The Retractable Roof at Lucas Oil

[boilerman_05]

Average temps in Indy for finals days.

Day Sunrise Sunset Avg.High Avg.Low Mean RecordHigh RecordLow

6 6:49 AM 8:52 PM 85°F 65°F 75°F 99°F (1918) 50°F (1994)

7 6:49 AM 8:51 PM 85°F 65°F 75°F 98°F (1930) 49°F (1989)

8 6:50 AM 8:50 PM 85°F 65°F 75°F 98°F (1941) 48°F (1989)

Edited July 29, 2009 by boilerman_05

[boilerman_05]

Current forecast for Thurs: High 77, Low 66, 40% chance of T-storms

Current forecast for Fri: High 76, Low 59, 10% chance of percip

You can expect humidity between 60% and 90%

[byline]

Last year's weather in Bloomington was a blessing. The humidity was way down, the temperatures delightfully comfortable. But that's an anomaly and not something I would expect of Indiana at this time of year. Expect muggy, sweltering conditions typical of the armpit of America. If it's sunny, mild and dry like last year, all who attend championship week should consider themselves extremely lucky!

[mingusmonk]

OK folks. I was going to rehash some stuff based on my BOA experience. I just decided to copy and paste my old post.

Well, I guess they call them opinions for a reason. I came out of Saturday with a little different interpretation than others. I have seen marching band and drum corps indoor. But it has only ever been @ the RCA dome. That's the only thing I have to compare it against. I also marched marching band @ the RCA dome, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and when it was still called the Hoosier Dome. I have been withholding any judgment until I would get a chance to see and hear Lucas Oil Stadium for myself.

First, in full disclosure, I absolutely hated the RCA Dome. I have been to only 2 DCI shows in there and I couldn't take it anymore. One time I was dead center, 50 rows up. That was the best it got, and it still sounded sub-par. It was bad to perform in it, it was bad to sit in the audience, it was bad to record. It was bad, OK?

The following opinion is based on Saturday night only. Club Level seating @ the 45 yard line. That's 400 level, folding cushion chairs, extra leg room, restricted access, club-style exterior with fancy lounge,etc. I have no idea where these would fall into DCI's current packages. I'd guess likely Super Premium package seats, or maybe Friends of DCI exclusivity? I don't know. Anyhow, that's where this perspective is coming from. I found out when uploading pix that my 13-year-old reduced my phone's resolution. Sorry, but had I known, he would have been spared having his fingernails slowly pulled out by needle-nose pliers and I would have corrected the setting. What can you do?

Now, the crowd:

When I was hunting down my dear departed friend's brick ( ), I was surrounded my throngs of people.

The gate was scheduled to open @ 6:45. By 6:30. the entire East Gate concourse was packed with people willing to tolerate extremely cold winds.

I said to myself, "Self, these people do know that seating is reserved, right? No need to crowd the gate is there?" But wind-burn be ######, when the gates opened, they crowded in and bottle-necked the entrance like champs. So I was figuring the stands were going to be packed. Not exactly, it turns out, most of those folks were competing bands and their army of boosters and support staff that did not make finals. They all had seats, most of them out the outskirts or nosebleeds. Here is a shot of 100/200 level directly beneath me. This was during a band about to start, not during a break. Even with the mini-pic, you can see all of the empty blue seats.

In my area, which was the "Club Experience", there was all kinds of elbow room. Especially after the refreshments ran out.

Let's move on to the layout. Left to Right.

So there you go. Huge tarp over the left end zone stands. Even huger tarp over the backfield stands. Nothing on the right. Obviously the roof and windows were closed. What, were you born in barn!?!

Now the sounds:

Lucas Oil Stadium is a huge HUGE improvement over the RCA dome. The oil can softens the wind sounds just a tad (or maybe that's just my ears preferring all brass). The pit, snares and tenor drums all sound good when tuned properly and especially when not overplayed (looking at you, green team from a southern state). I could tell clean and dirty from my seats. The only thing that still has a catch is bass drums. Little-to-no definition. Really the only sustained echos were coming from unison basses. Not sure what else they can do about this. Some of these schools have played LOS a few times now, and I know they have the staff that could find the right tuning, if at all possible. I feel confident that opening the roof and windows would change things around even more. But I'm not sure of the odds of them being open for DCI. It's a point that is (and will be) awfully hard to pin down.

Quick wrap up. I'd give DCI finals a shot in here. I'm in for '09 and we'll see from there.

[byline]

I have a question:

When was the last time there was a problem with rain conditions at finals? I remember in 2003 there were thunderstorms and lightning delays, and in Foxboro there was a heat delay, but no rain delay comes to mind. Why was that such a big factor for DCI to decide to use this 'semi indoor' facility?

I think DCI has miraculously dodged a bullet on this one. It really is hard to believe that, since 1972, weather conditions have never conspired to completely shut down finals. It seems inevitable that sometime, somewhere, rain was going to be an issue. IMO, it was not a matter of if, but when.

Also, with finals being in one location over such a long period of time, it may be that they've also taken into consideration the average weather conditions for early August in Indy and decided that it's well worth it to make this provision.

[a marching trumpet]

Last year's weather in Bloomington was a blessing. The humidity was way down, the temperatures delightfully comfortable. But that's an anomaly and not something I would expect of Indiana at this time of year. Expect muggy, sweltering conditions typical of the armpit of America. If it's sunny, mild and dry like last year, all who attend championship week should consider themselves extremely lucky!

Haha try it down here in Tennessee my friend

[BozzlyB]

I think DCI has miraculously dodged a bullet on this one. It really is hard to believe that, since 1972, weather conditions have never conspired to completely shut down finals. It seems inevitable that sometime, somewhere, rain was going to be an issue. IMO, it was not a matter of if, but when.

Also, with finals being in one location over such a long period of time, it may be that they've also taken into consideration the average weather conditions for early August in Indy and decided that it's well worth it to make this provision.

Anyone who marched Madison in 93 can tell you the benifit of a closed roof stadium. Those boys played (and played well) in a monsoon downpour.

[Darkosto]

The roof will remain closed the entire time to keep similar conditions for all corps. If one corps does better than another because during their run the roof was open, therefor they have less reverb to worry about, then it wouldn't be too fair. To try and combat some of the reverb a black cloth is being hung at the back of the field.

[ThatsNotMyName]

I think that there is going to be a lot of wailing and moaning once we actually hear how bad the sound it is going to be. If it is anything close to Atlanta of San Antonio, then you might as well wear ear plugs and enjoy the "visuals".

Well at least we will still have Murfreesboro and Allentown to enjoy real drum corps. If it is really bad, which I believe that it will be, I hope they use the APDs from Allentown for the official CDs. If not, there will be no sense in buying them.

I truly hope that I am wrong, but if the BOA championship show is any indication (my wife attended), it is not going to be very good for those of us who enjoy hearing drum corps.

I also attended. It sounds much better in there compared to San Antonio and Atlanta. From what I understand, DCI and BOA partnered with the construction team to provide "acoustical feedback" when designing the dome.

[BariEuph]

I have a question:

When was the last time there was a problem with rain conditions at finals? I remember in 2003 there were thunderstorms and lightning delays, and in Foxboro there was a heat delay, but no rain delay comes to mind. Why was that such a big factor for DCI to decide to use this 'semi indoor' facility?

2004 denver, at least a 30 minute rain delay. i remember camping out in the concession tunnel and hoarding paper towels to wipe my seat dry.