For the record: Attendance and popularity

[mingusmonk]

59 minutes ago, Mello Dude said:

For some reason you keep beating this drum like everyone here (or even at the show) is saying drum corps is dying.  Personally I haven't heard any of this for like a decade. Phobia?  Playing devils advocate there are a crap ton less shows than there used to be.  So, of course, shows are going to draw more.  Dying no, numbers meaning what you think they do...no.

 

Some people have been saying this on DCP over the course of this very summer. Citing alleged poor turnout for Rockford, or a random BFE Tuesday night shows with 4 corps competing. Literally saying narration and props and electronics have driven away fans and this summer is proof. I know I have read it. If I get the time, I'll do some search/copy/paste. I'm getting old, but my memory isn't that bad. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by mingusmonk

[Terri Schehr]

22 minutes ago, craiga said:

I can only speak of the two shows I went to in early July.   Quincy and Lynn, Mass.   Both show had either sell out seats or close to it.  Traditionally,  Massachusetts drum corps shows have a much older audience than say Texas,  however I would say both of these shows were a great mix of high school kids and folks in their 60s and 70s.

That’s good!  I hope that’s happening in the Midwest, too. 

[kdaddy]

2 hours ago, FTNK said:

I have been on this forum since April of 2005 (yikes), and a big argument then -- and ever since -- has been that drum corps is going to kill itself by going the "band/WGI" route: you know, all the stuff people complain and fight about constantly. Amplification, Bb horns, dance, electronics, props, costuming, kevlar drum heads. The argument has always been: DCI is committing suicide by abandoning "real drum corps," and that all the legacy fans and alums will turn their backs, and no one will go to shows. 

https://dci.org/news/blue-devils-one-up-past-record-season-in-front-of-near-record-san-antonio-crowd

The San Antonio regional had its second largest attendance ever, nearly reaching the record set in - wait for it - 2017. Not 1999, When they still used G Bugles! Not 2003, the year before amps destroyed the activity. Sure, a lot of alums and legacy fans may have left, but someone - at lot of someones - are paying to go to shows.

So, I think we can say that argument has been thoroughly disproven by history.

I wonder how many fewer shows there are now relative to 20 years ago. Is cumulative attendance up? Or are recent years experiencing highs just because there are fewer shows to attend? 

 

[Continental]

It would be interesting to look at total season attendance through the years vs select shows.  

[jjeffeory]

1 hour ago, Mello Dude said:

For some reason you keep beating this drum like everyone here (or even at the show) is saying drum corps is dying.  Personally I haven't heard any of this for like a decade. Phobia?  Playing devils advocate there are a crap ton less shows than there used to be.  So, of course, shows are going to draw more.  Dying no, numbers meaning what you think they do...no.

 

Yes, you have a great point! There do seem to be less shows than before, so of course the major regionals are going to be better attended.  What we should want to know is what are the TOTAL ticket sales for the season.  DCI should have this data. There are a lot of data scientists around who could give them some true insight into how things are going.

[Phantom56]

Audience turnouts for the Texas shows were tremendous. Atlanta attendance will likely be down this year, due to the outdoor stadium. 96 degrees predicted for Saturday-30% chance of thunderstorms. Allentown will have a great turn-out, as always, and finals night in Indy is virtually sold out, end zone to end zone.  

[TexasPRfan]

2 hours ago, FTNK said:

If drum corps dies, it will be because of financial/economic issues and/or turning a blind eye to abuse and sexual misconduct

I completely agree with this.  I'd also add the increase in membership to 165.

• Financials. I worry about the ever accelerating arms race related to more & better speakers, props, mics, additional pit equipment, ever expanding convoys of trucks, busses, staff sleeper coaches, etc.  This won't hit the select corps with deep pockets, but the gap between them & the have nots keeps widening, and it can mean even fewer corps and likely fewer shows as a result.  While it's not practical given the dynamics of the organization, I wish DCI could implement a spending cap, similar to professional sports league salary cap.  I know that's apples & potatoes, but we need as broad a number of corps as possible or we could look up and have 12 or so World Class corps left at some point.  The explosion in budgets in the top end of the activity has been crazy. 
• Abuse & Misconduct - at some point we could see a class action lawsuit, or at the very least, former marchers who no longer care about protecting their corps and sue said corps out of existence.
• Increasing membership - it's pretty clear that the expansion to 165 has some type of impact on some of the lower corps ability to hit even pre-165 numbers.  This is almost a sub-component of financials.  The rich get richer, and the gap widens further.  Any change that amplifies that has to be looked at more closely, IMO.

Just my 2 cents.  And Kdaddy, you are right - none of the changes have turned fans away in droves.  Spot on with that.

Harvey

[kkrepps]

I think we (people in general) have a self-centered perspective and then proclaim it loudly like it's everyone's experience.  People think "I don't like it and I'm not going, and if I'm not there then no one of any importance is there either"  So then we broadcast our perspective to everyone "Attendance is down and the activity is dying out, and here's why..."

[Chief Guns]

I attended every show in SoCal last month and earlier this month. The stadiums were packed. Even the shows where it was just Open Class (July 15th-17th) had phenomenal turnouts. 

[ironlips]

"finals night in Indy is virtually sold out, end zone to end zone. "

That would be great. From where was this statistic culled?