MikeN
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Posts posted by MikeN
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Honestly? I think we'll be back to 2019-standard shows. Now that said, I think we've got a pretty good balance of technical showcase vs. "catchy" stuff right now. But I'm almost 100% certain you won't be seeing old-style uniforms out there again.
Mike
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9 hours ago, TenHut said:
1. I would love to see drum corps return to going with a uniform for 5+ seasons. This is how you establish an identity and following.
That's why Crown has so few fans.
Mike
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17 hours ago, Boss Anova said:
The DCI judging sheets reward freshness, and new things, ie, new music, being creative, progressive, daring, bold. The Corps voted and approved these sheets. The Blue Devils dont do " current trend " or a redo of former shows. They push the envelope.. The Cavaliers did not do the " current trend shows " that BD was doing in the 1990's. The Cavs came out with new visual/ guard integrated shows that for a couple of years caught BD flat footed, as Cavs went right to the top via better visually designed shows. BD then responded to that, and created their own " new " trend.
You are 100% correct in this. But it's kind of telling that the year that the judging bumpers were taken off the lane, corps as a block embraced nostalgia and "fan friendliness." The corps are kind of tacitly acknowledging here that there's a disconnect between a show written for the sheets and what would be most appealing to audiences.
Mike
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7 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:
A lot of fans were so alienated by such changes that they left. The fans who remain have many complaints about the deafening blasts from speakers, imbalance of electronic vs. acoustic sounds, obstruction of drill by furniture, performers tripping/slipping on tarps, and all the dead time and delays involved in deploying all this stuff. At one show in Chester, PA, a few years ago, the contest was "abandoned" when stadium officials objected to the props that your corps was about to bring onto the grass.
It'd be hard to make a case that ticket / merch / streaming sales support that. (Though, to be fair to your argument, without a whole lot more data than DCI gives, it's probably unlikely to *disprove* that as well.) From a macro level, it seems like the fanbase is chugging along at a pretty steady clip over the past decade.
Mike
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12 hours ago, Sutasaurus said:
I respectfully disagree. The pageantry arts suppliers are directly influencing the newest trends within the drum corps activity. Corporate sponsorships seem to have a greater sway on the activity than individual contributions. Unfortunately it’s big business sponsorships pushing the activity forward because that’s where the current dollars are coming from. Time for the activity, aka the corps, to seek out grass roots money to keep the activity afloat. That would better represent the current, seat buying fan base. Have the corps given up on fundraising within their organizations to the siren song of sponsorship? Not to say one is better than the other but a blend of both would be a good way to balance forward motion on a mutually exclusive basis.
Respectfully, not *that* many corps get corporate sponsorship dollars from within music, especially once you get down the ranks. Where top corps get freebies, lower corps merely get discounts, and sometimes not even great ones at that.
Mike
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Unrelated, but Varsity just lost round 1 of it's class action antitrust lawsuit against the cheerleading division in Tennessee. The judge agreed that 90% market share does in fact qualify as a monopoly, and the suit can move forward. Not sure if it will impact marching band operations, as currently it's a massively crowded marketplace, but it might impact how they structure their events down the road.
Mike
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21 hours ago, Hrothgar15 said:
The thing about themed uniforms is that it presupposes the theme of your show is so effective and well-conceived that that’s what the uniforms should be celebrating, rather than celebrating the corps itself. All before a single note is played or step is taken.
There are other reasons. sometimes it's simply to set the color palette being used. Sometimes it's for ease of movement. Sometimes it's just to make the MM's feel and look cool.
Mike
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On 9/4/2021 at 8:08 AM, Weaklefthand4ever said:
I can agree with quite a bit of this. I always find myself gravitating back to the guard really selling the "story" and the rest of the corps supporting that story with with music.
Springboarding off of this, I think what has changed is that kids in DCI are so better trained, musically and athletically these days, that it's really become "sure you can march and play, but what *else* can you do?" Brass and drums have to sell the story on the move now as well, not just guard.
Mike
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On 9/5/2021 at 7:25 PM, Liahona said:
I agree with you.
I will argue that Carolina Crown in 2013 and subsequent years forward of them changing costumes on a yearly basis has started this "costume" trend in which other corps have since followed...the idea of traditional uniforms for the most part with the advent of costumes is becoming a thing of the past albeit with a few exceptions...
To Crown fans I am NOT blaming Crown...just observing the trend and what happened IMO...
Not trying to nitpick, but Phantom changed uniforms constantly from 1988 on. And Vanguard did it off and on for decades. Waiting for the new Regiment look was one of the fun parts of only being able to see the PBS broadcast every year.
Mike
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Overall, now that my time in DCI is done, the risk management involved makes my brain twitch. With my OC group, we had a handful of severe injuries. My kiddo had two of them.
Our corps' one actual omg life-dangerous injury was due to... a guard member getting hit in the head by a rifle toss during spring training. Quick reaction by the mayor of the town (certified EMT) there to watch practice got her an airlift and saved her from worse.
I have feelings now when I see guards throw things. 😪
Mike
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I polled my kids last week regarding this question - my oldest (recent FMM and DCI drum major) said that they'd have been thrilled to march without scores, as their entire corps developed a mental complex about them during the summer. They said the corps likely would have been able to exhale and perform looser, and probably better.
My youngest (offered spot with WC DCI but turned down due to focusing on athletics) said they didn't care one whit about how the corps would score, that the chance to play with other elite musicians and put on electric shows was the draw.
Anecdotal evidence, sure, but it's all I got...
Mike
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29 minutes ago, kdaddy said:
"For members, undertaking rewrites of music, drill, etc. would be more accepted and palatable if everyone knew it was to make the show more engaging and not the possibility it was just in the name of a 'higher score'."
I'm pretty surprised by this, to be honest. Were it me, I'd probably say "if we're not competing, then what's the point of rewrites?"
There are other issues - smaller in the grand scheme, but still worth thinking about - that have built up around the idea of competition. Who gets what performance fees? Aren't they usually a function of placement? And also endorsements - if there's no "champion" or "top 6" or "top X," would endorsements work the same way?
Much like regular bands, the biggest sponsorships would go to the acts with the largest audience followings. ... Actually, I kind of like the idea of corps competing with each other to develop larger fanbases...
Mike
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1 hour ago, George Dixon said:
ego + stupid
I got the reasoning that was stated at the time, and it did create a fair amount of buzz when they first came out (worst kept secret on tour that season), but... in practice and retrospect it totally killed the "look" of the show. That said, my God, I still have trouble figuring out what happened to the scores late season (and I reserve some blame for the judges, as Cadets were absolutely murdering all comers in performance captions).
Mike
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I'd be fine with no scores. The idea that the kids need motivation to help them clean the show is pretty far from what I've ever seen of them. It would definitely take some of the pressure off the season, and at the org level we're already now trying to detach performance score from "world class quality" a bit. Individual shows could also get a little bit of flexibility as to scheduling their "headline" acts; well, more than they do now.
Mike
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Great sized corps, uniforms look fantastic. Interestingly retro show - way more conservative of a design than I thought it would be. Guitar player in the pit is a brilliant idea though, and he's very good too. Drumline never really made it to the front of the field - this is DCI, not UIL grrrrr. Seriously though, they're gonna be fine, and this is a great chance to get a young corps some poppin' crowd response and a ton of experience headed back into competition in '22.
Thumbs up.
Mike
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On 7/24/2021 at 1:33 PM, tommyg51 said:
DCI has become nothing but a summer band camp. Even the championship is in Indy every year home of BOA. I haven't been to a DCI show since Madison tried to their old tunes from the glory years. It was a disaster.
Oh good grief.
Mike
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Holy cow did they push the tempo in the closer. Yikes.
Overall, I love it! The brass book is very faithful to the original - I hope they embellish a little bit as they get ready to tour. New drum book is fine, though I wish they'd kept the one bar of rim shots right before the big reprise. I'm a huge fan for the 2003 show, and this made my day brighter.
Mike
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2 hours ago, hostrauser said:
I was introduced to drum corps in the early 90s, and I still love the way the music books were arranged in that decade. But man, I go back and listen to the CDs from that decade and all of the horn lines, even the best of the best, sound AWFUL.
I'm a DCI child of the 90's, and I have to agree. Yikes those recordings do not hold up so well. Some of it, of course, is recording technology, some of it's the instruments. I have to say, once DCI moved into LOS, the recordings had a massive jump in quality and have been outstanding since.
But yeah - I agree with pretty much everything you said there. 🙂
Mike
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20 hours ago, keystone3ply said:
Weed, the"Devil's Lettuce", Quaaludes, Acid, "Angels in the Sky", "Mello Yellow"?
Back on topic @:40, here's a 6k lb. prop that uses a generator equipped with industrial hydraulics:
Purely as a fan, that thing was bada$$ - that whole show was awesome. I'd put that squarely in the category of "good use of props."
Mike
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2 hours ago, cixelsyd said:
I could, if not for this 500 internal server error I keep getting. Trying again in pieces...
Both DCI and DCA run based on the model of haves and have-nots. Some of their corps are "members". They get access to all the shows they want/need, with enhanced pay (membership has its benefits). Meanwhile, there are other corps who are not members (that includes "associate members" and other such euphemisms) who get less access to shows and less pay.
These circuits were created for the purpose of establishing/maintaining a sustainable operating model for competing drum corps. Why, then, do we have these seemingly permanent underclasses? It is not fair, equitable, or even IMO ethical. Well, thanks to several other contributors to this thread, I can explain why (see next post).
Having worked for a Have Not, I have to say DCI's always been pretty accommodating with scheduling. We told them how many shows we wanted to do and which direction we wanted to travel, and they usually were able to make it work, for the most part.
Mike
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-Sounds like Madison? Check.
-Looks like Madison? Check.
I'm in.
Mike
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I've told this story before, but will happily revisit it. 2000 was the only San Antonio show I ever attended from the upper deck. On the bright side, you could see the drill very clearly, but the music wasn't as face-peeling. Anyways, Cadets win, and set up for their encore, which in this case consisted of ... just the drum breaks/closer. As soon as it became clear what they were doing, there was a massive rush from the crowd up top down to the railing so everyone could get a better view of the battery. I've never seen that before or since.
And, apologies to Cavaliers, I have no idea how there was a tie. Cadets were by far superior across the board that year. (Cavs more than made up for it later though.)
Mike
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29 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:
Doesn’t stop us from nominating her
They won't take outside nominations. I know this because I completed a nomination package, with DCP users' help, for Steve Vickers, and had it rejected out of hand. Funny enough, he got nominated by "approved" internal channels and elected within a couple of years after.
Mike
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Schedule wise, OC gets the best of both worlds. The OC championship venue is *really* nice, and much smaller, so it doesn't feel like peas rattling around in a pod. (2k fans in a 4k home stand has a much bigger feel than 2k in a 25k home venue.) Two shows there, then to Indy anyways for Prelims - that's either a two-show or three-show guarantee that week, depending on if you make OC finals. For the top 3-4 each year, they generally advance to Semis as well, so that's 4 shows that week - honestly, more than the WC corps get.
There are lots of complaints that OC groups could raise if they felt strongly enough, but I'm not sure this is a powerful one.
Mike
DCI WORLD CLASS EXPANDS TO 165 MEMBERS for the 2022 TOUR
in DCI World Class Corps Discussions
Posted
Speaking from the administrative standpoint of a corps that relied chiefly on member dues, the costs of extra members are far offset by the fees received.
Mike