Jeff Ream Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 13 hours ago, Fran Haring said: Seven years old that summer. I didn't even know about drum corps yet, but somehow I was announcing the Kingston show!!! 🤣 yes...but the fashion statements had to be better 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 On 4/15/2023 at 8:41 PM, godzilla5123 said: It's probably best for DCA to run with Allentown than run against it or not have a show at all. Having a massive crowd, including high schoolers who would generally be able to march DCA more than DCI at that point (cheaper tuitions, locality, staying at home and not having conflicts with the summer), should be a massive recruitment source for DCA and the corps showing up, let alone a bigger fanbase. Sure, not many people know about the DCA as much, let alone Hawthorne and Reading's history, and it might be an empty crowd until the Bluecoats perform, but it can definitely help the organizations as well as the circuit grow. Honestly I do not know how massive a recruitment source the DCA shows are at the DCI shows if your counting on the product you have on the field. You got to remember the raw product and performance level you are putting on at these shows and the time of the year you are putting them on. Its just not clean. In fact its pretty darn dirty. The few fans that are in the stands that actually see it that is the impression you are making on them????? So long as you have people doing the lot watching and waiting to show up when the Bluecoats show up I would dismiss any value of DCI shows as a recruiting tool and just use them as a chance to get a score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzilla5123 Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 8 hours ago, camel lips said: Honestly I do not know how massive a recruitment source the DCA shows are at the DCI shows if your counting on the product you have on the field. You got to remember the raw product and performance level you are putting on at these shows and the time of the year you are putting them on. Its just not clean. In fact its pretty darn dirty. The few fans that are in the stands that actually see it that is the impression you are making on them????? So long as you have people doing the lot watching and waiting to show up when the Bluecoats show up I would dismiss any value of DCI shows as a recruiting tool and just use them as a chance to get a score. Sure. No DCA corps is on par with Boston or BD or anyone else extremely clean, but Reading and Hawthorne have put out amazing shows every year that are on par with semifinalists. Everyone puts in a #### ton of effort anyways in their show as well. Different circuit, different rehearsal ideals (given that it's weekend band and not a full-on tour), and different show expectations. Most people that show up at DCA shows are friends, family, alumni, and old folks that aged out many moons ago. Hardly any high schoolers or college kids show up to these events. This is mainly due to DCA not advertising themselves as much, and being under a massive shadow from DCI. There were more people at Allentown watching Reading and Surf last year than people watching Hawthorne's competing, alumni, and combined performance at Clifton that same season. Several bands get busses out with their kids to watch the events, and it's definitely a great starter for them to consider it. Also, it's just easier for kids to start at a DCA corps rather than wasting 200$+ at a Bluecoats camp just to either get stringed along and fleeced or instantly cut with 0 notes of improvement, and not march that year. I know a lot of people who did that. Imo, in regards to the last point, given that it's two DCA corps per night it's easy to throw them in the middle (say after the break) and have the ideal audience. Or just go back to random sorting with hidden performance schedules until then. But until then, and when DCI fixes a lot of their issues, having a performance at Allentown will help the corps and the circuit more than having a show with not enough attendance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 10 hours ago, camel lips said: Honestly I do not know how massive a recruitment source the DCA shows are at the DCI shows if your counting on the product you have on the field. You got to remember the raw product and performance level you are putting on at these shows and the time of the year you are putting them on. Its just not clean. In fact its pretty darn dirty. The few fans that are in the stands that actually see it that is the impression you are making on them????? So long as you have people doing the lot watching and waiting to show up when the Bluecoats show up I would dismiss any value of DCI shows as a recruiting tool and just use them as a chance to get a score. at Allentown, you'll have more kids familiar with DCA than you would at say Stanford. many competitive bands in the NE have staff or kids in a DCA corps at one time or another. So going on at Allentown actually does get eyes on the product. When Bucs went on last year there was already a sizable crowd in the stands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 1 hour ago, godzilla5123 said: Sure. No DCA corps is on par with Boston or BD or anyone else extremely clean, but Reading and Hawthorne have put out amazing shows every year that are on par with semifinalists. Everyone puts in a #### ton of effort anyways in their show as well. Different circuit, different rehearsal ideals (given that it's weekend band and not a full-on tour), and different show expectations. Most people that show up at DCA shows are friends, family, alumni, and old folks that aged out many moons ago. Hardly any high schoolers or college kids show up to these events. This is mainly due to DCA not advertising themselves as much, and being under a massive shadow from DCI. There were more people at Allentown watching Reading and Surf last year than people watching Hawthorne's competing, alumni, and combined performance at Clifton that same season. Several bands get busses out with their kids to watch the events, and it's definitely a great starter for them to consider it. Also, it's just easier for kids to start at a DCA corps rather than wasting 200$+ at a Bluecoats camp just to either get stringed along and fleeced or instantly cut with 0 notes of improvement, and not march that year. I know a lot of people who did that. Imo, in regards to the last point, given that it's two DCA corps per night it's easy to throw them in the middle (say after the break) and have the ideal audience. Or just go back to random sorting with hidden performance schedules until then. But until then, and when DCI fixes a lot of their issues, having a performance at Allentown will help the corps and the circuit more than having a show with not enough attendance. you have to group the DCA crps together and not interrupt the flow of the DCI portion. the circuits use different sheets. DCA corps get judged on DCA sheets at DCI events Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 10 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: at Allentown, you'll have more kids familiar with DCA than you would at say Stanford. many competitive bands in the NE have staff or kids in a DCA corps at one time or another. So going on at Allentown actually does get eyes on the product. When Bucs went on last year there was already a sizable crowd in the stands. Yep... the Bucs are well-known to a good number of the East fans. And heck... the show's event staff is chock full of Buccaneer alums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) On 4/27/2023 at 10:58 AM, Fran Haring said: Yep... the Bucs are well-known to a good number of the East fans. And heck... the show's event staff is chock full of Buccaneer alums! and lets be honest...the average age of those 4 corps is mostly DCi or just post DCI age. especially if you kick about 25 people out from the corps participating Edited May 3, 2023 by Jeff Ream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyGuy66 Posted May 1, 2023 Share Posted May 1, 2023 Well, it's May first and DCA still has no schedule posted. Some DCA corps have a spotty schedule on their web page, but many have nothing at all. Anyone want to speculate about the reason. Or is it that DCA is just dying a slow death? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 12 hours ago, LucyGuy66 said: Well, it's May first and DCA still has no schedule posted. Some DCA corps have a spotty schedule on their web page, but many have nothing at all. Anyone want to speculate about the reason. Or is it that DCA is just dying a slow death? no clue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyGuy66 Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 Jeff Ream, neither does DCA!! LMAO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.