DCI Championship Week (either breaking news or trolling)

[JimF-LowBari]

31 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

Then bring the Hershey show back... because the idea currently described does not bring performers of DCI and DCA corps together in a joint event.

Stadium owners killed that. Don’t know if things have changed (doubt it) but owners refuse to sign contracts for using the field. That way if something more profitable comes up the original event gets canned (DCA/DCI show was bumped for Destiny’s Child concert). Even Big 33 HS football game can’t get a signed contract and huge crowd and publicity.

Bottom line is event planners can’t trust stadium owners and owners know they have the best stadium in a multiple county area.

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Then bring the Hershey show back... because the idea currently described does not bring performers of DCI and DCA corps together in a joint event.

Sources on this forum tell us that things have changed since the 1960s.  Today, it appears that traveling to faraway places like Seymour, CT, or western NY are too much to ask for a regular season show.  Indianapolis will be a longer trip for the Northeastern corps.

Common sense does suggest that the corps would not vote to go to Indy if they did not think they could afford it.  (Is there/was there a vote?)

Now that you mention it, DCA championship weekend is a full weekend of events.  Prelims.  Mini corps.  I&E.  The alumni show.  Finals.  There is also some sort of hall-of-fame meeting typically held in the championship city during the weekend. 

This idea apparently scraps prelims, which is not a trivial issue.  Ask any performer if they would prefer to be one-and-done at championships. 

I have not heard any mention of what happens to those other four events if finals moves to Indy.

No one knows many details besides rumors now but the membership voted based on a post in a Bucs alumni forum. And while corps may not do as many shows as they used to at least they’re making smart choices where they go. I know of at least 2 corps that consider if alumni can make an easy drive. Plus with the free for all system DCA corps get paid by show hosts, I can see why corps may choose to not travel.

 

hershey would be great if in a venue with management you can trust. Even band circuits are having issues with Hershey. You’d also need the dci tour to change.

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Stadium owners killed that. Don’t know if things have changed (doubt it) but owners refuse to sign contracts for using the field. That way if something more profitable comes up the original event gets canned (DCA/DCI show was bumped for Destiny’s Child concert). Even Big 33 HS football game can’t get a signed contract and huge crowd and publicity.

Bottom line is event planners can’t trust stadium owners and owners know they have the best stadium in a multiple county area.

Actually the biggest issues now are literal last minute security procedures changes with zero time to get the word out to paying attendees

[JimF-LowBari]

45 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

Actually the biggest issues now are literal last minute security procedures changes with zero time to get the word out to paying attendees

Ugh.. haven’t been in the stadium since saw Springsteen. Sad part of that it was Clarence Clemons last tour. So guessing 2010….

[Tim K]

What used to be referred to as junior corps and senior corps began to see shifts at about the same time. For junior corps it was the end of feeder corps and midsized local corps. Junior corps had a solution that saved some corps. Ten years ago if I said what I am saying now, people with torches and clubs would be standing outside my door to do me harm, but whether people care to admit it or not, high school music programs with kids who wanted to take it to the next level began to fill the ranks. With senior corps, changes in society had an impact. The heyday of senior corps when the Caballeros, Skyliners, Reading Buccaneers, and Hurricanes reigned supreme was 40-50 years ago. The corps were filled with adults of all ages, many junior corps alums. This was also a time where Knights of Columbus, Masonic lodges, Elks had tons of members. Younger people are not interested in these activities, parents of school aged children don’t have time. Drum corps commitment used to begin at 10 or 11 and lasted a number of years. That’s not the case anymore so drum corps is not as engrained in alums. We still see excellent all aged shows and have for years, but I only see DCA shows about every three or four years and I often wonder how much longer they’ll hold on. Dedicated marching members who give their hearts and souls and loyal fans keep it alive, but for how long? 

DCA needs to rethink its mission before looking for new venues and the best ways to grow their corps and the audience. Keeping the good old days alive is great, especially where I’ve hit the big 60, but it won’t last forever.

[Jeff Ream]

6 hours ago, Tim K said:

What used to be referred to as junior corps and senior corps began to see shifts at about the same time. For junior corps it was the end of feeder corps and midsized local corps. Junior corps had a solution that saved some corps. Ten years ago if I said what I am saying now, people with torches and clubs would be standing outside my door to do me harm, but whether people care to admit it or not, high school music programs with kids who wanted to take it to the next level began to fill the ranks. With senior corps, changes in society had an impact. The heyday of senior corps when the Caballeros, Skyliners, Reading Buccaneers, and Hurricanes reigned supreme was 40-50 years ago. The corps were filled with adults of all ages, many junior corps alums. This was also a time where Knights of Columbus, Masonic lodges, Elks had tons of members. Younger people are not interested in these activities, parents of school aged children don’t have time. Drum corps commitment used to begin at 10 or 11 and lasted a number of years. That’s not the case anymore so drum corps is not as engrained in alums. We still see excellent all aged shows and have for years, but I only see DCA shows about every three or four years and I often wonder how much longer they’ll hold on. Dedicated marching members who give their hearts and souls and loyal fans keep it alive, but for how long? 

DCA needs to rethink its mission before looking for new venues and the best ways to grow their corps and the audience. Keeping the good old days alive is great, especially where I’ve hit the big 60, but it won’t last forever.

it hasn't been. the alumni show barely breaks even if at all.....and if you actually had attended, you'd see the stands fill up....after other corps got off the field and re-entered into the seats. Sadly the older stule of shows is fading away because....the audience and people wanting to perform it is fading away. so many of the alumni corps out there do not have active corps to keep supplying the ranks, and in a few cases less than 50% actually had ties to the corps in their heyday. 

 

this may or may not be the answer. but something had to change. look at DCI East...2 DCA corps each night. 

[cixelsyd]

7 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

it hasn't been. the alumni show barely breaks even if at all.....and if you actually had attended, you'd see the stands fill up....after other corps got off the field and re-entered into the seats. Sadly the older stule of shows is fading away because....the audience and people wanting to perform it is fading away. 

You may be entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.

1.  As DCA is about to find out (again), when you run a championship week event at 10 AM the morning after a long semifinal contest runs late into the evening, much of your potential audience will not show up.  It was true for the alumni show, and it will be true for DCA-in-Indy if they try that.

2.  Alumni shows are non-competitive, and not performed to the same standard that existed when that same style was used in competition.  

3.  Ever since drum corps competition organized itself in the 1920s, the style of show has been determined among the influencers who serve as designers/judges.  The audience and performers have no say in the matter.  Styles always fade away in the name of "innovation", but that says nothing about the audience, or what people want to perform.

Alumni corps should have been dead and buried long ago, but it still persists.  In fact, it persists roughly like DCA persists.  They are both clearly past their peak.  Not as many participants, or corps for them to participate in.  This forum routinely declares the impending death of both genres.  Yet they persist beyond those predictions. 

I am surprised alumni corps are still with us.  They keep re-inventing themselves.  The 50% you mentioned that have no ties to the corps... why do you think they are there?  Why do I see so many people perform with more than one alumni corps over time?  Those people tell me they are there simply because they want to perform that style.  

[JimF-LowBari]

33 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

Alumni corps should have been dead and buried long ago, but it still persists.  In fact, it persists roughly like DCA persists.  They are both clearly past their peak.  Not as many participants, or corps for them to participate in.  This forum routinely declares the impending death of both genres.  Yet they persist beyond those predictions. 

I am surprised alumni corps are still with us.  They keep re-inventing themselves.  The 50% you mentioned that have no ties to the corps... why do you think they are there?  Why do I see so many people perform with more than one alumni corps over time?  Those people tell me they are there simply because they want to perform that style.  

Not all alumni type corps are alike. Performed with one 2004-2011 (not my old corps) and saw gamut of corps that were older folks reliving their past glory to others trying to reach out to younger set. You can figure which groups have a greater chance of survival.

And not all perform because they want to play “that style” of music. Some (raises hand) see that type of corps as a way to keep playing music and entertain people.

Edited May 31, 2023 by JimF-LowBari

[cixelsyd]

13 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Not all alumni type corps are alike. Performed with one 2004-2011 (not my old corps) and saw gamut of corps that were older folks reliving their past glory to others trying to reach out to younger set. You can figure which groups have a greater chance of survival.

And not all perform because they want to play “that style” of music. Some (raises hand) see that type of corps as a way to keep playing music and entertain people.

Maybe when you say "keep playing music and entertain people" and I say "that style"... we are actually saying the same thing.

[JimF-LowBari]

42 minutes ago, cixelsyd said:

Maybe when you say "keep playing music and entertain people" and I say "that style"... we are actually saying the same thing.

Not sure what you mean by “that style”. If you mean playing in a brass and perc group, I enjoyed it but had few options as a non-musician. So I agree.

I  was thinking different ways the alumni types play. Some go for the (before my day) style of “if loud is good then louder is better” to the point of losing the tone. 🤮 Some go for a more musical approach which I enjoy.

(no names for who plays which type)

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by JimF-LowBari