Drum Corps International reports that attendance at the "Big, Loud & Live" broadcast of the DCI World Championship Prelims was up in 2014, marking an 11th straight year of growth for the movie theater event.
Shown in more than 600 cinemas across the United States on August 7, attendance for "Big, Loud & Live 11" is recorded at 49,168, a nominal increase over 2013 and a new record.
"Having been involved with this event since our first 'cinecast' in 2004, I'm always pleased to see so many passionate people continue to take advantage of this opportunity to see drum corps at the movies," DCI Executive Director and CEO Dan Acheson said.
Added to the 6,674 spectators who witnessed the event live at Lucas Oil Stadium, total viewership of the World Championship Prelims was nearly 56,000.
"Big, Loud & Live 11" is one of two DCI Tour events brought to cinemas during the summer of 2014. The "DCI Tour Premiere," which featured a lineup of seven World Class corps, was shown in 471 movie theaters nationwide in June. In its fourth year, the event attracted a record crowd of 29,218, up nearly 6,000 over 2013.
Over the last decade, total attendance for "Big, Loud & Live" and the "Tour Premiere" (including six years of the "Classic Countdown") cinema events have drawn more than half a million marching music enthusiasts to movie theaters.
"'Big, Loud & Live' and the 'Tour Premiere' will both be back as part of next year's DCI Tour," Acheson said. "We're also currently evaluating the feasibility of broadcasting the 'Tour Premiere' live to add an additional level of excitement for those looking to see some of the first drum corps performances of the 2015 summer season."