As the corps looks ahead to the 2027 Drum Corps International Tour, Phantom Regiment has a roadmap in place to make its first tour of the West Coast in a decade.
According to Regiment director Dwight Emmert, the plans for this year’s trip have been percolating since 2023, in an effort to vary the experience that the corps offers to its performers on an annual basis.
“We have members that this will be year four, some year five with us,” said Emmert. “Last summer we were able to venture out to Denver and then we also made it out to Boston. We hadn’t done that in quite a while. And so this was the next thing we were trying to do. You want to give your membership that kind of tour where they get to experience something different.”
This Pacific region tour will be far from a first for the Rockford, Illinois ensemble. While it will be 10 years since Regiment kicked off its 2017 season in Clovis, California, the corps has toured California more than any other Midwestern ensemble in recent decades, a total of nine times since 2003. Their planned trip follows a tour model set by the Boston Crusaders and Bluecoats over the last two seasons.
Logistically, Emmert says that the corps’ plans will include spring training rehearsals in the Midwest before its vehicle fleet hits the road for California while staff and performers fly out to the Golden State.
Specific tour details are still being finalized ahead of the expected release of the 2027 DCI Tour schedule on November 25, but multiple stops throughout California are expected. The corps is also exploring performance options in the Rocky Mountain region. Outside of competitive shows, members can look forward to free days on the beach and in San Francisco, as well as exhibition performances like the Blue Devils’ annual Family Day event.
Emmert says the outpouring of support from fellow corps directors has been immensely helpful in planning the trip.
“Some of the neatest things is when other directors of the drum corps come together to help you,” Emmert said. “Bluecoats and Boston have been fantastic in giving us advice for the little (trip planning details) that you couldn’t possibly have thought about. That help and that camaraderie really gives you a lot of warmth for what our activity is. I hope to be able to pay that forward to another group that gets to go out in the future.”
Many details go into getting the show on the road, especially one that needs to travel nearly 2,000 miles to get there.
“It doesn’t matter what level you’re performing at, it’s a miracle that we can bring each group to the field each summer because of all the little things that go into every piece of it — from every design idea to all of the travel logistics,” Emmert said. “To take on something so large as a big trip like this makes me value what we do so much more, and to think about what we get to bring to young people, I hope that doesn’t get lost on anyone.”
