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Time to Say Goodbye, after 15 years


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58 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

That is stretching it, in several ways.

1.  If by "most", you mean slightly over 50%, you may be correct.  I hope you are not implying we should ignore the other 49%.

2.  Before those things you mention, we still had the percussion arms race, the first three of the five total brass choir replacements, and expanded travel.

3.  Like most things, "modern rolling stock" worked its way into the activity as an "option" that eventually became "necessary".  You could stow 1970s instrumentation in the storage compartments of buses, but many DCI member corps had developed a full eighteen-wheeler equipment/uniform trailer by the time the pit rule was passed in the early 1980s.  So they were immediately able to pile on full concert marimbas and racks of assorted pit percussion that would not fit in bus storage.  Just one of countless examples of how the top 10-25 corps passed rules that had "unintended consequences" for the other 400 corps... make that 300... no, wait, 200... 100... 

if those smaller circuits were so popular, would they have died out? I remember going to Eastern States and Garden States shows 40 years ago with more people on the field than in the stands. DCI was nowhere then what it is today, so explain that? and by 1979, the number of corps no longer with us had grown drastically.

 

Now why did they die? Easy. Churches and veterans groups were having a hard enough time funding their primary mission, let alone a drum corps. This had started before DCI, and even if the Legion and VFW were still the power players after 1972, it wouldn't have changed a thing

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43 minutes ago, KeithHall said:

I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to suggest going to a 2 small tour season to save money. Probably not enough corps to fill in shows already on schedule from year to year.

you still have to move the corps around and house them and feed them. So what do you do in those days/weeks you have nothing? Send the kid home to Texas?

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8 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Instructional costs have also gone up.

not enough to blow up a corps budget unless your looking at the director, and well, only one case has shown that to be an issue

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22 minutes ago, Ghost said:

But, are there not more paid instructional currently?

yes, but it's not a huge dent in the budget, and the majority of people on the road teaching aren't making a livable wage doing so

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38 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

if those smaller circuits were so popular, would they have died out? I remember going to Eastern States and Garden States shows 40 years ago with more people on the field than in the stands.

I marched in an Eastern States corps, and I'll second that.

Some shows were well-attended... we did alright with our home show in Manville, NJ, in part because we promoted it as a "town event"... something to do close to home on a summer day/evening.  Lots of locals in the stands. (Including a lot of parents/relatives of the corps members.)

But several other shows... a whole bunch of folks dressed up as empty seats. :laughing:

Edited by Fran Haring
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2 hours ago, MikeD said:

In my area, the huge rise of the corps-style bands, taught by corps people, took the place of the smaller local corps. As they folded, few started up to take their place.

Absolutely...  the NJ band scene changed drastically from the 1960s-70s "festival bands" to dozens upon dozens of competition bands arriving on the scene.

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42 minutes ago, Ghost said:

But, are there not more paid instructional currently?

yes, BITD of 3 peats and 100 corps in prelims, there were never 55 people on "faculty" (one for left handed spins, one for the right drummers stick, etc.) or 20 on admin. staffs, not counting the 18 drivers and rotations.

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59 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Instructional costs have also gone up.

What’s this I hear about insurance and gas no longer .39 a gallon?

ok having 40 year old flashbacks😛

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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24 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

What’s this I hear about insurance and gas no longer .39 a gallon?

ok having 40 year old flashbacks😛

Lol even older flashback of my grandfather’s garage with “cheapest gas in town .29” sign.

of course it was “Pioneer” gas so you probably got what you paid for...😲

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