Besides, he said, the original motivation for forming the corps was to give teenagers an alternative to the full-summer tour...

...The corps does save up to tour once or twice during the summer. This year, for example, they'll meet up with the Madison Scouts and Cascades when they fly up to Washington for three shows in the Northwest. Last summer, they made the trip to San Antonio.

"It was a big show," Pompel said, "a regional. It was a great experience. We made the mid-season CD." But the trip cost the corps $30,000 while they only brought in $1,000 in show fees.

When corps like The Cadets, Blue Devils and Madison Scouts travel coast-to-coast, they ask DCI to subsidize the trip, and DCI passes the expense on to show promoters.

"For us to go to the Midwest, it would take four show promoters to get together and say, 'OK, we're going to pay an extra $2,000 per show for Pacific Crest to perform at our shows and bring more people into the stands," Pompel said. That's a scenario he knows isn't very likely, given the corps' minimal exposure...

...DCI Executive Director Dan Acheson confirmed that the circuit is considering holding its championships at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver in the next few years. Pompel said it would be tempting to take the corps to that event.

"Denver would be a better possibility, but Denver is still far away. It's on the other side of the mountains."

For now, fans will have to be on the West Coast to see the corps perform their Cirque du Soleil show in 2002... They'll perform May 17 with the Dallas Brass at the Orange County Performing Arts Center...