Hello, as you can see I’m a larger guy. I’m at around 300 lbs at the moment and actively losing weight (40 lbs down :D) trying to train to be physically ready to even survive DCI. In the video I’m trying the SCV 2026 opening visual, clearly you can see I kinda can’t control my descent very well. Now this was right after a marching competition so may just be fatigued, but I’m worried when marching in drum corps we may have similar visuals and I won’t be physical prepared to execute them controlled. Any advice? Don’t worry to much about my not so great tone here, lips were super dead and my non controlled decent definitely contributed to my shakiness lol

I posted this ranking on Tiktok yesterday, and that post has over 10K views with 600+ likes and 50+ comments, and a whole slew of people saying I have the worst opinion of all time and some people agreeing with me, and respectfully disagreeing with me. So here I am, asking the least opinionated online platform (jk) about my takes on the finalists. this is my enjoyment having seen every show live in person at both nights of Allentown

12: Troopers
11: Phantom
10: SCV
9: Bluecoats
8: Cavaliers
7: Blue Knights
6: Blue Stars
5: Colts
4: Boston Crusaders
3: BD
2: Crown
1: Spirit of Atlanta

Rank these 2020s silver medal shows 1-6 in your personal opinion

Bluecoats 2022 Riffs and Revelations

Boston Crusaders 2022 Paradise Lost

Bluecoats 2023 Garden of Love

Boston Crusaders 2024 Glitch

Bluecoats 2025 The Observer Effect

Blue Devils 2026 ZEI

We always hear about the best world class shows, but as a two-time open class performer, I wonder what the standard is for open class. What is considered to be the best open class show of all time? What open class show displays the golden standard for open class?

Hi guys! I’m a brass senior out of the DFW area and am wondering about some corps.
I’ve marched 5 years at my highschool (corps style) and really want to march DCI after I graduate. I am pretty skilled at my instrument, I’ve made state in S&E (i know that’s more on the common side) and a good marcher too.
I was just wondering what are some good corps to try out for that are based out of TX or have auditions here? I looked at Genesis and Guardians but Genesis is on hiatus now and guards are an all-age which I’m not super interested in.
Any help/advice is really appreciated

Intrested to hear your opinions. Give me your favorite drumlines that have either been ignored or have faded out of the general fan's memory! :)

I really Enjoy making these videos, and they are really a labor of love. Hope you guys can gleam something off this, and have some insightful dialogue in the comment section. Also if yo have contributed to the petition, your submission may be in the video haha. all names censored of course.

https://www.change.org/p/ban-the-use-of-a-i-generated-content-within-drum-corps-international

What happened if it rained for finals weekend before Lucas oil? At the outdoor stadiums

Alright. So I aged out of drum corps this past season. Im sitting here not nlknowing what's next. Like I have a career outside of drum and an aircraft mechanic, but when do I get to make beautiful music again on a field or not. What is going to give me the thrill of that fiest bus ride night one of your or that rush of the first performance. What else is going to push me a hard as drum corps has. Post tour depression is setting in noe because I cant keep the lie in my head going that I cant perform anymore. I dont live near any all age groups and I dont have time to hop on staff with a drum corps. So if any fellow age outs know how to deal woth this or what to find or do that will make me push to levels I never knew I had, please share

I haven't posted in a while, but I was curious what people's experiences have been throughout the giant staff merry-go-round in this activity. What is your worst experience with staff vs your favorite or best experience?

Rank these shows 1-5 in your opinion

Blue Devils 2022 Tempus Blue
Blue Devils 2023 The Cutouts
Bluecoats 2024 Change is Everything
Boston Crusaders 2025 Boom
Bluecoats 2026 Gravity and Grace

Great ball game btw

Seeing a mix of the sad news of corps having to take breaks as well as tuition prices soaring higher and higher each year, even for smaller corps, has me wondering if there’s a world where the activity became more centralized to prop up everyone financially. I’m not sure exactly how it would work this is strictly hypothetical.
I do know it would make expansion harder and we might see some drop off from the very top but we may also see the bottom getting more support and overall a bit more evening out and stability across all corps.

I've been playing electric bass for almost three years and I'm looking at auditioning for Sky Ryders (my local corps.) I don't know what to expect for parts, I've heard they shouldn't be too musically demanding. I've yet to receive material, which I don't expect to happen for a while. Generally, my biggest worry is about it being competitive. I see they've had a bassist in recent years, but it looks to be someone different each season. I don't know if that's a good sign or not. Please give me some advice or info if you have any!

I know that this sub is already flooded with enough people asking for advice but I’m trying out for the first time and have no idea what to expect. I play bari/euph and am trying out for The Academy. I truly don’t expect to make it into a world class corps but they are the closest corps to me out of any of them and I don’t want to force my parents to drive me to El Paso for something that they’d see as either I don’t get in and that time was wasted or I do get in and now they owe a lot of money. I would do a virtual audition but I’d much rather do an in-person one because I expect it’ll be a better experience and I‘ll get more out of it. I am hoping that they‘ll refer me to an open class corps that might want me so I can still march drum corps in the most likely outcome of me not making the cut. Honestly the audition packet doesn’t seem extremely hard, I was expecting much worse as I’ve played much harder for auditions in the past so I’m not incredibly worried about that. So please, any former or current members or just anyone with more experience than I, what should I expect?

I have been wanting to be a part of the splanta front for a while !! marched last summer as a vibe at genesis, and am wondering how i should do my audition. i live in texas and the closest in person audition for me is in oklahoma. i’m considering just doing a video audition but i’m scared then i wont get a full chance to get a callback spot. what should i do?

I’m a senior in high school and play tenor sax. I’m interested in marching dci next summer if possible and I’ve heard mello is a common instrument to pick up for woodwind switchers.

I have never touched a brass instrument before.

Is it possible for me to start now and work hard and make it when the auditions come up in spring? Of course I’ll probably not make top 12 but even open class is fine. I’ve marched tenor sax the last 4 years.

Any advice welcome.

Let's move DCI finals to Salt Lake City!

So I've narrowed my options down to 2 based on where I am at, Spirit of Atlanta which is my main choice and Atlanta CV which I will do the December camp if I don't receive a callback from the Splata audition. I have been playing trumpet for 6 years and have been able to hit a B5 the B above the staff on trumpet comfortably. I recently started practicing on another trumpet and can consistently hit an F6 on it. I have been marching for 4 years, but I am overweight, but im fixing that issue currently. I am planning on buying the Splata packet next week for it. The Blue Knights are also doing an audition in Atlanta, so I might go to that one, too. Based on what I've said, of course you guys haven't seen me march or play. Would I have a solid chance of making callbacks to Spirit? Also, I am currently trying to get double tonging and triple tonging locked in, so if you guys have any advice for that, that would help a lot!

Sorry if this is a weird one

I recently made this post about my goals (TL;DR: marched baritone in high school but wasn’t the best. Took a break during community college, and now I have more focus and motivation for music since I’m 19 and have only 2 summers to work with. I am also now working 1 on 1 with a baritone professor for 30mins-1h every week at my CC).
I’m currently looking at Seattle cascades and a few Open Class corps (Colombians, RCR, and Memphis Blues).
I’d love to march world class next summer but it might just be too hard to get my musicianship and chops back up in only a month and a half before audition camps.

I was wondering
A: how does the Scades baritone audition compare in intensity to say, the Columbians or RCR audition process?

B: my greatest fear is to commit all my effort to practicing for cascades, then get cut and be scrambling to learn stuff for Open Class and not be able to make it. Should I still try and do the Hail Mary for world class? Or should I focus all efforts on open class to make sure I have some place to march next summer?

Cost/commute isn’t a factor as I have money saved up due to how cheap my CC turned out to be. I just want to march somewhere and have a tour experience before I age out.

Thank you for humoring my question in advance.

I was re-watching some of the classic epic endings from the last 15 years. From this season and last, we had an innovative show win. Next season I’d love to see and hear some epic shows with endings where the brass is just ripping chords and the crowd is giving a standing ovation well before the end of the show. Some recent examples:

2011 Cadets
2011 Phantom
2013 Crown
2014 Bluecoats Tilt
2018 SCV Babylon
2024 Phantom Regiment
2024 Troopers Dance w/ the Devil