[bluesman]

I decided to ask a question of those of us who were around when the stands were full. What could we do to bring back corps fans and alumni who have driven away by the current direction of drum corps which I believe is more about technological achievement as opposed to entertainment or talent.

<div><br></div><div><font size="3">My apology for use of the term "real experience"<br></font></div>

This post has been edited by bluesman: 03 September 2012 - 09:14 PM

[fsubone]

Thanks for saying that those of us who didn't march BITD don't have real experience.


The stands may not have always been full, but people were always on their feet when I marched.

[En929]

bluesman, on 02 September 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

I decided to ask a question of those of us who were around when the stands were full. What could we do to bring back corps fans and alumni who have driven away by the current direction of drum corps which I believe is more about technological achievement as opposed to entertainment or talent.

I consider myself a dinosaur because I'd like to see drum corps be back to the way they were below 2000, but I still go to see drum corps of today because they still have good shows (Cavaliers: Samurai, Phantoms: Sparticus, etc) but I'd say I do wish I could see corps in the ways that they were back in the 80s and/or 90s (where the corps reminds me of a halftime show at a football game- more like Spirit of Atlanta 84, Blue Devils 86, Santa Clara 87, Velvet Knights, Suncoast Sound, etc.) and where the corps just played a few numbers and not all themes (I mean themes are good too but I don't like that almost every corps is doing them). I don't know. To me it feels like somethings missing when I compare today to back then (maybe it's too much more glamour and glitter as opposed to guts and glory). But, what could be done to bring back corps fans and alumni? My answer is I'm sure many of us still go even though it has changed more than what we're used to or more than we'd want to see. Economic times might be the reason that some are not going as much as some used to. I know that's the reason I didn't go this year. And there were no drum corps shows close enough to home for me to go.

[En929]

fsubone, on 03 September 2012 - 12:15 AM, said:

Thanks for saying that those of us who didn't march BITD don't have real experience.


The stands may not have always been full, but people were always on their feet when I marched.

Maybe he was just joking. Do we really have to resort to all of the name calling? Just skip over the posts that you don't like to answer or read.

This post has been edited by En929: 03 September 2012 - 11:34 AM

[Michael Boo]

En929, on 03 September 2012 - 01:16 AM, said:

I didn't see anything where bluesman said anything about anyone not having experience. I have to say, I hate it when people come to DCP, go to someone's question and start name calling and using attacking language (for no reason), instead of just simply answering the question that the original poster posted. There should be a rule against that.

I believe that reaction happened due to the topic's subtitle, "A topic for of us with real experience." Whether or not that was the intention, I can see where that, followed by, "I decided to ask a question of those of us who were around when the stands were full," might lead someone to believe the OP meant if one wasn't marching back when the stands were full, then they didn't have real experience.

I believe the respondent will correct me on this if I am wrong.

And for what it's worth; I marching in the mid-1970s and performed at plenty shows when the stands weren't full. But then, I also performed at plenty of shows where the stands were full. And many of those stadia were so small, it didn't take much to fill them. I also never performed in the Alamo Dome or the Georgia Dome, or even J. Birney Crum Stadium. We did perform in the Pontiac Silverdome once, for DCI North 1976. At least we pretended to do so...the inside of that place had such a bad echo I suspect part of our show was performed to the resonating beats of the corps before us. As far as having real experiences; that is one I'd love to forget.

[3rd Glasgow BB]

bluesman, on 02 September 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

I decided to ask a question of those of us who were around when the stands were full. What could we do to bring back corps fans and alumni who have driven away by the current direction of drum corps which I believe is more about technological achievement as opposed to entertainment or talent.

It's all about opinions just because something has evolved into something you don't really agree with, doesn't mean it's evolved for the worse.

I suspect there are a lot of vets from the 1960s who look upon 1980s Drum Corps the same way some who marched on the 1980s look upon todays Drum Corps.

You evolve or you die, it applies to all walks of life including Drum Corps.

This post has been edited by 3rd Glasgow BB: 03 September 2012 - 04:47 AM

[contrajedi8]

bluesman, on 02 September 2012 - 11:59 PM, said:

I decided to ask a question of those of us who were around when the stands were full. What could we do to bring back corps fans and alumni who have driven away by the current direction of drum corps which I believe is more about technological achievement as opposed to entertainment or talent.

Translation: Drum corps was better when I marched and I spend every night crying in my soup because I can't like the activity for what it is today. Instead, I'll #### and moan and gripe about what drum corps should be like instead of taking my thumb out of my mouth and realizing that the kids on the field today are doing some incredibly hard stuff really freakin well. I know that there are a lot of other factors that contribute to slightly lower attendance than when I marched but I'll ignore them. Because I swear, we had 250,000 people in the stands at finals when I marched.

Get over yourself, dude.

[contrajedi8]

3rd Glasgow BB, on 03 September 2012 - 04:45 AM, said:

It's all about opinions just because something has evolved into something you don't really agree with, doesn't mean it's evolved for the worse.

I suspect there are a lot of vets from the 1960s who look upon 1980s Drum Corps the same way some who marched on the 1980s look upon todays Drum Corps.

You evolve or you die, it applies to all walks of life including Drum Corps.

This statement says it all. Can you imagine kids today wanting to be a part of the activity the way it looked in the 1970s?

[nngs9]

contrajedi8, on 03 September 2012 - 08:17 AM, said:

Translation: Drum corps was better when I marched and I spend every night crying in my soup because I can't like the activity for what it is today. Instead, I'll #### and moan and gripe about what drum corps should be like instead of taking my thumb out of my mouth and realizing that the kids on the field today are doing some incredibly hard stuff really freakin well. I know that there are a lot of other factors that contribute to slightly lower attendance than when I marched but I'll ignore them. Because I swear, we had 250,000 people in the stands at finals when I marched.

Get over yourself, dude.

Best post ever!

[garfield]

I've always felt these kinds of complaints should be in the historical thread, although I doubt KeithHall would appreciate having it there.

While many of us think there should be some changes, not a plurality of folk here, in my very unscientific analysis and viewpoint, believe that drum corps would be better off today if it only mimicked how things were done 35 years ago.

As a result, it's hard to get a meaningful dialog going with people who think like you do.

I just don't think you'll get much support in the WC or OC threads.

Just my opinion, mind you.