Then and now

[Matthew]

Done and done.

[felixh]

honestly.....cali finals will seel a ton of tickets just by being in Cali. fans dying to travel there will go just because. fans who never traveled will now go cause they can.

I am sure Ak will draw some on their own, but IMO, they wont make that big of a difference. Remember, a large portion of DCI's audience never even SAW AK compete.

I agree,...I was kidding :P

[GGarrett]

well...just to restore some of our faith in the fact that we ALL participate (or have participated) in the SAME activity, I proudly present

the Madison Alumni snare line for 2006... which has participants from the 1970's, 80's, 90's and 00's (two guys just aged out two years

ago...) all working together very nicely ... enjoying each others company.

See you FRIDAY night August 11th ... just glad to be there!

[Jeff Ream]

well...just to restore some of our faith in the fact that we ALL participate (or have participated) in the SAME activity, I proudly present

the Madison Alumni snare line for 2006... which has participants from the 1970's, 80's, 90's and 00's (two guys just aged out two years

ago...) all working together very nicely ... enjoying each others company.

See you FRIDAY night August 11th ... just glad to be there!

and thats the way it should be

[ScribeToo]

well...just to restore some of our faith in the fact that we ALL participate (or have participated) in the SAME activity, I proudly present

the Madison Alumni snare line for 2006... which has participants from the 1970's, 80's, 90's and 00's (two guys just aged out two years

ago...) all working together very nicely ... enjoying each others company.

See you FRIDAY night August 11th ... just glad to be there!

Is that Jeff running rehearsal?

Can't wait to see you guys!!

*:wub:s Geno*

Stef

[tubamann]

The original poster needs to quit whil....never mind..to late.

I believe the "virtual ##### slap" is in effect.

Edited April 26, 2006 by tubamann

[elphaba01]

Excuse Me! I am a person who is 48 years old. I marched the old time DRUM CORPS. I can appeiciate both the old and new aspects of DCI. I do not see any problem with DCI having Alumni Corps perform at semi finals. I was there when 27th performed in Foxboro in 1994, as people have stated here and in the past that 27th's peformance was one memorable performance. It did sort of take the air out of the Blue Devils Win. I will go anywhere to see the top 12-25th corps and alumni corps perform, it is a luxury we now have. I think it is only fair for the top 12 to get thier due on finals evening, and not have an alumni Corps have the Best perfomance of the evening per say. It is thier evening let the kids enjoy thier finals.

"Best Performance of the Evening":

You pretty well "Nailed It". I saw what happened when "Two Seven" lit up that crowd, and last year when the Caballeros Alumni blew down the stands. Incredible performances.

Elphaba

WWW

[GGarrett]

Is that Jeff running rehearsal?

Yes, that is Jeff Spanos. He is a player/participant/"instructor"... kinda like Pete Rose was at the end of his career, but without the betting. :P

Another interesting tid bit of info is how many different corps are represented by this group as well. Obviously, we are all there as Madison Scouts.

But past marching experience (with just the snare line alone) includes: Geneseo Knights, Railmen, Guardsmen, Crossmen, Marquise, Vaquero's,

Colts and Madison Jr. Scouts. Quite a cross-section of corpsdom there, and I 'm sure I missed a few.

[rut-roh]

As great as dc is today, one fact is undeniable, the "stewards" of drum corps have failed to grow the activity. It is less popular today than it was at the first DCI in 72. The changes that have been made probably have had the opposite effect. It may be that DC is something that by definition can only be a niche activity, but I dont believe the right team of people has been brought in as yet to ever really see if DC can be made into something more popular than it is. Why when anytime this opinion is expressed it is met by such strong condemnation Ill never know.

I see what you're saying in regards to the stewards of the activity and all, though I'm not so certain I can agree 100%. People make it sound as if drum corps was fine in the 70's and 80's and everything was great, corps were plentiful, interest was high, crowds were overflowing and the activity was in great shape. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke..."

Then one day, a group of leaders from within sort of took over and set out to systematically destroy it all. What I'm getting at is that perhaps drum corps was rotting from within before DCI even started, and even during the great years of the 70s and 80s, things were already "broke." The fans didn't see it at the time. Many of the members didn't see it. All they saw was the great shows, and they were indeed great for the time.

But organizationally speaking, there were many people running these drum corps with little to no business acumen. There were corps relying on support from outside sources who couldn't sustain themselves on their own once those sources (which had nothing to do with DCI) either dried up or disappeared altogether. There were communities who no longer had the need to support a drum corps. There were some corps who just couldn't adapt to the drastically changing times, which again had little to nothing to do with DCI. And many of these corps weren't the big nationally touring bohemoths we see at Finals every year, but the smaller community based corps....they could barely sustain operations for a variety of reasons. Many of them were not even consistent participants in DCI events. Even without the big time tour, drum corps costs money...uniforms, equipment, rehearsal space, storage, vehicles. And this doesn't even get into the matters of inflation and the simple fact that times have most definitely changed since 1972. You simply can't run a successful drum corps these days the way you did back then...and again, I'm not even talking about touring. Just starting a local community based drum corps with the intent of remaining local, giving kids in the area a place to perform, not even necessarily competing...is a HUGE financial undertaking.

Perhaps the stewards of drum corps may have just saved drum corps from extinction. Certainly, there was a time in the mid 90's when it was almost too late to save anything. But it is my contention that with more time (things have already improved since then IMO), we will see a slow and steady growth. It may not ever get to the numbers of corps we once saw, but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. As a corps director who posts here once said, when it comes to the number of corps, quality is often better than quantity. If I had a choice between 400 poorly run drum corps who may or may not be around in 5 years or 75 well run corps who we can expect to see competing 15-20 years down the road, I'll take the latter every time. Of course, it would be fantastic to have both quality and quantity, but as I said, that is something that takes time, effort, and unfortunately a lot of money in 2006. Just having more corps isn't enough. And I think the stewards of drum corps face that reality every day. More than some people around here could ever possibly know.

I realize that there are many people here who blame DCI for many of the things that have happened in the last 30+ years. And I think I need to point out that I can certainly agree that DCI has made its share of mistakes and errors in judgment on a lot of issues. They are an organization that is not without its faults, and they must certainly shoulder a portion of blame (as does DCA...they often get lost in these "drum corps was so much better back then" discussions...are they not also the stewards of the activity??). But I also appreaciate that many people here realize that to "lay the fault directly at the feet of DCI and the huge egos that run this activity" is an enormously ignorant cop out. It just isn't that simple or black and white. Thankfully, the reasonable people of DCP...many of whom have posted in this thread...far outnumber the lone voices who seek to make this an all or nothing thing. Drum corps, as all things, will need to evolve in order to survive. DCI and DCA, the way I see it, are doing the best they can in order to meet and exceed their goals for surviving in the future. I think each circuit has done some amazing things in recent years to (at the very least) attempt to turn a corner towards long-term growth and sustainability in the modern world. What this activity really needs more than anything is positive minded people who are ready to dig in and work to get the job done...participants, instructors, directors, administrators, show sponsors, judges, FANS.....we ALL have a vested interest in what's going on here. We all could do better. What we don't need is people sitting on the sidelines pointing out every mistake, nitpicking every flaw, and pining for days that are long gone. We can honor the past without living in it. Life moves FORWARD.

[ScribeToo]

Yes, that is Jeff Spanos. He is a player/participant/"instructor"... kinda like Pete Rose was at the end of his career, but without the betting. :P

I'm sure he'd appreciate the comparison.. :diva:

Jeff's awesome.. and with his participation, you left off "Blast" -- not strictly a drum corps thing, but certainly indicative of a level of talent beyond the norm.

I'm looking more and more forward to this as the days pass..

Stef