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musclebud

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Posts posted by musclebud

    So Sad

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    Like I stated in my statement that you quoted. It's a battle of generations, as it has been for anything in the past for any other "issue". Even the styles of concert band literature is changing. In the past you heard a lot of Sousa/Holst/Vaughn Williams literature, now you hear a lot of John Mackey/Steve Bryant/Eric Whitacre style literature. It's the nature of art itself. To take this back a few centuries ago, baroque music may totally sound the same, piece by piece, but to many historians it doesn't. These older styles captured what was "acceptable" back then. Art is about breaking away from what is acceptable, and expressing how you feel about something. I'm not saying that drum corps is trying to "stick it to the man", but it is trying to be more creative than it was even last year.

    "It's a battle of generations". Really? Thanks for turning a difference of opinions into a cause for war. To reduce art to as nothing more than "breaking away from what is acceptable, and expressing how you feel about something" may work for you and your argumentative nature, but please don't use your personal definition as a substitute for differences in perception. Art is about a lot more than thumbing one's nose to what came before. As the old adage goes.... "art is in the eye of the beholder" and the mere destruction of what came before is not necessarily artistic. I am not sure if you are advocating the idea that change is and of itself art, but when you reduce it to a battle of generations is seems that you are suggesting that what is new is better and more worthy of the word art than what came before. I thought 1983 Garfield Cadets was art..... but apparently it no longer warrants that definition. And yes that is SAD.

    So Sad

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    To answer your first question.... yes.

    I just went and watched both Phantom and Bridgemen 1979 on the DCI Fan Network... with an open mind.... and they were actually more alike than I was expecting. I have seen the shows before, but I was surprised how "loose" Phantom was during parts of the performance... something I associated much more with the Bridgemen.

    Anyway.... the shows are much more alike than Crown and BD's 2012 shows in the following areas:

    timbral variety

    visual design (drill)

    visual choreography (dance, body movement)

    show pacing (opener, concert, percussion, etc... BD's 2012 show completely rejects this)

    show cohesion

    musical arranging

    Yes, the unis are more different, but the source music is about the same amount of "different," and marching styles actually seem more different to me in the modern corps, but that is difficult to tell. But the most important things to me in a drum corps show, I have listed above... and I find much more variety in 2012 Crown and BD. Again, I still find a great deal of variety in the 1979 shows, but I contend that the very constructs of what was acceptable as drum and bugle corps in 1979 was far narrower than what we have today.

    It's pretty easy to go on the fan network and say that there was little difference between the 1979 shows of Phantom Regiment and Bridgemen. But for those of us that sat in the stands during that period the differences could not have been more pronounced. With any luck 30 years from now someone with your current opinion will look back at the shows of 2012 Madison Scouts and 2012 Blue Knights or 2012 Blue Devils and 2012 Carolina Crown and wonder what the big difference was. That is of course if the activity can survive.

    • Like 2

    Okay boys and girls...

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Jeff,

    I wouldn't make anyone drink Miller Lite.

    My top brews of the summer of 2012:

    1) The Dark Truth

    2) Sommersault

    3) Poet Oatmeal Stout

    4) Raison D'etre 2000

    Honorable mention goes to my 12 pack of Negra Modelo in the fridge.

    Now... where were we with music, Blue Devils, and why (in the words of Stephen King) the world has moved on?

    :devil:

    Enjoy the show,

    Chuck

    Wait a minute...... the tour just left Texas and Shiner Bock isn't on the list?

    • Like 2

    So Sad

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    I'm not going to put a damper on this discussion or be an old fart. However, several things that are a fact: 1) today's hornlines are not as loud as in the early 1980's (I marched PR then) and 2) The crowd at my age-out finals in Miami was 40,000 (about twice what it is now). I agree with those that say that the marching is more demanding than BITD. And, it's not my decision on what anyone should/should not be doing. DCI is made up of the corps directors and however they choose to go is what happens. I guess time will tell!

    While I am not going to disagree with any of your opinions........ That Miami 40,000 attendance figure is about to get you slaughtered and attendance figures is a whole bunch of other topics.. have mercy..

    So Sad

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    Change is inevitable and in most cases good. But constantly chasing the latest fad or running out to buy the latest gadget is going make some fans no longer feel part of an activity they have either been a part of or grown to love and as Brasso stated "they are not coming back".. At some point we need to look at whether we are chasing away more fans than we are bringing in to the activity. It certainly does't help the situation when those embracing the changes reply to those questioning them with the casual "if you don't like it leave" attitude or when the other side says "amplification sucks..... I am done".

    But at this point in this transformation we need to admit that we are losing more fans than we are bringing in and this is unsustainable. I would suggest a slower more measured approach to the changes allowing fans to catch up would be in the best interest of DCI and it's followers.

    • Like 3

    Crossmen 2012 - Fragile

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    Crossmen Guard beat Spirit and Madison last night. They will be housed at Canyon on all weekend. Stop by today for a full day of rehearsal. They have free day on Sunday.

    The guard is really good this year. The flag work is starting to remind of their amazing work in 1997. it is mesmerizing.

    So Sad

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    Call me a newbie, but it's hard for me to sit down and watch a video of a drum corps pre-1982. When I watch a few of those shows together, I can hardly distinguish them apart. They all look the same to me. Nowadays, every corps has something different from the other corps. If anything, I'd say there's more of an identity to corps of today, than there was of that time. Sure they aren't playing the old songs that corps are famous for (besides Cadets/Phantom/Madison), but when I see the Cavaliers, I know it's the Cavaliers, when I see the Bluecoats, I know it's the Bluecoats. I guess it's just a matter of different generations.

    To some up my statement: THOSE DARN KIDS WITH THEIR DARN ROCK 'N ROLL MUSIC!!! (*waves cane*)

    LOL....

    "I hate that rock and roll rubbish"

    Okay boys and girls...

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    Confession Time...... I really like Blue Devils show this year. I particularly like the way the various pieces are woven together almost seamlessly. The way the brass line handles the phrasing of all the various styles of music is impeccable! Talk about variety. The guard is performing in it's usual state of near perfection. I could do without the art lecture but that is just a matter of my own personal taste. Please no more wikipedia links to Dada. I get it! I know a lot of people may not be familiar with that particular art movement but do they really have to be in order to appreciate the show. I don't think so..... the beauty of the show and the amazing level at which it is performed speaks for itself.

    But I think that when compared to what the other corps are challenging their members to perform the Blue Devils come up way short in the visual demand department. I don't see where their numbers are coming from and I am certainly not in the minority on this point. I've seen posters say that no one performs as clean as the Blue Devils. To that I simply point to Phantom Regiment and say "really".

    • Like 2

    DCI DALLAS

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    It looks like whoever replied to him has had a twitter account for a bit, but they just never used it. I'm just going off of the amount of people he's following and followers.

    Also, that jerk guy protected his tweets. HA!

    Some naughty little boy is going to get a spanking from his Mommie when she sees what her little boy as been tweeting tonight.

    Why exactly are Cavaliers scoring so low?

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    Yet all of this when corps placed higher are at a halt for (sometimes, if not the majority of) ENTIRE impact moments (including entire themes or musical influences) while the Cavaliers are literally sprinting at an impact moment. I don't get it, either, folks. Design can only hold you back so far, right?

    I could not disagree with you more. For years the Cavaliers program has consisted of the most amazing visual moments on the field.....mostly done when brass were either not playing at all or playing very simple music. Park and Bark always seemed to be a part of a Cavies show. The pit has carried the corps musically for years and I believe that has caught up with them. This years show is not all that different in design than it has been for at least the last 3 or 4 years. Music arranged around a visual idea with some pre-recorded music to help and try to make a connection between the visual and musical concept. The usual gimmicks are not working this year..... and the audience and the judges are responding. I sense a certain loss of confidence in the members as well and it is showing.

    As far as other corps stopping to play big impact points I would be interested in which corps you believe are doing this.

    DCI HOUSTON - Hot, Humid, & Happening!

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted

    The class? Talk about throwing people under the bus. If you want to make a classy statement, don't do it by saying "most of you would never have the class to represent".

    I doubt you're talking about my efforts of trying to defend that the Blue Devils have a hard brass book, but that is a double edged sword we're talking here. The ridiculous thing is that people are dawging on the Blue Devils like people dawg in the Yankees. BD has a winning package, and they are consistently great, but a lot of people are being butt hurt because Crown isn't winning.

    I want to see Crown this year, but I don't want them to just simply win comfortably. They have competition, let it be that. People love to see a Rocky IV moment. Let it happen that way.

    I am not going to get dragged into a p%$%ing contest with you. Your idea of defending one corps is to annihilate the others. I refuse to play.

    • Like 1

    DCI HOUSTON - Hot, Humid, & Happening!

    in DCI World Class Corps Discussions

    Posted · Edited by musclebud

    I'm starting to see that most fans have no problem with the Blue Devil's...... but it's the over-the-top obnoxious behavior of a few of their fans. The thread here tonight is the perfect example. You guys are making it hard to appreciate the efforts of the corps that most of you would never have the class to represent. Some of the nasty attacks I have read here are way out of line. I am starting to wonder who the real "haters" are.

    • Like 2
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