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WGI 2027 registration is already putting championship capacity back in the spotlight. Whitney Stone is joined by Jeremy Denzer, Sadie Wallace, Trish O’Shea, Garrett Lippie and Jeremy Williams to break down the color guard entry counts and waitlists as they stood at recording, WGI’s search for more championship capacity, the new percussion World Class finals quad panel, Audio Theater stepping away from 2027 competition, and the 2026 European Drum Corps Championships.

The episode also follows up on the nationwide support for Derek Phillips’ family and remembers longtime Drum Corps World publisher Steve Vickers. Garrett takes the 60 Second Tech Block with “Practice Makes Permanent,” then Water We Doing?! tackles Dayton capacity, professional sound systems, separate BOA color guard judging, turning discussion into action, and who should really have final authority over show design.

Panel:
Whitney Stone — @dancerwhit
Jeremy Denzer — @jeremydenzer
Sadie Wallace — @m.sadiewallace
Trish O’Shea — @trishdish1102
Garrett Lippie — @g_lippie27
Jeremy Williams — Executive Producer

CHAPTERS
00:00 WGI 2027 Color Guard Tea
02:02 Welcome + Recent OAWB Releases
08:27 Quiet Spin Flagpole Test
11:28 Derek Phillips Family Thanks the Marching Community
16:15 Remembering Steve Vickers
19:00 WGI 2027 Color Guard Registration + Waitlists
25:15 WGI Percussion 2027: Quad Panel, Audio Theater + Regionals
29:59 Scholastic Open Registration Check
30:49 European Drum Corps Championships
32:58 Guard Closet
35:43 60 Second Tech Block
37:27 Practice Makes Permanent
43:46 Water We Doing?!
51:21 Circuit Sound Systems
53:48 Should BOA Judge Color Guard Separately?
57:59 What Are We Going to Do About It?
58:42 Who Actually Runs the Design?
59:41 Gush & Go
1:07:01 Bridgeland Wins BOA North Houston
1:08:11 Whitney Shares a Personal Loss
1:09:21 Closing Rehearsal

NEWS & RESOURCES
WGI Color Guard Current Entries: https://www.wgi.org/currententries/cg-current-entries/
WGI 2026 Board July Meeting Recap: https://www.wgi.org/26julyboardrecap/
Derek Phillips family statement / community support: https://www.kcci.com/article/family-of-derek-phillips-thanks-community-for-support/73859683
University of Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band statement: https://hawkeyemarchingband.uiowa.edu/news/2026/09/message-hawkeye-marching-band-and-school-music
Steve Vickers — Drum Corps International: https://www.dci.org/news/steve-vickers-longtime-publisher-of-drum-corps-world-dies-at-77/
WGI Percussion Current Entries: https://www.wgi.org/currententries/p-current-entries/
Audio Theater 2027 hiatus: https://www.facebook.com/audiotheater/posts/pfbid035nniBGVqaUj2xyvtVaXRRX4xgMvpGwvmttQX34N4trFvJmEq6aagBUDeAun94Vvjl
European Drum Corps Championships: https://www.dci.org/news/ensembles-from-five-countries-will-be-represented-at-2026-european-drum-corps-championships/

RELATED OAWB
S4EP38 — Cynthia Bernard + Marching Arts News: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGeBlAFyhFo
Quick Sip — Quiet Spin Anchor System: https://youtu.be/2C5ubVbUOdk
OAWB With Punk Rock Irving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY6RVI39mjc

MORE OAWB
Website: https://www.onawaterbreak.com/
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