Where is DCI?

[Jake W.]

Wrong. Drum corps & marching bands were verrrrry different BITD.

In terms of what? Your reply is super vague in two points: when exactly is "BITD", and what aspects of marching band & drum corps were "verrrrry different"?

In many aspects, you are correct. Marching band & drum corps have never mirrored each other in terms of rehearsal structure or performance models, and especially not throughout the 70s & 80s.

But in terms of show concepts, from the 70s to the present, the top groups in Bands of America and the top drum corps have generally paralleled each other. There has NEVER been anything "verrrrry different" from show design style across the top groups in each circuit, no matter what point in the last 40 years you select, and these groups have always set the show design tone, season in and season out, for the downticket groups in the activity. The top drum corps and the top marching band have had fairly indistinguishable show designs since the 70s, and there's no denying that. And it makes total sense; at their cores, they are both two similar aspects of an incredibly unique niche activity that share lots of staff members and designers across the circuits.

[UKSuperman]

Not true at all. You are right about wanting to distance ourselves BITD but it was only because we were trying to deny that we were the geeky nerds we thought we saw in band. Little did we realize the outside world still thought of us that way which made us deny it all the more. Took years for me to also admit that but imo it's true.

I don't know if that's true for all high schools. The high school I went to had a decent football team, a good cheerleading team, and an okay basketball team. Marching band was the only "team" that won on a regular basis. When we won state, they held pep rallies for us at the football field in which we wore our full uniforms, with our medals, and we performed the entire show for the entire school district. When we finished, the Board of Education director would give us all medals of his own that he had specially made for us. At the end of it, the school would storm the field and we'd have us sort of an all day party until school let out. We were basically the "rockstars" of our school. The cool kids.

It's not like that for every school, but in our town, back when our marching band was THE thing in this small town, we weren't considered band geeks. We only had 80 kids, but we were the winning "atheletes". To the point that the stands would fill up before halftime, we performed our show, and then everyone left except for about 50 people and the kids walking around the track. It's like that at a lot of Central Kentucky schools.

Edited July 27, 2016 by UKSuperman

[Jeff Ream]

I'd say the reason you no longer have the PBS broadcast at least is because you no longer have Bill Cook. He was the driving force behind that whole deal. When he left the activity, so did PBS. I don't think that's a coincidence and it has NOTHING to do with the product on the field. I was once lamenting the current product and attendance but I'd say over the last 8-10 years, we've seen a return to very entertaining shows and the shows I've gone to have been packed and close to capacity. Those who don't like the current product (not directed at you) have been crying about the imminent demise of the activity going back to my days in the early 90s but I don't see the end in sight. There are new band kids being made every year to replace those whose tastes refuse to evolve. Hey, there's nothing wrong with Elvis. Just don't get mad at the current generation if they don't like Elvis and everything else from your generation.

actually because PBS stations got tired of being stiffed on promised pledges.

[Jeff Ream]

PBS had a very good pledge to receipt rate in the early going in their relationship with DCI..... sufficient enough for many years for PBS to consider the relationship with DCI a good enough one to continue the Finals broadcast either live or on delay for Sept. viewing around the country. But over the years, there was a noticeable drop off between pledges and receipts.... then even the pledges themselves began to decline. Bill Cook, nor any other single indivjdual, had anything at all to do with the diminishment of both pledges, and receipt of monies received diminishment. Elvis had nothing to do with the DCI Finals broadcaat pledge decline . Elvis had nothing to do with DCI 's loss of TV exposure for its marchers at Finals. That said, I will agree with you that DCI is not dead, but Elvis is, no matter what anybody tries and tells you.

As for music from the 60's 70's. 80's, some of the biggest grossing concert acts every year are still filled with groups playing the same schtick they did in the 60's 70's, 80's. There are TONS of 20 Somethings in the audience too. And I mean TONS of them. Maybe you don't go to these concerts.. and thus not aware. So this notion that music from eatrlier decades is not appealing to most young people, is certainly not borne out by the gross receipts and attendance figures that is available, Now, whether marching band fans go to these rock and roll concerts, I wouldn't know, as nobody asks you if you do marching band at these concerts that I go to every year.

he isn't dead,

[Jeff Ream]

I still can't understand why DCI cant get some type of broadcast deal given the fact that there are now 300+ TV channels. I can surf through my hundreds of channels & find reality shows about darn near everything. Many of these shows are absolutly ridiculous & terrible. I would think that someone in the TV world would be interested in a show about drum corps. I have posted before about this. DCI needs to get with the times & embrace TV & mobile apps for fan use. Having said all that, I don't think DCI wants finals on free TV because it would kill their DCI live revenue. This is a dangerous & shortsighted view in my opinion. TV exposure would be great for the activity.

money.

lets be honest here....to a majority of the world, we are marching bands, that many people get up and ignore at halftime. or we are jokes in the American pie Movies. what are the bread winner advertisers tv wants......beer companies for one. Gonna have them do commercials for a youth activity? No. Nike...wait which corps wears their gear?

too often in this activity we are so ###### insular and think we are more than we really are in the grand scheme of things. Now maybe the Dwayne Johnson produced show can help open eyes to the activity...maybe not.But it's better than seeing a Nike swoosh on every uniform

[Jeff Ream]

No its not.

There were 214 shows in the summer of 1990 across the country ( and into Canada ). By contrast, DCI had only 103 shows last season ( 2015). It is simply not possible for the 103 show's combined national attendance last season to exceed what the 214 show's generated in overall national attendance in 1990. Not possible. I do agree with you however that DCI made some very questionable site decisions in some of the 90's for their Championships. For just one example, when we think ourselves of potentially great sites for DCI Championships, is Jackson, Mississippi on anybody's wish list right now ? I mean... seriously ? Well, guess what ? DCI thought that this should be their ultimate Go To city in 1993. What the hell was DCI thinking ?. Did they pay DCI to use the facilities, stadiums there ? ( haha!) if not, no offense to Jackson, Mississippi in August, but I can easily think of 2,000 other places I'd rather be than in an outdoor stadium in Jackson, Mississippi for DCI's Championships in mid August. DCI's " brain trust " also thought an outdoor stadium in Orlando, Florida in mid August should be a Go To city for their Championships in the 90's as well. Who came in as DCI's 2nd choice for the Steamy, Hot and Humid Go To City for the DCI's Drum Corps fans in mid August ? Calcutta, India ?

of those 214 shows, how many were sold out? lots of very small crowds at some local circuit shows, but time and rose colored glasses makes people forget

[TroopAlum12]

Wrong. Drum corps & marching bands were verrrrry different BITD.

I restate what I said earlier. Like it or not, drum corps is part of the music education complex now. BOA, DCI, WGI and your local music teachers form a symbiotic web that all build and rely upon each other now. Bands have adopted the drum corps style and DCI has borrowed a little from the WGI world. To me as a music teacher, it's amazing and great and helps keep young people active and interested in music. The high school band kids treat the drum corps kids like rock stars.

It confuses me how people see that as a bad thing. I think it makes the activity stronger.

[Jeff Ream]

Yes. So you agree that the drum corps activity has shrunk dramatically.

and i also see it starting to rebound.

drum corps was bound to shrink. youth football expanded, then soccer, then more kids started going to college, then the Al and VFW were losing more members than they brought in, churches fought to keep the doors open for their main reason of being, CYO's the same thing....just like other things shrunk.

i work in the mortgage world. in 2006, there were over 11,000 appraisers nationwide. because of changes in the lending world, especially as a result of the Dodd Frank act and the requirements to become a licensed appraiser, younger blood very quickly became less interested in doing it, and the pool of appraisers left was getting older. 10 years later there's a little over 8,000 appraisers nationwide....and 60% of those are ages 51-65. Tell me how many will be left in 2026?

so yes, things change. there is no one size blame all for the number of corps shrinking, it was many things. Want to know the biggest reason many corps disbanded in the late 60's early 70's? That Vietnam war thing. kept taking away eligible marching member, which sadly, too many never came home to march later in life.

[garfield]

How about the Ballentine Brewers sponsored by guess-who, the NY Islanders sponsored by a 7-Up bottling company on the Island (and wearing 7-Up green and orange unis), First Federal Blue Stars, to name a few more.

And didn't Troopers do a stint with Union Pacific or an insurance company with a western-sounding name?

Wow, memory fades.

I remember the years of fear-mongering that corporations would "take over" DCI. Heh, boy that sure worked out, didn't it?!

[garfield]

Exactly. 40,000+ marching members, 400+ drum corps, 250+ shows per summer & 10+ judging circuits in the 1970's. Today might be 7500 marching members, 50 drum corps, 95 shows, & 1 judging circuit. That is what negative growth looks like kids.

How about Grammar, spelling & punctuation?

That's all you got?

Correction. That's all you have?

No, he also has condescension! Come on, keep up will ya'?