Sad News from Music City

[cixelsyd]

I don't think anything was done about this, but it's worth pointing out that the G7 have proposed eliminating any direct DCI support of Open Class. So while the G7 may not yet have had an impact, their plan would surely accelerate attrition of corps at this level.

That is one thing I was thinking of as I formulated the polite description "less money to OC".

[drilltech1]

You're the only person who's responded to NE Brigand's comments...

All your credentials apparently didn't include any training in how to make a point effectively, or communicate politely... You trashed a very impressive Music City show in a thread about the corps' demise. I would personally have expected some pushback. So, feel free to lay out your argument, but don't bother providing your credentials or telling us who you had conversations with unless it's relevant to the point.

This is the part of the thread to which I was referencing...

" I read some of your recent posts. You seem like a know-it-all who attacks people's opinions when they don't agree with you.

Kamarag and I disagree with each other all the time, but he certainly does not "attack" people whose opinions he doesn't share."

To an extent, you are correct in your admonition. I should not be posting while simultaneously checking phone messages and emails while awaiting my first appointment of the day. Something will be lost. Thank you

The comments by the staff members were quite relevant to the point and bespoke some of the difficulties concerning show choices and preparation to compete in the World Class performance in the large venue of Lucas Oil. I do not know whether Open Class corps are required to perform there or choose to go against World Class; at worst, their members receive an admittance consideration for World Class semis and finals. This thread has only discussed the financial struggles the BoD mention which may not be the only reason for the corps' demise. At this point, little is objectively known by the public.

Edited August 16, 2013 by drilltech1

[ripper]

Dont plan the funeral just yet there are some very good people at MCDC and suspect they are doing everything they can right now to right the ship and get control of the wheel and move the corps forward for 2014

[Michael Boo]

Music City was one corps that had decided that whatever it was they were going to do, they were going to entertain the audience with music that was fun to listen to and needed no explanation whatsoever. While there's certainly a place for corps that do stimulate one's mind and challenge the status quo, pushing the activity forward, there is also a place for corps that are on a mission to be fun and entertaining. And to hold up those corps at the pinnacle, the pinnacle must have a solid base of fun and entertaining corps like Music City.

It's a sad day to know that one of those corps that appeals to everyone might not be wish us any longer. It will be a day of celebration if we read that somehow, their early announcement about their predicament gave others time to formulate a workable plan that will save the corps.

While it might take an infusion of new people to keep the corps going, the current board should be applauded for being brave enough to state that they don't have the answers necessary to keep the corps afloat. They've done a remarkable job getting the corps to this point. They are also to be commended for letting their members know early enough that they should at least be looking for another home if they wish to continue in drum corps...just in case the corps doesn't come back on the field. Their actions have given the members an early shot at planning their future.

Still, it would be joyous news to hear that something has been worked out to keep the corps moving down the road.

[Florida Sun]

Hopefully some good will come out of this ,maybe the return to the field by Music City Legend ,Thoses kids will looking to march some where and all -age could be the answer for them .I hope Music City Legend still has enought people to make some happen there ,Be great to have them back in DCA

And it could have had two corps.

[garfield]

But it is, to an extent.

Obviously, G7 directors did not meet in a smoke filled room to discuss the threat Music City posed to them, and plot out their demise. However, the bottom line of the G7 debate is about how to allocate DCI revenue between G7 corps, other WC corps, and OC corps. G7 have proposed allocating more money to themselves, less to other WC, and less to OC. Some of their proposals have been enacted over the past three seasons. In that time, OC corps have been spontaneously combusting like fireworks shortly after sunset on July 4th. Even a couple of WC corps have gone down. No G7 corps have been sidelined by finances in or anywhere near that time frame.

How is that working out so far?

The only crack in your argument is that the percentage of total operating income represented by DCI payouts decreases with their placement. A lower placing corps gets so little from DCI that it will be hard for me to believe that their success is dependent on DCI payouts.

I would imagine that MC received very little from DCI, but what Crown and BD and the rest of leaders get from DCI is a greater percentage of total income than it is for MC.

[Gabe92]

We have been talking about money a lot but I see 2 other major reasons that could be brought up for the folding of a corps... Of course, money can probably solve both if you have tons of it!

1) There is less and less help to make things happen. Less volunteers, less people willing to work 10-15-20 hours a week at home (year round), on the phone or the computer to do the work. That too is a challenge and I can see that as a possible reason for the demise of Music City.

If you have enough money, you can hire 2-5-10 persons to do that. You can hire drivers and head cook,ect. Those were mostly NOT paid 30 years ago and happen to be mostly PAID those days.

2) While nobody is wiling to do the bad work, alone at home 52 weeks/year... everybody wants to go their own direction thinking THEY have the answers! Still not willing to put 100-200-500-1000 hours a years.. but not ready to follow the ones who do.

One day, the one's who do the work and provide the money get tired and go play somewhere else.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Gabe92

[N.E. Brigand]

The show designs have shifted, even in Open Class, the past two seasons as is shown by BDB and SCVC. Although they were a large corps, Music City didn't seem to keep pace with what the judges were now seeking.

This year's show got their highest O.C. Finals placement (fifth) and score (90.35) in the corps' five-year history, where they were less than two-tenths from fourth place and just over a point from medaling.

La Habenera was a selection which I thought would have given them zest, dynamicism, and possibility. It seemed at times more like a dirge. I wondered about the instructional staff's philosophy and perspectives.

I strongly disagree. The show was lively and entertaining. The audience loved it at Avon Lake, and I think had they gone on after intermission there they would have placed fourth (rather than fifth) in that show, which could have set them up to do the same in Michigan City.

Maybe you could get a job as Hopkins' spin doctor as you weave the facts creatively against their horizon.

You're the one who said the Music City didn't "keep pace" with judging expectations, so I pointed out that their score and placement had improved notably since last year: from 9th to 5th, and from 83.85 to 90.35. Only a few World Class corps improved as much from 2012 to 2013.

While it may have been their highest score, it was still 6 points out of first.

This comment implies that you think all but the top three Open Class corps, and all but the top six World Class corps, may as well fold if they can't "keep pace" with modern scoring trends. [...] They performed in a way that enabled them to make marked improvement over one year. That's not my spin, that's the truth. [...] they legitimately beat nine other Open Class corps (and two World Class corps).

[...]you are completely WRONG is your guestimate of reading into my comments and judging my respect of/for Open Class corps, regardless of their placements. My comments were premised by comments made by three Music City staff members who were band directors from Tenn. and Ky. and who sat with us when we ate off campus in Murfreesboro, TN., a suburb of Nashville. Some had big dreams for the corps' eventual DCI success; I found their projections a bit unrealistic given my experience of DCI over forty years of involvement, not just spectating.

Thank you for supplying that further information to clarify your comments about Music City failing to "keep up" their scores, when in fact they had dramatically improved this year. If M.C. staff indeed were counting on this year to see them go up more than four places and six points, and if the failure to do better than that led to the board's decision to close the corps, that would indeed make your remarks on the quality of their 2013 show more intelligible.

I see that others on this thread have also had difficulties with your comments.

At the moment the post that has set you off has a rating of +2, but the ratings come and go.

Do not play psychologist even if you are perplexed by comments that differ from your opinion.

Aw, come on, I didn't even offer you a couch!

Psychologists require licensing and accountable credentials. People get in legal trouble when they pose to be mind readers and act as certified professionals which they are not.

Uh, huh. The reason I'm going to avoid in further speculations on mental states now is not because I would run afoul of the law (I wouldn't) but because of forum guidelines regarding decorum. I do find it hard to reconcile your distaste for others guessing at your motivations (after you referred to praise for Music City's competitive improvement this year the work of a "spin doctor") with your conclusion that only "disappointed wannabees" would dare try to contextualize M.C.'s financial difficulties in the larger DCI picture, part of which indeed must include the repeated moves by the G7 to keep more DCI money for themselves, leaving less for the other corps.

[drilltech1]

Music City was one corps that had decided that whatever it was they were going to do, they were going to entertain the audience with music that was fun to listen to and needed no explanation whatsoever. While there's certainly a place for corps that do stimulate one's mind and challenge the status quo, pushing the activity forward, there is also a place for corps that are on a mission to be fun and entertaining. And to hold up those corps at the pinnacle, the pinnacle must have a solid base of fun and entertaining corps like Music City.

It's a sad day to know that one of those corps that appeals to everyone might not be wish us any longer. It will be a day of celebration if we read that somehow, their early announcement about their predicament gave others time to formulate a workable plan that will save the corps.

While it might take an infusion of new people to keep the corps going, the current board should be applauded for being brave enough to state that they don't have the answers necessary to keep the corps afloat. They've done a remarkable job getting the corps to this point. They are also to be commended for letting their members know early enough that they should at least be looking for another home if they wish to continue in drum corps...just in case the corps doesn't come back on the field. Their actions have given the members an early shot at planning their future.

Still, it would be joyous news to hear that something has been worked out to keep the corps moving down the road.

Well stated, Michael.

Hopefully, Music City will have a sound future.

[garfield]

This comment implies that you think all but the top three Open Class corps, and all but the top six World Class corps, may as well fold if they can't "keep pace" with modern scoring trends. [...] They performed in a way that enabled them to make marked improvement over one year. That's not my spin, that's the truth. [...] they legitimately beat nine other Open Class corps (and two World Class corps).

[...]you are completely WRONG is your guestimate of reading into my comments and judging my respect of/for Open Class corps, regardless of their placements. My comments were premised by comments made by three Music City staff members who were band directors from Tenn. and Ky. and who sat with us when we ate off campus in Murfreesboro, TN., a suburb of Nashville. Some had big dreams for the corps' eventual DCI success; I found their projections a bit unrealistic given my experience of DCI over forty years of involvement, not just spectating.

Thank you for supplying that further information to clarify your comments about Music City failing to "keep up" their scores, when in fact they had dramatically improved this year. If M.C. staff indeed were counting on this year to see them go up more than four places and six points, and if the failure to do better than that led to the board's decision to close the corps, that would indeed make your remarks on the quality of their 2013 show more intelligible.

At the moment the post that has set you off has a rating of +2, but the ratings come and go.

Aw, come on, I didn't even offer you a couch!

Uh, huh. The reason I'm going to avoid in further speculations on mental states now is not because I would run afoul of the law (I wouldn't) but because of forum guidelines regarding decorum. I do find it hard to reconcile your distaste for others guessing at your motivations (after you referred to praise for Music City's competitive improvement this year the work of a "spin doctor") with your conclusion that only "disappointed wannabees" would dare try to contextualize M.C.'s financial difficulties in the larger DCI picture, part of which indeed must include the repeated moves by the G7 to keep more DCI money for themselves, leaving less for the other corps.

Uhh...well said?

(tee hee)