Seven Comments on Page Six

A view on DCI Judging from 2002

Author Note - This is a piece about DCI judging and its effects on the activity that I wrote for Drum Corps World in 2002, part of a monthly column, Seven Comments on Page 6. I am simply publishing this on Substack as a historical archive, and because I hope you will find it interesting and fun to read. There is no behind-the-scenes reason for publishing this now, it’s not a commentary on DCI 2024.

Seven Comments on Page Six

 Music:  “Video Killed the Radio Star,” by the Buggles

If video killed the radio star, then subjective judging killed DCI.  How can I say such a thing?  Well, here is the rationale … and one random wacky comment about North Dakota, just to keep things light.   

1.              In the first fourteen years or so of its existence, DCI consisted of a large number of corps that had their own strong and consistent identity.  Fans would go to drum corps shows knowing what to expect when they saw the Bridgemen (fun) ... Blue Devils (jazz) ... North Star (chrome wall) ... VK (chaos) ... Cavaliers, etc. ... Although a corps would perform a different show each year, it was done in the context of a consistent individual corps identity, from both a musical and a visual standpoint (even uniform design).  [Those of you working in marketing might now be uttering the word “branding” under your breath. That’s good.]   In any event, the fan base of drum and bugle corps was strong and growing each year -- and the fans went absolutely berserk for their favorite corps!

2.         Then came the Garfield Cadets.  Out of nowhere, this East Coast corps started kicking everyone's butt.  Fueled by innovative and genius show designers, Garfield developed its own strong identity which was like nothing ever seen before! The two West Coast corps that had a virtual stranglehold on the DCI Championship for the previous 10 years (BD and SCV), were relegated to the status of bridesmaid ... literally overnight.  However, visually and musically, both SCV and BD were still very much their own corps.  There could be no mistaking SCV’s bottle dance ... with the Blue Devil's "One More Time Chuck Corea" ... with Garfield's drill ... with Bayonne's amazing drum solo ... with Crossmen's capes …. with 27^th’s Danny Boy.   In short, everyone was doing their own thing, and the fans loved it.

3.         Then came subjective judging …and the Cadets kept winning DCI Championship titles.  This was a problem, however.  Now, the inherent nature of the new judging system forced judges to hold show design under their own subjective microscope of what was "good" or "innovative."  Under the old objective system, the main focus of show designers could be, and was, to develop a great show for their corps, with little concern about whether the individual judge with a clipboard counting tics thought your approach to the drum, for example, was as artistic and innovative as Garfield’s.  So, back to the story.   The Cadets kept winning, and winning and winning.   Eventually, designers started to figure out that the judges were rewarding show designs that were similar to the Cadets, which the DCI judging community had collectively decided was the "most innovative" and "successful" show design.  Before you could say “send in the clowns,” corps started switching to white or cream colored pants, and marching and playing just like the Cadets.  Drum lines started playing less notes, the artistic ballad replaced the concert piece, and every corps was running around the field like maniacs at the expense of cleanliness and musical difficulty.  Any corps that didn't fit this competitive mold suddenly found themselves slipping down the competitive ranks, and maybe even out of Finals.  Ask the Bridgemen.  Thank you for attending.  Goodbye.

5. And then -- POOF.   We had a homogenous drum and bugle corps activity.  Just about every corps left standing was THE SAME.  If your corps even tried to "hint" back at the days of having its' own identity ... it found itself washed up on the rocks, and sitting with the audience early in the evening on Finals night.  Ask the 1992 SCV.  Of course, YEA! did not help the situation, as they were busy trying to remake other corps such as the Crossmen and Carolina Crown in the "successful" image of the Cadets ... they even gave them the very same staff!   Not only did DCI fail to recognize this problem, but their judges were encouraged by the inherent nature of their new judging system to continue to competitively doom corps that tried to withstand this drive towards "success” (as the term is defined by the DCI subjective judging system).  Ask the Madison Scouts. 

And then what?  Our fan base started to decline dramatically.  Why?  Very simple answer.  People got bored.  How many fans really want to sit through five and a half hours of theme and variations on the 1983 Garfield Cadets?  To complicate matters, kids saw no reason to march with any other corps than one that they perceived as having a chance at winning DCI, so they started to travel long distances to join corps.  This, in turn, subsequently forced open-class corps to become solely "camp corps" and far less involved in their local community (which, in turn, creates its very own set of problems – ask people running bingo).  Then, smaller corps started to fold as their membership dwindled.  The "top 25" became an oxymoron, as there were not twenty-five top corps left, let alone the twenty-five "cream of the crop."

6.     So, now what?  Short of throwing out the entire rulebook and starting over (which may not be such a bad idea), what would I tell a drum corps staff or director to do to reverse this trend?  First, conceptually decide what your drum corps is going to be, and then do NOT deviate from this plan regardless of what the judges or the top 5 show designers think.  This sounds easy, but the fact of the matter is that a significant number of new corps start out trying to be just like _________________ (fill in the name of your favorite top-12 corps), and end up being a pale comparison of the original.  Not only is this not a particularly fun or creative way to put together a new organization, but it is generally not productive, and rarely results in a viable corps.  Here is a hint -- No one, repeat, no one, is ever going to out-Cadet the Cadets. Ditto for the Blue Devils, the Vanguard, and every other quality corps with a strong identity.  Forget them for now. Your mission is to create a corps identity that might borrow a few characteristics (or songs) of a great top-12 corps or two, but that does not come across as a wanna-be corps. There are not just twelve potential successful identities for drum corps -- there are hundreds (literally). So be creative, invent one of your own, and make it work.

7.     And meanwhile, in Jamestown, North Dakota, potato farmers are in a rage and have gone on strike until a new contract deal is with Cavendish Farms, the local French fry plant.  This is an outrage!  On behalf of all of the readers of Drum Corps World that eat French fries, I hereby demand that both sides work quickly to end the standoff.   If they do not, I propose that we raise the money to send the two hundred kids who auditioned for SCV’s snare line this winter to Jamestown, North Dakota, and let them wander the street playing buzz rolls until the potato farmers and French fry plant owners resolve their differences.  Can’t we all just get along?

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