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4 hours ago, MikeD said:

We would have a corps member sit on a water cooler in the front of the bus at night, just to make sure the driver stayed awake!

My sister did that at Westshore off and on. The friendship made there is still strong. :satisfied:

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5 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

It varies by region, I think. Ohio has approximately 800 high schools. Of those, about 225 have marching bands who attend competitions. I believe Indiana has fewer high schools overall but even more bands that compete. Most of the bands aren't very good, to be sure. But by most accounts, neither were the vast majority of corps of the 1960s and 1970s.

When it comes to school programs, I give a wide berth. I know some schools that have varsity and junior varsity bands. Others are required to involve anyone interested. 

However, if people expect a local circuit to have the quality of most OC and WC corps today, I do not see it happening. They might be the modern equivalent of what were referred to as Class B or C or Prep corps. In the 70’s, most local corps did not venture outside of circuits much and did perhaps for a show such as World Open, U.S. Open, maybe one of the DCI prelim shows, but that’s about it. I don’t think they expected to actually make the night show but wanted to see how they fared against major contenders. How good they were is a matter of opinion. I remember some being very good and entertaining, others no do much. 

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If anything, this post brings about good discussion!

Back in the 70's it was Get kids off the streets and put them on the streets (parades). Today it would be get my kid off the XBox One please and make him/her active. Have to take cell phones too LOL Like that'll happen

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1 hour ago, KeithHall said:

If anything, this post brings about good discussion!

Back in the 70's it was Get kids off the streets and put them on the streets (parades). Today it would be get my kid off the XBox One please and make him/her active. Have to take cell phones too LOL Like that'll happen

I take it for true that you both financially support and volunteer for SDCA; and do everything you can to get youth in local communities involved with that organisation which provides the exact thing in which you desire.

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19 hours ago, tesmusic said:

I think in a lot of ways SoundSport could be similar to the local circuit concept, and would be interested in seeing more performances on a local level from groups like this. I don't know, however, what this would take to get up and running.

As for a tour model that was similar to that time frame, and to some extent until the demise of all local circuits in the early 2000's, it would be fun.

Having marched 1997-1999, I loved having the local circuit with DCM because there were more shows that I had friends and family at, than if I were marching now.

 

18 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

Soundsport would be the closest way to make it happen. But these days, getting a church or a Legion or VFW or PAL or whatever to sponsor a corps wouldn't happen. There's so much competition for donated money, that many of these places are struggling to fulfill their actual charter. 

Agree that SoundSport could be the way to bring back Corps with local membership.  While they compete indoors on a basketball court - there is no reason they can't perform in local parades, standstills etc.  This leads to them becoming known in the local area, and potentially leading to other local groups starting up as interest builds (i.e., local competition).  Then, get them onto a football field.

When I lived in Belleville IL in mid 90's, I ran across a late-1950's newspaper that had story of the previous nights Drum Corps contest - 12 Corps (2 all-girl), ALL of them from within St Clair County.  Now, with possible exception of the Black Knights I am sure all these Corps were in the 50-member range, but properly staged these Corps can be highly entertaining.  None of them (except BK) toured farther than 100 miles to compete - at best a few might go to State AL or VFW, BUT there were contests almost every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

This could be done without DCI involvement.  The members would work hard, reap the benefits of working as a team toward a goal larger than themselves, etc.

 

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2 hours ago, KeithHall said:

If anything, this post brings about good discussion!

Back in the 70's it was Get kids off the streets and put them on the streets (parades). Today it would be get my kid off the XBox One please and make him/her active. Have to take cell phones too LOL Like that'll happen

Kids these days! :lle:

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14 hours ago, Tim K said:

When it comes to school programs, I give a wide berth. I know some schools that have varsity and junior varsity bands. Others are required to involve anyone interested. 

However, if people expect a local circuit to have the quality of most OC and WC corps today, I do not see it happening. They might be the modern equivalent of what were referred to as Class B or C or Prep corps. In the 70’s, most local corps did not venture outside of circuits much and did perhaps for a show such as World Open, U.S. Open, maybe one of the DCI prelim shows, but that’s about it. I don’t think they expected to actually make the night show but wanted to see how they fared against major contenders. How good they were is a matter of opinion. I remember some being very good and entertaining, others no do much. 

Well said.

My junior corps fell into that category.  Honestly, we would have fared better if we had entered Class A (or Class B as it was called at the World Open) every time instead of the top tier.

1974, we did enter Class A at Key to the Sea in Toledo, Ohio... and made finals.  It was really cool to play at the night show.  But, for whatever bizarre reason, our director put us in Open Class at the U.S. Open the next week, and we got buried.  We would have had a chance in Class A, since the field was similar to Toledo.

1975 and '76, we were so bad that we finished well back in the Class B pack at the World Open.  LOL.  At least our director finally had the sense not to enter us in the top class.  We might have been zeroed out. :laughing:

Edited by Fran Haring
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14 hours ago, Tim K said:

When it comes to school programs, I give a wide berth. I know some schools that have varsity and junior varsity bands. Others are required to involve anyone interested. 

However, if people expect a local circuit to have the quality of most OC and WC corps today, I do not see it happening. They might be the modern equivalent of what were referred to as Class B or C or Prep corps. In the 70’s, most local corps did not venture outside of circuits much and did perhaps for a show such as World Open, U.S. Open, maybe one of the DCI prelim shows, but that’s about it. I don’t think they expected to actually make the night show but wanted to see how they fared against major contenders. How good they were is a matter of opinion. I remember some being very good and entertaining, others no do much. 

About five years ago, someone who designs in both DCI and BOA (and has worked for some of the best groups in both circuits) told me that he felt the very best high school marching bands perform at a quality that puts them not too far out of DCI finals contention. At the time, I hadn't been paying much attention to high school bands in years and was completely unfamiliar with the BOA stalwarts.

Having since seen a lot of BOA (and other) bands since then, I think that, if instrumentation rules were overlooked, the best BOA bands would score somewhere in the low-mid 70s in DCI. Was Carmel (2018's BOA champion) as good as, say, Gold or Legends or Spartans? I don't think so.

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