MikeN

<raises hand> I think Compass is still the only Texas SoundSport? There may be another one now as well. I don't know what an established corps would gain by moving here. The big groups are already entrenched with donors and fundraising in their areas, and at the end of a day it's just your office address. For Guardians, aside from all being Texans, one giant trade off for us being based here was we had a lot of flexibility and connections to find alternate rehearsal spaces. Funny enough, if you're not named Academy or Vanguard or Cavaliers, band directors aren't so interested in booking or honoring reserved space. 😠 (Not that I'm bitter or anything.) Mike

Yup, wouldn't fix anything. Mike

I'd be surprised if they were back by next season as they intend. As someone who's had to do bad news and crisis communication for my corps, it's kind of... weird... that they were all "we're gonna take this year off and come up with a plan" because it implies you don't yet *have* a plan. The timing of the immediate, abrupt shutdown strongly suggests SCV's financial stability was 100% tied to the bingo hall approval they discussed, and that, coupled with the "we'll create a plan" is telling everyone they gambled the corps' future on a roll of the dice without a plan B. Again, this is just the connotation from what they themselves have said. I'm certain there are a million moving parts we don't know about as well. Mike

Take a season off. Mike

While the relative cost for services may make DCI a value, doesn't matter if you can't afford the absolute cost. Mike

There was a Reddit post in December that quoted someone as saying they were now looking at end of January. That's the last I'd heard about it. Mike

Been thinking about this, as I'm sure there's not a group of corps asking for shorter shows. Maybe it's to allow unfinished shows in early season to remain unpenalized? Mike

Can confirm. Mike

Would you please post a link to that? My wife got an Oculus, and I'd like to try it. Mike

Well done, sir. Mike

I've been thinking about this exact model for a while - economies of scale for housing as well. Mike

Yeah, only saves money if you actually use fewer songs. Mike

Very true. Mike

As contractors, it's more of a fee-for-service arrangement. The length of the service usually to be determined in advance. Mike

No - buses actually got bigger. They were filling additional seats on the same number of vehicles. 165 wasn't an arbitrary number. Props, electronics and uniforms are generally not large expenses. Props of course depends on the corps and the show, obviously, but electronic setups aren't more expensive than a lot of other instruments, and the uniforms are not a "huge expense" at all. In fact, many corps simply pass the cost (which is lower than traditional uniforms) on to the members at a net zero for the organization. If you look at the attendance history for DCI over the last 20 years, you'll see that it stabilized, then even rebounded a bit. Finals attendance has been steady, and the regionals have been a massive draw for fans. Overall, DCI's philosophical shift kept the activity alive. What's hurting them now is DCI and the corps' ability to pivot in response to COVID and rapid inflation. Mike

It's going to rebound any day now. Binance is about as well run as drum corps. 😁 Mike

Agreed - new uniforms gave them a striking look on the field, and an ultra-heavy brass presence became their signature to... well... today. Bell-issimo was a very highbrow take on holiday-style music, and it definitely caught everyone's attention! Mike

Brilliant visual design - the first minute is an absolute blast to watch, even on mute. Compared to 1990, it felt like the brass took a massive leap forward in quality, and the book was growing with them. Obviously in 1992 they jumped again. The percussion was still the corps' musical strength, along with their amazing visual programs during those years. Took me 10 years to find a good recording of Die Natali, the piece they took Silent Night from. Especially in pre/early internet days, sourcing out pieces was like living out the movie National Treasure; lots of usenet board posts, emails, visiting random university libraries, light breaking and entering... fun times. Mike

For me, it was a good show if not a great show. I think the corps turned it into a top 3 vehicle through their performance rather than the design. That said, both Moondance and Farandole are all-time-classic earworms; good luck getting *those* out of your head after you hear them! Mike

Negligible, honestly in terms of food, equipment and insurance. Mike

Sentence one of the article = "inappropriate conduct" Sentence two = "multiple charges of sex crimes against a minor" 😦 Mike

Brass are seriously only playing 4-6 minutes as it is now. At least that way it would be *half* the show. 😠 (overall, the brass folks definitely had opinions this cycle...) Mike

I'm with you here, but the only even slightly public data we got was last summer when DCI was advertising 1200 open spots in WC corps even during move ins. I don't know if increased applicants are actually converting into increased membership. Mike

With no basis other than my informed guess, I think the Vanguard salaries are inflated by all of the other operations, possibly including F/T bingo. Mike

I mentioned this earlier, but the member changes have neatly coincided with an expansion of charter bus sizes. Most charter companies use 55-seat coaches now, thus the increase to 165. Going back to 128 just creates empty seats on buses and deprives you of the associated revenue. If you're going to force cuts, it would have to be back to 110. That said, 55 members x $5,000 tuition = $275k, which is way more income lost than the savings of that third bus. My wife was CFO of a DCI corps - her short answer input: gotta cut expenses, sure, but not by cutting revenue. Otherwise you're trying to fill a larger hole with a smaller shovel. Mike