greg_orangecounty

I could be wrong, but I'm getting the impression Drum Corps don't do this anymore. And if I'm a kid paying $5,000 to march for a summer I probably don't want to put in the time to raise funds for the corps in general. It's too bad, as it could be a relatively easy way to raise funding. True, no one is opening shopping malls anymore, but there are still all kinds of events (large parties, corporate events, weddings, anniversaries, etc. etc.) where "bands" are wanted and you only need a handful of M.M. USC band does this throughout the year to pay for their Notre Dame trip.

BITD, we raised a significant portion of our operating budget performing play for pay gigs. We opened shopping malls, car dealerships, appeared at political campaigns, Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, California Angel games, etc. etc. It was a year-around thing, and we could do it because 90% of us lived locally. Do modern Drum Corps still do this to raise funds? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an example of it at least from any of the corps in So Cal. I know the USC Trojan Marching Band does it as I see them all the time.

Great! We need more, not less corps. I wish them much success.

Ahhhhh. Those were the days when hearing gunshots was a good thing! I remember being able to relax a little after hearing the shots and seeing the field judge raise their clipboards above their heads. (I might be making that last part up...? I think that happened).

I know D.A. is unpopular, at least on DCP, but I give him credit for navigating the activity through the pandemic.

I loved the huge rifle line from the Taiwanese all-girl band in the Rose Parade. They were adorable with old-school military bearing.

Schools were never free. We did pay to rent out a high school gym, use their lockers/showers and practice on their field. Back then their thinking was "Hey, we're not using our school in the summer anyway, and this nice youth band will be in town. Why not let them use our school for a couple days and make a few bucks!?" It wasn't considered a revenue source for schools as it might be today. Oh well. Times change. Cheap-ish housing was the backbone of Drum Corps. If that disappears then......

Wow. No wonder the activity is on fumes.

I should have read your post before posting mine (opps).

How is that possible? I don't understand. Sleeping on a high school gym floor in sleeping bags (girls on one side, guys on the other) is more expensive than putting kids in hotel rooms....? And with a school the football field is generally thrown in as part of the deal. You can't get a decent hotel room for under $100 a night and with 130+ marching members plus staff.....

I'll belabor it for you. It's not that they didn't know, it's that after making the monumental and painful decision to not tour updating a website within 24 hours might have slipped through the cracks. I don't believe one of the most historic corps in the activity was out trying to scam kids for $50. Please.

"Should have known" is the operative key phrase, but give SCV a break. They've been around for 50+ years do you really think their intent was to commit fraud? Universities charge money to submit admission applications too.

And we were never the same afterwards. That's what I'm afraid for SCV. Hope I'm wrong. We'll see.

Blue Stars were sooo good in 1972. We lost to them 6 times in a row but number 7 turned out to be our lucky number. You were good in 1974 also. Very happy to see them still around in 2022 and on an upward trajectory.

Thank you very much. Nice that we are still remembered almost 50 years later.

"Corps" not bands. I needed to fix it for you. 🙂 Hope he liked what he heard. 1974 was a good year.

Still alive....? Why, yes, me. It was my last competitive Drum Corps show. We came in 3rd at finals. Dang bottle dance.

You wouldn't be disappointed if you ever had to carry one. Yes, they look "sick" but not worth the spinal disk fusion surgeries 40 years later.

I am familiar with this type of shock, pain and feel particularly sad for the kids that would have aged-out this year. When the Kingsmen folded SCV, BD too, were gracious and gave many of us a new home. I hope other corps now return the favor and do the same for the SCV kids starting with the age-outs. No person, organization, or country, can spend beyond their means. At some point reality catches up and if this isn't a wake-up call for the activity to lower costs nothing will. Listen to the bean counters, not the "pageantry leaches", but it's probably too late now. Lastly, in 2022 when Indian "gaming" casinos are literally everywhere in California and it's legal to play Bingo online for money, how could SCV rely on the same revenue streams as used in 1972? I don't get that.

Not sure what you mean here. The Anaheim Kingsmen are on Spotify. I listen when I'm feeling nostalgic and so do my neighbors.

So Very Hard to Go - Anaheim Kingsmen 1974 So Very Hard to Go - Anaheim Kingsmen Reunion Corps 2008 And it's true...

Awesome. Woodwind players need to go somewhere. 😜

Unless you're Blue Devis. They probably had their 2023 show in the can a year ago, and are now working on 2024's winning show.

Blue Stars were really-really good, but no one was going to touch us that night. We were on fire. Even the "evil one" said so. But as to the topic of this thread........it was fun having Finals in different cities each year and there is no more of a boring big city than Indianapolis. Lucas isn't the best either. However, the activity isn't exactly rolling in money, the rent is cheap, and it's centrally located. It gets the job done. Keep it there unless they jack up the rent.

Interesting. I've never head that as the reason for G "bugles."