Rockin Rockford

[DrumCorpsFan27]

non-ToC corps, like Boston and Madison, do in fact deserve fewer votes and less money than these bigger draws.

A sure way to kill off the last remaining corps. G-8 or nothing and G-8 will decide who is in and who is out. Welcome to Survivor DCI, we just need Jeff Probst!

In case you haven't noticed, this TOC has two corps who have never been champions and leaves out one who has. Coincidence? What happens if Madison takes 8th or better and SCV does not? Blue Stars are also down. Will they be kicked out and Madison and another be invited in?

By the way, Madison is a huge fan draw for DCI. Just listen to fan responses to their show and compare them to others. They are top 5 at least.

[fsubone]

A sure way to kill off the last remaining corps. G-8 or nothing and G-8 will decide who is in and who is out. Welcome to Survivor DCI, we just need Jeff Probst!

In case you haven't noticed, this TOC has two corps who have never been champions and leaves out one who has. Coincidence?

Well, if you count Div. 2, then only Bluecoats haven't won a championship. Both Crown and Blue Star have won Div. 2/3 titles.

And there was no conspiracy to leave out Madison. When they decided all of this, it was the Top 8 corps from that year's finals. When it first came out, Madison had placed 15th the year before, then moved up to 10th place. Still not top 8. Give them another year, then maybe they can join, if they make it into the Top 8, and fulfill the requirements of admission. And if Blue Stars falls out, then they won't be in the TOC next year.

[Tito John]

First, I didn't see a separate thread or posts in this thread talking about the recap. Some interesting stuff there, like the Cadets beating the Cavies in GE. Not sure how I missed the thread or why there isn't one. Seems like there's a lot to complain and boast about. Not clear to me where or if the fan vote was factored in.

I don't want this, but that venue is just not capable of supporting a sellout crowd. It's not acceptable to have to sit in one place immobile for four and a half hours, but that's basically what it amounted to. The size of the stadium is not the issue, it's just that the facilities are inadequate to that size.

Absolutely. Sellouts are nice, if the facility is able to handle them, but my creaky old bones couldn't sit for that long.

Continue to do it by text. Each call costs the "voter" a buck, 90 cents of which goes to the corps voted for.

Do you really think everyone who "votes" on American Idol actually watched the show that night? Do you think ABC cares if they watched that show?

If TOC attracted the number of votes that Idol does, relative to the size and popularity of each, it would be ludicrous. It's not that there are voters who didn't watch the show. It's that computer mavens have developed robocall software so that diehard fans of Sanjaya or whoever can vote maybe more than a hundred times after ever show on their modems. During the finale of Idol this year, Seacrest noted that over the season, the total vote was double the population of the US.

In these days of unlimited texting plans, I doubt that the organizer gets any revenue from phone carriers. Maybe I'm wrong. But I think AT&T benefits from Idol by the mention after every performance that you can vote by text only on AT&T.

I don't know if a "900 number" type of thing for voting would draw enough votes to work or not. But it's an interesting idea, unless you worry about even more financial disadvantages for the non-TOC corps.

[rkfdPRphan]

WHY does everyone seem to think or assume that if the TOC events are held again next year they will be in the same places?

(I, personally, want my 'old' Show of Shows event back! Its a very traditional show with tons of history. Having so much outside influence really changed the 'home show' atmosphere! Where did the age-out event go? Got to give out some scholarships and play Elsa's to the Alumni tent, but the rest of us missed a big part of the normal HOME show.)

IT WAS good to prove that Rockford COULD host this type of event, even after all the cat calls and nay sayers had a field day. We were the FIRST guinea pig and overall I felt it worked out even better than I had hoped. The rest of the TOC event should be even better with the lessons learned on Sunday.

IF this series (which was almost cut in half before it even started) continues, surely the west coast is going to want a show. I would think that the whole event series would change locations each year until DCI realizes which places give them the largest attendance with the least amount of setup problems.

I AM PROUD THAT WE IN ROCKFORD WERE THE FIRST !!!!!!!!!!

[frazib]

I have a few thoughts from attending this TOC show as well. As I had a seat right on the aisle, in row 20, which was about half-way up, it was unfortunate to see so many senior citizens struggling to get up the steps. Why do they, or the people in their party, insist on purchasing seats that clearly are too high up for them to attempt? I had to realize this years ago when taking my mom to shows. Yes, it's much louder down low, but there is the added benefit of seeing the emotion on the kids' faces.

The bathroom was like a dungeon, no moving air whatsoever, which can't be helped by the show coordinators but include me in the vote to move the show to DeKalb! Boylan is way too uncomfortable. Both Rockford and Middleton, WI, need to consider larger venues so they can sell more tickets. It's so interesting that Lucas Oil is way too big for a finals crowd, and then these two stadiums are way too small.

[skywhopper]

I have a few thoughts from attending this TOC show as well. As I had a seat right on the aisle, in row 20, which was about half-way up, it was unfortunate to see so many senior citizens struggling to get up the steps. Why do they, or the people in their party, insist on purchasing seats that clearly are too high up for them to attempt?

There's no way to know ahead of time what's "too high" unless you are familiar with the stadium and how crowded it's going to be. Most stadiums have railings along the stairways, and room in the rows to pass by already-seated individuals without having to climb over or balance on bleachers, all of which I saw elderly folks struggling to do. All of these shortcomings were amplified by the show being sold out and providing no actual breaks between corps.

Had this been a typical corps home show, I wouldn't have thought twice about the quality of the stadium. I really enjoyed the show, but this venue was an inappropriate choice for something billed as a game-changing dream drum corps experience, and I'm surprised DCI and the other corps agreed to it. Most of the other venues on the TOC circuit this year look much more appropriate. Not sure about the Rock Hill stadium, though. In the satellite views, it looks pretty much like the Boylan stadium.

IT WAS good to prove that Rockford COULD host this type of event, even after all the cat calls and nay sayers had a field day.

What are you talking about?

Edited July 20, 2011 by skywhopper

[rkfdPRphan]

There's no way to know ahead of time what's "too high" unless you are familiar with the stadium and how crowded it's going to be. Most stadiums have railings along the stairways, and room in the rows to pass by already-seated individuals without having to climb over or balance on bleachers, all of which I saw elderly folks struggling to do. All of these shortcomings were amplified by the show being sold out and providing no actual breaks between corps.

Had this been a typical corps home show, I wouldn't have thought twice about the quality of the stadium. I really enjoyed the show, but this venue was an inappropriate choice for something billed as a game-changing dream drum corps experience, and I'm surprised DCI and the other corps agreed to it. Most of the other venues on the TOC circuit this year look much more appropriate. Not sure about the Rock Hill stadium, though. In the satellite views, it looks pretty much like the Boylan stadium.

What are you talking about?

I posted the original TOC SOS ticket sales thread back several months ago.

WOW, was I splattered with cra* about how no one should attend the Rockford show because it was too expensive, it was a G8 show, it didnt have enough good corps, 'their show was better' and it went on and on.

Crazy when the show hadn't even been done before.

People had no idea how the event would work or how many would come to the show.

....it did end up being too big for the venue, I agree, but we didnt really know that until Sunday afternoon.

THAT is what I was referring to.

[Mello Dude]

Things learned and will be fixed for next year I would hope. I am amazed at the whining because frankly it wasn't that expensive for what you got. Quite honestly I think that if ANYTHING they should have had ushers stopping people from going into the stands during the performance (but I understand that because there were few breaks or rather NO breaks in what was going on save half way through). I loved it...it was by NO means perfect but it is a step in the right direction. The finale was fun, light hearted, and a blast for the kids and fans as well I would think. Some complained that it went too late..I disagree, shows USED to go this late all the time. Kudo's to PR and DCI for the first TOC at the SOS. Look forward to next year!