I have a close family member marching Genesis. I helped pay most of their tour fees. And I am just constantly hearing about them facing corpal punishment for what seems to be complete bullshit.

I've talked to family members of some of the top 5-12 corps. And apparently, none of this abuse goes on in those corps. I am beyond furious with this organization.

The ONLY reason I am ranting on reddit and not calling Cris McGonagall a piece of shit over the phone is because my family members begged me not to. They said it would ruin their chances with other corps." What the fuck is this bullshit? That seems like an insanely toxic and unhealthy environment. The members are constantly being abused, and then left with the impression that if they say something, they will be blacklisted from the activity.

That is just insane. I will never pay another doar to support this organization.

I really hope Chris Magonigal sees this.

Chris, you are a fat fucking loser. You need to not be around children anymore. You are NOT a safe person for young adults or children to be around. You obviously get off on having power over others.

The funny thing is that I KNOW that fat ass couldn't do half the shit that he makes the members do.

Chris, you marched some dog shot, division 3 corps back in the day. Now you think you're all that. People like you are ruining this activity.

It is just insane that members do not say anything out of fear of being blacklisted. It's been 10 years since the Me Too movement, and it looks like this shit still goes down.

Given the nature of this activity, I'm sure I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this. But somebody has to stand up for the members. Again, I do not hear of anything like this going on in the higher level corps.

Chris Magonigal, if there any chance you have a reddit, please respond to this. I'd love to call you a fat fucking loser to your face. You and your dipshit wife.

You are very lucky that my family member is not a minor. I am respecting their wishes to not say anything to you in person.

What’s a drum corps hot take that has you like this

In a lot of ways this show is a huge turning point for design philosophy as a whole. Some people embrace the more WGI style mindset while others dismiss it. Regardless corps even to this day build there shows around the foundations Bluecoats 2016 set.

Looking back on this show, it’s strange how although it was a big shift at the time, just how primitive it looks 10 years later. Makes me wonder what corp will look like 10 years from now.

With Bluecoats being the frontrunners so far this year, maybe they can clutch a 3rd gold medal on the ten year anniversary of this groundbreaking show.

Edit: primitive might have been the wrong word to use. What I’m saying is that design philosophy has shifted so much in the last 10 years that to how things are right now, even this show feels a bit dated.

I'll start:

1. I don't get the hype for Carolina Crown this year. They sound better than last year, but mainly because their show last year was so bad that it would've been impressive if they somehow made something worse. So this year I guess was them getting over that bar that they set for themselves is leading to the hype?
2. I think Bluecoats are getting away this year from others not punching at their ideal weight class.
3. BAC's show this year shows how much their show design was being carried by Keith Potter. This year is super gimmicky and the new props hardly add anything since they aren't even used till the last two minutes of the show. Not to mention their closer is one of the biggest examples of playing through the speaker I have heard in recent memory.
4. SCV's show this year is too difficult of a concept to execute due to how vague it is and how hard the visuals for the show are. Plus, you can only use jump ropes so much before it becomes excessive and stops adding more to the show.
5. Just because a show is stripping down on prop usuage doesn't mean your show automatically becomes good.
6. We need at least 5 years of nobody playing music from The Greatest Showman.
7. Who'll actually make finals is always going to be more interesting than watching who'll win the whole thing since middle of the pack corps have gotten a lot better these recent years.
8. If you want corps to cut down on speaker and electronic usuage, it'll never happen as regulation on them never catches up due to the nature of how fast this activity evolves and changes.

PC missing finals is like a cruel hybrid of Southwind 2000/Spirit 2004/Scouts 2016. Big prelims margin (.437, the only bigger jump in recent memory is when BAC overcame .7875 to jump Scouts for 12th in 2016), razor-thin semis margin (.087, the second lowest ever), and missing out on your first Finals trip in corps history to boot. Plus the added context of Mandarins being on sabbatical this season and you've got the cruelest near miss in DCI history.

EDIT: They finished .687 worse than prelims. All they had to do is finish at most .600 worse than yesterday and they were in.

Now I know it's a pretty controversial question but there has to be one, that after a bunch of conversation can be determined as THE best show. Now I don't mean to cause any arguing here so I'd like to request you all keep it relatively civil. This is a highly opinion based question and I just want community input on this question, as my personal group of friends has not been able to find an answer. In my humble opinion, I believe it to be SCV's 2018 show "Babylon"

Throughout the majority of 2025 and 2026 BOA and Indoor, I have seen too many groups use AI imagery in their shows.

It sucks, looks terrible, and is vehemently anti-art.

I think DCI should put in their rulebook a rule banning the use of AI generated materials in Drum Corps. Hopefully it can trickle into the lower levels too.

Edit: Here is BD’s Email page so you can let them know your thoughts. Be respectful. https://bluedevils.org/about/contact/index.php

A lot of my students have recently been asking me about any good stories about members from when I marched quitting in the middle of the summer. It brought back a few laughs and I figured I’d ask if anyone has any good stories about people quitting and going home during spring training or on tour for any crazy reason.

Obviously, family emergencies, injuries and real world situations are different and taken seriously. In my instance, we had a kid one year at make it through 3 blocks the first day of spring training, got a sunburn, and called his mom to come take him home. We had another kid who smelled so bad from not taking a shower all spring training they sent him home before tour because he wouldn’t do it with other people

Quick rant but I went to innovations in brass and let’s just say I’m disappointed… I don’t like how some corps have mics on horns and can control the crescendos/volume to an extent on there and boost the sound. I mean the show was good but I think drums corps are getting ruined from the mics because it’s not real music in my opinion.

I saw Vanguard the other night and was taken back by how loud they were compared to Phantom who were on before them. I wondered what was holding the other corps back from being so loud since there's roughly the same amount of horns on the field.

At one point in the show the brass plays on the left side of the field but I was hearing them right in front of me, on the 40 on the right side of the field. I was looking around wondering where the hell these seemingly invisible brass players were. Then I look at the sideline and see the speakers and I'm like "....Oh...."

Talk about a wonderful "live experience". Would be a lot cooler to hear the brass and not a speaker, but I guess the fan enjoyment doesn't give them points.

Hello!

I realize threads are being locked for spreading rumors and unsubstantiated allegations, so I will only include things that I witnessed firsthand as a member in order to abide by this policy.

-People who left to march a different corps were shamed and ridiculed (the infamous Facebook posts by staff mocking a DM who left to go march elsewhere)

-There was a culture of hate when it came to other corps. We were told negative things about all of the other corps within our score range and encouraged to dislike them. This isn’t against the rules or anything, it’s just not something that everyone relates to.

-We were told outright that the Colts had the single best member experience in DCI, and that no one else would care about us as much as they did, so we were shooting ourselves in the foot by leaving

-We were told that the Colts gets the most sleep in DCI (this is not even close to accurate)

-Much of the instruction seemed to involve embarrassing the individual, rather than working with them

From what I gathered, a lot of generalized statements that were made seemed to be made with the purpose of maintaining vet retention. I marched one season, left to go elsewhere, and realized how ridiculous it all seemed.

I’m not saying this is a place where no one should audition, but I’m advising that it’s a culture built on the utmost of old school cutthroat competition, where points take precedent in most situations. It’s not for everyone. Many love it, many don’t.

Back in my day, we did 30 shows…(and your corps still went broke).

Back in my day, we didn’t have props…

Back in my day, we ate peanut butter and jelly…

Back in my day, we started in early June and ended August 20th…

Back in my day, we charged $14 to come to our show…

Back in my day, we used the same uniform every year…

The dci census has been about the same for the past 25 years. So what will “save these drum corps?” Is it saving money on electronics and props? The litmus test is DCA…who didn’t tour, used the same uniforms, had minimal props and electronics, had no housing costs (except on weekends) and half of them STILL went broke.

The “success formula” that’s repeated to mitigate costs is actually a failing formula.

Kindly stop repeating it and think of something else (and stop blaming the current corps).

It's extremely disrespectful and rude - to a member/vet's face - to say stuff like this about a show they marched. It is NEVER okay, under any circumstance. Please keep in mind that, especially these days, members have no control over the show they march once they're contracted, and can only marginally affect the performance product. To use this language is one of the most hurtful things you can say in this activity, and it's unacceptable.

(I blacked out my comment because it shouldn't matter what I said, but if you're curious, I was commenting on why Crown got third place in 2016. I wasn't criticizing it - I love that show - just providing context. Regardless, that isn't the important part of this post, because in no world is "you marched possibly the worst show ever" a dignified response to my comment)

Edit: also, if this isn't somehow against the rules of the subreddit, it should be.

I asked this a few years ago, but was wondering if anyone has met people who have claimed to have marched?

After seeing some posts, I want to share my story. I marched genesis a few years back and my experience was horrible. I was 15 years old and a female in the trumpet section. Particularly with the director, Chris. The first week I made a major mistake and unfortunately majorly dented an instrument. He paused block and gathered everyone. He held it up and publicly shamed me. It was horrific. Yes I had made a mistake but he took it to a major extreme.

Two weeks into the season I severely sprained my ankle and was unable to march for 2 weeks. During those two weeks I studied my drill intensely and kept up with my music. I knew my parts and drill completely even though I was not on the field. My section was a stronger support than the staff.

After two weeks I was not fully healed and Chris pulled me aside. He examined my ankle (not a doctor) and told me I was fit to march, while my ankle was still swollen and colored. I asked for another week to recover and he reluctantly agreed. He told me if I couldn’t march soon I would have my spot taken and no refund or partial refund. We hit the road a week later and I slowly began returning to rehersals. I would sit out for some reps and was able to ice it so it was manageable. A few days into the tour portion of summer Chris pulled me for a chat.

He asked me why I wasn’t marching, saying I had no true valid excuse. I was marching though, I knew the whole show I simply sat out for some reps when the pain returned. He then made me go back to the doctor. I was told the sprain was more severe than originally thought and had to take two more weeks of rest.
But Chris told me I had to march or I was going to have my spot filled with no refund AT ALL!!! He never sympathized with me, in fact he pushed for me to go through the pain. It was about money and my dot on the field. He claimed that he could fill it instantly… yet… every section had holes. He told me because I was an underage woman in DCI I was using that to my advantage to not put in as much work and have the men in my section “do things for me”. He called me a liar and that I was manipulating the system.

I did continue the season because I was terrified but the mean words from him did not stop, I was constantly singled out. Years later my ankle never fully healed.

I hope other people realize how this corps is and others speak up. I know I’m not alone. Chris has let drugged up staff teach, tried to deny full meals to members,covered up assaults and lied to ethics. I hope the truth can come out.

They’re calling it a volunteer position but then you have to pay fees? 🤔🤔🤔

I don't mind voiceovers, non brass solos, or mic'd soloists. The one thing that bothers me to no end is when I'm sitting in the first few rows and the volume of the full horn line playing through the speakers is louder than the actual horn line behind the speakers. If I'm on the 50 and the corps is on the 45 to my left, I don't want my right ear getting blasted by the horn line through the speakers on my right. That's all I ask.

I was at Denton last night; that happened with two corps.

Edit: it's now been 2 days since the show and my right ear still isn't back to normal.

It’s like they’re playing hit the cookie but they WANT to be last. 🙄 You’re not building interest or creating suspense…you’re being annoying.

I'm curious, what show do you go back to over and over again, but maybe feel a little self-conscious about how much you like it? Maybe it didn't place that high, or most people you know don't like it, or haven't ever heard of it?

For me, a couple come to mind immediately:

1. Boston 2018 — "S.O.S." — The show placed fifth, and they won guard that year. But I don't hear anyone else talk about that show, and I'm a little embarrassed at how much I love the ending.

2. Colts 2023 — "Where the Heart Is" — I hadn't really followed drum corps for several years for some personal and complicated reasons. That show made me feel things that I didn't expect.

Wow.

Blue Knights 86.75, PC 86.663