Jeff Ream Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 And that brings me back to a question I have. What is the purpose of a drum and bugle corps? How many "local" performances are corps doing now days? How many local 4th of July parades are they doing so the area/region have a clue who they are? Festivals? Fairs? We USED to do those gigs. Is a 6-8 week touring machine all that is left? They created this monster and are having trouble feeding it now.Bust it back to a 3-4 week semi-national tour leading up to finals week. Do regional/local stuff till then. Cut costs. Entertain and compete. But we can't do regional stuff cause there's not enough corps left. BS. Work with the DCA corps. You could #### near do a Texas tour of Texas only corps. Xmen, Revo, Forte, Genesis, Vigilantes and get GCS back out performing. Meet Teal, Spirit, Alliance and Corpsvets somewhere in the middle for a few shows. Cali has enough for it's own circuit. Midwest, ditto. East if you work with the DCA corps. This whole thing is going to devolve into the usual suspects rehashing a lot of the usual arguments. ah, the old Hershey show format. some DCA, some DCI, and sold 6-7k tickets every year. and worked for years til the stadium owner got greedy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Actually, I wasn't thinking about Teal and Spirit as much as I was thinking about Crossmen, Troopers, and Cascades. And no, four corps shows wouldn't be viable. yet Fred said in the article the Troop has two options that could be good for them and Crossmen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Yes it would just like A & E has done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWonka Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 (edited) yet Fred said in the article the Troop has two options that could be good for them and Crossmen Crossmen have one of the best options out. A 5 or 6 corps show close to home where you are the big dog. No more coming on while the sun is still up, be the headliner. But we make all this sound simple. Lot's of logistics and work. But you can't tell me if you can keep these corps going in Tx you couldn't find some band parents round that would like to work up some shows. Wouldn't even have to be majors. Do Waco, Bryan, Texarkana, Tyler, Lubbock, etc. Would take years to get anything built up though. Edited September 2, 2010 by WWonka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredJedi Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 mgarside83: You've nailed it as far as I'm concerned. Addressing Mr. Hopkins as to becoming more relevant: You and your G7 buddies have been chasing off most of the older Drum Corps fans with a stick the last 5 years or so and now you've realized it as the money has dried up. Take a long look in the mirror G7 as it's your fault. This fundamental transformation of Drum Corps into glorified marching band isn't the answer. The product of "WGI on a football field" isn't going to attract most of the young men that are needed to fill the Corps member rosters. It's too much artistry and not enough meat. Too many gimmicks. Pre-show, post-show, mini encore: gimmick, gimmick, gimmick. Just put some meat on the table and we'll come back and bring others to share it with. Put out a product that most of us are not embarrassed to be associated with and the money will start rolling back in. In my opinion it's that simple. Lastly, I would suggest keeping the top 3 or 4 Corps AWAY from each other until Finals. NO super-regional where they go head to head 2 weeks before Finals. Why would anyone be motivated to go to Finals if there's no suspense? And while we're at it- Do the '88 blind performance order and no announced scores until Finals night. NO SLOTTING!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWonka Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Actually, I firmly believe that the opposite might happen. Kids today aren't interested in the regional touring model. They are far more interested in the national tour, and where the corps is going. I've seen this first hand over the last few years. Moving to a regional model might make fiscal sense for existing corps, but I doubt it will have much impact on creating new corps. We won't suddenly see hordes of new corps spring up out of nowhere. But do you think it would hurt the corps to do more regional stuff? Think it would hurt the turn out? Be harder to fill the ranks if you still made a national run on to Indy, etc. Just did some regional stuff for a month before rolling north? I am honestly curious what you think? It may now days. You have to take into account BITD hell we didn't know any better. Just got on the bus when we were told to and came home when we did. 6 of us had an apartment split to crash at between tours. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Often times, I am embarrased to show high school kids some of the modern shows that are coming out. This is a general statement though, there are a few modern shows I love. I loved Phantom this year, for instance, but even they were a little "artsy". Kids don't want to look or be a part of something that will get them made fun of by their peers. We are already fighting a stigma attached to the activity, then we feed into it... what did you think would happen? Dunno. My high school's competing marching band had about 300 people in it --about 20% of the school population-- and they were playing the music of "Riverdance". And for that matter: I also think that we need to understand that youth control much more of the consumer market than even most adult demographics do. What pop groups are at the top of the charts and bringing in the most money? The ones that appeal to youth. Most of these groups do not even put out very good music, but they have a "cool" image. Isn't Lady Gaga popular with a young audience? If her shows aren't "artsy", what is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWonka Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 Lastly, I would suggest keeping the top 3 or 4 Corps AWAY from each other until Finals. NO super-regional where they go head to head 2 weeks before Finals. Why would anyone be motivated to go to Finals if there's no suspense? And while we're at it- Do the '88 blind performance order and no announced scores until Finals night. NO SLOTTING!!! NO! Madison might win again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 here's a question that hasn't been brought up. we know Indy hasn't been super popular......is it possible that, coupled with a lack of local shows like in days gone by, the Super Regionals have actually HURT business? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted September 2, 2010 Share Posted September 2, 2010 here's a question that hasn't been brought up.we know Indy hasn't been super popular......is it possible that, coupled with a lack of local shows like in days gone by, the Super Regionals have actually HURT business? 2009 was the 4th most profitable finals ever for DCI (from their own reporting) - I don't see how that's hurt business. If 250,000 summer tickets are sold and the individual events are profitable, does it really matter if it's backloaded on the end of the season or distributed evenly throughout? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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