olddrummer34

Marching Health (Dr. Elliot Cleveland) was caught liking far right wind propaganda online and it went viral over on reddit. He has since been removed, and has deleted his social media accounts.

RIP

1. General Doom-and-Gloom Posts I get the concern, but framing this as ‘drum corps is dying’ is misleading. Participation is evolving, not collapsing. Modern corps operate with higher standards, better safety, professional staff, and national digital outreach. Challenges exist, sure, but they’re part of professionalizing an activity that’s bigger and more visible than ever. 2. Alumni / Membership Complaints The assumption that fewer corps automatically means fewer engaged alumni is outdated. Engagement today is digital, episodic, and national. YouTube, FloMarching, Instagram, and TikTok are creating new generations of fans and future alumni at a scale the old VFW‑parking-lot model never could. 3. Fewer Shows / Ticket Price Complaints Fewer local shows or higher ticket prices do not equal doom. Touring logistics, safety, and financial sustainability are complex realities. DCI is targeting markets with demand while still maintaining national exposure via digital streaming. The result is more professional, sustainable corps that still engage a growing audience. 4. Critiques of Corps Performance or Style Innovation and style shifts are part of the activity’s evolution. Corps aren’t failing because they experiment or stick to a certain design philosophy, they’re building a diverse, professional landscape where artistic vision meets logistics, finance, and audience expectations. 5. Personal Attacks or Armchair Expertise Respectfully, the inner workings of DCI and corps management are more complex than any forum post can fully capture. Critiques are welcome, but blanket statements about collapse or mismanagement often ignore how professional standards, safety protocols, and sustainable business practices actually operate behind the scenes. 6. “I Used to See Shows Weekly / Engagement is Down” Generational engagement models have shifted. Gen Z and younger fans are discovering drum corps online before ever attending a show. That isn’t disengagement, it’s just a new way of building fandom. Digital reach exceeds what any local show network ever did.

LOL, if all of this is “already happening,” then explain exactly how. Don’t just wave your hands and insult people, give specifics. Otherwise, claiming insight while refusing to back it up is just empty noise.

If all you’re bringing is negativity, some time away from the internet might actually do you good. Or, you could try engaging with content that isn’t doom-and-gloom about drum corps, but of course, no one ever seems to do that on DCP.

See, people here have no interest in talking about the actual drum corps. DCP is dead. Congrats boomers who are not as talented as the current members and weren't talented enough to become teacher or designers.

DCI and its corps are fundamentally doing a lot of things right. The touring model, production standards, safety protocols, health and wellness initiatives, and digital engagement are all at a level unmatched in the activity’s history. They are building both organizational and audience sustainability in ways that weren’t possible decades ago. What could be improved: Digital-first audience engagement: YouTube, FloMarching, TikTok, and social media outreach could be leveraged even more strategically to convert viewers into live attendees and long-term fans. This is already working, but it can be amplified. Regional accessibility: While touring focuses on high-density markets for financial and logistical reasons, occasional experimental regional events or partnerships could maintain engagement in areas currently underserved. Not every city needs a week-long tour, but pop-ups could extend reach. Many corps already do this in the area where they do Spring Training. Which is often a small town with a college or large venue for camp. Youth recruitment pipelines: DCI could deepen partnerships with high school programs to capture Gen Z interest earlier, especially in regions with fewer corps. This is already happening organically, but a more structured approach could increase long-term participation. Everything else - production quality, membership support, corps sustainability, and audience experience is already operating at a high level. The activity is not dying; it is evolving, and the core infrastructure is sound.

The "Old Experts" are running this place. They take EVERY opportunity to pin things negative and often talk with confidence about subjects they no NOTHING about. They are the people that Staff/designers and members alike are actively making fun of when they make fun of DCP.

You just can't resist getting in a negative comment, can you? It's laughable at this point. Aren;t you the same guy that goes on the "Drum corps AF" podcast just to talk crap about the shows and the staff/members?

This contains EVERY CORPS - open, all age, that traditionally have NEVER had a "full membership." If this list existed in the 1990s, it would be MUCH larger. Even top 6 corps had holes back in the 90s. Never in today's climate because DEMAND to march is higher than ever.

“Corps aren’t full”? Seriously? Which ones? Last I checked, there’s zero public data to back that up. In reality, corps are fuller than ever, Open Class is expanding, and new corps keep getting added. Sounds more like wishful thinking than facts.

Yes, the math is simple. The conclusion you’re drawing from it is not. You’re interpreting everything through a boomer-era pipeline: live show → local exposure → lifelong alum → permanent donor. That model made sense in 1988. It is not how Gen Z discovers, consumes, or commits to anything in 2025. The actual customer base of this activity right now does not get “hooked” primarily by stumbling into a local show. They get hooked on YouTube, FloMarching, TikTok clips, Instagram reels, and algorithm-driven exposure. That’s not a theory, that’s literally how most current members found drum corps. Many of them had never seen a live show before auditioning. Some had never even heard a live brass line in person. So no, fewer local shows does not automatically mean fewer future fans. It means the conversion funnel has moved online, where the reach is exponentially larger than any parking-lot tour model ever was. Your alumni math also assumes that alumni are only created by the quantity of corps, not the scale, visibility, and media footprint of the ones that exist. That’s outdated. A single World Class corps today has more digital reach in one season than ten mid-sized corps had combined in the 90s. Alumni engagement is now national, digital, episodic, and brand-driven, not tied to who lives within 90 minutes of a gym. And saying “seeing it live pales in comparison to Flo or YouTube” is exactly backwards for Gen Z. For them, Flo createsthe desire to see it live. That’s the order now. Digital first. Live later. What you’re really lamenting isn’t alumni math. It’s the loss of a world where the activity was geographically dense and culturally local. That world is gone, not because DCI failed, but because media, youth culture, and entertainment discovery have fundamentally changed. This isn’t an extinction problem. It’s a you’re still using a 1985 engagement model to judge a 2025 audience problem.

This post is a perfect example of speaking about the inner workings of DCI with total confidence while clearly having no access to them. You’re presenting anecdotal regional frustration as if it’s a comprehensive business analysis of a national organization. It’s not. It’s a snapshot of your zip code, filtered through nostalgia and inconvenience, then inflated into a verdict on the entire activity. “Competition results mean ZERO” is the kind of absolute statement people make when they want to sound structural without actually understanding structure. Results don’t guarantee sustainability, but they absolutely drive brand value, media visibility, sponsorship interest, recruiting momentum, and donor confidence. To pretend competitive relevance is irrelevant to sustainability is fantasy economics. Yes, some corps have folded. Others have taken seasons off. That’s been happening for 60+ years. What’s different now is why: legal compliance, health standards, insurance, staffing, transportation, and duty-of-care costs that simply didn’t exist at modern levels 20–30 years ago. That’s not decay, that’s professionalization. You may not like the consequences, but don’t confuse them with neglect. Your alumni argument is also built on a romanticized model that no longer exists. Alumni engagement today is digital, episodic, and national, not dependent on whether there’s a show within 90 minutes of your house every Tuesday night. The idea that fans can only be created by weekly in-person exposure from a VFW parking lot tour model is outdated by about two decades. And the Tuesday Open Class show complaint? That’s not a strategic indictment, that’s a scheduling conflict. Bands rehearse every night in the summer. There is no night that doesn’t inconvenience someone. As for “markets being left behind”: DCI is following participation density, financial infrastructure, educational pipelines, and ticket demand. That’s not favoritism, it’s basic survival strategy. You don’t plant growth where the soil is exhausted and then act shocked when nothing grows. You’re frustrated with change. That’s fair. But frustration is not the same thing as insight, and right now this reads far more like loss of personal proximity to the activity than any real understanding of how it’s being operated.

Boston Crusaders – A legitimate repeat contender and possibly the start of a new era of dominance. It’ll be fascinating to see how the design identity evolves without Keith Potter. Bluecoats – I’d love to see a shift that’s less “look at us experiment” and more direct and emotionally clear—Tilt or Change Is Everything energy. Still innovative, but grounded in recognizable drum corps DNA. Santa Clara Vanguard – Lean fully into the weird, abstract, esoteric lane. That identity fits them now—no need to sanitize it. Blue Devils – A return to the 2010–2014 design era would be perfect: elegant, understated, and devastatingly effective. Phantom Regiment – Last year gave us beauty. This year, give us dark. Full-on intensity. Black uniforms wouldn’t hurt either. Prediction: this thread lasts about one page before it gets hijacked by negativity. Prove me wrong.

It is true. You are trying SO HARD to be negative about this. It's sad and kind of funny.