Lapsed Fan's Guide to DCI 2024
Part One
Oh boy, it’s been a long and very very busy off-season. As the classic tweet from @Horse_ebooks reads, “Everything happens so much”. For any of you who are not perpetually online and up to date with all the latest DCI news and gossip, we’ve compiled a few things you need to know before this year’s Midwest Premiere, scheduled for June 26th at Rockford HS in Rockford, MI.
WHO’S STEPPING UP?
S.Dot C.Dot V.Dot
We like to start things out here with a glance at the corps that have positive momentum moving into this season, and the fairly apparent choice to go over first here is, from Santa Clara, CA, the Santa Clara Vanguard! After a season off to restructure, get their tax compliance back into shape (Don’t. Ask. That was a whole lot of unnecessary off-season discourse, trust me), and solidify their staff for the upcoming season, the Vanguard seems to be primed to come back and reclaim their spot in finals after losing their title as the only corps never to miss out on the Saturday evening show with last year’s absence. With a new CEO in Dr. Russell Gavin and a new Program Coordinator in Dan Morrison, it’s hard not to see this corps coming out of the gate strong.
There is one unique thing about their schedule though.
Until San Antonio, Santa Clara will be the first World Class corps performing at each of their shows, generally right after the intermission. This is due to the provision in DCI’s procedures dictating that performance order before the Southwestern Championships will be set according to last year’s World Championships. As Vanguard did not perform there, they have been scheduled before all other World corps until San Antonio when current year scores determine order, so if you’re going to a show before SA, make sure to show up early!
Critters
After one of the stronger 15th-place shows we’ve seen in recent years, the Spirit of Atlanta is looking to step back into finals. It’s been an interesting off-season for the Baby Blue, with litigation ongoing relating to the events that led to their absence from 2022’s tour, but with quite a few returning vets from last year’s group that improved by leaps and bounds throughout the summer, as well as turnover that leaves question marks at a couple of the corps that finished in their competitive neighborhood last year, getting into a coveted Saturday night spot certainly is not out of the question for the Georgia-based organization.
O Music City, Where Art Thou
Going just a few hours up I-75/I-24, Music City has been holding steady at 17th for the past couple of years but seems primed for a breakout season. With performances that keep getting better and better, but shows that just haven’t quite connected with the judges, the Nashville-based corps is leaning on their southern roots with this year’s production of “Leave It At The River.” Drawing on a mixture of traditional songs, southern jazz, and Radiohead, MCDC hopes to wash their spirits clean and take the next step into the finals conversation.
GOODNIGHT AND JOY BE WITH YOU ALL
Shall Always Be
As one of the historic mainstays in DCI, the Santa Clara Vanguard, returns from financial difficulties, we say goodbye to another due to similar issues. The Cadets announced in October that they would be taking this season off to deal with challenges brought on by difficulty fundraising this past year. This was followed up in April by the announcement that their parent organization, Cadets Arts & Entertainment, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This type of bankruptcy liquidates the assets to attempt to repay as many debts as possible, unlike Chapters 11 and 13, which are reorganizations.
The reason cited by the organization in their announcement was a lawsuit concerning an incident dating back to 1982, though those who have been following along with this story know of the difficulties, both financial and administrative, that the organization has been in since parting ways with longtime director George Hopkins following the 2018 Philadelphia Inquirer story concerning allegations made by former members and staff unrelated to those in the recent lawsuit. This brings the history of this formerly lauded organization to an ignominious end, though there were rumors that another corps would attempt to resurrect the corps brand. It got to the point that it seemed an announcement was imminent. However, things fell apart very quickly before ever becoming publicly unveiled so now it appears that the Cadets have officially taken their last right foot step off, to the disappointment of drum corps fans everywhere.
Additionally, just days ago Heat Wave announced that they would be taking the competitive season off with the intention of coming back in the years to come.
TOUR PREMIERE
Following last year’s premiere at the same venue, the first show is the Midwest Premiere at Rockford HS, which will be broadcast on FloMarching on June 26, with the first corps performing at 8:10p.
This will be a fascinating matchup for a few reasons. Firstly, everything we’ve heard from the Boston camp is that they’re switching their show design philosophy up this year, moving to a more conceptual idea, and this is a great chance to see that early on, just before they go head to head with Crown in Muncie just two days later.
We’re also going to see a clash between the Blue Stars, who are looking for a bit of a rebound after last year, Colts, who hope to sustain the success they’ve seen since 2022, the Cavaliers, who’ve seen some changes this off-season administratively and on the design team and want to get back into the top half of finals, and finally their Illinois neighbors, the Phantom Regiment, who’ve been steadily climbing since almost dropping out of finals in 2019.
Anything can happen during these early weeks, so let’s see what these corps have in store!
Part Two is HERE, and keep an eye out for a breakdown of the BOA Enrollment lists from our own
!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.