siletzspey

Somewhat adjacent topic... I booked a hotel room thru DCI, but the hotel (Hyatt Place) didn't send me a confirmation, nor could they confirm my booking. Turns out "VisitIndy" manages the DCI room blocks until July 24, after which VisitIndy turns the names/reservations over to the hotel to finish managing. --tg

Check into the stadium well ahead of time!!! I recall waiting in line an hour+ for finals, and others waited much longer. For sure some people missed the start of finals.

Thanks for the lead! I just googled Stanford Stadium, and season football ticket holders can reserve overnight tailgating and RV spots for $135+. West Park High School in Roseville has no apparent overnight options. Has anyone attended a DCI show where tailgating spots were open, or the hosting corps made some arrangements to enable tailgating? Even at $135, it's the right idea for the convenience and comradery. And in the Bay Area, $135/night isn't bad. --tg

While hoping to afford flights + hotel for Indy every few years, I'm puzzling a 2023 truck-camper run from Oregon to at least DCI West (Stanford) and Capitol Classic (Sacramento/Roseville). Is there any advice on doing DCI shows by RV? Is there a DCI RV contingent that has some routines down? I might imagine Uber from RV Park to Stadium. Generic advice plus anything specific on Stanford and Sacramento/Roseville much appreciated. Thanks, --tg

In the business world, project cancelations and company shutdowns never occur at a good time, and lots of things are always in-flight if and when the shoe drops. On the flip side is a leadership team having a difficult shades-of-gray go/no-go discussion, but before the decision can be reached, the rumor mill kicks in causing panic and effort pullback which itself can be costly, and can sabotage a resulting go decision. Had SCV hit the pause button a few days/weeks earlier, I think we'd just be debating another unfortunate chain of events. --tg

Thanks for the replies and insights. It's impressive to consider the lack of time and distance challenges the corps have pre-season, and yet the on-field results when they start performing. --tg

Every pursuit has its bad moments and less-likable aspects, but I still can't think of a replacement for the awe-inspiring sight and sound of drum corps, so continue to count me in. Travel and budget wise from Oregon, I can only attend every 3rd or so championship, and I'm struggling to piece together a 1,500mi CA roadtrip now that OR and WA have been dropped. Aside from The Academy (AZ) and Blue Knights (CO) attending (thank you!), the 2023 CA shows will only feature CA corps.

Being in Oregon and having to drive 100+ miles for shows that often feature only 4-6 corps makes me hate the shorter-show proposal. Between proposed shorter shows and the 2023 no-shows in Oregon and Washington, I'm struggling to stay engaged with DCI. For 2022 in Camas WA, all 4 corps graciously agreed to encore performances to make the audience feel like their time and money was well spent. I'm also hard pressed to see how a shorter show benefits a corps bottom line. Essentially the same corps costs, but less entertainment value for the attendees, less concessionaire time with the attendees, I don't get it. --tg

I'm curious... the DCI 2023 competitions run Jun 28 - Aug 12, but between now-ish 2022 and Jun 28 2023, what's the schedule and summary of how drum corps go from tryouts to Jun 28 premiere? I can only guess that circa Jan the performers get initial music/drill materials, then for months things mature thru a mix of short in-person camps, remote/online practice and DIY practice, and then circa May the field show can be fully matured in-person? For just 6 weeks of competition, what does the preceding half year look like for the performers, and even the staff?

From semis Sec.142 Row.21 (back to aisle) and finals Sec.141 Row.15, I too was surprised by the congestion and talkers/shouters in the aisles, and saw corps staff and fans struggling to get thru. I also saw fans for each corps surge into the 140/141/142 aisle area and empty seats when their corps was up. On both nights I fended off fans looking for a better temporary seat when the real seat holder was momentarily away. No one seemed rude, but the ongoing seat jumpers just added to the congestion.

Thanks for clarifying. Indeed, the north and south "street" lines converged at just the East Gate, and then those two street lines somewhat reshuffled into the 4 to 7 "check station" lines circa the stairs. I have a photo that seems to show ~6 busy check station lines. Like a highway accident choke-point, I was just observing that the time to get EVERYONE thru seemed fixed by the check station count, but that depending on what street line you stood in, some INDIVIDUALs zipped thru while others (me) stood in line for nearly an hour. More check stations + LOS/DCI staff directing the street lines would have made entry times more equitable for all.

I was in the "north line" from ~4:30 - 5:15pm, and upon reaching the east gates did notice the "south line" was much shorter and more walk up and check in, but still ALL the gate checkers were busy. Even if half the north line was instantly transported to the south line, I don't think the overall check in rate would have improved.

Per feedback from this forum, I was able to find seat-block codes for several corps, and upon entering Phantom's code into the Ticketmaster web site, many of the "locked / offer passcode seats" became unlocked and purchasable. I did NOT have to purchase the tickets thru an individual corps web site. Two+ weeks ago I was able to nab sec.141 row.15 for the finals, and sec.142 row.21 for the semis. I have never attended a big DCI show, so had no notion of the merits of seating down low vs up high. Hopefully I'm in the blast zone. --tg

Can someone summarize the Special Locked Seating scheme and rules? I'd like to attend the finals in Indy, I see the unlock code for the Cadets, but am I free to use their code? Is this just a scheme to get fans to sit in their favorite corps seating block(s), and go on a hunt for their code? Ditto hotel room blocks. I was all booked for the 2020 finals and don't recall anything about codes. Thanks, --tg

I just canceled from finals 😞 FYI... Hyatt House Downtown was a simple cancel. Delta Airlines gave me an eCredit (per a refundable ticket) for future flights. Not sure when the eCredits expire. The travel insurance site claims no pay out unless one is infected with COVID-19. Ticketmaster shows all my tickets as "postponed". I might assume DCI is still trying to decide what to do, or Ticket Master is overwhelmed and hasn't yet updated their system yet. I haven't looked, but is there a (single) site from which to gift money to several corps? I could hunt and peck for individual corp sites, but was hoping for a unified front door. --tg

China (and other countries) aggressively jumped on testing, self reporting, central tracking and isolation. Businesses were shut down by default, individuals self-reported daily temperatures to a central database, individuals were assigned red/yellow/green risk QR codes, and letting people roam and businesses re-open has been based on calculated need and risk. If and until the US is willing to manage things like China, citing China's numbers has little relevance to what the US might experience. If some cold and flu infected co-workers coming to work for the past 30 years is any indication, we're in for a reality check soon.

Thanks for the replies! --tg

Despite 43 years of following DCI, the first show I attended was last year (Camas, WA), and I just got tickets for the prelims, semis and finals this year. As they say, "all in". For all us finals attendance rookies, any "do" and "don't" recommendations? Within the stadium, should I bring a seat back or anything else to survive long stints of sitting? Between corp performances, is it reasonable to pop into and out of the stadium? Nearby, are there parking lot warm-ups, or gathering spots for DCI fans? I have no sense of taking it all in, and yet trying to endure physically. I will be partial to brass warm-ups and performances as a former trumpet player. Thanks, --tg

I often find many "parking lot warm-ups" more musically dynamic and emotion-filled than their on-field counterparts.Last night I was youtube-ing the Bluecoats 2014 and 2015, and as I've noticed many times before, especially with BD, the booming electronics often dull and flatten-out the overall sound. --SiletzSpey

For better or worse, in the few copyright court cases I have read, being "non-profit" is a moot point. If someone is giving away a work for free (non-profit), then they may be depriving or weakening a copyright holder's own potential to make profit elsewhere or otherwise. --SiletzSpey

Another Blue Stars 2008-2010 vote. There's a 15 second segment in this 2014 video that's on par: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX14gZ8XVTk --SiletzSpey

Thanks for the feedback I was stuck in analysis paralysis, so just jumped on '78, '88, '93, '00 and '05. --SiletzSpey Oakcrest High NJ, 77-81, 77 Atlantic Coast Champions (Group 2)

The 1974 - 2009 DCI DVDs are currently on sale. As someone on the lookout for great brass performances and clean recordings thereof, are there any particular years that stand out among the DCI DVDs? Whether subtle and beautiful, jazzy, or a loud wall blowing my (remaining) hair back, I'm looking for that clean rich textured brass sound. '88 Devils, '89 Santa Clara ... '08 Crown, '09 Bluestars are some examples. --SiletzSpey

Crown has an amazing brass sound. I even enjoy their brass warm-ups. --SiletzSpey

Booming synthesizers and narrations have soured my desire to buy the newer DCI DVDs. I substitute by watching brass-only warmups or practices on youtube. --SiletzSpey