JimF-LowBari Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 Increased costs killed local shows and as corps had to go further to get to shows the gas bill kept going up too. And this was the late 70s and the Red Carpet Association.... Sorry but nothing new under the sun..... hope DCA finds some new things to try out before it gets worse... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 To be honest though, two things kills drum corps. Money coming in vs money going out, and the experience given to the corps members. Mediocre experiences don't bring people back. Maybe in the past DCA was able to pull more DCI age outs to stay a few seasons. But I'm going to take a guess that many don't want to march after they've aged out. I know I didn't. I had my fill after five years of abusing my body. I'm happy to teach, and tech, and clean shows. But I've no desire to carry a horn on a field. But loyalty is still pretty prevalent. You'll always have some to wonder if the grass is greener. And with airfare getting cheaper, its easier and cheaper to fly to some corps, than it is to drive 6-8 hours for another. On the above point, here in the northeast, there were dozens and dozens of junior corps, both large and small. Even a small percentage of members moving to a senior corps from a junior was enough to fill out the senior corps ranks. Plus, the junior membership was local back then, not drawn from all over the world as happens today, so the available pool was huge as compared to today. Much like the DCI corps depend on the HS and college band members for membership, DCA has to do much the same to remain viable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 As for the 35 rule, the issues' been beaten to death here. It's been stated repeatedly that show sponsors and fans were underwhelmed to put it lightly by some of those corps, no matter how much they cared and how much passion they had. To be frank, many of them were just not very good. Soundsport and Minis are the way to go for those organizations who can't make a 35 member minimum. agreed,..............................I believe DCA was way ahead of the curve with mini corps, going on 24 years now............mca came along and strongly advocated for DCA to grow this arena, by somehow including these groups in the reindeer games....................DCI is now the growth area with soundsport for the small corps,...............unfortunately, I think DCA missed on this opportunity,............. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 On the above point, here in the northeast, there were dozens and dozens of junior corps, both large and small. Even a small percentage of members moving to a senior corps from a junior was enough to fill out the senior corps ranks. Plus, the junior membership was local back then, not drawn from all over the world as happens today, so the available pool was huge as compared to today. Much like the DCI corps depend on the HS and college band members for membership, DCA has to do much the same to remain viable. Well said, Mike. My marching days with DCA's Sunrisers.... the vast majority of our members had prior experience in junior corps. And most of them not from the "big guns" of the junior ranks... but rather smaller, local-circuit corps, mostly from the NY/NJ/CT metro area. We also had some horn players who came from the college band ranks.... including a few of our best players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 As for the 35 rule, the issues' been beaten to death here. It's been stated repeatedly that show sponsors and fans were underwhelmed to put it lightly by some of those corps, no matter how much they cared and how much passion they had. To be frank, many of them were just not very good. Soundsport and Minis are the way to go for those organizations who can't make a 35 member minimum. The Cavaliers probably thought the G7 was a great idea at the time, Till they realized they were not allowed to play those reindeer games anymore. Think about that one a second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I'm sure i'm going to get hate mail for this, but DCA's fanbase is shrinking. As is DCA. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing DCA, but the "every corps & every show for itself" isn't working. Finals in a place that has little to offer other than cheap beer isn't working. At least the finally moved those shows that were on the same dates around. door. Ahh let's keep it in Rochester. It's a drum corps town after all. :(:(:(:(:(: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 The Cavaliers probably thought the G7 was a great idea at the time, Till they realized they were not allowed to play those reindeer games anymore. Think about that one a second. okay,..............thought about it,...............so what are you driving at with half of an analogy? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 You mentioned a lot of the larger more successful corps in terms of scoring and rankings. But there were many smaller corps with hearts Of gold and passion on the field. Corps that traveled Thousands of miles every year to get to a contest and championships. Many of them were basically targeted and cast away after the 35 rule was in place. Some held in for as long as they could but eventually had to fold. You want to talk about love of the activity? Those people loved the activity! no disrespect, but as costs rose, those corps started fading from the scene long before the 35 rule came to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 This may not be a great post for some BUT...... Maybe it's time for DCI and DCA to merge. I mean totally merge! Realizing that DCA is a weekend thing, have drum corps shows on a Saturday night where you could see, let's say, Cadets, Cadets2, Reading, Hawthorne, Hurricanes, Jersey Surf, Boston, White Sabers and 1 or 2 lower tier junior corps. Now traditionalists in DCA may not like the idea, we need to face reality in that DCA shows are dying and the old standby show sites are dwindling away. DCA management still runs their side of the house (in a way) and DCI runs their side. Maybe by working together (everyday) we can see a brighter future for ALL of drum corps. DCA worked from 1965 till maybe 2005 but the times have changed considerably. There are more college aged men and women in DCA corps than ever before. If you want to keep moving all of the activity forward then MAYBE this is the answer. Otherwise, the answer is death to more DCA corps. Soundsport and Mini corps are great but the attention is not on them. More people care about Blue Devils, Crown, Reading, Cabs then Ghost Riders or other Mini's or SoundSport corps. That was NOT meant to be mean but realistic. How many people pay money to see Mini corps and how many pay to see the top corps? Well, agree or not......take it from here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Well said, Mike. My marching days with DCA's Sunrisers.... the vast majority of our members had prior experience in junior corps. And most of them not from the "big guns" of the junior ranks... but rather smaller, local-circuit corps, mostly from the NY/NJ/CT metro area. We also had some horn players who came from the college band ranks.... including a few of our best players. I can see where you're coming from on this. But as those small corps died off. (again, money in vs money out - shows/travel/housing costs rising) they had to rethink their recruitment. Now they're dipping into the same pools as the Jr corps. Think of the saturation of market in the NJ/NY/PA area. Tough Market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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