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Ummmm... somehow the Show-band concept took fire with the public; and it was the movie Drumline, not DCI, which propelled the major rock/rap/country stars to place marching drums on their stages; Honda is also a major part of the Battle of the Bands which draws three to four times the amount of fans and public interest as DCI. The key is flat entertainment; while it is true that DCI has the lock on high quality performance, DCI is way too concerned about progressing the art form and appealing to the academic minded. Face it dear DCI die-hards, watching the traditional black college bands is way more entertaining to the masses; and until DCI people get "that" into their heads and performance mindset DCI shall remain a very small niche in sort of an ivory tower mentality.

And this is the heart of the discussion, IMO: what is it we the fans + DCI's Board & members corps want out of the activity? If they want to reach the largest, most broad audience possible then clearly they would have to radically change show design philosophies (among many other things). If DCI/fans want the drum corps activity to maintain being the cutting edge, trend-setting marching arts organization it is, that will come at the cost o any type of mainstream appeal: the activity will always be a niche of a niche, we'll have 20-25k in a really good year at Finals, with mid-teens maybe the average attendance, and things will be status quo with minor fluctuations from year to year. What's more important: the identity of the activity or the potential for mass appeal? Even when drum corps seemed to be at the height of mainstream, kind of broad-appealing programming it was never a mainstream success, so there's no guarantee that radical change would bring about the new fans.

I don't know what the answer is, but I think it's fairly apparent DCI is not interested in any sort of mainstream acceptance: while that would be nice, DCI doesn't seem interested in radically changing their ideals to cater to the broad masses. And I think that's OK. I've always liked drum corps, and would likely not be interested in the activity if it went to show band style. DCI brings added benefits to its market of music students that is fairly unique, and I wouldn't want to see them change in an attempt to go mainstream.

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True, but so would most professional sports franchises. DCI is not in the business of running a profitable enterprise and shouldn't even remotely be thought of in that light.

DCI is definitely in the business of being profitable. Non profit is a tax designation, not a business strategy.

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DCA has a show sponsor that touched on this as well in Bridgeport CT...the Barnum Festival.

you have last years top 5, and a corps that has several titles, plus some alumni corps......and admission is $5.

that's right $5.

and year in and year out, tied to the Barnum Festival full of many events, including a parade, has a huge crowd. for a DCA show, which I'm sure in this forum will get mocked.

There is a lesson to learn here

My God...P.T. Barnum? As in the circus folk? ####, that sounds almost like an early 20th Century version of Blue Man or Trans Siberian--I almost like the way they/you think! (forgive my snark, that was directed at others...not you!)

As for MANY events affiliated with a drum corps show...there is an entirely separate set of people I hope read my commenting on THAT concept.

####, you'd think I've been "on" to something the last three years. How about that. (that wasn't a question...it was an observation both sets of people will completely miss)

I replied on this thread and it grew by 5 more pages. Thought I'd try that again. Bump!

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I'm always surprised when shows that don't come close to selling out don't have $5 tickets at the door and push that fact hard. At least in the last couple of days. $35-40 for decent seats (albeit just bleachers) and $15-20 for the bad seats in a tiny and cramped high school stadium is probably not the best way to maximize revenue or attendance. A single-A minor league baseball game is $10 at most in Peoria, and $5 on Mondays. That's third-row-behind-home-base seats in a nice stadium...

Hey...who are you?? I saw your signature: "Fan of the activity since August 12, 1991." Me, too! :thumbup:

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Oh, no argument there. Not sure how much the "People in Garfield" in general were impacted, but certainly the Holy Name alumni and church folks benefitted by this. There has been a great connection reestablished with the alumni the past few years...thanks in large part to folks like Dave Shaw (onceuponatime here in DCP-land) and Greg Cinzio.

and more corps in DCi could benefit from doing that same type of thing.

but they don't. Hell, Crossmen couldn't even get invited to some shows in their backyard last june

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Apropos to this discussion...

Interesting tweet from DCI that is promotionally driven. Check out the hashtag.:

Drum Corps Int'l ‏@DCI_Tour

Going to a #DCI show this summer? Join in on the live conversation here on @Twiiter. Post your pics and reviews and help #growdrumcorps

FWIW--I've been tweeting from shows I've attended for several years. But, I don't know if it has any impact on followers I have who don't know the activity. I'm actually afraid I might lose non-drum corps fan followers if I do it too much.

I do gain followers from inside the activity, though, every time I do it.

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If only it could be on ESPN again........

ESPN for the cost did nothing to benefit DCI

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