mayormccheese

It was a LOT more fun around here when you were trying to be a judge, and DCA put a muzzle on you. Are you just trying to stoke your post count again? :smile:

:doh:

A bit harsh, don't you think? Have you spoken with the director of your corps about this?

I often wonder how many corps use DCP exclusively for their recruitment of new members.

I hope my wife never sees this. There's probably a museum's worth of stuff between the garage, the basement and the attic. Her finding out about this would probably be one of the greatest things that's happened to her (other than marrying ME of course!). I guess I should start inventorying my stuff... it sounds like this could actually turn into something.

Firstly, you're obviously a little tense. This is supposed to be fun, right? Secondly, you can't possibly equate the experience of watching something on a computer screen in your basement to watching and hearing something on a movie theater screen, mastered specifically for an auditorium setting. Thirdly, yes, I do want you to support something you don't agree with. It happens every day in a democracy. DCI asks its fans what they want, and we the people tell them we want better quality video and audio. So, they offer us a selection of shows from the best audio and video they have, and we the people get to pick which shows we want. The kids who marched over the past few summers – the age group most likely to want to go to the movies on a Wednesday night to begin with – haven't had the chance yet to sit with their friends and watch the show on a big screen. Sure, it's been on the DVD player in my living room since the day it got here, but it's obviously not the same as sitting in a digital movie theater. And if you were to invite me to see your band, and if I was in your area, I WOULD actually come to see it. Why? Because a few of you marched in drum corps. Lighten up, dude. Here's a gift from me to you: A great day for skajerk

Ahhh... can spring be far away? Can't you just smell it in the air? The splendid aroma of dirty laundry being aired out here in the sewer known as Drum Corps Planet... the thinking man's RAMD? Teal, let your horns, drums, flagpoles and marching do the talking. Good luck for a great season to all.

All winter long last year we got to read the Teal Hype Machine. Sadly, they didn't live up to the hype. Apparently, their management is promising something different this year. I hope they live up to the great expectations, especially if they hope to make the journey to world class next year, as has been reported here and elsewhere.

Smoke + mirrors.

It would be great if the Xmen could break out of their "mired in mediocrity" tour. Somehow, I think it will be more of the same, perhaps at a LOUDER (amplified) Xtreme. Let's face it... the only resemblance this corps has to the Crossmen of old is... the name. All else is smoke and mirrors.

Welcome to "Jump the Shark: Drum Corps Edition."

Don't they have to pay a "tribute" to the Blue Devils and SCV first?

In my opinion, RCC gets more credit for their geographic location than they do for their talent. Sure, we know that BD has an influence, and sure we know that as community colleges go, it's pretty darn impressive. But I think their hype exceeds their quality, by WC drum corps standards at least.

If you're going to add beyond 150, I would vote to add in increments equal to another busload. It makes no business sense to go down the road with empty seats. If you can sell 'em, then you should sell 'em. Once they get over 250, the field will become too crowded. I've watched the Big 10 college bands for a million years, and I'd say that those over 250 are just too big to do anything that would be accepted by current-day drum corps fans. The sound of 175 horns could be pretty spectacular, imho.

As I said before...

It will be great to see if the "merger" of Thunder and Cascades winds up yielding a great powerhouse from the northwest. With all of the "air stagnation alerts" I've been seeing from that part of the country lately, I hope they'll be able to take a deep breath and play a long tone or two before the season starts!

It the "Oil Can," the $75 tickets are actually worth it... imho, of course. It's going to be a great venue for drum corps...

Right. It's stuff with even better margins, costing the sponsor even less to give away.

The whole "DCI Dogma," if there is such a thing, reminds me of an old interview – I think it was in Sports Illustrated – with Charles Barkley. Barkley said something to the effect of, "I don't wanna be no role model." In a way, DCI did the same thing. The original "combine" group apparently never really thought about being the beacon for the drum and bugle corps activity. It's likely that they assumed that they were breaking off to do their own thing, and also assumed that everyone else would continue along doing their own thing. MUCH later in the equation, it became evident that all of the junior corps were gravitating toward DCI, but the ideology that was still in play was not one of governing a youth activity, but rather, promoting marching contests for a few elite groups. It seems that DCI "the company" has only recently come to grips with the fact that it has an obligation to be both a governing body and a marketing company. The question is, will DCI "the corps" who run "the company" make the right call when it comes to spreading the wealth and helping to cultivate the lesser groups and potentially develop new ones.

Not at all. I'm probably one of the biggest fans of open class in the country... no matter how boring they may be. I actually prefer open class over world class, but I am in the obvious minority, since many self-proclaimed "die hard" drum corps fans can't scrape themselves out of bed on a Saturday morning to see the OC finals. What is "marketed better?" I think putting OC in Michigan City for its prelims is one of the best marketing ideas they've ever had. Yes, it's a few hours from Indy, but it's a great place with an apparently excited local committee. It's not for their lack of trying. Holding events early in the week is a tough thing, since the bulk of the audience hasn't arrived in town yet. I can't imagine that it's much fun for the directors either, if the season were to end prior to the start of "the big dance." There have been many critics about the format of OC week overlapping in some cases with the WC events, but all things considered, I think the current format serves the best interests of the OC corps and the fans who care to be a part of their activities. I can hardly wait for the ability to sit there on Thursday for all of the WC corps and Friday for the semi-finalists in both divisions. I'm also going to Michigan City to soak in all of the OC corps. I think you're mis-characterizing this a bit, with your "comandeering" comment, and you're also skewing things with regard to Grand Haven. Looking at the tour the past few years, it doesn't seem like it would have made sense for the OC corps to convene in Arkansas. Since the OC corps did help to create a market there, it makes good sense to me that DCI would continue to service that area. It's a great facility and the crowd is excited. I've been to every "Battle on the Border" that they've held there. I used to go to the Grand Haven show, and you are correct. The bleachers were overflowing. What you failed to point out, however, is that the total capacity of those bleachers was a few hundred people. I've been to both big shows and small shows. I don't know how DCI handles the contracts with regard to its responsibilities for "marketing" a show in a small market run by one of the corps or the local Lions Club or what have you. I can imagine that in some cases, they're holding shows just to keep the corps working, and they're not tacking on thousands of dollars to pay for ads. Don't try to make friends with me! But, since this is the OC forum... If I ever hit the lottery, I'm going to offer $100K to each corps who's willing to play a show created from a list of "themes" that have been put on paper over the years by myself and my die-hard traveling partners. I remember Madison doing that "back in the day" to support Capital Sound. IMHO, would be wonderful if the World Class directors would bring their support to the OC championships, for many reasons.

You (and others here) make it sound like DCI could wave a magic wand, buy some television or newspaper ads, and a crowd would show up. I say maybe they would. Once. Why once? Because to outsiders, it's boring or cute perhaps, but not all that memorable nor spectacular. It's not all that entertaining, especially at the Open level. Even the most well-organized show sponsors (like a big band booster group) and the best marketed open shows (like the one near Dayton, OH the last few years) doesn't come anywhere near filling the stands. It's hot. The judging is complicated. No one understands why one group wins over another. The shows are generally pretty boring, and the lower end corps aren't even all that loud. Sure it's fascinating to come once, to support the neighbor's kid who's been selling you entertainment books and candy bars. Beyond that, however, drum corps is a secret society that doesn't do a good job of bringing uninitiated folks into the fold. This isn't DCI's fault. The corps choose their own boring programs and the corps presumably hire the judges to validate what they want judged. The show you speak of in Madison was different because the parade and "opening ceremonies" led everyone into Camp Randall like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The world class corps were there, and some of them actually went up into the bleachers to watch. I believe they also gave away a few thousand free tickets to the neighbors to come see what all of the fuss was about. Free tickets are great for getting hineys in seats, but they don't do much for filling the coffers, unless you're the guy selling brats.

I'm apt to contribute as I'm a soft touch for kids who want to take part in this glorious activity. My concern, however, is that it seems that Memphis Sound is soon to become Texas Sound. I think the Memphis area has been well served by this group, and would hate to see it leave the area.

Frankly, I would venture to guess that Mr. Cipriani probably had little to nothing to do with selecting the show. Further, I think he would likely show up wherever there was someone willing to pay his asking price. And who can blame him? It seems that the guy knows what he's doing, that's for sure. I'm sure they will learn a lot and I am sure they will have fun. That's what it's all about. I think they could have even more fun if they got standing ovations rather than polite applause, that's all I'm trying to say.

Mr. Covington, you are entitled to your opinion as well. My contention is that Class A, Div II/III or whatever it's being called this year doesn't stand a chance unless is differentiates itself from the "big boy division" by creating its own unique identity. If the corps in this division want to do "heady" stuff instead of shows which are entertaining to the masses, they will continue to have no audience. The smaller corps are in a unique position to offer cheaper tickets to families who have never seen drum corps before. Once they get people to show up on a family pass, it would be a good business decision if they showed them such a good time that they wanted to come again. Watching shows like the ones in this thread aren't going to do the trick, in my humble opinion. This certainly isn't limited to the Raiders. I bought the DVD set from last year after not watching the small corps for quite a while. I don't expect these corps to have me sitting on the end of my seat, but I've gotta tell you... I watched the first two and totally lost interest after that.