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dcifanforlife

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Posts posted by dcifanforlife

  1. Goal of the Mandarins this week is  to make top twelve seed for San Antonio.  Crossmen join the battle tonight and Mandarins have the dreaded last corps before intermission spot. Other interesting note is that Mandarins have Saturday off with everyone else in Dekalb.  Fairly long drive from Dekalb to St Louis and this show has a history of running late so corps will want to leave once they  have performed in order to have maximum rest and rehearsal time in St Louis.  Tonight may be the last night of partial panels. 

    • Like 1
  2. 1 hour ago, Mad75 said:

    Absolutely agree...IF a dynamic, thoughtful top to bottom house cleaning and replacement occurs in leadership and the entrenched Board and Board President, you'd see money come in by the truck load from Madison's 80yr alumni base!  A VAST majority of the Scouts alumni give little to nothing to their corps anymore!

    The Forward Performing Arts, Inc-By Laws prevent a thoughtful top to bottom house cleaning and  replacement of leadership.  Elected Board Members serve staggered three year terms and to become an Elected Board Member you have to  have been an appointed Board Member.   The board has reached out to the entire drum corps community via a recent survey.   Let the board act on those findings and develop a plan to move forward.   The current board members are dedicated, hard working, caring individuals that want  the organization to survive and be successful.  Depending on alumni  donations is not prudent.  With a couple of exceptions most corps receive little alumni support and even for those corps alumni donations are a small part of their funding.

  3. Setting up for an exciting week of drum corps with the Mandarins arriving North Sioux City SD early Monday.    They will be going head to head with Blue Stars, Crossmen, Phantom, Colts and Scouts in the upcoming week.   Sunday in St Louis will be fantastic.   Dome so no chance of rain out. I have had  my 50 yard ticket for weeks.  Staying at casino hotel three blocks away.  Does't keep much better than this for the hard core DCI fans.

  4. 2 hours ago, Daave said:

    Which begs the question for all of those type shows.  Who pays for full panels when they are supposed to go into practice next season.  Find the money or lose the show?  Lose the show and corps lose a potential payday as they make their way across the country?   

    Just thinking (typing) out loud.  My internal monologues often become external diatribes  :laughing:

     

    You are correct it is all about paydays for the corps.  Once a corps leaves on tour the expenses don't stop so it is DCI's job to have as many paydays as possible for each corps.  There is nothing that says that  a current exhibition has to be a full panel show in 2019.  DCI is only interested in getting as many paydays as possible weather it be via exhibitions, parades or competitive shows. In Midwest and East 4th of July is a huge payday for corps.  Corps can make equal to three or four times their normal performance fee in one day.  That appears not to be the case in the West.  Exhibitions are here to stay for both World Class and Open Class. 

  5. 5 hours ago, BlueStainGlass said:

    Well this part of Minnesota just got interesting 
    7:30    Colts - Dubuque, IA
    7:47    Madison Scouts - Madison, WI
    8:04    Blue Stars - La Crosse, WI
    8:21    Crossmen - San Antonio, TX
    8:38    Phantom Regiment- Rockford, IL

    Blue Stars will be the only rested corps. They have Friday off and will be in Maple Grove MN  rehearsing. Everyone else has to perform in Rockford Friday night and then bus in for the Saturday show.  Weather forecast for Saturday in Twin Cities looks good.

  6. These days it is very difficult for a corps to pass three or four other corps once the season begins.  Madison  needs to make major changes and they have no time to make them.  To pay the bills corps need to book as many shows as possible.   July 3rd through July 8th the Scouts have six straight days with little rehearsal time. St Louis on 15th is key date top 12 will probably be set after this show.

     

    • Like 1
  7. 21 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

    Maybe they should pull out of shows for 2 weeks & learn a re-hash of their 1975 show.  Worked before...

    (History lesson for those that are new - this is exactly what Madison did in 1976.  The 'disco show' learned in off season wasn't working, so they scrapped it & learned a new shoe based on their previous championship show, & ended up 2nd.  But no one was going to beat Blue Devils in 1976).

    Penalty for withdrawal today is more severe than it was in 70;s  plus Madison has their home show on  July 8th.

     

  8. Mark your calendars July 10 is the date that the Mandarins arrive in the Midwest    Following Sunday in  St Louis will be the key show for many corps.   Only top corps not in attendance are Santa Clara, Blue Knights, The Academy, Pacific Crest and Troopers.   

  9. Attended  Scouts rehearsal at Ben Davis High School tonight.  With three weeks before their first show the Scouts are in great shape to start the season strong.  I timed their final run through at 6 minutes and 10 seconds on field.  The three musical pieces that they played flowed nicely.   Probably only a percussion/visual feature and a closer to go.   Now it is all about layering and execution, execution, execution.   Scouts remain a top twelve corps.

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  10. On ‎10‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 1:23 PM, cowtown said:

    Troop broke out the check book for their 60th, cool

     

    they have been ever so close...

    It is all about recruitment if you don't have the members the best staff in the world can't do anything.  Troopers are trying to recruit in one of  the most competitive regions in the country.  I wish them well but I don't see them in the top 15 in 2018.  If I am a potential  member what is the message are they trying to send to me?   No one from a large section of the country will audition with them when there are so many other options available.  Holding auditions and camps in Texas was a mistake.

  11. 1 minute ago, va9590jm said:

    The second one is where they are staying Saturday night into Sunday because of their annual banquet which they have started holding the Sunday after DCI East in Allentown since 2014 with the 40th anniversary celebration.

    Correct  Crossmen  move in to Trexler  late Friday night.  Blue Stars move out when they leave for Friday night show.

    • Like 1
  12. 3 hours ago, jwillis35 said:

    The World Class tour is set at winter meetings that include DCI admin and all WC corps directors. Regional championships are usually reserved for Friday or Saturday evenings come mid season to the end. Again, I believe DCI admin and corps directors set these dates at winter meetings.  Who attends what depends on various things like who is touring more in the Midwest, East, South, or West during early season. Come the DCI Southeastern Regional (San Antonio, TX) all World Class corps are present with the exception of those who can't make it due to finances or other emergency issues.  The same is true for Atlanta, Allentown, and then Finals.  This year was an exception for Atlanta due to stadium issues.  

    TOC shows are different and not run quite like most DCI shows. I will leave that topic alone. 

    The tour is set at the September meeting.   All show sponsors have to commit by mid September.  So all  Executive Directors/Corps Directors know by October  1st where they will be going.  Some show dates may change by a day or two but the tour is basically set much earlier than most people think.   Tour partners know what corps they will be getting when they get their contracts. DCI has had a record year for attendance in 2017 so they are already pressuring sponsors to commit for 2018.  Only unknown for 2018 is the Florida swing since several corps have said that they will not go to Florida.

     

  13. 15 minutes ago, mcjordansc said:

    You can almost count on the Blue Stars to make the changes they need to make every year to max out the show. 

    Blue Stars arrive in Indianapolis in 14 days. During the next two weeks they have 10 shows ( four shows in a row starting tonight) and only four rehearsal days so majority of changes are already in.  So it is an issue of cleaning which the Blue Stars staff is good at.

  14. 9 minutes ago, Old VA said:

    Not as bad as last year.! Admin group should be re evaluated. Is making finals an actual goal? 

    Yes making finals is the goal of most World Class corps.   Benefits afforded the top twelve corps are huge.   Helps with recruiting and tour selection.  Most Executive Directors and Corps Directors are on multi year employment contracts so reevaluation of the Admin group may  not be an option.

  15. Madison and Mandarins only go head to head three times (Birmingham, Winston-Salem and Rome) before quarterfinals so it is going to be difficult to judge who is improving the most. I think Madison has the show that can beat the Mandarins but it will be close.  Can Mandarins handle the pressure over the next three weeks?

    • Like 1
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