This year’s Drum Corps International season may be over, but the excitement over the results has yet to even begin as preparation for next year commences. Staff and returning members now start over at dot one for next year. Staff of corps are being shifted as they compete for the best designers and directors to try for DCI champions next year.

With this year’s season at an end, the DCI champions this year were the Bluecoats from Canton, Ohio with their show “Down Side Up.” This show was different from years past; the corps didn’t wear the traditional uniforms that were seen in other corps at the championship.  They wore white bodysuits with a blue wave over the chest and around the body. This style of uniform has not been very common among corps. The Bluecoats did another unexpected thing; before their color guard came onto the field, they put down their instruments and danced to music created by their pit with keyboards. They used props that allowed for some amazing effects with the battery and brass and how they made their entrances onto the field. The Bluecoats’ show had a lot of laid back parts; they wore no hats, as traditional corps would.   This year’s show was scored at a 97.650, very close to the Blue Devils who scared a 97.250 at the finals.

The Blue Devils, located in Concord, California, placed second in the championships with their show “As Dreams Are Made On.” The show was ridiculed by some in the DCI community saying that their use of microphones and synthesizers to create and enhance their music is cheating; the soloist should be loud enough for a whole stadium to hear loud and clear, and all music should come from traditional instruments and not computers. But the Blue Devils are always doing something weird to get the attention of the crowd and get judge’s attention as well.  

This DCI season has started something new; though the use of technology is nothing new, it certainly adds a new aspect to the already spectacular shows that these drum corps put on.