verzephobe

Micah Beckwith is FAR from popular with ... basically everybody in Indy, no matter what side of the political spectrum. He's completely grasping at straws here.

Hello!! This might be a topic already made, but I'm going to be writing a research paper about severe injuries that could have been avoided during the season or freak accidents that majorly affected/ending one's marching career. Specifically, I'm going to be focusing on how Carolina Crown had a mellophone snap their leg during the final run and (reportedly) could have avoided that stress break if the marcher had been properly cared for. If there's any videos of the incident (or showing the hole / judge response / anything really) that would be GREATLY appreciated, as well as any older posts from accounts of marchers that season. ALSO: If you had an injury that ended/affected your career or know someone who had, PLEASE fill out this survey!! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3F4Im3qY_fjdtJN-DD70yT7ZjI5y_6xNeleU0dmCMX9Uhmw/viewform?usp=publish-editor Thank you!

I know this is an older post lol sorry, but I know my fees were around ~1800 last year for maybe 6-9 performances. It doesn't feel like a lot of gigs, but it gave us extra time to push the show to its very best. Plus, it meant we were showing new changes at every show!! Sometimes less is more lol

As a response to the attack on the Westfield Indoor Percussion from Indiana's Lt. Governor, Westfield Indoor Percussion will perform as the opening act for the Inside the Sound event at the Fishers' Event Center with Carolina Crown & the Cavaliers! Announcement post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DYVoTk3JH7l/ I'm not sure if DCP was paying close attention to what Micah Beckwith had said regarding Westfield's percussion ensemble and claiming their group was "demonic". Indiana in particular is a hotspot for the marching arts in all its forms, and this accusation was really disheartening for a lot of us marchers in Indy. I knew a lot of my friends were wondering if DCI was going to pull out of Indy with the lack of support from the Lt. Governor, but this is a really amazing response from Crown & Cavs. It makes me proud to be both a Cavaliers fan and a Hoosier, knowing that these corps stand behind Westfield and support all forms of the marching arts. Knock 'em dead out there, Shamrocks!

LOL I wish, I do have some handmade merch since I can't find any on Ebay

Thank you. It's my major dream to revive the Bandettes in particular, so I hope I can find some form of contact.

lmfao hello ryan.

Would it have been Mary Wilson? And I know this is a long shot, but is there any way you would have contact with her (email, phone number, etc)? I've been trying to track down Bandettes alum for about a year now and being able to contact their founder would be gold for this effort- I can send my email if you don't feel like sharing her contact info in a public forum like this lol

SO excited for this show. This concept has so so much potential!!

Wait, were you personally involved and were there members signed up? If so, is there any shot you would be able to elaborate with more details on how you got that started? A big dream of mine is to revive the Sault Ste. Marie Bandettes one day, I'd love to know how to get in contact with people who still have hope in all-female drum corps. Thank you!

I'm a BOA 4A marcher myself, I think a big part of the reason traditional drill is seen more in scholastic groups is A) the age of the directors and B) the budget needed to pull off an artsier show. When I first joined marching band, we'd had a much older director than we have now (like, he marched with Glassmen and VK, which isn't that old but it's not young LOL). He VERY much preferred traditional style of drill. While we'd always tried to tell "stories" with our shows, the wow factor came from the footwork of it, and he hammered that into us. Now I'm not super sure how it is for world class, but with my corps almost all of our staff is in their 20s-early 30s, like 1/6 of our techs are newly aged out. I think that just because all of our staff is young, we never got to march traditional style, and we just... wouldn't know how to tackle that beast. It's far easier to tech/design something that you've already marched in the style of rather than trying to pivot completely. And budget wise, if the style comes from the footwork and the cleanliness of the drill, you don't have to worry as much about elaborate props or custom making uniforms. That's why 4A can seem kinda like a modern corps show sometimes, because we have the budget to pull off elaborate and artsy themes (think Flomo 2025 or Avon 2024).

The erasure of all-female corps. Why have there been no efforts to revive any of them?

Don't know if it's possible but I kind of wish it was. That sounds like so much fun, being able to play with two corps at the same time!!

Might not have had the most impressive blend but 1979 Troopers will always have a special place in my heart. Just such insanely well performed music!!!

I think recognizable could definitely be argued either way. I mean, my perspective is from someone who never marched that era, but taking my favorite from 70s-80s and comparing it to nowadays is hard to do. Like, I love Troopers 1979. It is 100% my favorite show from early DCI and I think takes the cake as best show of the 20th century. But I don't love the show for its theme, I love the show for its beautiful music (KILLER g bugles) and its amazing motion. If you compare it to something like 2024, the theming is harder to ignore, because all of its motion and music is meant to tell a story, which is far more recognizable than ones of earlier years. Admittedly, 79 is a few years off from the span you gave me. So if you look at something like SCV '89 (which I'd actually never watched until I started typing this up!!), the theme is recognizable in the music and aspects of the visuals (like the masks), but it doesn't fully commit to it's theme. Had Phantom of the Opera been offered as a show theme nowadays, I imagine they would've tried to reenact the full story on the field. Think Demon Barber of Fleet Street! There's major things that have changed in DCI, and key elements that used to be a part of a corps identity have shifted. Like SCV here, their uniforms were iconic, and every corps had a unique uniform used over decades. The uniforms may not have directly correlated with the show, but it correlated to what corps you belong to. Nowadays, the uniforms change with the show. I personally love that change, it makes every season feel special to me- not that I'm in the sea of people with one uniform, but every year I marched is specified and only I have that year's uniform. The uniform side brings me to a side tangent I care a lot about- the corps identities have changed a bit because of the sports' early misogyny. I may be a bit biased because of being a woman in brass, but women being excluded from the hornline leaves an insanely bad taste in my mouth. It's hard to fully support the reintroduction of 70s-80s style drum corps without remembering the women that never got the chance to march it. I think if there was more of a culture of celebrating the early women in DCI/ the all-female drum corps that never get their flowers, I would be more inclined to relive that era of drum corps.

I think honestly a lot of it is money! While older shows appeal to the older audiences, the people who drop thousands on tour fees are younger members who've never known traditional styles of shows. It's way smarter financially to appeal to young people who might be more financially irresponsible. I wish there was a great way to have both exist, but I just don't know if it's possible. The two styles of drum corps have split so far away from each other that it feels unfair to have them in the same competitions. Maybe different circuits could work?

I mean, as a marcher of today's era it's kinda complicated. The shows of today (at least imo) are much more character driven and more theme based than ones of the 70s even up until 90s-early 2000s. It's a lot more dramatic to perform and gives you something to dive into and LIVE as your character when you're on tour. Shows that are purely about the music / drill and the performance of it are fun in a different way, since the fun of that comes from performing it at a high level. That's great in its own way, but there's no "character" to get into except the Disciplined DCI Marcher that everybody is. You look at the differences between, like, the showy and super expressive marchers in BOOM vs the melancholy of Phantom vs the regal performances in Crown and it's all so different. It makes it easier for marchers to feel like the show has a real identity, rather than just being Traditional Drum Corps Show #500000

My home corps, Eclipse DBC, has announced the 2026 show titled "Lunar"!! Eclipse is currently under evaluation to become Open Class, so please show them lots of love during this process!! Official announcement: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRYQhvREW2Z

it has nothing to do with the thread but its so weird seeing people reply who marched before even my parents were born 😣 im a dci newgen

Observed ... like some kind of Observer. Effect

100%!! Me and my sister broke down the show a lot (she's a history major, SUPER into Cold War so I'm kinda summarizing what she said) and it's portraying how children were prepared for nuclear war. Like a TON of motifs from children's PSAs shown in choreo, the overdramatic playfulness of it, bright colors despite the dark scene

Absolutely LOL. I consider a lot of shows fun that others think are stupid (i.e. 15 minutes of fame)

Maybe it's just how I watched it but the character of it was clear. They were flaunting that they KNOW who they are, they know the (for lack of a better term) aura they have. They knew they were clean and portrayed it, that's their character to me

I don't really view Phantom as dark, conceptual and dark are two very different things to me. Like aVANte GUARD isn't dark at all imo, nor is Phantom, but both are conceptual and more artsy shows (nothing wrong with it)

I don't think ONLY character shows should exist!!! Not by a long shot!! Some of my favorite shows ever are artsy shows