pfco Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Your entire post makes a beautiful point about performers needing to believe in a show's strength in order to "sell" it, and generates a vivid sympathy for them. Beautiful, at least, until the last part, where you strangely dismiss "The Red Violin" (a great film, with great music and a great concept, which you and your friends should have seen) on the basis of not having "heard of" it.Saying that you are ignorant of a piece is not a valid criticism of it, and I think you must realize that in your heart of hearts. How many other great works don't you or I know yet? Do you and your friends think you know all the pieces in the world of music that are worth performing? Are you that well-versed? I'm a professional musician, with solid Classical training and decades in the business, and I'm not remotely that cocky about my familiarities. Quite the contrary -- I am still acutely aware of how much more I have left to discover. Heck, I'm blown away by new things every week! Please do not judge things by their familiarity. It is a meaningless limiting of your enjoyment and discovery, and it's even fundamentally repressive towards those who come to show you what they have discovered. I beg you as a performer: judge works by their qualities instead, and never assume you know it all already. Take care, and be a good audience. I agree that not being familiar is not a good argument. And I am not an expert of any kind... but I do recognize most all of Phantom Regiments works from the prior years. I may not know what exactly they are but I know I have heard them before. I do think I am a good audience and am very objective of new things I learn as the Corps show me new things. I am just saying that if you ask 3000 people if they know the Red Violin you will get very few that do. Ask the same 3000 if they know New World Symphony or Spartacus and many would recognize the music. And I stand by the view (my view) that when an audience recognizes the music...the reception of it is more positive. I am not trying to be "cocky". Just sharing my opinion!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tez Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Your entire post makes a beautiful point about performers needing to believe in a show's strength in order to "sell" it, and generates a vivid sympathy for them. Beautiful, at least, until the last part, where you strangely dismiss "The Red Violin" (a great film, with great music and a great concept, which you and your friends should have seen) on the basis of not having "heard of" it.Saying that you are ignorant of a piece is not a valid criticism of it, and I think you must realize that in your heart of hearts. How many other great works don't you or I know yet? Do you and your friends think you know all the pieces in the world of music that are worth performing? Are you that well-versed? I'm a professional musician, with solid Classical training and decades in the business, and I'm not remotely that cocky about my familiarities. Quite the contrary -- I am still acutely aware of how much more I have left to discover. Heck, I'm blown away by new things every week! Please do not judge things by their familiarity. It is a meaningless limiting of your enjoyment and discovery, and it's even fundamentally repressive towards those who come to show you what they have discovered. I beg you as a performer: judge works by their qualities instead, and never assume you know it all already. Take care, and be a good audience. About familiarity... I would pretty confidently state that the Paganini variations melody (which is like 70% of the show) is much more famous than anything Regiment played in either 2006, or 2008 (their two recent really successful shows). So in this case I don't see what familiarity has to do with success or even popularity. Based on music familiarity, the Red Violin show should actually be much more popular than their 2006 or 2008 shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanKShields Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I agree totally lets hope the BOD realizes this and take steps to CORRECT the situation next year ! Poor kids ! You might be interested in my reply to the same post today (up a couple of posts from this one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 My wife and I spent some time with Phantom Regiment the day before the Ft. Walton Beach show. These kids work so VERY hard, and care so much for each other and the Corps they are so proud of. Although I have new found respect for the kids and their dedication...I actually feel sorry for them.It is not the kids who are at fault here this season... it is the Crops administration in our opinion. Coming off an amazing show and championship in 2008, I would think they would have attempted to find a way to follow up in 2009 with a bit of the awesomeness they had last year. The kids do not choose the show... they have no say in what music is played. And watching them closely at rehearsal, and at the show on Monday night... I get the feeling the kids do not like this show. The "fire" of Phantom Regiment seems to be missing somehow. There is no doubt that PR's horns are still putting out that famous Phantom sound that is unmatched by anyone... but...something is lacking...and I feel it is the "love of the show" thing. The designers have fallen short this year and IMO let these great kids down...as well as letting us loyal fans down. Do not for one second blame any of those kids for the show this year... the blame is directly in the staffs lap. IMO they did very little thinking when deciding what type of show to do! No one I know of has heard of "The Red Violin" ... or recognize the music.. or understands what PR is trying to say on the field. Again...the kids are giving their ALL!!! The staff has messed up totally! Just our opinions! I think that this year Phantom was "###### if they do, ###### if they don't." If they tried to 'copy' the model used last season, too many people, I think, would write it off as them just trying to copy what they did with Spartacus (I count myself as potentially one of those critics, especially since I wasn't a big fan of last year's show design). If they go out with something pretty different, I think they would have a better-than-average chance of crashing and burning. As someone else said, it is VERY hard to bottle lightening twice in a row. Last year was truly special for them, and they obviously had the right show with the right members at the right time. IMO anything this year would be somewhat of a step down: Empire Strikes back is the rare sequel, while Matrix Reloaded is typical. Hopefully they can make the best of the season and come out OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfco Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 About familiarity... I would pretty confidently state that the Paganini variations melody (which is like 70% of the show) is much more famous than anything Regiment played in either 2006, or 2008 (their two recent really successful shows). So in this case I don't see what familiarity has to do with success or even popularity. Based on music familiarity, the Red Violin show should actually be much more popular than their 2006 or 2008 shows. But it is not...and the fault lies with the staff IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlemm Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 But it is not...and the fault lies with the staff IMO. I am not sure anyone is blaming the kids. We all know how hard they work. I didn't mean my original post to sound like I was blaming anyone. My hopes are those awesome kids can clean this show and perform the heck out of it. Regardless, I will be buying the APD because I love the music. They will always be MY REGIMENT, but that's why I am so passionate about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbg Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Please Phantom Regiment, please clean, clean, clean! And work on that visual! And colorguard? Work VERY hard. I just can't stand seeing my beloved Regiment continue to plummet down the standings. When it's all said and done, where do you think they will finish?My feeling right now is as high as 5 and as low as 10. Urgh. Whoa, thank goodness you posted this. I hope their staff can read this sometime over the next few weeks....i mean I dont think they have thought about this yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfco Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I am not sure anyone is blaming the kids. We all know how hard they work. I didn't mean my original post to sound like I was blaming anyone. My hopes are those awesome kids can clean this show and perform the heck out of it. Regardless, I will be buying the APD because I love the music. They will always be MY REGIMENT, but that's why I am so passionate about it. Agreed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlemm Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Whoa, thank goodness you posted this. I hope their staff can read this sometime over the next few weeks....i mean I dont think they have thought about this yet Haven't you ever just thrown something out there to the DCP universe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbg Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Haven't you ever just thrown something out there to the DCP universe? sure.....but with my usage of the I really just meant my post as a sarcastic joke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.