The wait is almost over, drum corps fans! A new summer season of DCI starts tomorrow.

After a historic 2022 season, excitement over the 2023 DCI season has been building since the first few show announcements trickled out over winter and spring. That excitement has only started to increase as fans have seen first-looks at uniforms and gotten a taste of what corps will be playing on the field this summer in addition to our June 28 season start date. While we're still weeks away from finding out who will be crowned champion at Lucas Oil Stadium, here are five reasons why you should be excited about this season of drum corps:

1. Average Number of Performances Per World Class Corps: 19

There are a lot of shows coming your way this summer, and as such, fans have many chances to see their favorite corps perform throughout the 2023 DCI season! Here's an overview of how many times the World Class and Open Class corps will take the field, and where they'll be debuting their 2023 productions:

World Class

Open Class

2. An Open Battle for Open Class Victory

One thing fans should keep an eye on this season is the fight for first place within Open Class. Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets have a combined eleven victories over the last thirteen competitive seasons (with Spartans winning in 2019 and Oregon Crusaders in 2012). However, neither BDB nor SCVC will be making the journey to Marion, IN for Open Class World Championships in 2023, which leaves the playing field wide open for a new competitor to be crowned. The spread of points between second place and fourth place at Open Class Finals last year was just under 0.9 points, leaving room for second-place Gold, fourth-place Spartans, or even fifth-place Guardians to have a stellar season and propel themselves to a first-place finish. This is a showdown we'll definitely be keeping our eyes on all season.

3. Watch Bluecoats, Bluecoats Alumni Ensemble, and Rhythm IN BLUE at the "Bluecoats Opening Night Community Celebration"

In an all-new addition to the 2023 DCI season LIVE on FloMarching, you can now watch the Bluecoats debut their 2023 show and much more in the Bluecoats Opening Night Community Celebration, exclusively on FloMarching on July 1 at Kehres Stadium @ University of Mount Union. Featuring other local ensembles and Ohio-based drum and bugle corps, the Bluecoats Opening Night Community Celebration will kick off the 2023 DCI season with an Ohio-shaped bang!

The full program on Saturday, July 1 will begin with local favorites from the Buckeye State and culminate in the premiere of the never-before-seen 2023 Bluecoats show. The event wraps up with a combined encore including participants in The Blue Way Summer Arts Camp and finally an encore performance from the 2023 Bluecoats. View the full event schedule below.

• 5:15 PM - Gates Open
• 6:15 PM - Welcome & Introductions
• 6:20 PM - Rogues Hollow Regiment
• 6:35 PM - Columbus Saints
• 6:50 PM - Cincinnati Tradition
• 7:05 PM - En-Rich-Ment Drumline
• 7:15 PM - Bluecoats Alumni Ensemble Legacy Arc
• 7:30 PM - Rhythm IN BLUE
• 7:50 PM - World Debut of The Bluecoats
• 8:10 PM - Summer Arts Camp Performance w/ The Bluecoats
• 8:20 PM - Bluecoats Encore

Read more about the Bluecoats Opening Night Community Celebration here.

4. Spirit of Atlanta and Seattle Cascades Are Back!

DCI fans can welcome Spirit of Atlanta and Seattle Cascades back to the competitive field after each corps went on respective hiatuses. We last saw Spirit back in 2021 with their show "Bottle Tree" during the Celebration Season, but fans haven't seen Seattle Cascades take the competitive field since 2019 with their show, "Off the Grid." The addition of two more corps will make the fight to compete Satruday at DCI Finals that much more interesting, especially after Troopers and Colts clawed their way to a Finals performance for the first time in many years. Only time will tell which corps will make the cut, but what we can predict is that it's going to be a wild ride once we get to Lucas Oil Stadium in August. 

Spirit's 2023 production is titled, "Up, Down, and All Around" and will feature music from Thomas Newman, Alan Parsons, Eric Andrew Hirsch, and more. 

Seattle Cascades' 2023 production is titled, "Revival" and will feature music from Mourning Ritual, Frank Ticheli, Eminem, and more. 

5. We're Bringing Back Rebroadcasts and Archives for the 2023 Season

Missed the show? No problem! FloMarching will be airing REBROADCASTS of every stream with sound this DCI season the following day starting 24 hours after the original air date/time. So if a regional starts at 6pm CT on Saturday, the correlating rebroadcast of that performance will begin at 6pm CT on Sunday. To watch the live streams and rebroadcasts, all you need is an active FloMarching account - SIGN UP HERE.

We will also have a select number of 2023 performances available with audio ON-DEMAND immediately after each streamed performance in our Archives With Sound collection. This playlist will be updated regularly to include new performances after the conclusion of every streamed event, so be sure to check back regularly to relive all the action from June 28th through August 12th!