That Time DCI Did Reality TV

Today I talk about the TV show Clash of the Corps. A show produced by 'The Rock' which follows the Blue Devils and The Cadets as they competed throughout the 2016 Drum Corps Season.

[@GraphicEncounter]

4:04 Had me dying. That's just how battery guys dog on each other and hearing it set to reality show tension music is genuinely hilarious.

[@jacobdancey145]

On g

[@aatntidkname7447]

lollll ikr it just be how we talk

[@AnonymousYouTubeconsumer]

What I find funny is that they’re just kind of glossing over Brandon Olander and making him seem like a dick for sitting down. Like dude, that’s a freaking Drum Corps legend right there.

[@drumcorpsnut26]

I watched this series and it was disappointing. I wanted so much more and for them to show what drum corps is, was, and could be. But unfortunately we got a half cheeked show for nobody.

[@Davis.smith.weightlifting]

That show was so frustrating to watch as a member of the 16 corps. They fabricated so much of the shows story line and missed out on what the tension of the season was actually in reality.

[@KyleTsuchiya]

I remember marching coats in 16 and thinking it was super weird they were doing this - felt like more of a distraction than anything else. I'm all for spreading awareness of drum corps, but this fell way short due to many of the reasons you explained! Really enjoyed the video. Subbed!

[@Krystina_m2]

Have you watched the 2006 bluecoats documentary Throw it down? I really like it. My band director was one of the drum majors that year and says production made him do things for shots like mow the grass in a polo which was an odd thing to film. Either way the documentary is good and if you haven’t watched it yet you really should

[@Sforzando_DCI]

I have always wondered what it was like during that season for other corps. Thanks Kyle!

[@erroneous3493]

It might have been why the devs couldnt catch up honestly lol

[@dill1602]

I think the funniest part of the show was them mentioning the Bluecoats once and never again.

[@angelocooper7631]

Simply put. We need to bring this into reality again. The talent that is presented now can fulfill production goals on multiple spectrums.

[@Sforzando_DCI]

The correct way to do this is in the style of Hard Knocks on HBO. A weekly show throughout the season that will pivot its episodes around the interesting stories or good competitions. After 3 weeks of competition, they would have known The Cadets weren’t going to be relevant for the title…they could have transitioned to Crown or Bluecoats. A man can dream

[@mightyx4391]

nice to know im not the only one with the cake recipes drive

[@Lognasmogna]

legit was about to ask 😭

[@GeorgeCollins]

Clash of the Corps ignored what makes for successful docuseries that introduce niche subcultures to a broader audience. Comparables are Cheer, Dance Life, Last Chance U etc. The real struggle. The real stuff that goes wrong. From the practical to the emotionally dysfunctional. The full range. Showing students and staff struggling with those same issues that the broader audience faces and either overcoming or being destroyed by them. Especially considering what Cadets went through behind the scenes that season, it’s clear all of that was hidden. “Let’s just show us being really good at this”. Even the Olympics knows that audiences will get tired of seeing favorites just win all the time. That’s why they produce all those bts stories showing the often difficult journey a lot of athletes took to reach that stage. The actual activity is just a context within which you can tell stories that highlight humanity. Otherwise it’s just empty and it’s difficult for audiences to connect with it. I don’t care about gold mining or pottery but I love watching Gold Rush and The Great Pottery Throw Down.

[@pumodi]

It's so funny, the track they're using at 7:26, I can 100% tell that that's the Fanfare sample library from Sample Logic. It's the only 'Drum Corps' sample library that exists but even still it just does not get there sound wise.

[@KeyOfGeorge]

Hey CJ! Amazing content always. I marched Carolina Crown in 2015-2016 and to my knowledge, our corps was contacted about doing Clash of the Corps. I believe the reason Jim Coates said no (but do not quote me i’d love other alumni to chime in) was because he felt it would be more of a distraction to have cameras and crews all around us at all times and didn’t want to it to hinder the experience of the members. I cannot speak on whether it does hinder individual member focus during rehearsals or not, but that was the underlying reasoning that I heard..

[@CJsMusicTrumpet]

Wow that’s interesting to hear about! It now makes me wonder what kinds of differences I would see in the show had that happened.

[@davidelliott9493]

It was the air quotes around “cake recipes” and the look at the camera that got me…..🤣🤣

[@theelectricscythe5625]

I watched the show and also felt really weird how they portrayed the coats. They framed them like the big bad insurmountable corps, but in reality 2016 was the underdog story payoff after years of the coats putting out amazing shows

[@Krystina_m2]

I own the dci bluecoats movie based in the 2006 season. It’s called throw it down.I love it so much. My band director was in it since he was the drum major last year and it’s a great movie too bad you have to buy the disc to watch it. Thankfully I have it. You should watch it

[@CJsMusicTrumpet]

where can I find this?

[@HENRYANESDRUMS777]

Man I love this channel I’m aged out but it’s the only DCI thing I keep up with lol

[@HENRYANESDRUMS777]

I’m not even gonna lie…. I watched this religiously lol

[@ryanbrodhead5070]

As a member of The Cadets in 2016, this was not a good experience. The show was definitely trying to make it as much of a reality TV show as anything else, and after watching when it aired it was pretty frustrating. Seemed like they only had cameras in our faces on the worst days possible, and then when it aired they really only chose the clips that were juicy. Seemed like they were going in a positive direction with BD and a negative direction with us to fit the narrative. We won brass in 2015 and lost percussion by 0.03 at the end of finals week, arguably the best marching music ensemble that summer. The choice of corps were correct, and its easy to say otherwise 8 years later if you weren't around the activity.

[@CJsMusicTrumpet]

I should have been clearer in the video. My problem is less with the choice of the cadets in the show but more in the way the show portrays cadets as their choice in the show. Cadets had their own competition throughout the season and the show chooses to constantly compare their placements to the blue devils rather than properly show the issues that the cadets were facing in being competitive with the corps in their placement range. Thats where I have the issue and I wish the show had gone that direction rather than just show off how much further blue devils were than the cadets.

[@frisco2993]

I think they shouldve showed at least the top 6, just to give people a sense its not just like a head on head competition, its a lot more and a lot more kids on that grind..

[@garypowell5429]

It's not about the Cadets or the Devils in that year, it was a choice made on the history of the corps and the obvious competition that had happened between the corps who were at the forefront of the activity for the better part of 30 years. The activity is as it is because in part - of the additional creativity brought to the activity by the likes of the Cadets, Devils, Suncoast Sound, Skyriders and lest we forget SCV. I agree that that the show represented the activity poorly - but the choice of organisations was correct. It could have quite easily been someone like Crown - who with the addition a lot of ex- Cadets staff have taken on the baton and are leading the way, along with Bluecoats as to what the next generation of kids will be into. (but that's just the opinion of an ex Cadet!)

[@CJsMusicTrumpet]

I agree to a point. I was somewhat harsh on the decision to choose cadets as they were pretty successful in 15. I think the reason that I treat it like an issue is because throughout the show it attempts to portray the cadets and blue devils as if they are directly competing with eachother constantly which is somewhat far from the truth given the context of actual placements throughout the season. I feel that if the show had portrayed the competition more openly mentioning some of the individual problems regarding the corps that they were really trying to outpace I would have been a lot lighter on the shows choice of those two specific corps.

[@christenaweena]

They should have released it “Big Brother” style. It was a reality show that had their episodes air about 2 days after it was filmed so it was almost like in real time. The editors for that show were probably cracked out though. (for the algorithm)

[@camdenewing7501]

PACIFIC CREST JERSEY!!!!!!!!

[@jacobdancey145]

I love odds so much, never marched drum corp but love the game, so fun!

[@TheDesignGuru87]

Another great video 😆

[@matthewstockbridge2241]

dude hell yeah.

[@Maesh911]

Good to see the uniform I wore being used for clash of the corps

[@pikafunguy7687]

Unrelated but i was watching this video and my 3yo brother walked up, tickled the screen, kissed the screen, and waved bye

[@user-fp5lj9yq8u]

For what the show was it was ok. They had to make it enticing enough that people who had no clue what drum corps was, would still want to watch it.

[@amaanbaloch9302]

I auditioned for crown and coats in 16 but ended up marching coats that season. I may be misremembering, but I feel like I heard that crown did get approached to be featured in the show alongside BD but didn’t take the offer (I think because they thought it would interfere too much with rehearsals and their season in general). Don’t remember hearing anything about coats getting asked to be featured though.

[@TFordSuperstar]

Probably a good thing. You guys might not have won if you had a camera crew with you all season.

[@Apollostowel]

Imagine if they kept filming behind the scenes of the Cadets after that season. DHop was his own shit show. 👀

[@frisco2993]

I wonder if cadets and BD actually met The rock, at least a couple times...?

[@SammyWammy3579]

In my personal opinion DCI would do wayyyyyy better as a doc-series/film where it’s filmed like a found footage thing, is that just me?

[@BrettPurcellMusic]

When it comes to choosing the corps, I also wonder if the obvious corps (Crown and Coats) were asked, but denied being a part of it.

[@anneturner4427]

I believe crown was asked and denied

[@claytonbinner]

You forgot the worst part. They made a bunch of these kids read off “10 reasons why drum corps marchers work just as hard as olympians.” The video got wiped from the internet lmao. Part of the show was filmed at my high school. They made this poor dude from BD run around in a banana costume during a water break. That show was dead on arrival.

[@rygardin]

2:32 is so fucking brutal. Did Olander actually like, struggle with members or was it just the fuckin show?

[@TheDesignGuru87]

Good idea on paper but this series wasn't produced well enough in my opinion it needed to be done by drum corps people 😂 GOSH do I miss the PBS Summer Music Games days 😅

[@samsignorelli]

It didn't help that the actual show music could not be used....really missed a chance to show how good the groups were.

[@thecommonmagician]

...and hyped a 20 year old competitive rivalry that didn't actually exist. Ehem, go Bloo! This was made for the 90s kids that weren't keeping up with drumcorps anymore.

[@bobodilligaf]

No. It wasn’t even made for them. I kept hoping maybe for the last episode we would see a show but no…. The cadets had a documentary that was way better than this

[@thecommonmagician]

@@bobodilligaf I say that it was for them simply because the premise of the show dates to a rivalry from that time rather than from the recent past. The Blue Devils and Cadets simply were neither rivals nor competitors when the show came out.

[@TFordSuperstar]

2:45 and 4:05 made me hate this show. I love DCI, and reality TV almost ruined it for me.

[@zoeybatterup152]

What was wrong with the “what are the odds?” clip

[@TFordSuperstar]

@@zoeybatterup152 It felt staged to me. Both of those clips did.