BOBSMYTH Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I remember watching parades in both Madison and Orlando. Every drum corps fan I know liked the parade and it exposed our activty to significant numbers of the general public. Sounds like a win-win. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrownStarr Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 It won't involve corps performing that day. Oh, phew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contrajedi8 Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 A parade? Why? As a punishment for the corps that don't make finals? "Make finals or else you'll have to go march in a parade!" Parades blow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Parades blow. Yes. . .they do. However, parades are probably the easiest point-of-reference a layperson has for drum corps/marching band. I don't envy the people having to march it, but it makes sense in the "community presence/look what came to town" aspect. Of course, it'll be interesting to see what, if any, impact it might make on walk-up sales or overall interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Wow, there used to always be a parade on finals day. I remember the parades in Madison where practically the entire city came out. The Scouts were the last in line, and did a standstill on the steps of the capitol building (yes they were in finals too). I remember VK marching in scuba flippers. The American Legion parade (before DCI) lasted literally all day, from morning until after dark, with people lining the streets for miles... literally hundreds of corps, organized by state and city. What a natural way to publicize the activity - I'm sorry to hear that corps these days hate the parades so much, parades are literally the roots of drumcorps. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvillePat Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 The only corps I have ever been involved with that didn't mind doing a parade was the Americanos.... and that's because the parade tune "Mi Tierra" by Gloria Estefan was great fun and half way thru it the corps would break up and go off into the crowd. They made a lot of old ladies very happy by playing to them in their very own front yards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 A parade was also my first introduction to drumcorps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkfdPRphan Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 If you don't make finals, your season is over after you do inventory.. but now you have to do a parade? I'm really interested to see how this season turns out (including the G8 and all other new additions). DCI seems to be attempting to become more fan-friendly (which isn't necessarily member-friendly). And, this is exactly the same attitude that 'killed' playing off the field as the scores were announced! Members complain about having to stand and wait - its not 'member friendly', so DCI stopped doing it. One of my favorite memories is at the old Michigan City drum corps site, Ames Field. Fog rolling in and the winning corps standing out in the center of the stadium (I think - couldn't see them) playing Amazing Grace. The crowd got absolutely silent and went wild when the music ended. Totally fan friendly! I know the members need time to rest and time to change cloths and time to stow away gear and time to travel, but don't the fans deserve anything anymore? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiteroses Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 And, this is exactly the same attitude that 'killed' playing off the field as the scores were announced! Members complain about having to stand and wait - its not 'member friendly', so DCI stopped doing it. One of my favorite memories is at the old Michigan City drum corps site, Ames Field. Fog rolling in and the winning corps standing out in the center of the stadium (I think - couldn't see them) playing Amazing Grace. The crowd got absolutely silent and went wild when the music ended. Totally fan friendly! I know the members need time to rest and time to change cloths and time to stow away gear and time to travel, but don't the fans deserve anything anymore? to clear things up, I'm not against this. I just think it's very different from the present drum corps atmosphere. I know there were parades in past finals weeks that worked well, and there's no reason this shouldn't as well. those who have to participate should try to represent the city well, since we will be there for years. another example of something fan-friendly but not member-friendly is DCI at The Movies June 20. it's not as though members dislike this idea, but it is obviously geared towards those who are not marching. and they should do these events, because fans are important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstemet Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Wow, there used to always be a parade on finals day. I remember the parades in Madison where practically the entire city came out. The Scouts were the last in line, and did a standstill on the steps of the capitol building (yes they were in finals too). I remember VK marching in scuba flippers. The American Legion parade (before DCI) lasted literally all day, from morning until after dark, with people lining the streets for miles... literally hundreds of corps, organized by state and city. What a natural way to publicize the activity - I'm sorry to hear that corps these days hate the parades so much, parades are literally the roots of drumcorps. I don't remember there ever being a parade on finals day. (please tell me if that happened, where and when) They used to have parades on the Wednesday before quarterfinals and many corps participated. I remember seeing them in Kansas City, Madison and Orlando (Disney-Epcot) but I can't remember one on Saturday of finals. I do not think this is a great plan. If it were on Wednesday then maybe it might get a few people to purchase tickets for Thursday (when you can get a ticket for $20) or Friday (when they are a little more), but I can't imagine anyone purchasing tickets for Saturday (cheapest are $42.50 I believe) after seeing a parade. Can you really see a family of 4 watching the parade and then saying "hey let's go buy $170 worth of tickets to sit in the end zone and watch these bands?" If you have ever spent $170 on a whim after seeing some promotion advertising another activity that evening, that you had no previous knowledge of, as a marketing professional, I want to know what it was. All corps have their rituals of what they do on finals day - for corps not in finals as well as those that are. Corps breakfasts, age out ceremonies, of course check in and clean up etc., a parade is not going to be easy to do for these corps. Not to mention the DCI staff/volunteers who are already overworked all week - now they have to work a parade? Also from what I understand the corps are not being paid for this parade, so more expense for them. They have to bus in one more time (a lot of corps are an hour or more away) as I would guess they will want to return to their housing after so they can shower and do check in and clean up before attending finals, or hitting the road for home. In my opinion this is just not very well thought out. I feel really bad for the kids in the corps that have to do this. They do not want the last time they wear their uniform and perform together to be a parade.... They want to leave it all on the field... but then maybe no one really cares about the non-finalists. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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