Grumpy

How did I get dragged into this?

Unless something's changed in the last few years, that's EXACTLY what DCA does...your show will cost X dollars for Y number of corps. A group I was involved with a few years back was looking into sponsoring a show, and that's what DCA presented to us. The only corps that we would have needed to negotiate with were any alumni corps that we were interested in adding as exhibitions. Ultimately we decided against going forward with it, but it was more a matter of venue issues than anything else. It was very helpful to us in our decision making process that we had a firm dollar amount in place concerning corps, judges, DCA fees, etc.

Unless things have changed over the last several years, the group running the Plymouth celebration usually didn't get contracts out until early October.

The problem here is not that the audio clips will be missing from the final product...I really don't give a hoot whether Linus, the Grinch, or whomever else they could not obtain rights for are included on the final product. The problem appears to be that not only the audio clip itself, but THE MUSIC being played during the offending clip(s) will need to be removed also.

Several years ago, I know there were a couple members that commuted to the Manchester, NH Muchachos, and at least one other that was part of Boston Crusaders Sr. As for competing corps members, the closest competing corps to Maine are probably the Hurcs...and even from extreme southern Maine, that's probably a good 3+ hour commute each way.

New Hampshire...and yes, we ARE considered one of the "swing states".

One thing that bothers me is that this is the first I heard of this issue. At least last year, we knew fairly early on in the process that ESOM was going to be a problem. Fan Network subscriptions expire and are renewed end of May/beginning of June, and I'm sure many people (myself included) decide at that time to purchase the package which includes DVD/Blu-Rays; now, 4 months after the fact, I find out I will receive what I consider to be an incomplete product. I would have loved to have been in Indy to see/hear everything live, but that didn't happen this year so the best option was to have the Blu-Rays-which will now have incomplete performances.

I was just wondering if there are any plans to reduce the price of DCA Fan Network for the balance of the subscription year, since all of the live streams are done. I'm assuming that's probably why DCI cut their FN price in August. I would purchase it in a heartbeat to tide me over until the DVD's arrive, but the cost is a little steep-especially considering you don't have the archives available for past years like the DCI version.

I would like to hear the positions of Romney and Obama on music rights, so I can cast my vote accordingly. Seriously, do we really need to keep going here every year? If you can't get rights to whatever before the season starts, have a contingency plan in place so that you can use something you CAN (or already did) obtain rights for, or of course public domain.

Aren't they already? I got mine at the stadium before prelims started on Saturday. Only difference between this year and last was that they didn't print them on-site because they didn't want people to confuse them with this year's, and I was told they would be mailed shortly. I did get an e-mail confirming my purchase, however.

Why would housing be needed? The DCA corps usually stay in hotels, the only need for schools that I could see would be for rehearsal needs.

I know that DirecTV used to have a dish service for internet connectivity. The drawback is that their equipment cost was kind of pricey. I don't know if they still offer it. I've used DirecTV for TV for years, and have found it much superior to cable. The only qualification is that the area where you are locating the dish must have a clear view towards the southern sky (no trees/buildings in close proximity). If you are in a situation where you can't or don't want to attach a dish to a structure, it can be attached to a pole inserted into the ground. Just another possibility, and you won't some of the issues you might with Hotspots, 3G/4G and possible data charges.

Several: Madison Scouts in Jackson in '93 Ernesto in 2006 at DCA prelims in Rochester 2004 Denver, either Spartans or East Coast Jazz (forget which) were performing in what was at the time Div II/III championships when lightning was spotted in the area; judges ran off the field and tried to get the corps to stop, and they ignored them & finished their show Forget the year, Plymouth MA "America's Hometown Thanksgiving" Parade-Temp just above freezing, POURED and start time of parade was delayed, recall seeing busses getting stuck in the field where parade lines up. When parade finally did start, our corps came around the last bend and the wind off the ocean hit us full on. Bass drum line were like sailboats. Following year, bright sun and shirtsleeve weather.

Personally, I found Annapolis to actually be less expensive for me than Rochester...hotel was definitely cheaper, not quite as nice but certainly not a dump and comfortable enough (I've already reserved there for next year). I found the restaurant prices to be comparable, air fare into Baltimore was very reasonable and I got a decent rate on car rental. This cost much less than it would have to have done DCI in Indy. Food at the stadium was kind of pricey, so we didn't eat there.

For many years, I have been fortunate enough to attend both DCI & DCA championships. Due to the economy, I have been out of work for an extended period of time and this year I had to make a decision as to which I would choose, as I could not do both. The same decision may very well have to be made again next year. I chose DCA this year, and since I already purchased my tickets for next year, if I can only attend one it will again be DCA. One of the main considerations in reaching my decision was the ticket prices. Two sets of tickets for next year's championships set me back just under $300; for DCI, it would have been about the same amount PER PERSON. One way I look at it is this: my "somewhat local" DCA show has 5 competing corps, and a couple of local alumni corps give an exhibition, the show takes place usually in late July (the corps have been out for about a month, and have about another month before championships) and it costs me $30 a ticket. In Annapolis, I'm paying $80-but I'm seeing almost 3 times the number of competing corps as the local show, treated to an exhibition by The Commandant's Own and everyone is at the top of their game. To echo what others have said, look at the cost of other forms of entertainment-MLB regular season game, +/- $60; NFL regular season game, +/- $75; concert by major music act or comedian, +/- $70...and if you even want to look at All-Star games, World Series or Super Bowl you are talking hundreds of dollars...my dad went to the Daytona 500 about 6 or 7 years ago, and his ticket cost him $300-and that was "knowing someone". As for the idea of "filling up" the stadium with band kids, I absolutely would NOT go there. DCI has done that in the past at Quarter Finals (especially in Orlando), and if you are anywhere even remotely close to where these groups are seated, you will lose out on hearing some of the quieter passages in the shows. At least three quarters of them are there either to socialize, or it was made mandatory by their band directors, or both and have no interest and could care less about what is happening on the field.

Dang, this copyright thing is getting out of hand...next thing you know, he won't be able to get synch rights for it so it won't be on the DVD's!

I predict that Fran's shirt will be outrageous and louder than many small jets.

Since Ream hasn't chimed in yet; Open-the highest score wins Class A-the highest score wins Combined-THE AUDIENCE WINS!

I had a problem with these happening in Rochester because they sometimes ended up ruining the encore performances by the champions-especially the Class A champs, but even in Open class it would end up overpowing or competing with quieter passages of their music at times. After the encores are done, they could have had at it all night except that I can certainly understand the resident's right to peace and quiet.

Same in Lawrence.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Camp Randall in Madison add luxury boxes when they did their renovation a few years back? IIRC, they were added to the backfield of what we generally see when DCI performed there. I haven't been to Columbus or Austin and I honestly don't recall whether Nashville had them, or not (I was last there in 2005).

I noticed the same problem before Allentown, in Lawrence, MA-and mentioned same in one of the review threads for that venue. At least one other corps (was either Cadets or Boston Crusaders, I honestly don't remember which) had the same problem in Lawrence when their pre-show started and the sound tech corrected it almost immediately.

I had to miss this year for the first time in 20 years...this "unemployment" thing really sucks...but went to the theater thing on Thursday and watched the live stream on FN on Friday...and both nights, when the cameras panned to the crowd, I commented to my wife "Wow-there's like NOBODY there!" Unless it was a substantially bigger crowd for Finals than for prelims or semis, what I saw looks like this might have been the lowest attendance for Indy so far-again, that's just based on what Thursday and Friday looked like.

IIRC, semis VOD's should be up Monday? As well as Finals for those who purchased the DVD's/Blu Ray. I haven't gone on today, but did notice last night that the stream from semis is still available.

Since Mr. Ream hasn't checked in yet, I'll go out on a limb here and predict that the highest score will win.