Rifuarian Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 no disrespect, but in the north east there are a zillion corps styled marching bands...more than you would think given how many corps we used to have. I never thought otherwise. I know the Mid-Atlantic states in particular have quite a few, though I've always been led to believe that the situation in New England is pretty dire. But even without counting Texas I still feel the South easily has more bands than the Northeast . . . keeping in mind that the SE as defined by the census bureau has 20 million more people living in it than the NE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolina09Spirit Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 Personally, I see the following states being as part of the South: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. When you just think in terms of regions, you automatically group states together, which is obviously how it works. However, a few weeks back, I was reminded that in the Northeast, travel from point A to point B isn't sometimes near as far as travel from point A to point B if a corps were in the South. Because, in the Northeast, cities are closer together, no matter if you have to travel through three to get to your show/rehearsal site. Just a thought...and just for the record, Texas should either be in the Southwest, or just by themselves alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSU GRAD 82 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 What the South does have a lot of is competitive, corps style marching bands. Probably more than any other part of the country. Both high school AND college. College football is KING down here. The Southeastern Conference not only kicks butt in football but has some of the best Corps Style Marching Bands in the country. Add Southern Mississippi, Jacksonville State and Troy State to the list as great southern Corps Style college bands. I didn't want to spend the entire summer touring and riding on a bus, but I got my Drum Corps "Fix" by playing at L.S.U.. It was like playing in a very large Corps since we were pretty much doing all the same music and drill that some of the top Corps were doing................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shostahoosier Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I remember in the late 90s hoping that Drum Corps South (DCS) would finally turn a corner after having two solid finalist corps (The Magic of Orlando and Carolina Crown) headline the tour. Even though they were able to have shows in the region there were so few corps. I think in the mid-90s DCS consisted of Magic, Crown, Southwind, Spirit, Delta Brigade and Lone Star. Anybody around at the time know much about DCS? Were the shows well attended? They had really small lineups. I imagine it would be tough to have a regional corps in the south now since there are so few (maybe just Carolina Crown and Spirit of Atlanta). Strange how some of the states with the best programs have almost no local corps.....or is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersop Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I remember in the late 90s hoping that Drum Corps South (DCS) would finally turn a corner after having two solid finalist corps (The Magic of Orlando and Carolina Crown) headline the tour. Even though they were able to have shows in the region there were so few corps. I think in the mid-90s DCS consisted of Magic, Crown, Southwind, Spirit, Delta Brigade and Lone Star. Anybody around at the time know much about DCS? Were the shows well attended? They had really small lineups. I imagine it would be tough to have a regional corps in the south now since there are so few (maybe just Carolina Crown and Spirit of Atlanta). Strange how some of the states with the best programs have almost no local corps.....or is it? Don't forget you have a few all age corps down there. It wouldn't be hard to have a 5 or 6 corps show even today. I'm not trying to push DCA on anyone .. but the West coast does it this way. Renegades and SoCal Dream are usually in the DCI lineups. Same in the midwest with Kilties, MBI and Govies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssorrell Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I remember in the late 90s hoping that Drum Corps South (DCS) would finally turn a corner after having two solid finalist corps (The Magic of Orlando and Carolina Crown) headline the tour. Even though they were able to have shows in the region there were so few corps. I think in the mid-90s DCS consisted of Magic, Crown, Southwind, Spirit, Delta Brigade and Lone Star. Anybody around at the time know much about DCS? Were the shows well attended? They had really small lineups. I imagine it would be tough to have a regional corps in the south now since there are so few (maybe just Carolina Crown and Spirit of Atlanta). Strange how some of the states with the best programs have almost no local corps.....or is it? Back in the early 80s, we had a DCS circuit and a corresponding tour to start off the summer on the road. Spirit, Suncoast, Florida Wave, Southwind, Memphis Blues, NIghthawks, and Pride of Cinci (never understood why they were part of DCS), headlined the tour. The shows back then were incredibly small. I vividly remember a show in Columbia, TN...it was basically in a field with temp bleachers. Fans brought their lawn chairs and sat in them around the field. The field was next to a horse barn where the buses parked (imagine the combination of diesel fumes and manure). The field was horrible...when we marched our company front at the end of the show, you could literally see heads bobbing up and down because of the huge holes in the field. That show was followed by show in Memphis, in a decent stadium. But most of those DCS shows in the 80s were very very small both in terms of venue and crowd. But throughout the years, we did indeed have tons of shows in cities large and small all across the south. Many of those shows were a one time shot, meaning that the sponsor did not attempt a second go at sponsoring a show, so they must have not fared too well. I can't expound upon the DCS experience in the 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 (edited) Back in the early 80s, we had a DCS circuit and a corresponding tour to start off the summer on the road. Spirit, Suncoast, Florida Wave, Southwind, Memphis Blues, NIghthawks, and Pride of Cinci (never understood why they were part of DCS), headlined the tour. You can add the Sky Ryders, Southernaires (LA) and Belleville Black Knights as having been members of DCS in '82. Edited July 20, 2012 by Northern Thunder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssorrell Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 You can add the Sky Ryders, Southernaires (LA) and Belleville Black Knights as having been members of DCS in '82. I just went from memory, and since Sky Ryders did not participate in the early 82 DCS shows in TN and AL, I wasn't sure they were part of the circuit. My bad for leaving out Belleville...they were indeed on the tour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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