Your one-stop-shop for information about the DCI Southwestern Championship taking place on July 22 in San Antonio, TX. Find out the lineup, performance times, and get stream links so you can watch LIVE on FloMarching!

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Open and World Class drum corps will converge in San Antonio, Texas for their first big head-to-head challenge of the 2023 Drum Corps International season. See top ensembles battle for first place in this day-long performance of pageantry. Who will come out on top? Only time will tell.

All the action kicks off at 2:30pm ET / 1:30pm CT, so be sure to tune in early so you don't miss a second of the excitement. You'll also want to follow FloMarching on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube because we'll be posting behind-the-scenes clips, exclusive video content, and performance photos of your favorite corps throughout the day.

To prepare yourself for what is sure to be an explosive day of performances, here are three things to keep an eye on heading into the Southwestern Championship on July 22nd.

1. Say it with me: the Caption Races are CLOSE

Fans who tuned into DCI Broken Arrow will know what I mean when I say that all of the Caption Races are going to be a back-and-forth battle for the rest of the season. 

If you take a look at the full recap over on DCI's website, there are a few things to note:

• The big news of the evening was Bluecoats claiming first in the Color Guard caption after earning an 18.000. This is the first time (I believe) all season that BD has not claimed every caption award after a performance. Blue Devils came in second with a 17.900 while Boston claimed third with a 17.700.
• Boston's Percussion scored within 0.1 of Blue Devils, who have been leading the caption all season but by just the slimmest of margins. The two corps scored an 18.200 and an 18.100, respectively. Bluecoats came in third with a 17.800.
• In the Brass caption, BD took home first with a score of 18.500, while Boston claimed second (18.300) and Crown nabbed third (18.100).

Looking forward to San Antonio, it's safe to assume that these scores will only continue to go up especially when considering performers will be in an indoor venue, thus minimizing factors such as oppressive heat and wind. It's going to be exciting to see how this all plays out on Saturday!

2. The race for 5th place is on

It's no secret that Phantom Regiment and Mandarins have both been having stellar seasons, outpacing past scores and charging forward with some serious pace. Based on their most recent scores, Mandarins have claimed the number 5 spot in the Rankings with their score of 85.850 on July 18th in Abilene.

Regiment was scheduled to perform at DCI Broken Arrow the same evening, but withdrew from the competition citing health and safety concerns. Most recently, Regiment scored an 83.900 in Olathe, KS.

As of now, Phantom Regiment is sitting in 7th when looking at most recent scores, with The Cadets sliding into 6th after a powerful performance at Broken Arrow, which earned the corps a score of 84.800.

One thing that all three of these corps have in common? None of them have gone head-to-head this season... yet.

It's nearly impossible to tell what will happen when Mandarins, Phantom Regiment, and The Cadets are all judged by the same panel, but it's safe to say that when all of these three corps meet for the first time, it's going to be an exciting contest to watch.

All three of these corps will be taking different routes to get to the Southwestern Championship on July 22nd, with Mandarins attending DCI Houston, Phantom Regiment attending DCI Denton, and The Cadets attending DCI Austin. This means that the first time the three corps will meet will officially be in San Antonio, only adding fuel to the fire of what is already going to be a scorching evening of energy.

3. We need to talk about Pacific Crest

Maybe the most glossed-over talking point of the season so far is how Pacific Crest has been making major moves all season, and are now within spitting distance of not only outscoring their Semifinals score from 2022, but also making a play to be sitting in the top-12 this year.

PC's 2023 program titled, 'Goddess' is both visually and musically stunning in my opinion, and it seems that the judges agree. At last night's Abilene show, Pacific Crest earned a third-place finish (79.250) securing a decisive victory over Spirit of Atlanta, The Academy, Music City, and Seattle Cascades. PC finished only a handful of points behind The Cavaliers (82.950) but managed to score a second-place finish in the Color Guard caption (16.300) while keeping the contest close in both Visual and Brass. 

Oh, and right now (based on most recent score), they're currently sitting in 12th place, outpacing the likes of Blue Knights, Spirit of Atlanta, Crossmen, and Madison Scouts. If Pacific Crest manages to continue this upward momentum and nab a top-12 finish, it would be the first time in the ensemble's history that they'd take the field in a World Championship Finals performance.

Fans can see Pacific Crest perform this week at DCI Denton on July 20 and the DCI Southwestern Championship on July 22nd.

Streaming Schedule - DCI Southwestern Championship

July 22 | San Antonio, TX

Start Time: 1:30pm CT

Event Schedule:

• 12:00pm - Gates Open
• 1:30pm - Welcome & National Anthem
• 1:40pm - Arsenal
• 1:52pm - Guardians
• 2:09pm - Genesis
• 2:26pm - Seattle Cascades
• 2:43pm - Music City
• 3:00pm - Spirit of Atlanta
• 3:17pm - Madison Scouts
• 3:34pm - Intermission
• 4:04pm - Crossmen
• 4:21pm - The Academy
• 4:38pm - Blue Knights
• 4:55pm - Colts
• 5:12pm - Pacific Crest
• 5:29pm - Intermission - SoundSport International Showcase
• 6:29pm - The Cadets
• 6:46pm - Blue Stars
• 7:03pm - Troopers
• 7:20pm - The Cavaliers
• 7:37pm - Mandarins
• 7:54pm - Phantom Regiment
• 8:11pm - Carolina Crown
• 8:28pm - Bluecoats
• 8:45pm - Boston Crusaders
• 9:02pm - Blue Devils
• 9:27pm - Drum Major Retreat & Scores Announced

STREAM LIVE HERE

More Information | Rebroadcast Information

Current Rankings and Caption Leaders (as of July 18th)

Time to delve into everyone's favorite subject: rankings and caption leaders. There's an overwhelming amount of data and numbers constantly changing after every competition, so here's an overview of where everyone stands:

And here's how the Percussion, Color Guard, and Brass caption race looks:

If you're interested in keeping track of rankings, be sure to bookmark our Rankings tab! There, rankings will be updated every Monday morning to reflect the previous week's scores. We'll also be keeping tabs on the caption races and updating our audience every Tuesday on Instagram.