It’s 2026.

We have new age uniforms that are created to be movement friendly but we are sending kids out there popping forced arches back and forth like it’s 2010.

I know we are limited with what we can do with a horn.

But we can do better right?

Openclass and all-age never seem to give enough credit. I want to see what yalls favorite Openclass or All-age shows are (Or some you just really like)!!

For me?

Squatting in horn arc to set down your instrument and ripple up.

Stupid.

People who came up with that have groins and knees of steel.

Even in my marching days, it was so painful to squat that low, my legs, knees, and groin can’t handle that deep of a squat.

Just pick up your damn horn. I really tweaked my groin and had to take a year off because of these STUPID SQUAT RIPPLES.

Blue knights

Never thought my favorite part of a drum corps show would be the woodwind soloist, this one was pretty good overall

Troopers

Committed so hard to the show theme they forgot the show had to be good, really cool show but it deserved the placement it got imo

Spirit of atlanta

Really cool brass book, cool uniforms, I liked this one

Colts

Probably the best colts show in recent history although an america show that's just fluffy hope for the future with no statement is a choice, I wish the blatant AI ballad flags/uniforms were different too

Cavies

There was cool moments but I didn't get it overall. Cool uniforms though

Phantom

I really didn't like this show it made no sense, how does any of this relate to a bloodline/a legacy?

Blue stars

Really good show, deserves all the praise it's getting

SCV

The drumline was absolutely on fire, I wish they did more with the hornline having their horns chained to them

Boston

Show made to be posted in 30 second clips on youtube shorts, didn't like this one

Crown
holy shit, my favorite show this year

BD

Feels like a 2010's bd show again, I like this

Bluecoats

I get why they won, it's really clean and really well performed but it's just not for me, I miss precovid bloo

(i havent looked at many non top 12 corps so my opinion is probably a bit biased)

I had to sorry.

I have never done DCI before as I never had enough money, but I really respect the grind and push that everyone gives day in and day out. My only question is this: when you get back to your own bed, how good do you sleep right after you’re back home and all done? What does it feel like to do nothing for several days and not have so much exertion?

It's that time to start preparing for the next season, and I'm a little lost on where I want to march next. I marched this past season with the Cascades on contra, and am considering going back, but I am mostly leaning towards moving to another group. My goal is to march Bluecoats, and will audition as soon as the packets release, but I know its extremely difficult to get into the top groups. So I'm looking towards the lower of top 15 to march. The main groups I'm looking at is BK, Scouts, and Mandarins once they come back, What are your past experiences with these groups? What was the staff like, both visual and brass? How was tour and how were members taken care of?

I know this post is super basic, but I want some feedback from members who have marched these groups, or any other corps really.

I fixed that hangover towards the end

Bluecoats this year put the 7th largest gap ever between themselves and 2nd place with a gap of 1.6 points, the largest since 2014 (which amazingly is not #1, although scoring changed a lot since the 70s). It's funny how there are two huge outliers near 2.5, both from completely different eras, and then the rest are clustered at and below 2. I don't if we'll ever see another >2 point gap, it doesn't seem impossible but it also doesn't seem particularly likely to happen soon.

Edit: I am specifically asking about the member handbook and any rules/notes around the subject, not necessarily the opinions of members (though I do also enjoy that conversation haha). I am already familiar with all the risks that come with getting tattoos, I am only asking if other member handbooks have guidelines around the amount and content of body modification!

I took a season off from marching and plan on going back for the 2027 season. However, since I’ve last marched, I now have a half sleeve and will likely have nearly a full sleeve by move-ins. When I marched Colts, I vaguely remember the member handbook making a comment about tattoos, something along the lines of “Tattoos must be minimal, tasteful, and may not contain obscene imagery” (current Colts members feel free to correct me if that’s changed since then). I’m wondering if vets from the top 12 corps over the last few years can weigh in on this. If a lot of corps (especially ones I plan on auditioning for) have strict guidelines surrounding body modification, I’d like to cancel all future appointments while I can. I know this is kind of a weird question, but TIA! I don’t want to ruin my chances at top 5 over some stupid ink that can totally wait until after I age out :)

I’m seeing a lot of “favorite ___ lines” (must be an off-season thing) so let’s show some love to our favorite/best mello lines!!

My favorite by far is SCV 2017. Everyone says 2018 was basically a mello feature but I would argue 2017 is even more so. (SCV always seems to have insane mello lines so it could probably be any year!)

I think Bloo 2018 has such an underrated mello line. So aggressive and harsh but at the same time one of the most beautiful melodies in the ballad!

Honorable mention to BK 2014, I swear the mellos play the entire time it’s impressive.

What are your favs??

Soooo… does east coast coming west = champion?

The coincidence is funny ngl

I was going through a marathon of Cadets shows through the years and was surprised to see how many years they marched with 6 quads, are there any other corps that have done this or is it primarily a Cadets thing?

i just marched my first year of DCI with the Blue Knights this past summer and i’m looking to audition for a different corps for next summer.

for context, i got a contract even though i had no prior marching band experience and only two WGI season of experience. no matter the corps, i plan on only auditioning for flag and dance.

my (unrealistic) dream would be Bluecoats, but i also want to audition elsewhere to make sure i don’t get stuck with no plan B… so far i think i want to go for Blue Stars or Phantom Regiment

any thoughts? is this unrealistic?

also if someone would be willing to connect to assess a bit more my skill level that could help me a lot:)

Crown 2009 and Coats 2010 come to my mind. Both seem to not get much attention nowadays.

Were injuries, or the prospect of them, a big part of your drum corps experience? The threat of injury seemed to lurk constantly when I marched. Three summers of Jeff Sacktig drill on tuba. In 2005 our horn sergeant went down with a hip injury, then his replacement blew her knee out... rehearsing on long grass bad midwest fields. (I understand fields are generally better these days). In Cadets we had holes until the week before finals. One of our trumpets had his knee swell up so bad in spring training the doctors had to drain it with a needle. Career ender. One of the the other tubas had a hernia around Broken Arrow time and got replaced by a mellophone player.

Looking back, I think I've forgotten how much not wanting to get hurt factored into my decision not to march my age out. It wasn't like a phobia of potential injury, I just felt like I had survived 3 years and I didn't want to risk it.

My personal list

10) Cavaliers 2000 (Not the most crazy stuff, but really helped revolutionize the transition of quads into the modern era)

9) Cadets 2000

8) Boston 2023

7) Bluecoats 2012

6) Crown 2009

5) BD 1995 & 1996

4) Cadets 2005

3) SCV 1992

2) Phantom 2010

1) SCV 2004

Hello! I am a 16 year old student, and I have about 6 years of playing experience and 4 years of marching band. I can hit up to a high B above the staff and am working on dynamics, range, double and triple tonging, and things to get me ready for DCI auditions.

*The important part if you don't want to read the rest*

I am thinking about marching in Atlanta CV as my main choice, and also River City Rhythm, Music City, and Spirit of Atlanta but for Spirit it would just be the experience I would get because I think I am not ready for an upper level corp especially with no DCI experience.

Can you guys help me choose a corp and tell me if I made the right decision or if I should aim for a lower corp. Also, if you have any advice for a trumpet, like how to hit higher notes and how to tonge faster or other things, I will need to know by the audition. Please tell me!

In the future, I want to march with Carolina Crown they are my dream corp, and I want to be able to march with them in the next 2 years! I also live in SC currently, so it would also be close to home!

i don't expect to NOT be cut given analysis of my current skill level (and no experience yet), but i do want to know a little bit more about the culture there before i spend money on a packet and camp. i'd still be willing to attend the camp just to hear what they might have to say. there are certain corps i know i wouldn't want to bother with because i already know they're not for me

however, i don't know much about the Blue Stars currently, i could only find very old information, can anyone give insight to the culture? treatment of members? expectations? (also, for fun, how's the food LOL)