StunnedMonkey

Bridgemen '77 Guardsmen '79 27th Lancers '80 North Star '78 Kilties '77

It's a good thing no one has figured out how to capture the live stream.

I'm positive there would be legal challenges to distributing both the audio and video, even separately.

I don't claim to know the paid attendance. I don't claim to know the comp'd attendance. You claim those things. And I call BS on it unless you have some evidence beyond "a guy on the DCI team back then" as your proof. My own experience with these things is that comp'd attendance, passes (wrist bands didn't exist in 1979) weren't nearly as common then as they are today. Remember, it didn't cost $80 a seat to attend finals in Denver. You could probably have had a seat for $8. My point is that these are apples and oranges. DCI has always bee a niche product, but it was far more likely for a regular Jane to attend back then. The appeal is extremely narrow now. A casual fan willing to drop $10 on a seat in Philly in '76 isn't dropping $100 a seat today.

How do you know? I'd wager to say the reverse is probably true. I was in the crowd in 79 and 80 in Birmingham, and in 81 in Montreal. I can tell you that it was a different sort of audience back then. Drum Corp fandom today is very deep, but not wide. Forty years ago it was wide, but probably not as deep, that is to say there were many more casual fans in those days including those with zero connection to anyone in a corps or any history with the marching arts at all. Basically, a lot more "regular folk" turned out for corps shows in the golden age. Not sure why people feel the need to discredit the idea that DCI had a large following in the late 70's early 80's. They did. And it wasn't all educators and music majors. DCI finals in 1978 in Mile High:

Well, true. But all of our opinions are irrelevant.

This is an argument that traditionalists can never hope to win. Just like on the podcast anyone who expresses concern about the direction of the activity can be effectively shouted down as an old timer who just doesn't understand. The proponents of today's changes are so ENTHUSIASTIC about it that the notion that everyone doesn't love it doesn't even seem possible, therefore such an opinion is invalid. Like one guy said about DCI evolving. It didn't evolve. It was co-opted by the WGI crowd and mutated into something completely different. That doesn't make it invalid. But it's no longer Drum Corps. If we took WGI ouside on a football field, cut the electronics and pre-recorded stuff, put people in traditional uniforms with shakos, added 80 bugles, and...marched, would it still be WGI?

Yeah, but even this modernized version seems a bit stodgy by 2017 standards. Perhaps it needs to be re-moderinzed again. Needs more singing and spandex.

This is an excellent point. There are a lot of old school/new school threads arguing things like unis, marching vs choregraphy/dancing, electronics, etc...but to me the biggest loss from DCI of my youth is the music being played. It used to be that when a corps played a piece of music, they played the piece of music and you'd have that in you head all year. Or in the case of classics, 30 years. Now it seems as if music...even if it's a well known piece...is merely a few phrases here and there presented in a disjointed manner and seems (to me) to be completely unmemorable. When I was a youth we couldn't wait to get the LP's of that year's top 12. I can't imagine listening to an audio recording corps today, especially if I'd never seen the accompanying visuals. I suppose it's the move towards visual emphasis, where the music is just there to complement the choreography as opposed to the other way around. Madison's 2011 closer is about the closest modern show I can think of that reminded me (musically) of an old school show. If course it'll never make a classic highlight reel because...copyright.

How about Children of Sanchez, Tiger of San Pedro, Legend of the One Eyed Sailor, and The Ice Castles Theme? Children of Sanchez was certainly (and absurdly) over done, but one must admit it was about the perfect 70's drum corps chart. At least the first 5 times it was done.

I was under the impression that modern fans don't care for songs, recognizable tunes, or anything so quaint. Perhaps just a "medley" of exercises culled from the Herbert L Clarke method book? I kid. Sorta.

You say this like it'd be a bad thing. Being (1) on the field, and (2) drunk, are two of my favorite things. Combine them? Nirvana.

I was there in 81 and 82 also. Perhaps our paths crossed. with regards to why there aren't nearly the number of corps today, that's easy. Who can afford it? With what DCI is today (for better or worse) it's simply no longer possible to participate in a shoestring. You need big money.

You're assuming that the attendance and interest growth is in response to the actual product on the field. I certainly can't say either way if that's the case or not. But I'd contend that the Internet/Social Media/YouTube etc have had a lot to do with marketing the product so that it exposes far more people that it did 25 years ago. With the same marketing/communication today as was in place in 1990, what would the audience look like? As far as today's crowd? Lucas had a ton of people in it. But so did Mile High in 78.

And? Because Led Zeppelin and Taylor Swift use theramins, keyboards, and pedaled guitar effects...drum corps should too? They also play indoor on stages with small groups. I guess drum corps should too. And Zeppelin didn't use sopranos/trumpets. Why should DCI? DCI used to be a particular activity. Why was it necessary to turn it into something it wasn't? Like I said earlier, if you take over a pizza shop and start selling nothing but vegan wraps and carrot juice...it's not a pizza shop anymore, regardless of what you call it. Drum corps hasn't evolved. It changed in to something else completely.

Why would it be a disservice? DCI existed for 30+ years without amplification and electronic trickery. I don't recall anyone ever complaining about it being a disservice. It's band. Drums and brass. It doesn't (or shouldn't) need synths and mixers.

Why not just contact them and alert them of the mistake? There are instructions all over their site about who to contact for billing issues. Did you actually cancel? The one month subscription is recurring until you cancel it. If you did then I'm sure they'll straighten it out for you.

Like any other live music medium? By that you mean...fake? You really see it as a disservice to kids by telling them that you've written this music and they'll get to play it on the field and people will actually hear what they sound like? Wow. How awful. You're right. It's like any other auto-tuned over-produced show biz production now. Like modern pop stars who are just pretty faces on studio tricks and backing tapes. Drums and brass? Bah! It'd be a disservice to expect that from kids without several layers of electronics muddying it all up.

That's all pre-recorded. The sound man has it covered. Though I did forget the video engineer for CGI'ing in some "drill."

Needs more 1975 Santa Clara Vanguard, 1976 Blue Devils, and 1978 Phantom Regiment. Oh heck, throw 1975 Madison in there too.

Now come clean, Natasha. I don't think you're new to DCI in 2014, because you referred to it as Drum and Bugle Corps. Regardless of when bugles were actually eliminated from the field, I don't think it's been referred to as Drum AND BUGLE Corps for many many years. I think you're an Old Timer! That said, you're preaching to the choir for a lot of us. Unfortunately the ship has sailed. It's going to me more vocals and electronics in the future. In 20 years it'll be 140 dancers, ten vocalists, and a sound man, though it's possible a dancer might occasionally clip a wireless mic onto his/her saxophone and blow a solo.

If attire is meaningless, then why the emphasis on costuming? 35 years ago when a corp wore the same uniform every year I may have agreed with you. But if it didn't matter then there wouldn't be so much thought and money put into it. SCV didn't decide not to look anything like SCV because they didn't think the look mattered. And as far as Bluecoats attire in 2017? Just about the stupidest costumes ever. I'll bet they'd have placed higher without such a cheesy getup.

Because DCI is about pleasing judges, not audiences. It's not a surprise that the Vanguard Alumni Corps played stuff from the 70's/80's exclusively. That's the stuff that brings the house down. No future alumni corps will ever play the 2017 SCV book at a show. Who would ever want to hear that?

Yes. I agree that most of what we see today is the WGI influence. It's more Outdoor Summer Guard than anything I remember from my youth. I made a (somewhat) sarcastic post in another thread about what I envision DCI will be like in 20 years. I was sort of joking, but then not really. I'd imagine that the days of full brass lines are numbered.

I started watching DCI in 1978 and drifted away from the activity in the late 80's. I renewed my interest around 2010 when my kids started playing in HS marching band. Needless to say, it was a sensory shock. I've warmed up to a lot of it, but there are some things I just can't get past, chief among them the electronics and amplification. It simply creates such an artificial sound. Polished and well produced? Sure. But I feel as if I'm listening to a studio creation as opposed to live brass on the field. I get that trumpet isn't a soprano and an un mic'd trumpet would barely be heard, but it still comes off as artificial to me, as opposed to the pure raw sound years ago. And singing. All of the vocalists were terrific, and why wouldn't they be? But really, I don't want to hear singers. It's too Broadway/Show Choir for me. And finally, I have a real distaste for the costuming trend. I can't stress that enough. My ideal today would be (1) modern drill design and movement, (2) more traditional uniforms for the brass and percussion (I would have loved seeing SCV last night in traditional aussies), (3) ditch the singing and electronics, (4) more actual music, as opposed to merely sounds generated to enhance the visual. I'd elaborate more but there are kids on my lawn that I need to get rid of.