Sideways Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Hi fellow drum corps fans, I have a question...I must have woke-up from a comma. Last time I checked, all corps played "America the Beautiful" together on Finals Night after the scores had been reported. The worst part is, I asked some people sitting near me last summer, young people, and they said, "Dude, huh? We've never heard of that." This is ashame. Please don't tell me it's because of political correctness or things got "too busy to coordinate,""too much going on so, they couldn't "fit it in." In an age where people ... young people ... are taught that America "stinks," America is "rotten," to the core (no pun intended) this is a DCI tradition that helps people love their country. Isn't playing "America the Beautiful" by all the corps something we can all agree was a good thing? If there's a "lame" reason why they stopped, I'll be starting a petition to bring it back. Count on it. Chris Short answer is lead trumpets.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 ...I must have woke-up from a comma. ... In an age where people ... young people ... are taught that America "stinks," America is "rotten," to the core (no pun intended) this is a DCI tradition that helps people love their country. Isn't playing "America the Beautiful" by all the corps something we can all agree was a good thing? ...It was handled fine by corps members in the 90s, who didn't see it as a burden to honor America. ...I'll be starting a petition to bring it back. Count on it. Waking up from punctuation is always traumatic. That said, drum corps is not teaching members that America stinks. Drum corps is comprised of the best youth America has to offer. Personally, as much as I loved the medley, I don't think playing a piece of music or listening to it is going to help anyone love their country more or less than they already do or don't love it. Referring to members in the 90s not seeing the performance of the medley as a "burden to honor America" is a slap to the face to current members, suggesting those today think it's a burden to honor America. There is nothing unpatriotic about doing something different with that time. We didn't have the medley for most of DCI's early decades and we were no less patriotic than those who came after us. You're more than welcomed to start a petition. That's how fans got the DCI BOD to eliminate amplification and electronics once the rules legalizing each were implemented, and that's why drum corps today is totally acoustic. (Or did I miss something while I was too busy blogging?) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 How far back does "America the Beautiful" on finals night go? I don't seem to remember it at Foxboro in 1994 nor do I remember it being part of the PBS broadcasts when finals was broadcast live. When the broadcasts were no longer televised live, perhaps it was part of the evening and edited out. Regarding not being inclusive regarding Canadian corps, I know school children in Halifax, Nova Scotia learn it. To be fair, Halifax has close connections to the United States. Many families have relatives here and it was a stop for "two boaters," immigrants from Europe that went from Europe to Halifax, Halifax to a port of entry in the United States. My guess is there would not be serious objections from the two Canadian corps. Regarding foreign born marchers in American corps, they are here to perform and my guess would be there would be few if any objections. I'm also not sure that the kids from the United States have too many objections either. I know his is a generalization but most kids who march hail from states where patriotism is rather high. Yes some may object for political reasons, and one poster who marches has already objected, but it has more to do with time and less to do with "America the Beautiful." My guess is that it was removed because it had been done for so many years and when people objected, an excuse of Canadian corps and foreign marcher was given, but it is an excuse not a reason. Personally I like an ensemble piece at finals. I find I enjoyable and.impressive and "America the Beautiful" is a logical choice and though one objector claimed stress in finding time to learn it, I remember playing it in 6th grade at a Memorial Day parade, so if a 6th grader with only a few years of lessons could learn it proficiently, late high school and college kids who have years of lesson could learn it in a matter of an hour or two and it could be rehearsed with a minimal amount of time and still sound fine. It's certainly easier than many of the encore and parade pieces corps learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightyonepointthree Posted February 25, 2016 Share Posted February 25, 2016 How far back does "America the Beautiful" on finals night go? I don't seem to remember it at Foxboro in 1994 nor do I remember it being part of the PBS broadcasts when finals was broadcast live. When the broadcasts were no longer televised live, perhaps it was part of the evening and edited out. It was either 1995 or 1996. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skevinp Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Waking up from punctuation is always traumatic. I must say the question marks a new low for this period. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glory Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) Once again it seems the drum corps I know is different from the drum corps of so many DCP posters. America/O Canada was loved by fans for many years. Even before it began, we anticipated the 700 brass and how their mass would make us feel. There was no doubt we loved it in the stands. We spoke with certainty how everyone who heard it would be a drum corps fan. We loved it because we lamented the change in the medley. We felt let down by the disrespect shown by players in 2008. It's arrival wasn't political. And it's departure wasn't political. It just came (too late) and went (too soon). It was a lot like drum corps itself that way. It is preserved as one of our favorite drum corps memories, recorded here in a singular, unforgettable moment. Any faults disappeared in the bigger impact. HH Edited February 26, 2016 by glory 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleran Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) I wouldn't mind hearing 750 brass play it. Just make sure there's no synth or amplification. ;) Edited February 26, 2016 by Eleran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIVf6s9WZEYApNEsnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByNDY3bGRuBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDNQ--?p=Dci+Retreat+2008&vid=f39a94d4eeffea76e8b3d4049f684367&turl=http%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.V799ac0fbf1e9bee2edadbecb41f843c2%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D120%26w%3D160%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgYP-4B3Iz1M&###=DCI+2008+Fanfare%2FRetreat&c=4&h=120&w=160&l=98&sigr=11bms4cc0&sigt=10ouvfgop&sigi=1311mthik&age=1281669321&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hsimp=yhs-002&hspart=mozilla&tt=b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsfever Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) C'mon, ya'll! Let's get with the times! DCI has reached well beyond our borders to the whole world. We don't want to offend anyone, geez! Going forward, "America The Beautiful" (and our National Anthem) will now be replaced by the "World Anthem". Everybody: A one-a, and a two-a... http://youtu.be/Nd-AldxyyX0 Edited February 27, 2016 by drumcorpsfever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeatty89 Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 From the member's perspective, it would be just another piece we have to learn in our limited free time It was one of many rarely played pieces that we were expected to have memorized. I marched in the Crossmen during the YEA days and we had several charts that we played together with the Cadets at YEA shows. One piece was called Non Nobis, yet was affectionately referred to by many as "no one knows this". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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