spitvalve

probably. Also... We killed off the regional circuits so we can't retreat to a more, geographically-sane model. Then again, there are so few corps left, it's hard to do things regionally? EDIT: Question. Read the YEA! article on increased food budget. Does this factor in their growth to 150 members yet?

Good news! My theory was seriously flawed! Thank you.

Dunno. Anybody from Rosemont out there follow local news?

The Mayor of Rosemont passed away. He was a HUGE supporter, and because of him, the City of Rosemont has been financing a huge portion of Cavies for a long time. I have no info on what the City is currently doing for Cavies -- if that funding has continued in full. But, typically in government (or any organization), "things change" when there is a change in the guard. A new mayor and council might decide sidewalks are more important than the home-town drum corps (and how many Rosemont natives march in Cavies???) Google search for City of Rosemont Budget or Council Minutes might shed light. Might do tonight.

And annual costs will continue to go up (I saw the bill for one D1's new uniforms two years ago), the gulf between the "haves" and "have nots" will grow ever wider... the unique "identity" of individual corps will continue to errode... But that is The Plan, to some, anyway. We also have to keep Mr. Cesario busy.

My take: 1. Rosemont Mayor passed away (huge advocate and city funded Cavies) 2. New Rosemont Admin taking a cold look at the city budget 3. Free ride/gravy train from city ending/greatly reduced 4. Jeff bails before really big budget issues 5. Jeff off to a corps with more stable finances/fundraising? Just a thought.

"I don't mean to be picking on this section but I can..." etc. So, they played their ENTIRE 2008 show? Plus three other tunes? Not just the 2008 "Opener"? Not just the "first half" or "parts" they know? In March? Tennors doing cool visuals already? In March???? If so, then I'm simply and completely impressed/scared that a corps has already "performed" their entire musical book -- in public. In March??? Your review is what I would expect to hear in June of the Kilties. So I guess that means they have their act together?? How hard is the music? How did the audience react? Lot of brass - how do the sections break down? Do they have a guard yet? Tell us more! Must know more! Anybody else with info/impressions??

Will this be difficult if CapReg does indeed return in 2009? What about going the DCA/DCI all-age route? More small-corps-friendly. Non-touring. Recruit alumni and their kids.

You forget Geography. Out east, you are all closer together. How far do you have to go for the typical show? Not so bad. Out west, or in the Midwest, it is a long haul for, say, Govies to go to Chicago or Racine. Or Corpsvets to Chicago, or whatever. Lots of ground to cover for a weekend-only activity with people that have to work on Friday and Monday. And the DCA-C formation was on the heals of the end of DCM, and some of the nervousness of what/if would be the realtionship between Midwest all-age and DCI. This is all good. DCI shows to do, with fans in the seats, and the all-agers get on DCA sheets to help with their quest for DCA membership status. I find no flaws here. And I have had not-so-nice feelings about DCI in the past. Me thinks DCI figured out some all-age corps with name-recognition and a quality product help sell tickets.

Dude, Dutch Boy did the South Park Movie music this year. It was hard not to sing the lyrics while sitting next to my young daughter. :sshh:

"Best of Bread" Sorry. Had to hit the 8-tracks for that one.

Also... Funny to overhear the REALLY "old timers" out in Rochester complain about all these "kids" (recent age-outs or in their late twenties) that are "taking over" the DCA activity. In line for a brat at the the Alumni Spectacular show (exhibition corps with members that tend to average ages of 50 or 60) I was told that "This is real drum corps" and that the competitive DCA corps are all "kids that are ruining drum corps." Same complaint. Different level and a different circuit. Really though, if you have not seen these top DCA corps, you should. Consider learning curves: every year, DCI corps have to teach -- the PROCESS of learning a show. You get into the DCA game, and, while there are rookies, a large percentage not only have junior corps experience, but perhaps 10-15 years of DCA experience. Guess who "understands the game" of efficient practice? That's how they can pull off what they do as a weekend activity. You march two years of junior corps and you think you know it all -- then you get to DCA and you find yourself marching next to a guy that has two DCI rings and been in DCA finals FOR NINE STRAIGHT YEARS and won three times. Not a "youth activity" -- but a "life activity." Hmmmm.... what impresses me?

So, I played golf in high school and college, but decided to quit when I turned 21, because I didn't want my stellar golf achievements in college to seem anti-climatic. I got a perfect "1" at State Solo & Ensemble my senior year, then quit because it would have seemed anti-climatic. Like golf, tennis, blowling, community band, and looking at pretty girls --- drum corps can be a life-long activity. I hope you don't quit everything you do when you feel you have "peaked" at it. I'm disturbed this activity has taught you this lesson.

The top corps, who started to, and could afford touring nationally in the late 1960s and early 1970s became the founding members of DCI. They established the new model. Until then, we had hundreds of local and regional corps, with no shortage of venues and competitions. Most fairs had a corps and band show connected. A parade and a contest. You had Legion championships, VFW Championships, and a variety of regional circuites and championships. All sort of activity, at all levels -- from town parade corps to the top national corps. Then the top corps, who started to venture out at a more national level ran into one real problem (conflicting rules) and one percieved one (too many "Champion" crowns.) They also were realizing they were getting a raw deal from shows and show promoters (a legit problem.) Watch the Round-table of DCI founder discussions on DCI's "BRASS ROOTS" video... It is stated in the video roundtable that they (the top corps): 1. Were being "abused" by show promotors, and wanted to "control their own destiny." (They would not be satisfied with just a larger piece of the pie; they wanted to OWN the pie.) 2. Advent of touring nationally created conflicts with circuit rule differences. (Legit. All sorts of conflicting rules made cross-circuit participation a headache) So they got together to set up their own circuit and championship with their own rules and pay system, to, of course, benefit the founding corps -- and ever since, the rules and pay structure has been designed and changed to benefit those MEMBER corps. It has been one long, corps-corpse-littered-road of all the other corps that could not keep up with the top 15 or so Joneses. Yes. Society has also changed -- kids are busy with lots of other choices of activities they did not have 30 years ago. But while kids also have more choices, there has also been a mentality increasingly cultivated that it's all about the Finalists. (And I think the Broadcast format and "tour of champions" kind of stuff is narrowing that focus to the top 6) Most of the top corps got into the top while it was still "affordable" to get there and there were still huge numbers of kids in the activity. Now, it is extremely expensive, and the mind-set of most (not all) of the kids today is "I only want to invest my summer in this activity if I have a chance of making Finals in the next year or two." While there are corps that have died because of finances, there are also corps like Lake Erie Regiment that have the money, but just can't recruit any kids. Too many kids don't want to "bother" participating in activity (never mind they would still have a great experience) in which their group will be 26th in the World. The kids that ARE doing it at that level are having a great time and a great experience. They "get it." But most kids now don't. So they don't participate at all. It is just too expensive to start a corps from scratch now with any (realistic) goal of becomming a "Finalist" corps. Capital Regiment will probably go down as the last "new corps" to attain what they have. Rick Bays told me last winter that if it was not for DCM and the support and venue opportunities he got as a III and II corps with that circuit, there is no way they could have made it happen. And while it may be hard enough to "keep up with the Joneses", I suspect they will end up a case study in trying to "CATCH UP with the Joneses."