Lance

I would assume that depends on the popularity of drum corps in your area. I live in Spokane, WA, so I'm assuming it won't be that crowded. I'm taking 3 people, one of them 11 years old, and I'm going to reserve his seat for when his brothers (17 and 18) show up with him at around 7 pm, est. At any rate, I would definitely go, if I were you. I drove 5.5 hours to see it last year in Seattle, and it was worth it, even with some sound problems. Up to you, though. Hope everything works out for you. :)

I hope they never just go. I'd rather have them watching shows and complaining than not watching at all. I wish they could acknowledge that if and when they stop attending, it's 100% in their control, no matter who they blame, but until then, let them complain all they want. It doesn't hurt anything.

If only you could see that you just summed up what MikeD and other (including me) have been saying to the anti-amp crowd for about a year now. :P

Same with Spokane. I was shocked when I saw a preview for it at my theater. :)

Well said. :)

Couldn't agree with bawker more. I love DCA shows. I wish I were as close to them as I used to be when I was stationed on the east coast. Empire was at a tattoo that I performed at in '00, and they were awesome. :)

I prefer BD shows that I find entertaining, and it changes every year. I'd say the ratioo of bd shows that entertained me, personally, has been consistent over time.

It's there. I bought my tickets 2 days ago. Go here to get tickets: http://www.bigscreenconcerts.com/subpage/i...asp?EventID=527 And here's the DCI press release from back in May: http://www.dci.org/news/news.cfm?news_id=d...43-e5bcdce4022d

And I do get entertainment today, whereas if drum corps looked and sounded like it did 20 years ago, I would not be entertained very much at all. Not because I don't like 70s and 80s drum corps (lots of legacy DVDs from that time :)), but because it would get boring, for me, seeing the same dull round over and over and over. So, what to do?

I would begin by saying that your perceived state of "glory," as you defined it, is not the same as mine. Very few corps will ever have a show that blends music and visual in a way that every fan will like all of the time. I'm lucky to get that out of 4 or 5 corps per year, and that's the way it's always been for me, and I've been a fan since '87. So, while the points you emphasized may very well return drum corps to glory in your eyes, in my eyes, "glory" is achieved every year by drum corps.

No reason to get this upset by the 22 year-old's opinion. He's perfectly entitled to say that drum corps doesn't emphasize blah blah blah. We all know he couldn't possible know what individual drum corps emphasize, nor could he know what motivates people to march, so disregard his opinion as vaporous, and move on. Same with most of his other complaints. I will weep for drum corps' loss of such a terrific fan, but I think I'll get over it...eventually. Personally, I can't wait to go see all those kids who choose to march in corps with no emphasis on pride, dedication, or musicianship.

Dynamic contrast, sound and silence, and rhythmic variety always get me going. Their music arrangements had all of that. The Barber piece, itself, is incredibly emotional, and the corps portrayed that emotion content very well.

Madison

No, that's a fact. It does nothing to make your opinions about amps anything more than opinions, though.

Exactly. I don't think all people who don't like what they've heard from corps using amps are closed-minded. It's all opinion. My nephews were all new to drum corps last year, and they really liked the narration. That doesn't make them any more openminded than your girlfriend, it simply means they have a different opinion. Not fact. Opinion. :)

I think there has been a corps or two that has omitted things from programs because they don't work. In fact, I think that happens to every corps every year. Egg on their face? Well, if you hate something enough, I guess I can understand using that phrase. Also, Mike was very clear to say it was his opinion that the narration worked. Why do you laugh at it?

Have any of you ever tried to say "order more toner" really fast? I always end up saying "order more torner" or sometime "order mo toner."

Yeah, because they don't count anyway, those silly polyannas.

I think there might be some other drum corps out there besides SCV and Xmen, and they're definitely DCI's style. B) They might not be shows that look like your old favorites, but they're definitely drum corps through and through to my eyes...and I'm quite certain that I'm part of that audience/fans thing you mentioned.

Sorry, but I had to post this. I'm not an artist or a drill designer by any means, so I don't know if show designers are just doing different things for the sake of doing different things. My intution tells me they're too smart to be doing that, but I've been wrong a few times. Anyway, the punchline is at the end, but read the whole thing if you haven't already. I think it summarizes art, and artists' motives for creating it pretty well. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~garden/art.html

Of course, if every composer wrote things that appealed only to "run-of-the mille music afficianados" of their time, then Beethoven, Dvorak, and Copland, and even Vivaldi, not to mention countless others, would never have created new traditions in music--and make no mistake, they did. And people didn't always like it at first. Thank goodness for those who are willing to try new things. Otherwise we'd face the same dull round, over and over and over...

Quite right, I should've said "if only yours, and everybody else who happens to agree with you, were the only needs and wants that mattered...." My mistake for not being clear that I meant "yours" to be implied plural. I sincerely meant it that way. That's one of the problems with "you" as a pronoun. It can objective, subective, plural, or singular, unlike all of the other pronouns that automatically show case and number. But, that's another thread. :)

Wow. Overturning rules would be moving backwards. I know this because drum corps would look like it did before. Once again, not rocket science here. Keep trying to say otherwise, though. It's hilarious. As for your other post, I'm glad to hear you like some changes. If only yours were the only needs and wants that mattered, you might actually like all of them, and you wouldn't need to complain anymore--it would be like having your own private entertainment medium. In closing, if that move wasn't really a not move unforward, then unretracting it would not be a move upsidedownward. :lolhit:

I understand what you're saying, and I agree that a lot of amp use hasn't worked in shows. And I've always been clear that I don't care for amped voice, but that's my problem. BD is not doing as well this year as I'm sure they would like, and I think it has a lot to do with a problem with spending too much time talking and not enough playing (to echo GMichaels sig), so I hope all corps will learn from that. I love the example that PR is showing this year, though, among others, and I'm willing to give individual efforts in amplification the benefit of the doubt before summarily condemning amps.

You are one of the first people ever to agree with me on that one. I remember being absolutely blown away by them, especially quarterfinals night. The performance went down a bit in semis and finals, but their brass, especially in the ballad, blows me away. And I don't give compliments like that very easily.