I used to love drum corps

I used to love the drum and bugle corps activity, both as a participant and as a spectator. I don't love it anymore, though. In fact, I have absolutely no interest in drum corps anymore because there is no such thing as drum corps anymore. There hasn't been for six or seven years. Drum corps died the day DCI allowed electronics on the field.

With drum corps dead and buried, "drum corps" became unbearable to my ears. Not only did the new rules ruin the foundation of what once was drum and bugle corps, but it also sounds fucking horrible. The "artistic" yapping sucks, Carolina Crown. The hideous singing is like fingernails on a chalkboard, Cadets. Urrrghhh!!! I know there are a lot more examples I could cite here, except I no longer follow drum corps. I only watch parts of the televised broadcasts out of curiosity, on the rare occasion that I know about the broadcasts. And I haven't been to a show since 1999, even though I used to attend up to 10 or 15 shows every summer.

I received an e-mail earlier tonight from someone I marched with in the Limited Edition Drum & Bugle Corps. The body of the e-mail was simply a link to a petition for drum corps fans and participants to sign, to tell DCI they don't appreciate the changes the governing body keeps making to the already-ruined foundation of drum corps.

Well, even though I agree with most of the principles of the petition, I'm not going to sign it. Y'see, I just don't care anymore.

We told you years ago, DCI, that we didn't want the changes you proposed. We said the changes would turn drum corps into marching band, but you made the changes anyway. And then you did it again and again. You proved to me that you didn't care what your target audience wanted. Or maybe you just had a different target audience in mind--a target audience that may not have actually existed.

Drum Corps International, you are lucky you still have an audience that lets you know they don't want what you're trying to force upon them. They are doing you a favor by speaking their minds, but apparently you just keep ignoring them. And guess what, DCI: They don't need you. You need them.

You needed me, too, but you lost me, just as you lost thousands of other real drum corps fans. We don't care anymore because you made us stop caring. Don't you get it?!? And if you keep ignoring the people who do still care, there won't be anyone left to help you rebuild once the activity finally falls apart completely.

One last thing... I mean no disrespect to the yappers and singers. It's not necessarily your voices that disturb me; it's the concept. It's the clearly inherent incompatibility of drum corps and amplification.

(If anyone who still cares about drum corps wants to redistribute this rhetoric, please include a link either to this post or to http://www.aimlessmovie.com.)

Aimless