DO the current mm's in DCI worry about it's possible demise as much as veterans do?

[waliman4444]

I ask this because it seems that the compassion and subsequent emotions that come from this forum regarding DCI's possible demise come in large part from those veterans of drum corps who have seen it change over decades..I could be wrong but the professionalism in drum corps, which has raised the quality of performance to new heights,may have unintentionally shortened the emotional commitment to an activity where winning is so important and expensive..When the Cadets folded I  had a 50 year emotional connection as supporter and competitive adversary...I just wonder if today's marchers see a future in DCI  beyond their age outs..NO SHADE INTENDED...peace

[Sutasaurus]

4 hours ago, waliman4444 said:

I ask this because it seems that the compassion and subsequent emotions that come from this forum regarding DCI's possible demise come in large part from those veterans of drum corps who have seen it change over decades..I could be wrong but the professionalism in drum corps, which has raised the quality of performance to new heights,may have unintentionally shortened the emotional commitment to an activity where winning is so important and expensive..When the Cadets folded I  had a 50 year emotional connection as supporter and competitive adversary...I just wonder if today's marchers see a future in DCI  beyond their age outs..NO SHADE INTENDED...peace

I see what you’re saying but not every corps has experienced what the Cadets’ organization went through. Are you assuming the last class of Cadets were ring chasers?

If the last class of Cadets provided an educational experience for its members that resonated with them, one can hope a few of those members will pay it forward. I think the Cadet’s organization has always represented this ideology. They have graced us with many legends in the activity.

Seeing the resumes of corps’ staffs many are former marching members that are willing to pass on their education to others. 
If you provide a quality experience to your members you will have future instructional staff. Heck, I’m into this activity 53 years as an MM, instructional staff, cook, and souvie seller and I still contribute to current and future MMs, instructors/board members because I believe in their mission.

Peace, right back atcha!

Edited December 8, 2025 by Sutasaurus

[cixelsyd]

Short answer - yes, when warranted (see 2020 and 2021 for examples).

Generally speaking, current marchers are concerned with the current season, and possibly future seasons up to their ageout.  An activity-wide demise swift enough to spoil those plans is unlikely.  Suspension via worldwide crisis such as war or pandemic is possible, but still rare.

As for alumni - frankly, there is hardly an activity anywhere that has changed so rapidly and fundamentally as drum corps.  That is what has "shortened the emotional commitment" to the activity for so many people.

[craiga]

I continue to be optimistic about the future of drum corps, mostly because I do have 55+ years of experience in the activity as a fan, member, staffer, volunteer, and still a fan today.

When I first started following drum corps as a teenager in the 70s in Massachusetts, there were 200+ drum corps just in our local area.  By 1980, more than half of them had "folded" without ever having electronics, big props, new uniforms, or ever having been on a DCI tour.  In fact, it was almost always the same reason.... mismanagement (which is precisely the same reason why both SCV and Cadets ended up the way they did).  SCV made it back, and apparently the jury is still out on Mandy.

The bottom line is that drum corps has become very expensive, just like cars and homes and college tuition. And, society has changed, with high school bands replacing little local corps from nearby Catholic churches and VFW/American Legion Posts. 

Having 20 - 22 World Class corps at Finals week has been consistent for decades now.  Tours are being trimmed down as DCI IS trying to be responsive to the current financial concerns.   Meanwhile corps at the top continue to have all time high numbers of auditionees and I can't remember a DCI show which I've been to in the last 10 years which wasn't sold out.

Drum corps IS going to survive...so the only concern current members need to have is making sure their show is great!

[DrumCorpsPhan]

I marched in the late 90's. We were always told how lucky we were to get to this before it's all over. DCI won't be around in 7-10 years. I thought he was a drama queen.

Here we are almost 30 years later.

 

[burdettsky]

My guest is there are not many current marching members in this forum, so you may not get the answers from those folks lie you are hoping.  It's a good question though.

[wolfgang]

2 hours ago, craiga said:

Having 20 - 22 World Class corps at Finals week has been consistent for decades now.  Tours are being trimmed down as DCI IS trying to be responsive to the current financial concerns.   Meanwhile corps at the top continue to have all time high numbers of auditionees and I can't remember a DCI show which I've been to in the last 10 years which wasn't sold out.

Drum corps IS going to survive...so the only concern current members need to have is making sure their show is great!

Please don't take this as a personal criticism as it's not intended that way. The quoted comment highlights the importance of perspective.

There is an old adage about 3 blind men and an elephant. One feels the trunk, the other the massive belly, and the third the tiny tail. Each one has an idea of what an elephant is... from his individual perspective.

What you said isn't wrong per se, but widen out to look at the whole elephant. The top World Class corps have record audition turnout? Great. What about the bottom half of World Class and Open Class? How is Mandarins turnout this fall?

The shows you attended are sold out? Wonderful. How full will Centerville's stadium be this summer?

If Bluecoats get 1,000 at auditions or XYZ show sells out a 5,000 seat concert-side stadium, that is good. My perspective is to look overall (2025 combined OC and WC corps @ Championships:  34, so far in 2026:  31). Fewer shows = overall fewer fans, even if individual shows benefit from concentrating (filtering) fans into fewer options.

It's a matter of perspective. The elephant's belly may be robust, but the elephant as a whole is sick and needs to see the vet.

[Jeff Ream]

i dont think the marching members today follow the business side to the level we do here. Sure if a corps goes dark or temporarily inactive, they may voice some concerns, probably on reddit, but overall i dont think they get in the weeds as far as we do.

[olddrummer34]

3 hours ago, craiga said:

I continue to be optimistic about the future of drum corps, mostly because I do have 55+ years of experience in the activity as a fan, member, staffer, volunteer, and still a fan today.

When I first started following drum corps as a teenager in the 70s in Massachusetts, there were 200+ drum corps just in our local area.  By 1980, more than half of them had "folded" without ever having electronics, big props, new uniforms, or ever having been on a DCI tour.  In fact, it was almost always the same reason.... mismanagement (which is precisely the same reason why both SCV and Cadets ended up the way they did).  SCV made it back, and apparently the jury is still out on Mandy.

TThe bottom line is that drum corps has become very expensive, just like cars and homes and college tuition. And, society has changed, with high school bands replacing little local corps from nearby Catholic churches and VFW/American Legion Posts. 

Having 20 - 22 World Class corps at Finals week has been consistent for decades now.  Tours are being trimmed down as DCI IS trying to be responsive to the current financial concerns.   Meanwhile corps at the top continue to have all time high numbers of auditionees and I can't remember a DCI show which I've been to in the last 10 years which wasn't sold out.

Drum corps IS going to survive...so the only concern current members need to have is making sure their show is great!

I think this is a realistic take. In many measurable ways, the activity is actually thriving. The level of performance continues to rise, the members are more technically skilled than ever, major venues are selling more tickets, and the reach of the activity is exponentially larger through FloMarching and social media, especially TikTok.

I marched in the 1990s, and predictions of DCI’s collapse were just as common then as they are now. This isn’t a new narrative. When Star of Indiana moved on, many people were convinced the entire activity would unravel by the end of the decade as all corps would follow their lead. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

The activity has changed, sometimes uncomfortably, but change and decline are not the same thing. History strongly suggests that proclamations of DCI’s “imminent demise” say more about anxiety over change than about the actual health of the activity. 

[olddrummer34]

1 hour ago, wolfgang said:

Please don't take this as a personal criticism as it's not intended that way. The quoted comment highlights the importance of perspective.

There is an old adage about 3 blind men and an elephant. One feels the trunk, the other the massive belly, and the third the tiny tail. Each one has an idea of what an elephant is... from his individual perspective.

What you said isn't wrong per se, but widen out to look at the whole elephant. The top World Class corps have record audition turnout? Great. What about the bottom half of World Class and Open Class? How is Mandarins turnout this fall?

The shows you attended are sold out? Wonderful. How full will Centerville's stadium be this summer?

If Bluecoats get 1,000 at auditions or XYZ show sells out a 5,000 seat concert-side stadium, that is good. My perspective is to look overall (2025 combined OC and WC corps @ Championships:  34, so far in 2026:  31). Fewer shows = overall fewer fans, even if individual shows benefit from concentrating (filtering) fans into fewer options.

It's a matter of perspective. The elephant's belly may be robust, but the elephant as a whole is sick and needs to see the vet.

Respectfully, the “blind men and the elephant” analogy cuts both ways, and you are using it to selectively frame decline while discounting equally real indicators of growth.

Yes, elite corps continue to post record audition numbers. That isn’t a trivial data point; it reflects unprecedented interest, participation demand, and perceived value among students nationwide. At the same time, digital viewership, social media reach, and national exposure are orders of magnitude larger than at any point in the activity’s history. That matters, because awareness and access drive long-term sustainability, not just local ticket scans at a suburban high school show that is less than 2 hours from 5 other shows. 

Local attendance has always fluctuated based on geography, marketing, weather, and timing, this is not a new phenomenon, nor is it unique to the current era. Meanwhile, the reality is that ticket revenue, streaming revenue, and sponsorship models have diversified far beyond what existed even ten years ago.

As for the reduction in total corps, that metric deserves context. . What has changed is where participation and audiences now live. In many regions, the rise of high-quality, well-funded high school band programs has effectively replaced the role that local drum corps once served. This is a pipeline to modern DCI groups. 

This isn’t evidence of collapse, it’s evidence of structural replacement. The educational, financial, and production standards in today’s high school programs rival what many local corps once provided. At the same time, the broader activity now demands vastly more infrastructure, staffing, medical care, compliance, and educational rigor than it did decades ago. Survival under higher standards and a shifting pipeline is not the same as decline, it’s evolution.

You’re right about one thing: perspective matters. But perspective must include all the data, not just the belly or the tail. Right now, the evidence doesn’t suggest a dying elephant. It suggests an activity that is restructuring under modern economic, educational, and media realities. That process is uncomfortable, but historically, it has also been how this activity evolves and survives, not how it ends.