Seems I'm in the minority here, but I certainly agree with the original post. I left the dome very disapointed from show standpoints and the changes I witnessed in drum corps from my last show attended.
I understand that times are going to change which means drastic changes to drum corps. I hadn't been to a show in some five years and I was stunned at all the changes......piped in sounds???? (just ridiculous). Blue Devils with white stripes from head to toe???? wow. But, I guess those are just the changes over the years I've missed, and while I don't like them, it's just the way it is.
My biggest thing, though, were the shows for two reasons.
First.....pretty much all were just flat boring. I'll admit Crown and Boston were really cool, but even those could have been so much more. Where have the "WOW" moments gone in drum corps? You know what I mean by the "WOW" moment....that big drill move, drum break, horn break, anything that draws an explosive crowd reaction. That was missing. And it obviously wasn't just me. You could tell by the crowd. I literally watched people in the stands dosing off during shows. It's those "WOW" moments that leave the lasting memories...... Cadets and the Z-pull, Phantom's 360 spin in the wedge, Cavies fight club, Blue Devils screaming sops and drums beating the ever leaving sh** out of the heads, Scouts and the rotating company front and charging forward, etc etc etc. There are ZERO memorable moments in the shows I saw this year and it was evident by the lack of standing ovations during the shows and the subdued standing ovations after the shows that seemed more like courtesy standing Os than an excited throwing babies reaction.
I don't care that shows are more sophisticated or whatever the excuse. Hell, you could play the life and death of a butterfly, but by god do something to get the crowd off their butts. That's what has always made drum corps exciting.
Second, it really seems corps have lost some of their identity of sound. In the past, all the way up until I quit going to shows a few years ago, you could close your eyes, put a show on and immediately tell which corps it was by their sound. That doesn't seem to be the case now. Everyone just sounds the same. It's not the change to B-flat horns because like I said, I could tell corps apart a few years ago. Something seems to have happened in the last five years.
OK...I'm off my soapbox. And on a side note, I'm happy to be a part of the DCP now with my first ever post.
