almost a sell out on the home side. All of the other southern shows that I have attended the past few years have been very well attended. One issue for hosting a show is the "up front" money required to host. Sometimes that's a hard sell for your band booster organization unless they have a large reserve. You also have to factor the possible weather issues. This. Our school usually house a corps or sometimes two during the tour. To host a corps, it has to be approved by the BOE for insurance coverage which can sometimes be a one or even two month process. Plus scheduling with the AD around 7 on 7 camps for use of the stadium & athletic practice fields. In the past, we've had several last minute calls from corps & DCI personel needing to house a group but it just takes time for that process. It's a lot of work, but it's a great experience for our students. We always invite the community & area schools to attend their last ensemble block in the stadium for an impromptu performance clinic.

If it were up to the band directors to allow for the use of the school facilities, perhaps. But that's not who calls the shots. I suspect a fair few band directors have to expend their energy just to get their own band time in the facilities.

A Chapter 11 BK is a reorganization. I believe they filed Chapter 7....liquidation.

Can't speak for the rest of the country, but the SoCal shows (which are also shown on Flomarching) are packed. No issues with attendance out here.

One year before the annual Nov. 11th Veterans Parade in Boston began, I walked with my brother down Comm. Ave. to where Boston was lining up. All the side streets were loaded with marching units. You could tell which class A corps was on what street by what they were playing. If there was an occasional new piece of music, you had to stop and see who it was. Back in the mid 60's, very few corps had very few, if any, horn players who could read music. Most corps would maybe change one or two songs each year.

Yeah...I'm so old that I remember a time that you didn't know what anybody was playing until the week AFTER the first shows, and only by reading the reviews in Drum Corps World or Drum Corps News. And, for those of us in the Boston Area, there was the Herb Cole column in the Sunday edition of the Boston Globe detailing all of that weekends shows. Yes, we had that many corps here in New England then!

It just takes for ever these days for the first show. I loved back in the day when the first show was the weekend after Memorial Day. Good luck, BAC.

'A la Samuel Johnson, I offer a modest proposal: Why not create a dedicated thread called "All the Things That Are DCI's Fault"? I am finding it a bit tedious that the folks who actually work their butts off (for peanuts) in the DCI office are so frequently blamed for every shortcoming and misfortune that befalls Drum Corps. Faulting them for the reluctance of show sponsors to support failing events is rather disingenuous. The DCI office works to coordinate a tour, not finance shows. Attacking them is eating your children.

As an attorney and not my area of expertise but the bottom line is Boy Scouts of America have deep pockets and and organization nationwide. Cadets on the other hand and is puny in comparison. That’s why Boy Scouts went ch 11 to reorganize their debt structure and Cadet really had no choice but to liquidate.

Bluecoats have announced repertoire on their Facebook page.

It took three hours to learn one line of music that fall. I thought I was gonna die. I did teach one friend in RA Reunion corps to read music because I was tired of seeing his scribbled up page with fingerings all over it. He’s passed on now. He was a great person worth teaching and he was willing to learn.

Yep; tough crowd

There is always hope a corps that folds it will return. In 2012, it was no secret Glassmen would probably not return in 2013. I also recall after the DCI Parade that year folks from Glassmen trying to recruit new members. I’m sure they hoped new recruits would mean new revenue and new life. When I spoke with people from Cadets last summer, they were optimistic and dedicated and did not divulge inside information, but I could sense all was not well. It was more reading between the lines and a gut feeling. I’ve seen academically strong Catholic schools close before due to financial issues so I to some extent know the signs. I was more surprised about the lawsuit than news they would not return. Regarding Cadets, I think it’s more than just the memories, great shows, and innovation. It’s also more than the fact they survived agains the odds. They date back to the Great Depression. They’re irreplaceable. It’s more than just a loss of a corps, it’s a piece of our identity. When Star left the field there were mixed feelings so it’s not the same at least to me. For me, the last time I remember losing such an iconic corps was when 27th and Bridgemen stopped competing.

I have seen some the official information regarding the Boy Scouts name change to Scouting for All. It is more of a name change for the umbrella organization and very little is changing on the local level, at least that’s what they are saying to groups chartering Scouts. The name change was no surprise to those involved with Scouting. When Scouting officially opened its door to all young people a few years back, changing the name would have been too much too soon. Granted chartering organizations would not need to know specifics about bankruptcy proceedings so little has been said about it in terms of name change, but it probably has little if anything to do with abuse and lawsuits.

As Drum Corps has evolved into a training ground for future band directors, one could argue that it should be easier to get access to High School facilities as many have a band director w/ DCI experience on their resume. And another thought- DCI claims (in various legal filings) that their job is to manage the tour. OK DCI- you had one job. And it seems that you are failing at it.

Jim was at those shows for nine years back in the 80’s when he was at El Toro. He raved about the amazing Asian food they’d have at Cerrito. The show was sponsored by the LA Imperial Dragons which had ceased operations in 1977 but still ran a show. He said it was a great show. All the western big dawgs were there. He said every show was packed then, too.

Large population, many HS and college bands along with good weather helps.

As I'm semi-retired & no longer teaching, I'm just a fan. (I guess some would call me a "drum corps nut".) But I need The Cadets product in my life. I'm going to miss their style, sound, swagger, design, Bocook, etc...

For the same reason that the most recent version of The Cadets org is being held responsible for what originally happened back then.

And we had complete music and drill, or else the score was severely diminished.

Because they might not get beyond the “paying the plaintiffs” part. The Cadets can’t continue. A group of like minded people could launch a new corps theoretically. Call it whatever. Go for it. The pool of kids and the pockets of money available for scouting are much deeper than the unregulated summer youth band circuit where hormones rage and temperance is scarce.

Apropos of nothing, the guy I get seats with at DCI finals week every year had a substantial role in Oppenheimer:

Jersey Surf Announcement https://dci.org/news/surf-to-bring-the-funk-with-vibrant-2024-production Glad too see Surf sticking with the fun and audience friendly shows. Soul Train What Is Hip Boogie Wonderland *Barry White

I think its: BSA = Chapter 11 = pay plaintiffs with reorganization The Cadets = Chapter 7 = done; liquidation, payoffs with no reorganization I guess never mind. I was just curious why they couldn't start a totally new organization after the process is completed. Too soon? Sorry I asked. ✔️