GEM of the Day: DCI in Atlanta Retro Rewind
Center Parc Stadium in Atlanta will be hosting its first DCI show this Saturday. But did you know it's not the first time that a drum corps will be performing there?
Throughout this week, the DCI tour swings through the southeast United States as corps approach the final stretch of their 2022 season. The week, known affectionately as “Swamp Tour” by members and fans alike, features shows in southern states like Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee before ending at the Southeastern Championship in Atlanta. To commemorate the occasion, we’re here to talk about the Peach State Capital and its significance to the drum corps activity.
Atlanta, Georgia has become an iconic city for the activity throughout DCI’s 50 year history. Of course the city is best known in the activity as the home base of Spirit of Atlanta, founded by DCI Hall of Famer Freddy Martin in 1977. The 20-time finalist is celebrating their 45 year anniversary this year, and although they’ve gone inactive in 2022, look to return to the field in 2023.
Atlanta also hosted a DCI World Championship back in 1984 on the campus of Georgia Tech University at Grant Field (now named Bobby Dodd Stadium), one of the oldest college football stadiums in the country. That season in DCI is best known for The Cadets’ performance of “West Side Story”, the championship winning show that finished with a 98.0, a new record score at the time in DCI’s 12 year history. The Cadets would go on to break their own record score the following season, while being named champions for the third consecutive year; a first time accomplishment in DCI history and a feat that would be matched only once more by The Cavaliers from 2000-2002.
Although DCI would continue to annually host shows in the Atlanta metro area, it wasn’t until 2006 that they hosted the first Southeastern Championship at the Georgia Dome. The Cavaliers would win the inaugural event before the Blue Devils went on an unprecedented streak of eight straight victories in Atlanta from 2007 to 2014. The 2016 Bluecoats would be the last corps to win in the historic stadium; the following year, the Georgia Dome was torn down and DCI temporarily relocated to nearby Power Springs while the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium was being finished. DCI would then return to Atlanta for a short, two year stint in the new home of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United in 2018 and 2019.
That brings us to present day. Everyone knows what unfortunately happened to the 2020 DCI season, and while an abbreviated season happened in 2021, no show was held in Georgia. So when the 2022 schedule was announced, Atlanta area fans were excited to see drum corps return but were perhaps a bit surprised to see DCI passed over a return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in favor of Center Parc Stadium only two miles down the road. While DCI never provided a public explanation for their decision, it was widely speculated that facility rental fees at Mercedes-Benz simply became too cost prohibitive to operate a show there.
And so we look forward to the newly revamped Southeastern Championship at Center Parc Stadium this coming Saturday with a 16 corps lineup, slightly smaller than previous years. The outdoor venue is the current home of the Georgia State University football stadium but has a storied past. Before a large renovation in 2017 converted it to a football stadium, it was best known as the home baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves from 1997 to 2016, bearing the name Turner Field. And before then, it was an iconic venue named Centennial Olympic Stadium built for the 1996 Summer Olympics. The 85,000 seat stadium opened shortly before the beginning of the Olympics and played center stage for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as all track and field events.
That brings us to a unique piece of history and our “GEM of the Day.” While this Saturday’s show in Atlanta will be the first DCI event hosted at Center Parc Stadium/Turner Field/Centennial Olympic Stadium, it will not be the first time a drum corps has performed at the venue. The 1996 Cadets hold that honor when they were invited to perform at the Olympics Closing Ceremony and helped give the drum corps activity a world stage.
During the performance on August 4th, The Cadets played the approximate three minute closer from their show that summer titled “The American West.” Afterwards, they performed a short “novelty” performance/sketch led by the fictitious “Dr. Hubert Peterson, the Chairman of the Federation of United Marching Associations of America.” Further research reveals “Dr. Peterson” was played by Bill Irwin, a famed actor and Tony Award winner who has held major roles in movies and television shows such as Sesame Street, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the 2000 live action remake), Interstellar, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Legion. The performance is even mentioned on Mr. Irwin’s Wikipedia page and a video of the full 1996 Olympics Closing Ceremony is linked below. The Cadets begin at the 5:50 mark with a performance of The Olympic Fanfare, and the segment from their 1996 show begins at the 13:20 mark.
Most impressively, The Cadets performed on a thin tarp laid without any yard lines. With no other field markings in sight in the video, it can be assumed the corps primarily form-marched the entire performance - an impressive feat given the difficult and fast moving segment written by DCI Hall of Fame drill writer, Jeff Sacktig.
Just as impressive is the travel that The Cadets made just to appear at the Olympics. The corps performed only two days earlier at the DCI Eastern Classic in Allentown, PA before making the 800 mile drive south to Atlanta. Immediately after the performance, The Cadets would drive another 875 miles back north to Clifton, NJ just in time to rejoin the DCI tour the following day. At World Championships in Orlando two weeks later, The Cadets would fall a spot from second place in semifinals to finish third with a 96.9. More notably, the 1996 DCI World Championship would be remembered for being the year that Phantom Regiment won their first title, a title they shared with Blue Devils when finals ended in a first place tie for the first time in DCI history.
So there you have it - a neat example how some iconic stadiums that have never hosted a DCI show still share a connection to the drum corps activity. Unfortunately, The Cadets won’t be performing at this Saturday’s Southeastern Championship, but the corps that will be attending will have the honor of performing in a stadium that shares a special place in drum corps history.
Marching Arts by the Numbers is a current staff writer and stats guru for General Effect Media. He has been involved in the marching arts activity for nearly two decades in a variety of roles. Marching Arts by the Numbers is his newest project with the vision of being the primary source of statistical information for the marching arts community. You can follow more of his work at @band_scores on Twitter.