Lapsed Fan's Guide to DCI 2023
Part Two!
This is part two of our Lapsed Fan’s Guide to DCI 2023, a refresher on anything and everything you may have missed since the end of last season! Part One is here!
WHO’S STEPPING UP?
As we are so close to the season, many corps have either done public performances or had chunks of their shows uploaded to various social media sites, including YouTube and TikTok. We will not include any of those in this article. However, we will discuss the corps that seem to be on the upswing based on the available information.
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Food and Drum Corps. Is there anything finer??? When it comes time to help feed some Drum Corps units, I love jumping at the chance! These members eat plenty just to have the energy to entertain you. The LEAST you can do is buy them some Dino Nugs! Plus, you usually get a social media shout-out and we all know that currency is more valuable than anyth…
Year of the Lion
The Boston Crusaders shocked many last year with their production of Paradise Lost, placing higher than the corps had ever finished before. They were just 0.175 away from the Blue Devils at Atlanta’s Southeastern Championships before the eventual World Champions pulled away toward the end of the season. The swing for the fences that the Crusaders made following the 2016 season has put them in a position to rise to the top, and now that the theory of Competitive Inertia has been fulfilled, it stands to reason that the Boston-based organization can finally achieve the quixotic dream that is the corps’ first title.
BAC premiered their program White Whale at a community performance in Castleton, VT, their spring training site, and then performed at the annual Concert in the Park in downtown Boston. Musically, the corps is firing on all cylinders, with a very strong drumline and a front ensemble that is markedly improved from previous years. The show is full of a variety of nautical-related tunes, ranging from sea shanties to Bernstein’s On the Waterfront, as well as fan-favorite Shipping Up to Boston and even Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, which was used in a pivotal scene in the 2003 film ‘Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World’. It also continues Boston’s theme over the past 15 or so years of programming based largely on literature and stories, with this show drawing significant inspiration from Melville’s classic Moby Dick. Will this corps end up adrift? Or will they manage to capture the legendary beast (the all-elusive Founders Trophy)? Only time will tell.
Take Me to Church
Many moves were made this offseason. Big names went to this corps or that. For me, the most intriguing move was one that went a little under the radar, overshadowed by your Richard Saucedos, Scott Boermas, or even your Lee Beddises. That move was the Mandarins picking up one of the biggest names in the activity that most people don’t know, Vince Oliver. You may not know Vince, but you have almost certainly heard his work. He has arranged for Grand National Finalists, WGI Winds Champions, and most notably for drum corps fans, was the sound designer for the Bluecoats from 2014-2018, a run that propelled the Bluecoats to heights the corps had never before seen, as well as revolutionized how sound design was viewed within the activity.
This year’s production is Sinnerman, based around the Nina Simone song of the same name. Themes that this production will explore include the concept of making “Good Trouble”, which is based on a quote by civil rights leader John Lewis that speaks about knowing when to stand up for the rights of those oppressed, regardless of what trouble that you could get in as a result. Conceptually, it will revolve around a titular character who affects change around them, eventually inspiring the entire corps to break the mold and create “good trouble” to inspire change in the world around them. The design team, led by Becca Anderson, has laid out a powerful concept, and word from inside the organization is that the members have very much bought in. With a repertoire that is largely new to the activity but plenty of melodies that experienced audience members can latch on to, this show will almost certainly be an audience favorite on Finals night in Lucas Oil.
Rising From the Depths
In 2019, a corps took the Drum Corps world by storm. The success of Pacific Crest’s Everglow was something that very few people in the activity predicted, though many thought the ensemble could take a step up in quality due to Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets choosing not to go to finals week. That, along with a perfect storm of excellent design and instruction, propelled the corps to heights they’d never before seen, as well as increasing the expectations for their 2020 production significantly. With the effect that COVID restrictions had on California in particular and the return of Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets, the 2022 edition of the corps was significantly smaller than expected, which seriously limited their competitive ceiling.
The corps looks to be much larger this year with the announcement that three corps from their state would not be going to Finals Week, and they have the design to help the corps recover some of the momentum lost over the past few years. Goddess includes pieces such as Debussy’s Sunken Cathedral, Vienna Teng’s Watershed, and additional music by Joseph Hellmesberger, Ito, and Sergei Prokofiev. This production may not reach the heights of Everglow, but many anticipate that it will get them back on the trajectory they had, paving the way for the California-based corps’ first finals appearance at some point in the next few years.
WHO’S BACK? WHO’S NOT?
On the Road Again
There were two fairly noticeable absences amongst the ranks of the 2022 DCI World Class corps, the Seattle Cascades and Spirit of Atlanta. Both of those corps have fortunately rejoined the tour for the 2023 season. For the Cascades, their absence can be attributed mainly to financial and recruiting challenges stemming from the pandemic. With the efforts made to secure the organization's future since then, their administration feels comfortable not only bringing the corps on tour, but also returning to Indianapolis for the first time since 2019.
AS TIME GOES BY...
It has been just over a year since GEM was launched, and in order to celebrate that, a few of our writers picked their favorite article that GEM has published over the course of the past year, and have provided some insight on why they loved it. Enjoy!
For Spirit of Atlanta, their absence from tour last year was a little more complex, stemming from a series of incidents that allegedly took place during the 2021 non-competitive season. Since then, they have outlined what they look to do to ensure member safety and comfort moving forward, and the Georgia-based organization is looking to not only come back but also regain some of the momentum they had before the pandemic. Their results in the two years before COVID were consecutive 13th-place finishes, the best for the organization since their most recent appearance in finals, back in 2013. Whether they will be able to duplicate that result is in question, but what is not are the efforts that the organization has committed to providing a safe environment for students in 2023 and beyond.
Well, Maybe Next Year
This season will mark the end of the longest streak of consecutive top 10 finishes in DCI history, as the Santa Clara Vanguard, a corps that has never placed lower than eighth since DCI’s inaugural season, announced that both the flagship corps and the Cadet corps would be going on hiatus for 2023. This decision was made due to significant financial issues faced by the parent organization, VMAPA. Plans are underway to get Vanguard back on tour for 2024, and the alumni base and DCI are very committed to helping this historic organization return to the field healthier and more sustainable than before.
A Look into the Past: "The Devil's Staircase"
Imagine you’re in Hell, and you want out. These eight words from Brandt Crocker on DCI Finals night in 2011 took the place of the expected announcement of the corps’ name, and that name was the Santa Clara Vanguard. Following those eight words was a brief silence, then one of Vanguard’s iconic “horn clicks” (bringing up the horns all at once so fast that…
For corps that will be reducing their tour obligations, Blue Devils B announced that they would be resuming a strictly regional tour to reduce costs and make their model more sustainable.
There are multiple Open Class corps beyond those mentioned above that will be inactive for 2023. Legends announced their intention in November to take the season off and have not provided updates since then. Additionally, Louisiana Stars posted regarding their 2023 design team in December and has not been heard from since, with the corps being unfortunately taken off of DCI’s list of Open Class corps on their website.
TOUR PREMIERE
The 2023 Tour Premiere event is pretty pared down from previous years and will not be shown in theaters for the first time during a competitive season since the inception of that event in 2011.
That said, it will be streamed on FloMarching live from Rockford, MI, this Wednesday, 6/28. The first performance will be the Troopers at 8:10p ET, so be sure to tune in early so you don’t miss a moment of the action!
Matthew Carstensen is currently GEM’s Managing Editor. He has been involved in the Pageantry Arts for over a decade, as a performer at the highest level, an instructor, and a fan. You can find him on Twitter at @SatNightLites. He currently lives in Florida with his dog.