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Pushing the limits of entertainment in a drum corps show


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Pretty much what Brian said...

Raw Unbridled energy

I mean, pick your favorite show...

And imagine it if the preformers half ###ed it, and didn't leave everything on the field...

It wouldn't be your favorite show.

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I think there's still more to this discussion. What haven't you seen yet ever performed in a show that would push these limits of entertainment even further? Which type of show would you use as a starting point, a story-based show like Cadets 1995, one based around an abstract theme like Crossmen 1992, a Broadway-based show like Madison 1999, or a musically-focused show like Garfield 1987 (all extremely entertaining shows in my book)?

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To get away from all of this rule changes talk, I propose this simple question: how do you feel show designers and performers can push the limits of entertainment in a drum corps show? What was the most entertaining show you ever saw live, or on a recording? What made it entertaining for you, and what would you do to increase the level even further? What was the most intense crowd reaction you ever witnessed, and how do you envision the crowd being even more entertained? Maybe you want to see a show with G bugles or no amps or one heavy with voice and electronics on Bb/F horns, every thing's fair game. Share your thoughts.

I'd be happy with either G or Bb/F horns, sans narration, effects, and other "crap." The allowance of horns in "any key" is the only recent rule change I even remotely agree with. :tongue:

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Every Madison Scouts performance that I've seen has been exciting for me. I was talking about this the other day with some guys... I was thinking that last year marching Spirit, we pretty much knew we were locked in 12th place for finals night... I think after we finished our last movement, we should have arced it up in front of the front sideline and played Georgia one last time... we were in finals and we couldn't drop in placement... I think it would have been cool.

-Weedy

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do "the national anthem" by radiohead, and sound as mingus-like as that horn section.

:tongue:

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I think after we finished our last movement, we should have arced it up in front of the front sideline and played Georgia one last time... we were in finals and we couldn't drop in placement... I think it would have been cool.

-Weedy

As much as I do love hearing Spirit play Georgia, I think it would have held up the contest and been a tad unprofessional.

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one small thing -- you are assuming that "entertainment" = "crowd response."

i saw "There Will Be Blood" last week. it is one of the best movies i have ever seen. there was no spontaneous applause when the protagonist resolves the final conflict, but it was still two and a half of the most entertaining hours i've spent in a theater.

for me, the closer a performance comes to a professional level, the more entertaining it becomes. i don't much care for what we called "gimmick effect" when i marched -- come to the front and play loud. anyone can do that. i don't really care what is going on at field level, so long as it is performed at a super-high level. i get excited when i get to say "DID YOU SEE THAT? THEY NAILED THAT (insert really difficult show element)!" when a group owns the stadium, that's entertaining.

recent(ish) examples --

cadets 2007

blue devils 1999

star 1991

i guess that would be either normal, il in 2000 (12000 band kids) or finals in 2002 after boogie woogie bugle boy.

i don't want to see anything that's been done before. play freebird for all i care. do something off the wall -- do it well, and make it a game-changer.

no one has ever really nailed a philip glass piece (yes, i know SCV won with one). lets try Act V of "The CIVIL WarS" or "Shaker Loops" with a sweet synth part.

do "the national anthem" by radiohead, and sound as mingus-like as that horn section.

do something overwhelming like "glosoli" by sigur ros, but do ALL SEVEN MINUTES. put half the guard on concert bass or break drum at the hit.

do "silent all these years" and sound as good as her string section -- mike up a small ensemble and produce professional sounds that aren't forced.

just do something inhuman.

yep.

(i really need to see that movie by the way....i bought the soundtrack on itunes but still havent gone about seeing it)

brian, thanks a lot for the '05 comments, that means a lot.

personally, the simplest way i can go about describing my thoughts on the matter is a sudden balance of energy/difficulty/execution, especially when it musically or visually builds on something that had been established earlier in the show (like the ending of scv '02 for example, when that form begins to fold into itself again....goosebump city).

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Live circus animals would do it for me. :tongue:

Fran

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