dustyboo

Hi. Have a bunch of old programs, DCI came Dara, a few plastic corps cups, even a sash from the DCM all stars. Looking to unload fairly cheap. Also lots of buttons.

Have close to 100 old shirts from primarily the 80’s and 90’s. Anywhere from kids to adult. Some in great shape and some in bad shape. Can email a list and photos. Looking to get rid of cheap. Email is sabj53590@hotmail. Com

I have almost every Drum Corps World from either 1981 or 1982 until it went digital. Moving and can't haul them along. Always fun to read the scores and see all the old pictures. Would be willing to accept an offer. I live near Madison so it would probably need to be someone close as they are very heavy and would cost a lot to ship. Send me an email. Sabj53590@hotmail.com

While I would love to see a NE corps here in the midwest I find this whole discussion a little funny. For several years now in the DCI forums we have heard about how getting rid of the circuits and forcing the corps to travel more is killing the DCI corps. Yet, that seems to be what is being propposed for the DCA corps here. How about we build the regional circuits and worry about touring cross country later? Frankly I find it more exciting to not know exactly how the placements will fall prior to championships.

While I'm all for growing DCA in other parts of the country, having a few DCA corps at a DCI regional is essentially how it used to be when DCM was around. At times there were three and I think even four DCA corps that competed in prelims at DCM. I know in addition to the three current midwest DCA corps we had Chicago Vanguard for awhile and a corps out of Kentucky (Bluegrass Brass??) for a few years. Even with all that exposure it really didn't and still hasn't grown the DCA activity in the midwest all that much. I think part of the issue and I know I will get dinged for this but I do think it is a factor is that the DCA corps don't get really good until late August. It is almost a disservice for DCA to be exposed to the DCI crowd too early in the season as they just don't realize how good these corps really do get by Labor Day. But, because the shows are getting harder and there are only so many weekends to practice it takes them longer to perfect their shows. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but when I was marching in DCI in the 80's and as a spectator after that, we enjoyed the "senior corps" for their entertainment value but didn't really think they were that good. Since I started following DCA 5 years ago, and I mentioned this in my Racine review, I'm still amazed at how good they get and how much they improve in the last few weeks of the season. I took some friends of mine that I met through DCI to Annapolis this year and they were all amazed at how good these corps are. Some had seen some of the midwest DCA corps before at a DCI show so they were a little familiar with the DCA side of things but they were amazed at what they were putting on the field by championships. Now, if you could get a regional close to the end of August that would be awesome but then you have the issues of days off work a week or two before everyone starts needing time off to head to championships.

So who are the four? We know Star United and Ghost Riders but I still haven't seen an actual line up.

So...how about all those great performances last weekend in Scranton!! Saw it on the Fan Network and can't wait to get to Annapolis.

So, I haven't seen a list of mini-corps yet this year. Anyone know who will be there?

I was at Racine on the 3rd. I didn't plan on doing a review so I didn't take any notes. With that being said, I have been to the Racine show since 2009 when I first started following DCA. I was amazed that year how much improved the corps were from the first week of August to Labor Day weekend. This year all four of the competing corps IMO were much farther along that I have seen since 2009. Cincinnati Tradition has a little different show than the past couple of years but it is very enjoyable and they certainly are building on what they have done over the past couple of year. The Governaires were highly entertaining as always and even seem slightly larger this year. I was very pleased with what I saw from the Kilties. For lack of a better word, I'll call the show this year safe, meaning they aren't trying to overdue field coverage, etc with the numbers they have. The music is all recognizable and it is just a fun show that should very well be in the mix for a finalist spot. As far as Minn Brass all I can say is WOW. I can't imagine how good the Bucs must be to have beaten them the week before. As many people know I'm not always of fan of the Brass but this year they have me hooked. I didn't want this show to end, it has everything. It is fast paced from start to finish, the brass gets LOUD, the uniform change is fun and I can't wait to see this show again at DCA. Something tells me this is going to be the most exciting DCA since I attended my first in 2009.

Or who says they will even judge most of the shows. They could do something like have an audience vote and then have real judges only judge one or two shows a month and then a final "championship" show at the end.

I pretty much agree that they can do a tour of thier own. We live in a big country. I don't see why they can't all start at one end in June and work their way accross it ending in August. You could easily do 3-4 shows on the west coast, a couple in the mountain states, 2-3 in Texas alone, another 2-3 in the midwest, several between Ohio and the south (including Florida) and then at least 4-5 from Virginia up the east coast. Most of those would easily be hundreds of miles apart and draw a new audience at every performance. They could probably pull off one or two in Canada if they wanted to deal with the border issues. Plus, throw in clinics and other items and to me it seems very reasonable they could survive on their own.

While I agree with your statements (and I might even watch prelims online rather than go to Rochester again), it is sad for that activity since I believe the majority of the marching members are on the field because they get a thrill out of performing to a live audience. Hard to keep your corps membership up when you are playing to a crowd of 2000 on finals night even though there might be thousands more watching at home. It just isn't the same from the performers perspective.

The announcement said they received many bids. I would be interested to know what other cities put in a bid.

I think the show in Dekalb this year will be the one to watch and the G7 are probably using that as a gage at how well these shows may be attended in the future. For the past couple of years the TOC show in Rockford seems to have been a sucess. However, I would guess the majority of the people that went to that show were the local Rockford people that went to the 'Show of Shows'every year and didn't have any idea it was anything different than their annual corps show. Now with the MiM show not in Rockford, I think you will see the 'Show of Shows' crowd about the same as it has always been and possibly a large decrease in the number of people that go to Dekalb compared to Rockford.

What if it wasn't live? A re-brodcast say the Thursday night after finals, or a different slow movie day later in the fall? This would give the people that attended the live event a chance to watch it. I know even though I was there I would go to see it again. It would allow the performers a chance see it and it would be a great opportunity for both of those groups mentioned above to invite their friends along to go watch it with them and give DCA some more exposure.

You can't compare a soccer crowd watching a soccer game in a soccer stadium with a drum corps crowd in a soccer stadium. There are many more good seats to watch soccer in that venue than there are to watch drum corps.

Um...perchance you should read closer. I wasn't only talking about TBT. I was also talking about the 4-5 mini corps who pulled out in the last few weeks. What did the flooding have to do with them? As far as I know the corps from Orlando is still going to make it. It sounds like it is more of a school issue now rather than weather. Florida is a big state with most of the heavy damage not in the Tampa area. Sure, they may have some kids from other parts of the state but it is highly unlikely (especially if they are as young of a corps as they are) that many of the school age kids are very far from the Tampa area. I'm sure the storm did affect the corps, however I would bet that the storm also gave some of those parents an excuse to keep their kids from not going or missing school when they really weren't for the idea in the first place or even realized DCA would result in them missing school. And the fact that HS kids have marched DCA for years means nothing. Where I live school typically doesn't start until after Labor Day so it isn't an issue. You can't make a blanket statement and expect it to cover the entire activity.

So, This won't be a popular subject and I'm sure it will come accross more harsh in a post than I mean it to be but here goes. With the news about TBT not attending championshiops (for whatever reasons) it makes me wonder what the future of the DCA championship weekend will be in a few years. It sounds like the age of their corps is a problem for DCA. No matter what those kids will miss school if they plan on attending championships, no matter what the year or weather. I just wonder how DCA can expect us, the paying fans to keep forking out good money for tickets in advance when we really don't know how many corps will show up, even a week before the event. How many mini-corps did it look like were going to attend just a few weeks ago and now it is down to 7. Frankly I'm worried about buying tickets too far in advance becuase it might not be enough corps to justify the travel and expense, it might be worth it to just sit home and watch it online. Now, again, I fully support a corps decision and DCA and will keep supporting it as long as I can as I think it is a great weekend. Just a little rant and again it probably comes off more harsh than I want it to be.

Thank you that does help. I also wasn't aware of the shuttles, that sounds like a great idea.

With the larger alumni show this year. How much time do you think we will have between that show and finals? Close places to the stadium to grab a good sit down meal or only time for fast food?

But wait, electronics are going to save DCI! That is what we were told a few years ago. There will be more kids and fans than DCI will know what to do with. How about corps go back to being corps as the first step. I know a lot of people and money that has left the activity in the last 4-5 seasons due to the electronic issue.

The amount of revenue you state you would need would not nearly be enough to run the organization. If this is going to be a "real" company then you would have to factor in all the other costs associated with doing business. This would no longer be a non profit organization. You would have to deal with Social Security taxes, health care (not to get too political but there are new rules about offering health care if the law is upheld, unemployment insurance, business taxes among other things. You would have to either have your own HR dept, Payroll or pay another service to manage all of that. Again, not to get too technical but you would have professional musicians and they would be part of the musicians union and demand certain things. Also, if you are going for the wow factor in order to get the audience you say you can, you aren't going to do it with 50 members. You are going to need to have at least 70 horns tearing your face off for people to pay to see your professional corps. No slam against small corps, I love them all but to be a "pro" organization you aren't going to wow the masses with 20 horns on the field.

I still don't understand why I'm told I need to support something I no longer want to support because I don't believe in the direction the activity has gone, just becuase of the kids. Hey you, spend $150 to see DCI finals, even though you won't enjoy it because the kids need your support. I can find (and have found) plenty of other places over the past three years to spend my time and money and have enjoyed every minute of it!

Don't forget the thousands and thousands of people that would suddenly become DCA fans because amps are now legal. I know DCI can't count their extra revenue fast enough...