I'm been wondering what kind of numbers do DCI
attract at some of these contests they have during
the week,not counting the weekends.When I see these
contests held during the week I ask myself do they
attract that many people?Also some of these places
I 'm really not that familier with.Is it that
profitable for DCI.The bigger cities I can understand
going into but some of these places,is it worth it?

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? !957 thru 1963

It would be interesting to know the figures, especially given the current economy. There is a show here in Orlando tomorrow night - the cheapest tickets are $20, and they go up to $40. Too steep for me at the moment, especially given my lack of interest in modern drum corps.

But as for shows in smaller venues, it probably depends on the history of the show. For example, the Drum Beauty show in Stillwater, MN has been going on forever, and my guess is they still fill the stands. In the 70s and 80s it was so popular they actually had two contests, two consecutive nights, and they filled it both nights (which was great when you're on tour - staying in the same place two nights, even if it was a gym floor!). I'm afraid the Orlando Citrus Bowl will look pretty empty tomorrow night. It's pretty much a cavern, worn-out and aging.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

What I noted at Stanford was that there were at least 10000 people at the show. The %50 seats (between 30 yard lines were full). They also had some $75 seats in sky boxes. Parking at Leland Stanford Junior University is sparse. We got there about an hour and a half before the show for the BBQ and had to park on one of the outer roads--couldn't get into a parking lot.

I was looking at some of the smaller venue show prices and it seems that those are in the $20 to $25 range--high school stadium without any reserved seating.

I'd expect that some of the smaller town venues with shows during the week attact a decent crowd--like the Friday night high school football game or the circus coming to town. A bigger deal in small towns and probably a lot of local advertising.

I'm surprised the prices in Orlando are only from $20 to $40. But then again, Orlando doesn't have a major corps. The Stanford show had Santa Clara, Mandarins, and Blue Devils alumni, family, etc. So it will draw.

I expect that one of the largest crowds for DCI performance was the July 4 exhibition at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Blue Devils, Bluecoats and three other corps did their shows as an exhibition before Pasadena's fireworks show. My daughter says that event draws about 40000 people.

Wow! 10,000 at Stanford and 40,000 at Pasadena. Lots of $$ for DCI there.

The smaller venues might generate some $$ too, since their operating costs should be lower.

There was no money for DCI at the Rose Bowl. That is a city event--fireworks show--and they charge $15 or $20. It was an exhibition and not a DCI contest. Assume the corps got some expense money but it wasn't DCI's gate.

At Stanford there was a lot of open space in the stadium that seats 65000 people. Parking was tough because places like Stanford and UC-Berkeley don't provide a lot of parking for their football fans. That show would draw a good crowd as it was the biggest show in the west this season and there are alot of northern CA alumni, relatives and band types who attend.

I don't know about the Stockton show the next day but I do know that the crowd in 2007 for the show with Garfield had about the same attendance.

I attended at Vicksburg, MI, on July 2. The contest was at V.H.S. The stadium was big, for a h.s. The big majority of seats were filled, and it was an ify night, weather-wise. I paid $35 to be in the center section. The Cavies were the only top-tier corps there. Better corps draw more people. Most of the contests that I attend are nearly sold out, on one side of the stadium (the home school seats).

Wow! $35 to see a corps show with only ONE top level corps?

You must have been desperate for a "corps fix".

You hit it on the head, Dave. After being rained out on two of my first three corps trips, I was desperate! When there's a rainout, and you have tickets for the DCI event, you lose your money... no refunds. Ugh!

NO refunds? That doesn't seem fair!

DCI must be too cheap to have insurance for rainouts, earthquake, floods and fires. My recollection is that when Norwood or one of the other corps had a show, they took out an insurance policy to cover such the event in the event of rain, etc.

If one only sees one show a year and there are a lot of corps present then $35 ot even $50 bucks is ok. But I don't know if I'd pay more than $15 to see a show with one or two quality corps in some small town.

Did they at least do indoor standstills for the rainouts? That was the norm in earlier days, so people at least got something for their money.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Nope, don't recall any indoor stuff because of a little precip.

I think the show usually went on. We did our drill the very first night we had our brand new battle jackets on in a driving downpour, as I recall.

Brand new uniforms soaked completely through - isn't that right, Dave?

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

At Normal, IL, after the rain stopped, they did an outdoor standstill show, with each corps doing their show while out of uniform (shorts and tee shirts).

At Naperville, IL, we got to see two corps (the first two on the schedule) do their shows, in full, before the lightning started. Then, after an hour's wait, with most of us waiting in the fieldhouse, they sent us all home. We did not get to see any of the elite corps at all. There was no standstill indoor show or anything. Just "go home, folks," said the cop. Also, on the 50/50 tickets sales that night, they (Cavies) kept all the money collected for their scholarship fund and never split any of the money with anyone. Sorry folks.

Rain on brand new uniforms - yuk! But nothing beats the feeling that first night in a new uni!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Larry,

At 1962 VFW state in Springfield, it didn't start to pour until we finished our show. We weren't on the field during the rain but it had the same impact on the uniforms.

The show I recollect that we did in a downpour was at Bellfountaine Ohio in late 1962. I think that we were on last and it was either go on the field or stay overnight in the gym. The Cavaliers might have gone out in the rain as well.

John is correct. At 1962 VFW State, it rained AFTER we left the field ... but not much after. We were drenched.

At the Ohio show, it was raining when we entered the field and it really POURED during the performance. It was a really strange feeling. You did the show, but you KNEW it wasn't going to mean anything! As a result, it became a real blast.

I don't know if I'd call it a blast. I recollect the judges being out there with us but don't even recollect if they announced scores. Fortunately in both cases there wasn't thunder and lightening with the storms.

There is some irony in the Bellfontaine show for me. When I was in grad school at Northwestern we had a test construction installation at West Liberty Ohio which is about ten miles from Bellfontaine in the direction of Columbus. Ended up spending time in Bellfontaine about nine years later--especially after my prof. advisor broke his ankle falling out of a manhole. Also on the trip to Bellfontaine I recollect we pasted through a town called Fostoria. I remember it as it was about 7 or 8 am (we left Chicago at about midnight) and someone who was either half drunk or slapp happy/silly from lack of sleep, started singing "Marhing to Pretoria" but substituting Fostoria. Well my wife is from Fostoria so I spent a lot of time there as well until my in-laws moved to Savannah GA.

Guess I remembered that Fostoria deal because the bus rides were so boring (the senic route from Chicago to anywhere in Ohio is to drive at night.) and one had to be entertained by the antics of the other corps members. I would like to think that given some of the modern buses the DCI corps drive that at least they have a TV with a DVD player on board. Of course if we had that kind of setup on the Norwood bus I can only imagine what the movie selections we'd have been watching.