N.E. Brigand Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) Is drum corps going through its prog-rock phase? Question inspired by this fascinating review in The New Yorker of a new book on the subject: The Show That Never Ends. "Progressive rock, broadly defined, can never disappear, because there will always be musicians who want to experiment with long songs, big concepts, complex structures, and fantastical lyrics. ... This is part of what drove Lester Bangs crazy—he couldn’t understand why these musicians thought they had improved upon old-fashioned rock and roll." Also reviewed here in National Review, but with less sympathy toward prog. "Had it really been just a decade or so since rock had been defined by trifles such as 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Not Fade Away'? Now frontmen were solemnly intoning lines such as, 'Every day a little sadder, a little madder, someone get me a ladder.' Heralding the 1974 release of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Peter Gabriel of Genesis declared, 'This will break all bounds and records previously set for pretentiousness.' On tour he would appear, Weigel writes, 'Clad in a yellow body sock decorated with bulbous objects somewhere between genitalia and gourds.' ... Punk and disco and country-rock and metal shoved prog rock into the remainder bins. Outgrown by Gabriel, the Phil Collins–led Genesis found its Invisible Touch, and Yes turned to hard rock. Music once again was broken down into sweet four-minute bon-bons, crafted and structured instead of bloated and aimless. Out went the 7/4 time signatures, the mysticism, and the Mellotrons." Actually, here's the key passage in the latter review: "Pretentiousness, writes Dan Fox in his book Pretentiousness: Why It Matters, 'is the engine oil of culture. Every creative motor needs it to keep running.' He adds, 'One reason art is labeled pretentious is because it embraces creative risk, and risk often entails failure. Failure is one mechanism by which the arts move forward — just as it is in science. Not every artist can make a masterpiece, yet it’s the experiments that quietly stumble forward that lead to them.'" Edited June 19, 2017 by N.E. Brigand 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shofmon88 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 7 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said: "Pretentiousness, writes Dan Fox in his book Pretentiousness: Why It Matters, 'is the engine oil of culture. Every creative motor needs it to keep running.' He adds, 'One reason art is labeled pretentious is because it embraces creative risk, and risk often entails failure. Failure is one mechanism by which the arts move forward — just as it is in science. Not every artist can make a masterpiece, yet it’s the experiments that quietly stumble forward that lead to them.'" Very accurate. What I worry about in DCI though, is some of those failures are embraced as masterpieces. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PamahoNow Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 1 minute ago, shofmon88 said: Very accurate. What I worry about in DCI though, is some of those failures are embraced as masterpieces. Except when we remember that this is "just band". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shofmon88 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 2 minutes ago, PamahoNow said: Except when we remember that this is "just band". In an activity that pushes its members to excel, this is a very weak excuse. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry7184 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 On 6/17/2017 at 0:29 PM, DCI-86 said: After a few more announcements, why are titles and descriptions so pretentious? Loads of detail, lots of complex descriptions, "human emotions" and language we don't understand - when in the end it's just marching band- music and visual. Even musicals or opera are not described in such a pretentious way! This year seems worse than ever! Annoying, pretentious and stupid IMO. I mean Jesus Christ, you're just a band. I mean I had to laugh at Blue Stars last year with the novel they released to help one understand what the show was about. I did LOVE their show last year, but I really don't want to have to study up on a concept just to understand an 11 minute show. I just want to walk in, sit down, and be entertained. It has just gotten all so ridiculous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 15 minutes ago, henry7184 said: Annoying, pretentious and stupid IMO. I mean Jesus Christ, you're just a band. I mean I had to laugh at Blue Stars last year with the novel they released to help one understand what the show was about. I did LOVE their show last year, but I really don't want to have to study up on a concept just to understand an 11 minute show. I just want to walk in, sit down, and be entertained. It has just gotten all so ridiculous. Yes. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShutUpAndPlayYerGuitar Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 "Pretentious" is a cheap label dumb people use when they don't understand something. [runs away from DCP mob ... sprints into helicopter as it takes off ... grabs megaphone] *feedback* I'm really justkidding ... sort of [flies away from thread] 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
31rabbit Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 'One reason art is labeled pretentious is because it embraces creative risk' ..but then there are all the other reasons why. the label pretentious is directly tied to a failure of communication. It can be an excuse of the audience to not bother listening, but just as much it can correctly identify when the auteur speaks but has nothing to say. there is no risk-taking in demanding that the audience see something that isn't there. well there is a risk, but it's not an artistic risk so much. I don't care about the pretention in the narrative of the conceit. I can think back on 2012 Cadets, a show with an 'idea' that even when I got the 10 minute speech from somebody on the design staff I failed to appreciate more because I knew what it as 'about.' I dug it because it was barber, but if somebody likes the juxtaposition concept, fine. the dangerous pretention of current drum corps is the idea that shows WITHOUT elaborate concepts are somehow lacking. the idea that a show with a libretto of ideology is by default a Higher Class of marching band show than 'The Music of _______' is the greater peril towards creativity because it actually narrows the scope of the creation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpwithanS Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 How else do you not keep your winter gig and retain next years'? e,g, "Oh, look what I did !" Meanwhile, your 'art' is stored and critiqued forever in virtual and retrievable media. Proverb says,"big fish in small pond". Innovation is smart; pretentiousness brings a good laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 52 minutes ago, henry7184 said: I mean Jesus Christ, you're just a band. Madison, last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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