84BDsop Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 So, there's not enough drama in drum corps? Hmm... They're not looking close enough, IMO. Jeesh, just realized I'm a full page behind in this thread. If already beaten to death, OK to ignore. So, I read the whole thread, and I still ask: Who says there's not enough drama? I'd like to know how close they looked. For instance, there's the story of the kid who had half of his foot blown off in Desert Storm. After a gruelling, painful recovery back at home and with his foot still wrapped, he went to a drum corps show. Bluecoats invited him, he called his Mom and said "See you at break", and got on the bus. He marched the entire season, carrying tenors and soaking his foot in ice when he wasn't on the field. You want drama? Let's see, times 150 kids in a corps, times 43 corps...surely they can find drama. The rook-out? The 15 year old? This kinda illustrates the problem of bringing our art form to the masses. No matter WHAT we do out there, WHO praises what we do out there (Bobby Knight, anyone?), or WHAT amazing story we present (John Hord from 91 Bluecoats -- the one you mentioned -- is an obvious go-to), our particular art form is always going to be dismissed and belittled -- if attention is even paid to it in the first place -- so long as the general public's view of ANY of the marching arts is defined by the bad HS marching band that's tiny, on poor quality instruments, home-made or threadbare unis, with a sound like drunk ducks on kazoos/gravel in a dryer. Until the culture learns to accept that football isn't the be all/end all of the HS/college experience, that's not going to change, no matter what we do. In some ways, it's similar to the respect -- or lack thereof -- fencing gets in high school. I was teaching at a local HS one time (not the one I teach at now) and heard a footballer deride the team as a bunch of "fags" because of the outfits we wear in competition. My response was along the lines of "our sport involves getting hit with a 3 foot metal rod while wearing a lot less protection than you do." I resisted the urge to tell him to get some gear on and fence me a few touches in sabre, as I would've changed his mind in a hurry....but I held off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassoProfoundo Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 (edited) I'm pretty sure the same thing happened a few years ago on AGT to the Hip Pickles who were also X'ed off the stage. They tried to bring a drum corps style drum performance to the show and were not received well, although they do have a few DCA I&E titles to their credit. As another poster stated, drum corps is a niche activity and will most likely remain that way. Drum Corps as we know it has been around for what, 60 - 70 years and it still hasnt garnered that mass appeal we all desire. Even Blast on Broadway has gone by the wayside. But that doesnt mean we should give up. Credit to Dave Bruni and the Edge for their performance. Edited May 22, 2012 by BassoProfoundo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I think Stern does what the producers tell him and we just learned a very hard reality of what really is a sucky show... to actually pre-select a group to fail??? how crass... my solution? Never watch the show again... Watching the show has never been an issue for me. It's 1st or 2nd season I'd had somethingon the same channel prior to it beginning and had run down to grab laundry from the dryer. When I came back all I knew was something pretty horrendous was on my tv. I used the remote to find out it was called 'America's Got Talent' and my 1st thought was now apparently we don't. That's not to say I feel that way about The Edge. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance at Rochester last year. My point is that I feel these shows are made to highlight the failures at times. And if they actually can't find enough they will create them, which I feel they did in this case, going on the description of what went down. I have very limited use for reality tv. I'm probably one of the few and have no problem with that. Any genre that accentuates the negative, or portrays the same as sad, pathetic comedy, seemingly as entertainment just isn't for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I watched "Dancing with the Stars" tonight, so I have no idea what happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Seriously... I thnk back to 1996, and the Cadets' appearance at the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. I seem to remember someone from the Cadets' organization saying they actually got the producers of the closing ceremonies to tone down what was originally supposed to be basically a comedy routine mocking the Cadets as a stereotyped cheesy marching band. The final product had comedy in it.. but apparently nowhere near as over-the-top as was first proposed. So... even on a stage as big as the Olympics, with a great corps like the Cadets were that year... drum corps struggles to get itself taken seriously. "The Edge"... another quality product... is just the latest example. The way of the world, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 So, there's not enough drama in drum corps? Hmm... They're not looking close enough, IMO. Not the kind of drama they want. I know about the young man in Coats. That's not what Stern and company want. Positive stories like that aren't their cup o' tea. They want stuff out of the streets and the gutter. Keep in mind Stern's choices for musical entertainment opn his shows. Let's see.... "Mister Methane", a guy who does rock songs with his sphincter hed up to a mike and on one of his New year's specials, a drunken, sad, and totally over the hill Tiny Tim. That's what Stern's M.O. is. Not the kind of uplifting stories we can easily find in any musical group like The Edge. Not enough farts and drunkenness..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Anyone ripping AGT and Howard Stern for what may or may not have happened with The Edge is just as FOS as the religious nut jobs that protest movies and television shows before they are released. Maybe you should see the performance before you open your big, fat mouths. I put these folks in the same group as the ones over in the DCI forum claiming the Blue Devils have gone back to esoterica based on one show announcement. No one has any idea what happened, because it hasn't aired yet. For all we know, they were a total disaster and deserved every boo they (allegedly) received. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Not the kind of drama they want. I know about the young man in Coats. That's not what Stern and company want. Positive stories like that aren't their cup o' tea. They want stuff out of the streets and the gutter. Keep in mind Stern's choices for musical entertainment opn his shows. Let's see.... "Mister Methane", a guy who does rock songs with his sphincter hed up to a mike and on one of his New year's specials, a drunken, sad, and totally over the hill Tiny Tim. That's what Stern's M.O. is. Not the kind of uplifting stories we can easily find in any musical group like The Edge. Not enough farts and drunkenness..... Maybe you should actually WATCH the show before you comment on it. There are plenty of positive stories, one of which aired last night and Howard ledge the charge on (the 40-ish blued singer that raised four kids instead of trying to make it big). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I think Stern does what the producers tell him and we just learned a very hard reality of what really is a sucky show... to actually pre-select a group to fail??? how crass... my solution? Never watch the show again... So, you're doing exactly what you accuse the AGT producers of. You've pre-judged the performance. Nice work there. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Maybe you should actually WATCH the show before you comment on it. There are plenty of positive stories, one of which aired last night and Howard ledge the charge on (the 40-ish blued singer that raised four kids instead of trying to make it big). John, good points. This isn't the Howard Stern Show... he's one of three judges, all of them well-known. He is a lightning rod, no question... always has been. Anyone who does a show like he does, in his line of work, is going to have that "love-hate" thing going on among the listening public. Howard... Imus... Opie and Anthony... and on and on. It comes with the territory. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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