Once again, as the drum corps season is starting, everyone is freaking out about costumes and electronics and props.  Drum corps shows are changing, and the way they look is changing.  This can cause fans to be uncomfortable and to lament that it’s no longer drum corps.

Let me share a story.  It was 2019 and I was doing a lot of traveling for the Marching Roundtable.  I spent much of the summer on the road, doing interviews all over the country with designers, instructors, and members of many different corps.  It also seemed to be a time when a LOT of conversation was happening about costumes and the design of shows.

I flew into Austin, Texas and then drove to Katy, Texas to visit a Bluecoats rehearsal and interview some members of the staff.  When I finally found the school, I drove up to find the semi full of instruments and equipment, a food truck serving breakfast, and a typical drum corps morning.  Someone was sitting on a curb eating a bowl of cereal.  A girl passed me pulling a suitcase and carrying her sleeping bag.  Corps members sat in groups eating breakfast or relaxing before the rehearsal day started.  It was drum corps.

At that very moment I realized that no matter what the shows may look like, these young people were having a drum corps experience.  It is, in fact, VERY MUCH the same drum corps experience I remembered.  They were on the road, practicing in the hot sun, gulping down a meal before taking a (probably cold) shower and throwing on their uniform.  Then they were riding in a bus to a stadium where they would have the time of their life performing before a screaming crowd of excited fans who appreciated their efforts.

Drum corps is still drum corps.  You can put them in costumes and add electronics or giant set pieces but it’s still the same activity we remember and loved.  And LOVE.

So if you’re one of those who is very concerned about the activity, visit a corps at a school and you’ll be reassured as I was.  And while there, ask if you can give them an hour to run errands or help out in any way.  Then buy a ticket to a show and see drum corps live!  Cheer for those young people…and for the experience they are having.  And stop posting about the death of drum corps.  These young members see this stuff and it hurts.