ChiBoyinLA

Yes and Yes.

This is the correct answer. DCI also can direct its member corps not to issue him an entry pass and discourage him from being around students. All of that is well within DCI’s legal rights. This should be a no-brainer. There are a lot of incorrect statements about “the law” in this thread. Signed, A lawyer since 1992

Parades will continue to exist, just like outdoor festivals, churches, movie theaters, shopping malls and other places that have sadly been the targets of senseless violence by lunatics.

Why would they schedule something indoors, rather than outdoors?🤔

Dallas (AT&T Stadium), Atlanta (Mercedes Benz), Los Angeles (SoFi), Minneapolis (US Bank). Houston (NRG) also a possibility. New Orleans would be fun, but I suspect weather and corps housing would be issues. Phoenix and Vegas too hot. Indy (obviously), St. Louis and Detroit could also work but . . . meh. Of course, DCI is never going to be willing to pay the rental fees for the stadiums I mention.

Why does DCI continue to not post its judging criteria and sheets on its website? Every other competitive "league" of note does so.

Yes. Dave became section leader and later a long-time alumni/volunteer instructor. But back to Don Warren . . . a great man, and one-of-a-kind character, whose impact on thousands of lives can never be adequately summed up in words. He founded the Cavaliers when he was just 20 years old with a bunch of teenagers who couldn't play music, within nine years they were National Champs, and he stayed involved for over fifty more years. Amazing. If not for the vision and leadership of him and the Troopers' Jim Jones, DCI as we know it would not exist. Thank you, Don, and RIP.

Modern Covered stadiums with greater seating capacity than LOS: AT&T Stadium Arlington NRG Stadium Houston Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta U.S. Bank Stadium Minneapolis Ford Field Detroit University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale Coming soon: Los Angeles Stadium and Las Vegas Stadium ... just saying. There are now many indoor venues that would provide a better visitor experience and easier air travel than Indy. I suspect DCI is staying put because Indy is super convenient for its office staff, they know there are enough high schools available to host corps, and the financial terms for the rental are favorable.

Sanity prevails. Now it would be nice for DCI to post on its website the rules for its game, just like every other "major league": National Football League Major League Baseball National Basketball Association National Hockey League Major League Soccer Formula 1 US Tennis Association PGA Golf International Judging System (Figure Skating) ... so that we can better understand what the judging criteria actually is.

I had listened to many year's worth of DCI Finals recordings, but the first live show I attended was DCI Midwest at Whitewater in 1984. This was back in the days when EVERY corps attended, all 30-something competed in a morning/afternoon prelims, and then the top 12 competed in an evening finals. I'm sure that kind of sucked for the members, but it was bliss for the fans. It was the night when Cadets infamously had a big pile-up during their closing Z-pull. Even so, I was blown away. I had just performed the original West Side Story musical in a H.S. production a few months prior, so I knew the score very well and how difficult the music was. I couldn't believe there were 128 kids out there marching it. The second live drum corps show I attended was one that I marched in myself. It's cool to read through this thread and see several people report that the first show they ever saw was one in which I performed.

Some would say that parents with 18+ year old kids need to learn to let go. For those who need their daily fix of what's going on with junior, The Cavaliers post multiple daily written and video updates about what is going on with the corps as a whole on their website, Twitter and Facebook pages (yes, I said pages plural -- there is a Facebook page for marching member parents only). Parents have the ability to drop in on tour, or to send messages through other parent volunteers on tour. If there ever is an emergency situation that REQUIRES parents to immediately contact their kid on tour, the Cavaliers have a system to make that happen. As for the members, there are already several posts in this thread from recent members detailing the benefits of the policy and the fact that most of the kids LIKE the policy. This policy works well for the Cavaliers. It might not work for every kid in drum corps. For those kids, there are other options.

Early Season Visitors to the West Coast: 2013 Carolina Crown 2012 Phantom Regiment & Boston Crusaders 2011 Cadets & Phantom Regiment 2010 Blue Knights & Troopers 2009 Bluecoats & Blue Knights 2008 Phantom Regiment 2007 (Finals in Pasadena) We love seeing corps from back East out here in June. Keep 'em coming.

You do know that Toyota already has developed an all robot mini-corp, right?

So you're saying that the scores given by nine judges are the principal determinant of whether the drum corps experience is worthwhile to kids? Wow. Maybe this sort of emphasis upon scores and competitive placement have more to do with the decline of smaller corps than any other factor. The "expectations" that should be raised are that doing drum corps is a super fun way to spend a summer, that will make you a better performer and lead to the creation of lifelong friendships. Most corps historically have met those expectations, regardless of the numbers they get assigned on a sheet.

Maybe I'm just a "glass half empty" guy, but it seems to me that the event should be able to draw a LOT more viewers. An average of only 71 viewers per screen seems sort of . . . meh. The full DCI tour surely draws several hundred thousand viewers over the course of the entire summer -- why are the majority of people who are willing to pay to attend a live outdoor event not also willing to attend a closed circuit broadcast in a comfortable theater featuring all 17 top corps, for (in most cases) less money? I think the theater experience is excellent, but are there others who do not? How can it be improved? Are live event attendees being hit with appropriate marketing? Would marketing dollars be better spent printing flyers to hand out at every live contest -- promoting date, time and locations of the theater event -- rather than producing the trailer that runs in the theaters? And then, of course, there are the hundreds of thousands of high school band kids to whom this should be a pretty easy sell. I am always surprised by how few groups I see at the movie theater, as compared to live events. To be clear, I think the theater event is an excellent production, and wish that it were even better attended. DCI shouldn't be satisfied with the current number of attendees.

I am pretty sure that Greg is still living in India.

Anyone who thinks that theatrical lighting can be worked into an outdoors drum corps show literally has not the slightest idea how much equipment, power, time and money would be required to do this in even the most marginally effective way. "Blast" worked because it was performed on a small stage in theaters equipped with the necessary rigging and electricity. Even so, every time the show moves to another venue, it still takes hours to rig and aim the lighting. This isn't like rolling in a few amps and a mixing board.

The product as a whole is top notch. I am not going to debate specific direction or editing choices, as that is completely subjective. If you want to watch each show from one particular vantage point, buy the DVDs -- I am sure that Blair's camera team has captured everything. Most people like to see a mix of wide angle shots, mid range and close-ups of performers' faces. Most people like to see shots from angles that a live spectator would not have the ability to view in person. That's what multi-camera production allows a director to do. That's interesting television. Does the live broadcast director sometimes "miss" a cool drill move (i.e. a move that some people think should be shown on the live broadcast)? Sure. Does the director more often than not capture most of the cool drill moves as well as capture the overall flavor and emotion of each corps' show? Absolutely. Whether a particular shot "should have been" included is almost entirely subjective.

I suspect that there is not another human being in the entire world who could do a better job producing the DCI Finals broadcast (within its current budget) than Tom Blair, and I suspect that will become very clear whenever he retires from this gig. Nobody has the combination of live television production credentials, actual drum corps performance experience and passion for the activity that Tom has, and I doubt that anyone would spend nearly the amount of time that he does planning his shots. The product is great. As with EVERY live production, not everything is perfect.

Yeah, Adolph has only been with the Cavaliers since 1955. And has served as corps director for 15 years over two eras (the first being 1979-1990). And was inducted into the DCI Hall of Fame in 2000.

Great post. Spot on.

Please do NOT close this thread -- it is entertaining to see how many posters have no idea what they are talking about.

In addition to marching six basses in 1976, Cavaliers marched six basses in 1986 (observe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDAQtEHol5E), and marched 8 basses in the 1992 drum solo ( ).In other words . . . this ain't new. ;-)

Frank gets a few things wrong ("octoBONGS"? -- heh), but a whole lot right. I agree that pits equipped with four marimbas + four vibraphones (or more) is just stupid in this age of amplification and electronics. It's overkill that results in the creation of notes for the sake of just giving the kids something to do. And this comes from a guy who spent his entire drum corps career in the pit, loves the pit, and thinks that the kids in the pit generally are the most talented and versatile musicians in drum corps.

Garry, many knowledgeable sound engineers have said exactly the same things as your friend in regards to the impossibility of getting a good quality mix given the inherent impediments presented by a drum corps competition (i.e., two minutes to sound check, wildly different room/weather conditions each night, mid-range equipment, etc.). Sadly, we are going to have to live with it.