Kansan

Since Parades actually pay money, I guess that being a parade corps is a way to exist.

My band director introduced us to Drum & Bugle Corps. One of my friends marched Sky Ryders the summer between Junior and Senior year of High School. I liked what I had seen of Drum Corps so far and was envious of my friend traveling the country performing. I saved up money, learned to play Baritone attended the winter camps and stayed home for some stupid reason. I saw the show when they performed in Overland Park, KS and it was horrible. They needed more people and new drill. I called up Dan Jewet and if they needed and Baritone Players and he said come on out. I packed my bags and headed to Hutch for the 2nd tour of the '85 season. Didn't think much about winning the big banana but did feel, with the revised show we had a chance to make top 12. We came in 15th and I watched finals from the stands. I marched '87 with the intention of being in top 12 which I thought was probable due to their '86 9th place finish. Winning wasn't the big deal but top 12 was a big deal to me.

I see Saints Brigade competing in ensembles and winning Drums. Are they going to get into the game next year? I keep hearing Resistance from Arkansas saying they are going to DCA finals and have not seen them on the DCA roster yet.

Part of the reason DCI may be shrinking is the demand of some high school band programs to be at Band Camp and all year school.

I think it takes an understanding that Drum Corps is a money toilet that constantly drains money and never stops. It seems that having a support business like the Bus Company Star of Indiana had really helped sustainablility. Cook or whoever was running Star lost interest in the DCI game. They had a good model. I also think a Corps staying power is dictated by the Board of Directors who often lose interest, faith or whatever and end up folding corps. It takes a great deal of tenacity to keep going year after year. If the person or people running a corps get a weak stomach that will finish a Corps. It's a long term commitment and it's not always going to be a fun time.

Is transportation to finals, every man for himself, or do you travel as a Corps?

Nice to hear some good Drum Corps News. Now if you could bottle some of what you have and send it down to Kansas.

Our membership has jumped from 8 to 15 members since we announced we will be submitting a video to Sound Sport DCI in 2014. If our Drumline keeps growing we will have to do Drumline Battles as well. Our short term goal from sound sport is to get our organization into shape and perform at DCI shows in our region and perform in the All Age Catagory. Our long term goal is to continue Sound Sport, the DCI shows in our area and eventually expand to Drum Corps Associates shows and Finals. Hopefully a Junior Corps either spins off from us or an alumni group in Kansas gets the itch and restarts their Junior Corps.

I haven't really liked anything Star related since they started in '85. I guess I did like the bus ride they gave us in '87 and the overnight stay at their HQ after the bus ride. But I thought Star United was better than Ghost Riders. Just my observation doesn't mean I didn't like that Ghost Riders got 1st place.

I was trying to find out why Empire Statesmen are disbanding and couldn't find the thread or anything on their website. Wish they wouldn't.

While watching Semis on the Fan Network I was counting numbers in each corps and noting how many horns on the field and the Goveniares played real big and IMHO out played a lot of the larger lines. Their Sopranos were really on fire. I was also wondering if they keep their Hornline around 15 or so purposely? Does anyone know? They were one of my favorite corps this year.

Wow, that move ###### off a lot of customers. I hope they DCI is believed next year. That may not matter for me if I get to be there in person.

Madison, Wisconsin? They don't have any Drum Corps History up there. I still have trouble calling the Northern States Mid-West but Whatever. I always considered Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma the Midwest.

I was wandering if it was a demand issue.

I don't know what the difference was but I had a lot more enjoyable time watching DCA on the net this year than DCI. The picture for the DCA event was crystal clear with near zero jumping skipping or other glitches. Viewing DCI was a really a pain in the put with having to refresh and shut down to start over half a dozen times with lots of pixelating, looping and picture freezing. DCA hit a home run this year as far as I'm concerned. The only thing I would like to have seen was a few audience shots. Especially when Empire was on the field.

Just got done watching the Alumni Spectacular. That was pretty cool. Nice to see all the Old timers out there. Many Soprano Players still had their chops, nice to see.

I don't ever expect DCA to move. Yes we plan to "grow our own backyard". If we can get a couple more going in Kansas and Oklahoma we will have our own circuit in the Middle of the Country.

I bought the $30 dollar option and I'm really liking the quality of the picture. Watching the Rocketeers now.

I've been to 2 Open Class shows, one in Salina, KS in 2004 and one in Omaha, NE a couple years ago maybe 2010. Both shows were well attended by members of those communities. Both shows were entertaining and I was suprised at the talent level as the night progressed each at both shows. I checked into sponsoring a show in our area and DCI quoted us $7,000 dollars in installments leading up to the show and with the last payment due at the show. The only problem I had with the idea was for a $7,000 dollar purchase I was expecting an advisor or 2 be assigned to us in order to help make sure we ran the show correctly. It just seems wrong to have to shell out all that money up front and not get any support from DCI in return. I can't imagine a Band teacher trying to get a School District to shell out $7K for an Open or 15K for a World show that usually just breaks even after all expenses are paid. If I were to sponsor a show I would probably start with an Open class show and make sure I had a team of at least 10 dedicated people to help run the thing along with an American Legion Post, VFW Post and a couple dozen kids from the local High School Band. If advertised enough and with the support of a good team, it is possible to get a good crowd out to see an Open Class Corps show.

That Gate Turn was the best part of their show for me. Real Impressive.

Yes, we have to have all that for DCA as well the difference would be we wouldn't have to travel 18+ hours by road or pay airfare to get to a show to play for 15 minutes. The two show Minnesota weekend is the Closest DCA event which has been tempting but ever so little out of our reach so far. So far we have not been asked to produce proof of insurance (sure that will change soon) or music licensing (been playing public domain pieces thus far). They were going to let us play an entire show this year at our Local DCI show. If we had a show ready we would have but as it was we only rehearsed "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Grand Old Flag".

The benefits of participating in Sound Sport DCI are internet exposure, free advertising, an online performance venue and being associated with DCI. After announcing our participation in Sound Sport 2014, our membership has increased from 8 members to 20. The last 2 joined after seeing our name on DCIs Facebook page last week. We also have a viable chance to accomplish constructing a video presentation and submitting it to Sound Sport DCI for evaluation and posting on the internet. I was skeptical at 1st but after seeing the way Drum Battles and the two corps Star United and Jersey Surf sample shows I'm even more excited about Sound Sport DCI. As far as charging Sound Sport Participants for seats at shows? Our local show will let us in for free to play the National Anthem and watch the show but if we want good seats we pay for them and it's not a big deal. I buy a ticket for myself and I'm usually manning our recruiting table. I buy a ticket because I like to support the local show and the Colts Drum & Bugle Corps.

We have played the opening ceremony at Brass Impact in Olathe, KS for the past two years and our members have bought tickets to ensure they had seats to watch the show because we were fans before we marched and still fans after we perform plus we support our local show and want it to keep coming back.

What is DCA doing right. From what I can tell DCA is trying to facilitate a finals venue for Drum Corps of the East Coast and Great Lakes area of the Country. DCA is the mecca of the Senior/All Age Drum Corps movement. They also try to operate in the black which has got to be a challenge. DCA also sets the standards for the entry of new corps into the DCA Circuit. The addition of Internet access via the fan network is a good move on the part of DCA. I hope it generates a profit. I wish they could franchise DCA to other parts of the country and have Regional Finals in other locations.