Fran Haring Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) >>I haven't marched DCA, so I'm asking, not making a snarky comment: is it fairly standard practice after roadtrips/shows for the members over 21 to go out for a drink? I know most adult recreational sports teams (eg. your company's softball or soccer team) often consider the game and the post-game imbibing as equally important. If so, I think that might be one perceived difference between a young kid joining a DCA corps and joining a community wind band (though I suppose the wind band MIGHT do the same thing; somehow, it just doesn't appear as likely).<< Standard practice? ... Not in my opinion ... does it happen ... of course ... like someone said, the age groups gravitate towards each other ... but, it's not the wild, wild, west like generations ago ... read The Drinking Life by Pete Hamill ... I grew up in the throws of it ... and trust me ... it's gone ... the social aspect of drinking goes well beyond drum corps ... we of the 50's and 60's were just part of the culture ... so was drum corps ... and the culture has changed ... and so has drum corps What Andy said. Times have changed in regard to the drinking thing. Much for the better, in my opinion. I can't speak for any corps... but I'm pretty sure each all-age corps has their own rules regarding this. Edited March 18, 2016 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) Conversation came up 40 years back when I joined a Sr corps at 16. Came down to "kids gotta get with people outside of his own little group sometime" and "if we can't trust him to do the right thing now it's too late". Having said that I'm guessing corps are better with the drinking than back then. Hell whole mindset about drinking period has changed.... As for DCA competing with DCI for members IMO it comes down to what the "kid" wants to do and can afford to do. We had DCI aged people in Hanover when I was there. They picked Alumni-type because it fit better with the rest of their life. Same reason I did Sr corps BITD..... It's an apples vs oranges vs bananas so no sense even trying to make it a "sell one over the other" Edited March 18, 2016 by JimF-LowBari 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 On one hand I can see the issues with the age difference, though, before I played in DCA I played in local Community concert bands with many older folks and had no issues adjusting and rather enjoyed the experience. It made me a LOT better, it forced me to up my game in a very serious way playing the old school concert band literature... I play in a community concert band that has had young kids and others up to their late 80's. I don't think the issue is the actual rehearsal/performance, but the time spent together outside of that...esp if overnight travel is involved. In the community band, we pretty much rehearse/perform as a group and then go home, with a few isolated sub-groups socializing afterwards at a pub or restaurant. it is much less "time-intensive" than any corps experience would be. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 Back in 2002 The Rochester Crusaders made sure that all HS age students were taken care of after a Saturday rehearsal with a pizza party or something. We had plenty in the guard as well as brass line. The management took very good care of those kids and the parents appreciated it too. Also, they were put on another bus where there wasn't drinking but I can say that even the bus with beer didn't have a lot of drinking either. I was in the corps in 1990 and there was a ton of drinking going on but by 2002 it was miniscule. I think today it is probably even less. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 From my observation with Erie last Summer, everyone seemed a lot more squared away in general then the way things were BITD. Parents helping out with the corps, tight schedules, very hard working rehearsals, everything's more efficient and really has to be to be competitive. I took away a really positive vibe from things there, very positive. I'm sure people are enjoying things and having fun, which is also important but one can enjoy life without a ciggy in one hand and a beer in the other. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Detweiler Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 When we changed our name back in 2012 we changed many of the policies regarding drinking and the like. Buses are now completely dry when traveling, and there is an 8 hour "bottle to throttle" as pilots would call it, policy in regards to rehearsals and everything else. Members also sign an alcohol policy agreement when offered a contract that states these policies. Yes, DCA has changed a lot in the last few decades. Dan 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 To do what is done now at a competitive level, you have to be sharp, period. You want to party more and drink, forget having a sniff at finals. Every second is used carefully to get everything right. While I have some very good memories when things were more like the Mos Eisle Cantina at times, (Ben/Chumley and I sitting at an after show Legion party with George Parks and a beer, another Legion party with the T-Birds and Zona, great people, Dave Pomponio encouraging me when I was really down on myself over a rum and coke up at Jessup...) things have changed for the better. No doubt. Though I still hope some of the corps still hang out with each other now and again regardless of where or how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron H Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 (edited) Here's the problem with students I've had audition at DCA. They've all come back with the same concern. Age gap. 16 year old kids, did not want to march with 35+ year olds. It really creeped out one female musician of mine. That's a problem with today's culture. If a 16-year-old is "creeped out" by someone who is 35 then that 16-year-old (and especially their parents) need to get a grip on real life. Because i am more creeped out that a 16-year-old is creeped out by anyone more than 10 years older than themselves. That's honestly disturbing that today we must isolate "The Children" - wait, I must clasp my pearls in horror! - from those so-called "creepy" adults. And yes, I understand the age thing. But to cater to the fear of intermingling adults with teens is truly detrimental to the very heart of the philosophy of ALL-AGE corps. Edited March 19, 2016 by Ron H 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron H Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 (edited) Back to the main topic.... DCA is, at best, on life support. It's plainly obvious. And DCA exists today as a very minor player in the world of the Marching Arts. I am no longer affiliated with MBI. But if I were, I would advise the organization to abandon DCA because DCA no longer offers sufficient opportunities to perform relative to the effort it takes to sustain a competitive All-Age corps. MBI has arguably the best organization to sustain a competitive drum corps that DCA has ever seen. Their bank account is bigger than all of the Open Class AND Class A DCA corps combined. But all of that effort is spent on just 8 shows a year. To me, that's not a great return on investment. Minnesota Brass has the funds to transform itself into a DCI Open Class corps. That would give them the performance opportunities that DCA currently lacks. I have no idea whether they have ever thought of that possibility, but it's clear that something must change in the very near future. I am NOT arguing for the abandonment of All-Age drum corps. In fact I truly believe age restrictions are an artificial barrier to the entire activity. In my ideal world there would be one circuit that administers the marching arts. But it is a circuit that is not based upon ageism. It is, instead, a circuit that has various divisions which allow for every possible expression of the weird world of the marching arts. From kids to adults. From scrappy neighborhood groups to sophisticated non-profits. From experimental dance-oriented arts to Traditional Color Guard. DCA ain't it. But neither is DCI. Nor is it WGI. It's time to think bigger. Edited March 19, 2016 by Ron H 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Attendance has been mentioned at least twice here: Naturally, we should seek greater attendance - but we also need to be realistic. Like it or not, the days of five-figure DCA crowds may simply be over. Back when DCA and DCI were products of comparable quality (i.e. before DCI corps habitually toured for over 3 weeks), their crowds were somewhat comparable too. Today, world class DCI corps work full time for 2 or 3 months, and achieve more than can be done on a weekend schedule. If DCA plans to offer the same kind of product, but inevitably not of comparable quality, then we all need to accept some degree of the declining attendance that has occurred in the process. i'm not talking 5 figures for finals. i'm talking 3/4k for a regular season show would be huge. the key is the fan base must get younger like the corps on the field have 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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