skywhopper Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I had to miss this year for the first time in 20 years...this "unemployment" thing really sucks...but went to the theater thing on Thursday and watched the live stream on FN on Friday...and both nights, when the cameras panned to the crowd, I commented to my wife "Wow-there's like NOBODY there!" Unless it was a substantially bigger crowd for Finals than for prelims or semis, what I saw looks like this might have been the lowest attendance for Indy so far-again, that's just based on what Thursday and Friday looked like. Finals tends to be three times the attendance of prelims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbeau Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 As a Northeasterner I'm real lucky. I'll get my late season fill of LIVE drum corps with BAC's show in Lawrence, MA...2 nights in the Allentown Regional...and then the TOC in East Rutherford, NJ. 4 Great Shows all within driving distance! The guy sitting next to me at TOC did the same thing and he lives in Rhode Island and I'm in Connecticut. Why would I even think of going to Indy? I skipped Indy this year and did the same trip as Liahona. I got my fix and I must add getting back to Allentown was great, No better place IMO to watch drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbandguy Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 In all of the posts on attendance I find it interesting that almost no mention has been made of the fact that the U.S. economy is the worst it has been for decades. DCI is certainly not immune to this. I personally know some folks that usually attend finals that simply could not afford it this time around. (And more because of the cost of motel, food, and gas than just tickets to LOS.) I've been to finals annually since '04. My favorite "stadium experience" has been Denver and Bloomington for sure, but I have to admit that I've enjoyed Indy. I feel the experience has improved each year. I would also mention that the ushers did, on a couple of occasions, ask to see tickets (139, 140) and moved out some "moochers." I personally don't have a big problem with people sitting in seats that are better than what they actually paid for as long as they politely and quickly move when the ticket holder shows up. I know I'm probably in the minority, at least here on DCP, but my vote is to extend the contract with LOS ASAP. I have especially felt that the last 2 years when we could hear the rain pounding on the roof. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) Very interesting! My PR age-out year was 1983 and there were 40,000 in attendance. What happened? You were doing some really great 'shrooms, and it just LOOKEd like there were a lot more people there? (Finals in 1983 had an attendance of 13,000, still the lowest DCI Finals attendance in the post-Whitewater era). My guess looking at the house on Saturday night would be 16,000, total. There were butts in the seats from end zone to end zone at the lower levels, even though there were also some empties scattered in the middle. 81 in Montreal is still the benchmark - 34,000 at Finals. Edited August 14, 2012 by mobrien 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeZ Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 If the choice is between championships leaving Indy (where there is a chance dci could LOSE money), and staying in Indy (where dci has a sweat heart deal that I believe allows them to make money), I would choose staying in Indy every time. We saw numerous corps not make it to championships. The number one priority HAS to be the financial well being of the organization. I like Camp Randall as much as the next drumcorps fan, but if dci is going to be better off financially in Indy, I can live with the oil can. Yes, there are problems with the venue, but the bottom line is I had a great time over the weekend and will be heading back to Indy again next year. Z 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasPRfan Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I have heard from some insiders that the stadium rental in Indy is one of the more expensive ones DCI has had, so that cost, combined with small crows - and all the other reasons I can't stand the Oil Can make me wonder if it's really just for convenience for the DCI staff... I for one hope they do NOT renew the contract, but I'm guessing, sadly, they will. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigD629 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 This is your friendly moderator MikeD....how is this.... Thank You, MikeD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liahona Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 My observation is that security is so lax that you don't have to buy a good seat to SIT in a decent seat. You can buy a seat in a cheaper section and seek out un-used seats in a more expensive section. People seem to have caught on that they can do this. So a lot of the people in section 100 probably just went up to a better section. When you see the stadium look full in pictures and video, it's not apparent how many people occupying the seats actually are sitting where they are supposed to. DCI probably doesn't enforce seating because they want it to look good. This was my first time in an enclosed stadium and the sound was not great. For visuals, the stadium is fantastic, though. This would not have been possible at TOC in East Rutherford. In order to get into the Lexus lounge your tickets were scanned at two checkpoints and that even included leaving the lounge area as well. Security in that stadium was tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I think we're overrating acoustics, and seeing the effects of a championship that is in the same place every season. I think this is dead freaking on: especially in a city that is not exactly a vacation destination (granted, when DCI was in the home of Disney World attendance was pretty abysmal). That being said, I would GLADLY pay money to live stream Finals... (sorry, can't miss an opportunity to dredge that up ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 In all of the posts on attendance I find it interesting that almost no mention has been made of the fact that the U.S. economy is the worst it has been for decades. DCI is certainly not immune to this. I personally know some folks that usually attend finals that simply could not afford it this time around. (And more because of the cost of motel, food, and gas than just tickets to LOS.) Great point I've been to finals annually since '04. My favorite "stadium experience" has been Denver and Bloomington for sure, but I have to admit that I've enjoyed Indy. I feel the experience has improved each year. That's great to hear! Maybe if I ever make the trip out to the mid-west for Finals they'll have it so dialed in from repetition that it'll be one of my favorite Finals experiences I know I'm probably in the minority, at least here on DCP, but my vote is to extend the contract with LOS ASAP. I have especially felt that the last 2 years when we could hear the rain pounding on the roof. I find it almost comically ironic that two of the worst seasons for DCI Finals week happened in years when Finals was indoors and mostly not affected(or at least marginally affected): especially last year at Finals. In my opinion, acoustic deficiencies are FAR better than cancelation of Finals due to inclement of weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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