When it comes down to it, the drum corps activity is somewhat simple in its foundations.
While productions, especially in the modern era, carry many layers of complicated musical and visual design, drum corps style can be boiled down to a few specific fundamental characteristics.
“We’ve all heard the age-old story that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step,” Reading Buccaneers artistic coordinator Nicholas Tavares said. “In our case, it’s an eight-to-five.”
For the Buccaneers, the goal in designing 2026 was to capture that dichotomy — an intricate and elaborate performance medium, with clear, straightforward foundations. The corps’ production, “Simplexity,” seeks to blend both.
“It’s a word hybrid of the words ‘simple’ and ‘complex,’” Tavares said. “The idea came to me one day as I was sifting through endless reviews on social media and processing commentary about the good old days of drum corps.”
In terms of specific selections, Buccaneers’ program will include “Goddess” by icelandic singer/songwriter Laufey, and “Psychopomp” by progressive rock band Thank You Scientist, two selections chosen for their contrasting styles. The latter was popularized for drum corps fans as the opening movement to Bluecoats’ 2017 show, “Jagged Line.”
The idea came from conversations of how to simplify the corps’ approach to performance; can drum corps go all the way back to their original roots in program design?
As the activity continues to evolve, and corps seek to serve performers that enjoy such modernizations, perhaps not — but highlighting the basics in the DNA of drum corps is certainly an intriguing option.
“I stopped to think, we can’t actually logistically go back in time, because the productions we’ve come to love from the DCI community have turned into complex productions,” Tavares said. “However, what we can do is explore a show concept that mirrors how we take the simplest form of the activity and develop it into a complex art form.”
Musically, the Buccaneers’ 2026 production hones in on the basics — rhythm, harmony, breath, and clarity — and how those simple ideas can grow into something more layered over time. Rather than leaning on major, high-impact moments, the design will put an emphasis on space, contrast, and the paths between musical passages.
The corps also plans to use non-traditional sound sources and audio design, including breathing, as connective elements throughout the show.
“We’ve actually incorporated, throughout the show, breathing as it relates to rhythm,” he added. “We’ve created breathing music, so that will be part of our glue throughout the chart. Sometimes the simplest thing is just taking a breath.”
“Every year we look at a number of different pieces of music, and fundamentally they all have simple base points,” Cullen said. “Whether it’s rhythmic or harmonic, or layers of different instruments, they all start from something simple.”
Visually, the Buccaneers are approaching their 2026 production with the same contrast that drives the musical design. The corps’ team is centering the show on fundamental elements of marching training — posture, step size, and clarity of movement — and building more complex forms and responsibilities from those basics.
According to Tavares, inspiration is being drawn from bold, line-driven visual art, particularly work associated with pop art, where simple shapes combine to create dense, layered images. In that vein; Tavares noted the work of Keith Haring as source material.
The result is intended to be a show that reads clearly at first glance, while revealing more detail as it develops.
“We spent our first design meeting with all of our caption heads and designers and just brainstormed,” Tavares said. “Visually, what is the most simplistic thing that you do from a training perspective that sets the performer up to do the complex things that we do?”
And while there are certainly complex elements in their 2026 production, the goal — a very simple one, at that — remains the same as any other year for the defending All-Age champions.
“The core value of this show is to have fun,” Cullen said. “The general audience member wants more, and the judging community looks for more. Let’s appreciate the journey and appreciate the small and the big equally.”
Reading Buccaneers’ 2026 season features six stops, kicking off June 27 in Shelton, Connecticut.
