kusankusho Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 (edited) Marching band - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms marching around on a field with wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Louie, Louie" at times.Drum Corps - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms , marching around on a a field with slightly fewer wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Malaguena" at times. ____ sounds kinda the same to me... Pipe band - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms , marching around on a a field with wind instruments that sound like cats being electrocuted. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, but no stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Scotland the Brave" at times. Band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms , marching around on a a field with wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, but no stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Hearts of Oak" at times. Shriners Oriental Band - Rather less people wearing REALLY funny uniforms , marching down a street with wind instruments that sound like someone has a sinus problem. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, A guy with a big-### sword, but no stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Shiek of Araby" at times. How about that. Drum corps is just like a Shriner's Oriental Band! Edited June 29, 2008 by kusankusho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paultxsa Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Marching band - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms marching around on a field with wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Louie, Louie" at times.Drum Corps - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms , marching around on a a field with slightly fewer wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Malaguena" at times. ____ sounds kinda the same to me... ...ya think so? Ask any kid out there...no, specifically ask any marching member of the Cadets, How's your little marching band show going?" ...see what they think about it and let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 (edited) ...ya think so? Ask any kid out there...no, specifically ask any marching member of the Cadets, How's your little marching band show going?"...see what they think about it and let me know. If being called a band bothers them (or anyone else) that bad, they better not do any parades. Thry'll hear the phrase "What band is this?" every couple of blocks. And to add to Jims (kusan) list: Mummers: Known to hang around Philly New Years Day, wear really weird unis and known to play "When You're Smiling". Also known for doing a drill in the middle of a street. And Shriners have been known to sponsor both Oriental bands and Drum Corps. Jeesh, just like YEA works with BOA and DCI. Edited June 30, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 So, I'm finally watching this show in its entirety... Initial thoughts: As much as I'm for narration/electronics etc., this is a poorly balanced program. In other words, it's not the narration or the corps' fault, but the programming choices... There is a great corps there that is simply performing a VERY weak show, especially for the Cadets... The story line is LAME, the acting bad, but they ARE the focus, the corps has been programmed as background music for sure..... That's sad. The hornline sounds GREAT, they just don't get highlighted efficiently, same goes for the drums... I sense this program will be modified HEAVILY over the season, but maybe they'll learn their lesson... Drum corps is drum corps, no matter if there are electronics/narration whatnot... GE scores should go DOWN because of poor balance and exposure... I'm bored and don't really care about "Sarah". I DO however care about the Cadets... They're in there somewhere, I know it! EDIT: Wow, the ending is awful. I totally agree. I grew up practically worshipping the Cadets. IMO, they had a run from 83-00 with VERY few "bad" shows. I even liked their 91 show (their lowest placing show in that period). Every year I always want to like the Cadets, and always take the "wait and see" attitude. I don't have a big problem with narration/electronics/whatever from a programming side (I do think it should not be allowed due to economics, and I worry how these "toys" affect the budgets of smaller corps: but that's a different thread). Like anything else in the marching arts, there are great uses and not so great uses. That said... I really can't remember the last time I saw Cadets put out such a poorly programmed show. This show really is narration taking center stage (literally), with music and color guard in the background. I'm a fan of American Elegy, and Vesuvius is OK, but for the life of me I wasn't able to make any connection between what Cadets story line is and the music. Compare this to their 1995 show, where Cadets took music from Far and Away, Born on the 4th of July, The Rievers, and 1941 and spun it into a very cohesive story regarding a small town sending their men off to fight in WW2. They did an amazing job of blending the music with their story line. I wonder if the design team is using narration as a crutch in telling their story: "we don't have to work too hard to make everything cohesive because we'll have a radio interviewer telling the story." It's not working at all, IMO, and their spread at Madison of 2.4 points was generous (I can't comment on their closing the gap Sunday, as I don't know if Cavaliers didn't perform as well, Cadets performed better or took something out, etc). They are lucky that judges are probably not evaluating the narration as critically as they should (I guess it would maybe be on GE sheets somewhere, but the way the sheets are broken up I don't know which judge is giving credit for narration), and if a judge was comparing their narration design and performance compared to the brass, percussion, guard, or visual performance it would get KILLED, as it's no where near the level of the rest of the corps. I know Cadets will fix a lot of things in the next month and change, and I look forward to seeing how this show develops over the course of the season. But I think there is a TON of work ahead of them to make this show cohesive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hkhongkong Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Posted this elsewhere, so will repeat myself... I never thought I would weigh in here on DCP on this topic (or any -- I'm a confirmed lurker). Love the Cadets since seeing my first show in 1982 and haven't been disappointed since. Think most of past debate over narration is hot air. Then I saw the show online Saturday (Sunday morning here in Hong Kong)... I CRINGED at every sentence. My wife and I (who I introduced to DCI last year, and who LOVED the Cadets) just looked at each other in disbelief. We are both professional writers, and likened the experience to nails on a chalkboard. The whole problem for me isn't narration--have at it. It's just the blinding divide between the quality of the music and marching versus the quality of the "story." If it's to succeed, it has to have the unrehearsed quality of live radio -- which, given the tight choreography and timing required of drum corps, will be tough to pull off. Back to lurking... Really this time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Well, part of The Cadets direction the past few years is due to the member surveys they take, where the majority of those who responded asked for a return to the more avant garde shows. ok, then let me ask a different question. In that he is the adult in charge of these kids ( most over 18), knowing the reaction is bound to come, why does he do it? Shouldn't he be the exmaple to these kids, to say "hey, it's just going to be too rough on you?" After all, he whines about how the fans reactions hurt the kids....shouldn't he from day 1 say " guys, if we go there, you'll hear it, and it could be ugly" but he doesn't. he keeps going on with it, then when fans react as they do, he whines the kids are being hurt. Well, if he truly caters to the kids based on these surveys, he should be warning them of the potential effects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Just about everything drum corps do has been done someplace else. Yes, there are great examples of BOA bands doing all sorts of things, but for DCI this is avant garde stuff. Using the newer approved elements in creating a show is avant garde. yet drum corps used to be the avant garde. not it just steals other peoples stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 He can be concerned for them without placing them in a protective "safe show" bubble. Part of teaching and mentoring finds its place in the real world. I'm sure he never set out to purposefully get the kids boo'd, but what lesson would he be teaching if he ran back to his staff and said, "Next year, we're doing something simple. 'Ninja'!! That way we are loved by everybody, just like in everyday life."I'm sure these kids would rather not get the heat they take throughout their season. But by now, they're fully aware of what they're getting into, and yet the corps is still on that field. They still get up at the ### crack of dawn like every other corps. They practice their butts off like every other corps. They give up their summer to work their ##### off just like every other corps. And for that, regardless of show programming, they deserve the same respect as every other corps. You can hate Hopkins and his initiatives and ideas all you want. But I highly doubt he would be involved in this activity for as long as he's been if he didn't give a #### about the kids. i didnt say he didnt care about the kids at all. i am saying is he isnt thinking of the potnetial downside in this aspect. we know he cares. but at times, he also lets the kids suffer for his agenda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Marching band - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms marching around on a field with wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Louie, Louie" at times.Drum Corps - Lots of people wearing funny uniforms , marching around on a a field with slightly fewer wind instruments. Also included are marching percussion, color guard, and a stationary front ensemble. May be known to play "Malaguena" at times. ____ sounds kinda the same to me... kinda, yes, identical no, thoe the line is blurred. in time, instrumentation will be the same, god help us all. but marching band is still a school sponsored activity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlCastellanos Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I CRINGED at every sentence. My wife and I (who I introduced to DCI last year, and who LOVED the Cadets) just looked at each other in disbelief. We are both professional writers, and likened the experience to nails on a chalkboard.The whole problem for me isn't narration--have at it. It's just the blinding divide between the quality of the music and marching versus the quality of the "story." If it's to succeed, it has to have the unrehearsed quality of live radio -- which, given the tight choreography and timing required of drum corps, will be tough to pull off. I'm as open-minded as the next guy (on DCP, that is) so I definitely have my fixed opinions well in place and are just as uninteresting as everyone else's I'm sure. Narrate, don't narrate, do what you got to do. But, if you do it, it should be judged, content and performance. If you have a group performing world-class wind & percussion literature and a sub par spoken word book, that should be reflected in the score. Same with a poor performance of the narration itself. Good content/performance should help, just like anything else. There, I've solved everything for everyone! I have to say that was pretty easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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