Bobbie' Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) From last Saturday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE4fkxpLbdk And one of the young people from England: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CfHKzBQr8A Edited July 22, 2015 by Bobbie' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadwick Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Ugh...seriously teared up listening to him talk about what they have accomplished and his excitement about the upcoming tour. I'd love to hear about any members that find a home with another corps to finish out the season. Certainly there are some spots out there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcarlton Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 And they could even have gone back to Atlanta on Aug. 1 and given an exhibition in a DCA show - go face to face with Carolina Gold. To me, this event is not really indicative of the health of drum corps (either good or poor) - more about drum corps' infant mortality rate - they only toured two seasons (one in exhibition and one in competition), before folding. What this IS indicative of, however, is the barriers to birthing more drum corps at all, many of which seem to be exacerbated, not alleviated, by DCI. Soundsport and drumline battles as an idea for growth? Nice, if you let any potential group perform in exhibition at your competition, but even so - there are only going to have a couple shows near a corps home base, most likely. However, as I understand correctly, not only do SoundSport groups not get any appearance fee, they actually have to pay for the opportunity to perform (~$20-25 per marcher) (which is "compensated" through free entry for the members to watch the rest of the show). So, for example, if you have a 25 member group, and want to attend 4 SoundSport exhibitions at local DCI shows, you are looking at $2,500 just to perform, on top of all the other costs - for a small group starting out, that might 1/5 of what they're collecting in members fees right there! Additionally, they have to provide proof of having secured licenses for all their music, which financially and logistically will be very difficult for a new corps (see how Louisiana Stars' music is all excerpts from Beethoven, which is public domain material and free). The barriers to entry and performance have to be reduced, and corps need to find a path that does not focus so heavily on the DCI competitive circuit as their sole raison d'etre. Just adding my SoundSport two cents based on 3 years in SoundSport and DrumLine Battle. SoundSport is a combination of registration fees, paid social media push, and beginning experience. Set your sights low and reasonable.... if you live in the SC or GA area you can do a DCI Competition for SoundSport and spend a low amount and have a good experience: Here is an example financial summary at $5500 25 members @ $200 dues = $4000 Performance Income from 3 Parades = $1500 Liability Insurance = - $500 Instrument Rental/Purchase (G Bugles) = -$2000 Assuming you're playing public domain music, using borrowed/rented or already owned instruments, volunteer staff Finals DCI - at a 2-3 hour radius - 1500 Registration Fee at $37x25 for DCI SoundSport Indy = -$925 2 Rental Vans plus Fuel = -$400 Assuming someone drives a pickup truck and you rental a trailer $120 Exhibition DCI Show - at 2-3 hour radius - $770 Registration Fee at $10x25 for Open Class DCI Show = -$250 2 Rental Vans plus Fuel = -$400 Assuming someone drives a pickup truck and you rental a trailer= - $120 Total is $4770 - the rest that can be used for staff, and other such things. Meaning, SoundSport can be an affordable option if played right and is approached from an affordable manner. This is just the operational costs and not looking at some of the inventory costs like acquiring owned instruments etc. The other component is that you have to leverage DCI and SoundSport's Social Media to expand and talk about your program. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Coastal Surge is a prime example that it takes more than love for drum corps to be successful in fielding a sustainable corps. You need skilled business minds - director and board - and firm financial foundation in order to make it work. It's unfortunate because the couple of times that I saw them, they were pretty decent for a small group. But again, in order to have sustainable future, the building blocks have to be there. Edited July 22, 2015 by drumcorpsfever 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleran Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Thanks for those actual numbers, lcarlton - it's so difficult to get good hard data. Looking at those numbers, though, about 1/4 of your $4,770 costs are registration fees to appear at two DCI shows - I just don't think that's the best way for DCI to encourage growth. Edited: to correct my math Edited July 22, 2015 by Eleran 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84BDsop Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 That sucks. They were promising last year. Remember the financial emergency last year. I'm wondering if going to Championships so early on in their formation didn't have an effect on it. So many of these new corps like Colombians, Eruption, Golden Empire, Louisiana Stars, Southwind, ect. are doing small, few weeks, not as travel intensive tours. Wondering if something like that wouldn't have been better for them monetarily. Sucks. Remember how much crap Academy and PC got for doing the same thing? Notice that they're still around?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Remember how much crap Academy and PC got for doing the same thing? Notice that they're still around?? ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 ??? I think the reference is to people complaining that Academy and Pacific Crest, along with a few others, start later or tour less than some other World Class corps. I've certainly seen comments like that. The point being that those corps, like the Open Class corps you mention, ought not to have been the subject of such complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Not really, The Academy was in the first show in 2014, and joined up the second week this year. Pacific Crest was at some of the first Cali shows this year and was also at the first show in 2014. Unless they're referencing something that went on before I started following. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Not really, The Academy was in the first show in 2014, and joined up the second week this year. Pacific Crest was at some of the first Cali shows this year and was also at the first show in 2014. Unless they're referencing something that went on before I started following. I can't speak for Sam.... but perhaps he's referring to the years when PC only did the early-season California shows, with no regional or national tour... even though they were clearly a solidly competitive corps, in terms of their on-field product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.