Tuba1919 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Haven't heard anything about the music from those stopping by camp in a while, how are the arrangements sounding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cop Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) Haven't heard anything about the music from those stopping by camp in a while, how are the arrangements sounding? Word is.. doing just fine. If you go to a camp, you are also told DO NOT record the show and do not talk about what you heard.. CAMP WEEKEND BYBO Edited March 25, 2011 by Cop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gesiferd Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I'll reply as I did in another thread: Yes, the Scouts are hosting it. No, we are not going to be there. We were committed to be on the East coast tour long before this opportunity became available. But we wanted to jump on the opportunity to re-establish a show in Whitewater. It's a great lineup and a great venue. I hope drum corps fans will join us on June 30th for this inaugural event. Fans of drum corps need to recognize that, where possible, you need to attend shows. Attendance at shows is the primary revenue stream that keeps the whole activity moving forward. The mix of revenue streams into corps vary greatly across all the corps, but the one constant for the collective activity is event revenue. The activity needs a stage to perform and we need people that are gracious to attend, and pay, for viewing our shows. Here are the basic economics of tour events. When you opt to sponsor an event you are required to pay an event fee to DCI. Essentially, this amount then goes directly to the performing corps for their appearance at the show. This is the bulk of the cost in running a show. On top of that expense is the cost to rent the facility, turn on the lights, provide event support, and local police. There is the cost to house each of the corps 1 to 2 nights at local area schools. Sometimes this can run up to $2K per corps per night. If you are an event promoter you sweat bullets until you sell enough tickets to break even. Sometimes that doesn't happen and an event promoter can lose money hosting a show. Given that most event promoters are either drum corps or non-profit charities....that is not a good thing. You try to cushion the net profit with business sponsorships and other ancillary activities around your event. As an event sponsor, I urge you to buy your tickets in advance...it takes a lot of risk out the equation not having to depend on a large walk-up crowd. There has been great merit to all the various debates about the state of the activity and the how and why. As someone managing one of the "acts", I can tell you that DCI and the corps are very concerned about what it takes to bring audiences to our events. We may not always agree on the method, but in the end we are trying to solve the same problem. I think that when we objectively look at the activity over the past 24 months, there have been some shifts to develop and deliver a more entertaining and engaging product on the field. As we see the various corps show announcements for 2011, I sense we may be in store for an incredible season from the collective activity. But we need people to attend events. If you went to one show last year, go to two this year. Bring one or two new people with you to a show. Everybody should see at least one opera in their lives...they should at least see one drum corps show as well. If you haven't attended Finals in awhile, make it a priority. If you dislike the closed stadium, come with others who dislike it as well and grouse about it over a beer. Just be sure to be there. Show up on Thursday to see how some of the Open Class corps do on the big stage. Attend the endless parade of corps on Saturday morning through downtown Indy. Celebrate the activity! I hear people commiserate about the state of modern music today. I hear people's concern about all the cutbacks occurring in music education programs throughout the country. I can tell you that the drum corps activity is an incredible music education opportunity top to bottom. This is an activity that is teaching the next generation of educators. The activity is providing an incredibly unique opportunity for young people to perform, on a large stage, in front of thousands of people who applaud their efforts. They are getting opportunities to learn and perfect an amazing wide array of music in an incredibly group-intensive setting. Pull the $20, $30 or $50 out of your pocket and support this activity by attending a show. When the Scouts took on the Whitewater show we knew that it came with risk. But we also recognize how important it is to provide the stage and provide the audience to the membership of the drum corps activity (regardless of whether the Scouts are in it or not). We've been doing this with a local band show the past couple of years in Whitewater and it's now time to bring drum corps back to this great community. If you live in the Midwest, there are groups that are working hard to make sure you have shows to attend and corps to support. Whether it's Scouts' Drums on Parade, The Whitewater Classic; or the Phantom's new show in Paddock Lake, WI or the Rockford TOC event; or the Blue Stars shows in La Crosse or Metamora; or the Cavaliers shows in Lisle & Michigan City; or the great show and community celebration in Cedarburg....go to a show...go to multiple shows...support this activity. So that's my stream of thoughts on this subject. Now to focus on preparing for our upcoming camp this weekend. Thanks! Chris Komnick Executive Director Madison Scouts Chris: Thanks much, for the more-than-expected reply to my semi-snarky drive-by comment. I wasn't being critical of the show, just longing for the old days of DCI Midwest and all the great Madison corps I saw there... But, since you provided so much background detail on what goes into the show, I'll share a bit of background on why I don't go to as many shows as I used to, back in the day. Like the state of the activity in which drum corps find themselves, many of the factors that fans deal with are beyond their control. I used to hear the Scouts practicing up the road at LaFollette HS before and during the season, attend their Open House and preview performance, all of which built anticipation for the performing season. There seemed to be a lot more opportunities to catch a local show, back then; now I look at the upcoming tour schedules and hope to find one or two that I can make, anywhere in the Midwest. Compared to the huge budget that a major drum corps operates under, these days, $20 or $30 dollars for a show may not seem like much. But for a family, that could end up being $200+, plus expensive gas to go longer distances to a good show, plus food and possibly lodging. That's a significant investment for each show. There's obviously a lot of competition for your entertainment dollars, these days. The state of music education in our schools is of course a great concern and I'm glad to do what I can to encourage young musicians, but it comes down to an economic decision. As for the shows, if they're too close together in time and too similar in lineup, as I consider Drums On and Whitewater to be, then I have to choose one. And the one with the Scouts wins. I won't get into the debate about the content of shows, either, but that's been a real concern in recent years and I too hope that things are looking up in that regard. Anyway, thanks again for your response and GO SCOUTS!! Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcmello09 Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Word is.. doing just fine. If you go to a camp, you are also told DO NOT record the show and do not talk about what you heard.. CAMP WEEKEND BYBO first rule about fight club, dont talk about fight club 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirdcoast Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 (edited) Word is.. doing just fine. If you go to a camp, you are also told DO NOT record the show and do not talk about what you heard.. CAMP WEEKEND BYBO Cop, you are such a homer. Edited March 31, 2011 by thirdcoast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirdcoast Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 (edited) I'll reply as I did in another thread: Yes, the Scouts are hosting it. No, we are not going to be there. We were committed to be on the East coast tour long before this opportunity became available. But we wanted to jump on the opportunity to re-establish a show in Whitewater. It's a great lineup and a great venue. I hope drum corps fans will join us on June 30th for this inaugural event. Fans of drum corps need to recognize that, where possible, you need to attend shows. Attendance at shows is the primary revenue stream that keeps the whole activity moving forward. The mix of revenue streams into corps vary greatly across all the corps, but the one constant for the collective activity is event revenue. The activity needs a stage to perform and we need people that are gracious to attend, and pay, for viewing our shows. Here are the basic economics of tour events. When you opt to sponsor an event you are required to pay an event fee to DCI. Essentially, this amount then goes directly to the performing corps for their appearance at the show. This is the bulk of the cost in running a show. On top of that expense is the cost to rent the facility, turn on the lights, provide event support, and local police. There is the cost to house each of the corps 1 to 2 nights at local area schools. Sometimes this can run up to $2K per corps per night. If you are an event promoter you sweat bullets until you sell enough tickets to break even. Sometimes that doesn't happen and an event promoter can lose money hosting a show. Given that most event promoters are either drum corps or non-profit charities....that is not a good thing. You try to cushion the net profit with business sponsorships and other ancillary activities around your event. As an event sponsor, I urge you to buy your tickets in advance...it takes a lot of risk out the equation not having to depend on a large walk-up crowd. There has been great merit to all the various debates about the state of the activity and the how and why. As someone managing one of the "acts", I can tell you that DCI and the corps are very concerned about what it takes to bring audiences to our events. We may not always agree on the method, but in the end we are trying to solve the same problem. I think that when we objectively look at the activity over the past 24 months, there have been some shifts to develop and deliver a more entertaining and engaging product on the field. As we see the various corps show announcements for 2011, I sense we may be in store for an incredible season from the collective activity. But we need people to attend events. If you went to one show last year, go to two this year. Bring one or two new people with you to a show. Everybody should see at least one opera in their lives...they should at least see one drum corps show as well. If you haven't attended Finals in awhile, make it a priority. If you dislike the closed stadium, come with others who dislike it as well and grouse about it over a beer. Just be sure to be there. Show up on Thursday to see how some of the Open Class corps do on the big stage. Attend the endless parade of corps on Saturday morning through downtown Indy. Celebrate the activity! I hear people commiserate about the state of modern music today. I hear people's concern about all the cutbacks occurring in music education programs throughout the country. I can tell you that the drum corps activity is an incredible music education opportunity top to bottom. This is an activity that is teaching the next generation of educators. The activity is providing an incredibly unique opportunity for young people to perform, on a large stage, in front of thousands of people who applaud their efforts. They are getting opportunities to learn and perfect an amazing wide array of music in an incredibly group-intensive setting. Pull the $20, $30 or $50 out of your pocket and support this activity by attending a show. When the Scouts took on the Whitewater show we knew that it came with risk. But we also recognize how important it is to provide the stage and provide the audience to the membership of the drum corps activity (regardless of whether the Scouts are in it or not). We've been doing this with a local band show the past couple of years in Whitewater and it's now time to bring drum corps back to this great community. If you live in the Midwest, there are groups that are working hard to make sure you have shows to attend and corps to support. Whether it's Scouts' Drums on Parade, The Whitewater Classic; or the Phantom's new show in Paddock Lake, WI or the Rockford TOC event; or the Blue Stars shows in La Crosse or Metamora; or the Cavaliers shows in Lisle & Michigan City; or the great show and community celebration in Cedarburg....go to a show...go to multiple shows...support this activity. So that's my stream of thoughts on this subject. Now to focus on preparing for our upcoming camp this weekend. Thanks! Chris Komnick Executive Director Madison Scouts You sure do get alot of pluses for your posts. Edited March 31, 2011 by thirdcoast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill L. Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I herd the closer at camp last week. It is unreal !!!!!! Devo's , " Rock Lobster ". I am sssssoooooo hyped ! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tee Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Haven't heard anything about the music from those stopping by camp in a while, how are the arrangements sounding? The arrangement is truely a " you gotta hear for yourself ". I believe it is truely indescribable. We, ( members ), are truely excited for the summer and are gearing up for a magnificent summer. Thus said, a Scouts contra-vet member. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BozzlyB Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Word is.. doing just fine. If you go to a camp, you are also told DO NOT record the show and do not talk about what you heard.. CAMP WEEKEND BYBO Because to do so could very likely risk national security, in fact, I can't even confirm by participation in this thread that the Madison Scouts even exist.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BozzlyB Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I herd the closer at camp last week. It is unreal !!!!!! Devo's , " Rock Lobster ". I am sssssoooooo hyped ! Bill You are SOOOO going to Guantanamo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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