Indianapolis Show

I attended the DCI event in Indy last weekend and found all of the corps' shows entertaining. The audience attendance was good and the crowd was very attentive, enthusiastic, and supportive of all of the corps. Thinking back on last weekend, I realize how easy it is to be especially impressed with the top corps and overlook the efforts of the smaller, younger, and lower scoring corps. The audience members in Indy didn't seem to take for granted the lower tier corps and gave groups like Capital Sound and Colt Cadets frequent and strong applause. There is a short video regarding these two corps' performance on the DCI website. The DCI World Championships will be held in Indianapolis next year and I can't help feeling the Championships there will be special. The citizens of Indianapolis appreciate the arts and especially the marching activity. Bands of America has held its national championships and DCI has held regional events in Indy for many years. So the community has been and educated and socialized to appreciate and enjoy the marching music activity. I'm really looking forward to attending the World Championships in Indy at the new dome next year.

I did have one concern develop while attending the event in Indy last weekend. There was a man who moved from seat to seat in the stadium during the evening. He acted very strangely and carried a large backpack. He made several calls by cell phone. Did he have a ticket? If he did, why wasn't he sitting in his assigned seat. The event was crowded, so I wasn't certain how he was finding empty seats. At one point he placed the backpack under a seat and left the seating area. A number of us became alarmed and at about the moment we were going to alert an usher, the man returned to his backpack. People continued to watch this man throughout the evening. It was an unnerving circumstance.

Given the threat of terrorism in today's world, I don't understand why facilities and DCI allow people to bring in any large containers. I saw officials going through people's bags as I was passing through the entry gates and I considered this while observing the behavior of the man with the bag. However, I couldn't help but wonder, did he slip by the guards somehow.