MikeN

Just got to see the tour premiere. Holy God Coats are trippy and awesome and that keytar song is already the defining song of this season and we are like one show in. They are head and shoulders over everything else I’ve seen this year so far. That is all. Mike

What did Phantom present in 2021? Cadets? Cavaliers? Bluecoats? Boston? What did Phantom present in 2022? Cadets? Cavaliers? Bluecoats? Boston? We literally have a case study of what judges' sheets do to show design. Mike

Is there a link to Boston's? I haven't seen those yet. So far, BK is winning the pageant. Mike

It was... ok. Feels like it's just the framework of a show at the moment - there's a lot of vanilla look and sound. The closer really felt like it pulled it all together well. I'll have to watch this one again later down the line - it definitely has potential, but it doesn't really have oomph yet. Mike

Back half of the show is awesome. First half of the show is definitely aggressive, but ugh, Stephen Melillo was a bad fit for corps 20 years ago. It's just so... generic. Personal distate of symphonic band stuff aside, the brass sounds way improved over the last time we saw them compete. Drums were an echo chamber but still sounded beefier than the recent past? All in all, it's a very solid production, it sounds like. Let's see what they can do on the move now. Mike

... not the greatest look, TBH. Extending piping onto the shoulders just makes everyone look frumpy - wide and short. Bottom layer is ok, but honestly, for as innovative as BD can be sometimes, this is pretty much the same look they've sported since 2017. Mike

It was trendy back when on the other side of the pandemic, but after two years away from competition I'd think groups would want extra time for hype. Still excited to see them though. Mike

I want to say yes. I know we at Guardians did, and IIRC, DCI put it in as a requirement? Ours cost you about $20 and was good for a year. Mike

Thursday (prelims/quarters) is always the toughest in Indy, not so much due to fan support, but because of travel costs. Far, far more people fly in on Friday for the weekend. It's been that way for as long as I can remember, honestly, and I don't really take it as a slight against the little guys - not so many people are there at the end of Thursday night, either. ...that said, I'd love to see more people support OC. Finals in '19 was a wild experience - a lot of *really* good drum corps, in an in-your-face stadium, for very cheap. Mike

I was involved with the BoD for one - happy to answer any question you still have afterwards! Mike

The administrative and logistical requirements of World Class would drive all of the OC's out of business. On-field product aside, there's a *massive* gulf in funding and structure between the two. Mike

Nope, still ok with it. I'm all for engaged and active board oversight, and managing opportunities/risk in a proactive manner, even if it means ED's have to put up with it. 👍 Mike

That's ok too. Active oversight is a good thing. Drum corps is rife with examples of what happens when it's not present. Mike

As well they should. Mike

For our OC corps, the armchair math came out to about $90/day in 2019, though we didn't really count it like that. But including move ins, it was about 56 days total, so a much shorter tour. I do agree - I'm just not sure how this is sustainable in the long run, especially asking kids to foot a higher and higher bill. While I do get the argument that $5,500 is a relative bargain, it only matters if you have the $5,500 to begin with. 😞 Mike

Just finished two years of AAU. Cost $2,100 the first year, including hotels, and cost $1,200 the second year, and we had to provide hotels. Very few kids are participating in the "national" touring teams, and those that are aren't paying it themselves. Mike

Ditto. His stuff is so distinctive - every move is a massive form to a massive form. No lines peeling off or sections acting on their own. It's just big and grand and logical from start to finish, and it's so cool... Mike

Oh, absolutely - such a great kickoff! it's still in my rotation. The first half of the show through Danzon is awesome - for me it lost steam in the back half, and they never could quite nail the ending. Can't deny the brass talent they had though.

According to the liner notes, Star in '91 tied in three separate captions, but didn't win any outright. Mike

Was my *only* finals as a spectator. Yeah, I don't think I need to go back. 🙂 Mike

As a former DCI BoD member (at least in the suburbs of Open Class), transportation, food and salaries - in that order - were the big ones. Most of our costs were supported by member dues; we just didn't have many secondary streams of income. When I started for instance, we didn't have *any* merch sales. I suspect you can count on one hand the number of corps that have figured out how to generate consistent extra revenue, honestly, and we all know who those are. As for other expenses, once we went to digital uniforms, that cost (about $130) got passed on to the member, so it actually saved the corps money. Props weren't a massive line item, but then again, we weren't toting around Mandarins' 12,000 pound stage either. We upgraded the battery while I was there to a one-year-old Mapex indoor set, it ended up costing us about $5k after selling the old falling apart Yamaha line. We replaced the tubas four at a time each year, and we tried to replace one of the other three sections entirely each year so it would be a three year rotation for brass. We never did replace out front ensemble, and our caption head let us hear about it in my final season as they were... um... very janky. But the big costs were getting there, eating there and teaching them. We rotated a bunch of staff in and out, like most corps do, and our caption heads were pretty much told "here's your budget" and they created their own schedules from that. We also lucked out in that our bus company was owned by a DCI alum, who was ok with us not getting hotels for the drivers. Mike

Same as it has always been - because most kids want to perform with the big names that DCI highlights to the world, at big shows, and in general won't consider anyone else if they don't make it? Mike

LOL. This thread is literally older than one of my children - he turns 18 this weekend. Mike (OP)

Cavies helped Magic out a lot in the early 2000's. I talked to Jeff Fiedler about it once, and he said that, in addition to feeding them mid-season one year, he had his tour staff show their tour staff how to compile and assemble a tour bible... Mike

Yup - same playbook. Unfortunately for the skaters, they may not have much of a defense. I'm not sure NBC is liable here, as they're broadcasting an independent event? Good luck suing the IOC or the Chinese organizing committee. Mike