C.Holland

Please remember, this happens with music of all sorts. not just dci, dca, marching bands... etc. it happens with old music videos, cover bands, comedians, etc etc etc

If ticket sales are dwindling, there's no reason to put up a live feed. That just discourages people from actually attending. I can understand blacking out the broadcast for the first 150 miles, but that's a cost I'm certain DCA can't afford. Heck they could barely afford an OK feed last year. Now there is potential to think that perhaps, they're saving their pennies by cutting the live feed and its music fees, in return to put that towards a finals DVD instead. That might be a longshot, but its possible. Just because they aren't selling 2015 dvds, doesn't mean they aren't trying for a 2016 dvd.

now that you've posted that.... wait a few minutes.

this is true. but in the event of something going wrong, often everyone goes under the bus and it gets all sorted out later. they try to avoid these circumstances.

Do you know what prevents someone from showing up and taking your date from you in a rental situation? Wait for it.... A signed agreement and a deposit.

I have drill writer friends who ask the same question. Just so they aren't brought into the conversation when everyone gets thrown under the bus.

well. the service wasn't very good. and if you want people to attend a show where the live audience is dwindling, this is one way to do it. likely the costs outweigh the returns on investment. This is the same reason that your local MLB team blacks out its games (unless its a sell out) on the MLB network.

so the same athletic fund that went to the stadium and goes to their scholarships went to give them a field to keep them off of another field? yay.

because bad sound at higher volumes is worse. keep your old bugle... off my lawn.

Hmmm... I've usually seen a discount for non-profit. I guess it all goes back to individual mission statements. I'll have to look into TCFs vs USBank. Universities, in my experience, have generally been tougher to deal with than city facilities as they have a mission to themselves first and fill their dates with lots of penciling of stuff for their own resident programs.

well it is actually possible. If its a city owned and operated facility, with a mission statement to serve the city and the taxpayers who built it, it likely will have reduced prices for not-for profit organizations. Most of them do. It also has a mission to serve its community. While the college facilities first job is to serve itself.

Madison 2001. At NightBeat Rondinano couldn't finish his into before the Ballet In Brass fanfare cut him off with "You May take the field and... (can no longer hear due to FFFFFFFFF hornline)

Its pretty common in rental contracts to have the responsibilities of each party, a timeline, and cancellation circumstances laid out pretty plainly. (sometimes even down to who has to take out the trash) Its a way of keeping everyone on task. Again, I read that there wasn't a contract for this instance, if that was true, at its happened before, why wouldn't you show up with at the least a letter of agreement and a deposit in hand? i remember there being a stadium in Mankato... how far is that from here?

These are concerns from years past when the tour changed, and lost venues due to it. Some of them do care about generating outside revenue. I'm going to assume many universities of Div 1 don't, because their primary mission is to serve the residents of there stadiums and campuses first, and then give out dates based upon that availability. But this just seems odd to not have dates, contracts, and deposits handled a year out.

As someone who has spent my career in events, you need two things to secure an event venue. A signature on a letter of agreement, and a deposit. The article i read stated they didn't have an actual contract. Only a verbal agreement. Without either of these, there is never a guarantee that you actually will have the space when you requested it. If there was a verbal agreement, fine, if there was an email... yay. But honestly, if you've been burned before without a contract, why on earth would you attempt to schedule an event without getting a signature and dropping off a deposit in person? I just don't understand how you can leave yourself, your event, and the people you represent open to that risk when it has happened before.

See, they're fast, but there were a lot of fracked notes, intonation issues, and foot problems to me that I didn't see in C2. Again, that's just my take.

Colts and Colt Cadets.

I love you ladies n gents who come from the great white north. You're always a favorite of mine. And your performance level, to me, is what keeps you all at the top. But i'm talking strictly show design here. Remove the performers from the equation. They have a formula they've used the last couple of years with their mashup ideas. ( Between you, me, and everyone out there in the virtual marching pitch, I hope they're coming up with something different because three in a row of the same idea are going to get watered down.) But there's a Jr corps design to Bux that puts their level of difficulty above everyone else's currently. You're not going to like reading that, and I'm not trying to bash you all, because your space show two years ago was wicked. Really wicked. That was a Jr corps design that could do it. Consistently I've seen (in design terms) Bux, then a gap, then the next two corps, then a larger gap, then the next 3 corps, and then an even larger gap, and then the rest of the pack. (again, not performance wise, just design) Again this is all me, the guy on the sideline watching. Shooting the #### online here. But also, challenging all the rest to bring the noise. i'm tired of the same formula being at the top. I don't think bux played that show well enough to be given a trophy last year. I'm not a judge, so what do i know. But the elements to which they give to their members before they even step on a field have already given them an advantage over everyone else. I hope someone else sets the standard for awhile.

Because C2 is currently the only corps that can give Bux a run for their money. Its not membership that will give them a trophy though. It all goes back to show design and setting that membership up for success.

I don't mean to open a can of worms but I think that's actually a detriment. Bush, C2, Bux, Cabs, Hurcs, Fusion, Sun... I think they're all trying to grab new members from the same pools. Throw in C1, Surf, and Raiders, and while it looks like the area is awesome with so many choices I think it hurts recruiting numbers and dilutes the pool.

It both shrunk their pool of applicants, and weeded out those over the hill marchers. Some may not like that its an "age restricted corps" in an "all ages circuit" but if its not against the book governing the corps, who cares.

i didn't address guard, because the original topic is about trombones. Which some changed it to bugles. Guard is off topic.

If you marched with a newborn in a sling... does that count as a member?

I think we're all going to disagree on this one. The purpose of drum corps has changed since then. In those days drum corps was a pastime to get kids off the street. It was an alternative to baseball, football, etc. It was often free, and voluntarily taught. It was not meant to be a refined product but instead a way to educate youth and give them something to put their energy into so they weren't off badgering Mr Wilson or graffiti-ing grocery stores. Today, it is about creating the best possible product while educating the membership. It is about pushing your limits beyond what thought humanly possible. It has become marching music's major league. It is something you pay to do, to better yourself as a human but also as a musician. We are building youths, but in a different way. Very few, if any, come into drum corps not knowing how to play an instrument or march. The learning curve might be the same but the demand is infinitely tougher. The talent of the pool is more competitive than it ever was. You don't hear the runs and elaborate cords that are dominant of today's music head in the 80s and before. Its no longer a game of march and play, its a game of hop on one foot on in time on top of a ladder held by four color guard members being rotated like a carousel as you play a 32nd note run that crescendo's from pppp up to FFFFFFFFFFF. And do it cleanly with great intonation. There's a reason top players (in drum corps, and in everyday life) play on top quality horns. It makes their job easier. Fast valves, slides, springs, tight tolerances, and intonation consistent in all ranges take a great musician and allow them to be an amazing musician because the musician can focus on making music and less on making a horn do what it needs to do to operate correctly. There was never a bugle built that was as amazing an instrument as the horns corps are using today. There just weren't. They hit their heyday in the late 90s, but still never worked as well or had as good an intonation as the horns manufactured now. Could Al Chez play pretty well on a DEG Bugle? Sure. Can he play better on his Yamaha Bb trumpet now? Absolutely. The horn doesn't make him work as hard for articulation or intonation. The valves are faster. The slides have better tolerances to them allowing them to move freer. All these things allow him to focus on making the music in his head, and less about making the horn operate for him.

There are no 2016 dates listed on their website. Perhaps they are taking a year off to get things in order.