Willie85

Liam- Yeah, I’m saying it’s the about weapon imagery, not heft. The element of danger is more of a subconscious/collective memory thing. No one, …well, very few of us anyway, go to drum corps hoping to see a guard member get beaned in the head. In any case, it’s all the more dignified to get beaned in the head by a rifle than a green-and-purple-spinning-question-mark-dealy-mabob. :) As far as theme shaped objects: I find them a bit cheesy as an expressive device, like a bad pun. I get the idea of ‘Spring’, I don’t need giant twirling wooden daisies to knock me over the head with it. :P I think at some point most people figure out that they are watching a drum corps with a color guard and the rifle just become a neutral flying spinning tossing thing. As far as opera, Italian doesn’t really fit the theme of Boheme (Parisian artists), Madama Butterfly (Nagasaki geisha) or Turandot (Chinese princess), yet it is an integral part of the experience whether in Milan, New York, or Tokyo. Besides, if you’re going say an opera is presented in Italian because it’s Italian, you might as well say a color guard spins weapons because it’s a color guard. :) I think there’s a question of scale too. In a football stadium, people in row 75 (as well as judges in the press box) need to know what you’re spinning, and the weapons are recognizable standard shapes. In my experience, unconventional twirly shapes usually cause several minutes of ‘Marge, what is that thing they’re spinning down there ?’ type stadium murmuring. Not sure how that’s an improvement over having to explain why rifles. Again, maybe it’s different a situation for winterguard performed on a gymnasium floor.

Liam- Here's my take from earlier, kind of got lost in the corporate sponsorship flack.

Thanks for clarifying your priorities. It's a good thing the corps directors who founded DCI in order to wrest creative control over the activity from their VFW sponsors had a bit more confidence in the art form's inherent worth, otherwise we'd all still be presenting the colors and counting ticks. So much for the artistic argument.

Daniel- Your two arguments are contradictory. You argue on the one hand that rifles limit creative potential, then you argue that corporate sponsors should have the ability to dictate the content of drum corps programs. By making the second point you compromise any artistic credibility you have to make the first point. Sticking to the artistic point: I think the use of weaponry actually provides an artistic edge. Sabers, rifles, and pikes with flags on them are inherently dramatic. There’s a mystique, an element of danger, and a historical context that, for better or worse, goes back thousands of years. Sure, you could try to use batons or some generic twirly shapes, as some corps occasionally do for novelty, but it remains just that, a novelty. Just twirling stuff without the extra drama and context that weaponry provides can quickly degenerate into a virtuistic sideshow like a halftime-show baton twirler or rhythmic gymnastics. (Apologies to our twirler and Olympic gymnast readers.) Yes, it’s a convention that needs to be explained to newbies, but all performance art has its conventions: symphony, opera, ballet, and, yes, even rhythmic gymnastics. Italian opera is performed in Italian around the world because it’s more beautiful and dramatic, not just to honor the heritage of the artform. It’s more work and requires more explaining, but audiences and performers prefer it that way. Finally, yes, I agree that rifles have no place in a high school marching band. Given that the school marching band heritage is to inspire the football team, not troops going into battle, rifles are indeed out of context and just an inappropriate attempt to emulate drum corps. And perhaps in winterguard, the combination of weaponry with the non-military instrumentation of recorded music no longer makes sense, but then yeah, it really wouldn't be a guard anymore, would it?

For the past 10 years or so, I've met my drum corps buddies for a slab of the delectable ribs at Wagner's before the Cavies' Pageant of Drums show in Michigan City.

Blue Devils '89 ballad: If We Were in Love Temptation ! ^0^

Interesting question -been wondering about the same thing myself. I started out in one of the last of the VFW sponsored/neighborhood corps and ended up in a Division I corps with a high percentage of music majors. I’m not sure how to answer for myself – I didn’t pursue a professional career in music, but I can’t bring myself to check the ‘did not continue in music’ box either. I still play regularly (occasionally for money even!), attend way more than my share of classical music events, and provide career support for my partner, who is a professional opera singer.

This was the first season in over 25 years (!) that I didn’t get to see the Devils live at least once, so my opinion is based on the theatrecast. Still, I have to say this is probably my favorite Blue Devils production in the last 10 years. Sometime in the mid-90’s BD got away from shows that were all about the music and started doing the ‘storyboard’/’thematic medley’ shows that, while dazzling and entertaining, to me came off like a bit like a glorified winterguard program with a really, really good sound system. It was good to see them get back to a more classic BD show that really honored and celebrated the music they were presenting. I’ll admit a bit of vintage BD bias here. I actually got a bit choked up when the guard brought out those wings that harkened back to my own early 80’s marching era. Favorite BD year: 1985

Good choice PCsoprano. Here's the one the Bob Seger wrote especially for my age-out year and later adapted for Chevy truck ads. B) Stood there boldly Sweatin in the sun Felt like a million Felt like number one The height of summer Id never felt that strong Like a rock I was eighteen Didnt have a care Working for peanuts Not a dime to spare But I was lean and Solid everywhere Like a rock My hands were steady My eyes were clear and bright My walk had purpose My steps were quick and light And I held firmly To what I felt was right Like a rock Like a rock, I was strong as I could be Like a rock, nothin ever got to me Like a rock, I was something to see Like a rock And I stood arrow straight Unencumbered by the weight Of all these hustlers and their schemes I stood proud, I stood tall High above it all I still believed in my dreams Twenty years now Whered they go? Twenty years I dont know Sit and I wonder sometimes Where theyve gone And sometimes late at night When Im bathed in the firelight The moon comes callin a ghostly white And I recall Recall Like a rock. standin arrow straight Like a rock, chargin from the gate Like a rock, carryin the weight Like a rock Lihe a rock, the sun upon my skin Like a rock, hard against the wind Like a rock, I see myself again Like a rock

Well, since it’s about more than just the music, here’s a broader definition from the art gallery crowd (quoted in the liner notes of my Philip Glass CD): "Minimalism seeks the meaning of art in the immediate and personal experience of the viewer in the presence of a specific work. There is no reference to another previous experience (no representation), no implication of a higher level of experience (no metaphysics), no promise of a deeper intellectual experience (no metaphor)." In that respect: Cavaliers – Yes, dazzling and hypnotic, but light on meaning and metaphor. SCV – No, every second of their shows imply a higher level of experience, doesn’t it? Cadets – No, (almost) always a deeper intellectual experience. Star ’93 – Err, maybe. Definitely an immediate and personal experience (one way or the other) for the viewers.

My southside Chicago corps had people of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Certainly way more diverse than my surburban high school band. While just like everywhere else, being out wasn’t necessarily an option and we talked and joked about Madison and the Cavies, we also had an underlying respect for all members of both of those corps on and off the field. Our occasional guard instructor from Cavies was always treated with respect, and we even had a few of our tough-guy male horn players defect to perform with our Class A champion winter guard (woo-hoo!). Regarding seat mates, I recently ran into my touring seatmate from 20+ years ago. Though nothing happened back then, it turned out we both are gay, so that’s 5% of the horn line right there. Bradrick- One of my most memorable drum corps moments was at Whitewater that year when the Sky Ryders’ Tony and Maria ran across the end zone, thru the little pine grove, and out the open gate toward the rolling hills of the Wisconsin countryside. Lenny himself would have been proud!

1980: Spirit, Madison, 27th 1986 Blue Devils (my ears are still ringing) 1989 Phantom backwards company front

Chris, they probably did. '80 was the first year I saw them. Y'know, for a high school kid you know way too much about '70's drum corps :)

Well, I only got to see BD via the theatrecast this year , but I seem to recall a guard solo with one of those ribbon-on-a-stick dealies that harkens back at least to 1980 .