Tom Brace Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 ...and this I am sure is not the only person thinking this by a long shot. Great post.and now..... This is the same argument old rich college alums use when they pledge they won't come back to homecoming anymore and won't be giving their millions unless the dorms are no longer coed and the college puts Sunday night Vespers services back. Tired arguments all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman1287 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 This is the same argument old rich college alums use when they pledge they won't come back to homecoming anymore and won't be giving their millions unless the dorms are no longer coed and the college puts Sunday night Vespers services back.Tired arguments all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIHasBeen Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I gotta tell ya, for a couple years now I've been walking further away from DCI really just due to my busy life. I haven't really found a reason to stay around the activity enough to justify an enthusiasm that I used to have ... (rest deleted to be brief.) Gotta' agree with you 100%. When I moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, I thought one of the perks would be living in Drum Corps Heaven ... right in between my two favorite corps of all times, with a bunch of others nearby. This year I could barely drag myself to two shows. The activity, from an entertainment perspective, has gotten hopelessly eclectic, and the few fine lines that separate the activity I grew up with from marching band are slowly disappearing. From a business perspective, the attrition in corps at the top level continues ... 19 corps in World Class this year? The powers that be at DCI (i.e. the corps' directors) are unwilling, or unable, to change the course of the activity. An activity that, in its present form, is unsustainable. There seems like nothing coming out of DCI HQ except bad decision after bad decision, yet the DCI powerbase refuses to seek out new leadership better equipped to lead. I can't support this activity right now ... It's throwing good money after bad. I fear the whole system is going to have to collapse before anything improves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Gotta' agree with you 100%.When I moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, I thought one of the perks would be living in Drum Corps Heaven ... right in between my two favorite corps of all times, with a bunch of others nearby. This year I could barely drag myself to two shows. The activity, from an entertainment perspective, has gotten hopelessly eclectic, and the few fine lines that separate the activity I grew up with from marching band are slowly disappearing. From a business perspective, the attrition in corps at the top level continues ... 19 corps in World Class this year? The powers that be at DCI (i.e. the corps' directors) are unwilling, or unable, to change the course of the activity. An activity that, in its present form, is unsustainable. There seems like nothing coming out of DCI HQ except bad decision after bad decision, yet the DCI powerbase refuses to seek out new leadership better equipped to lead. I can't support this activity right now ... It's throwing good money after bad. I fear the whole system is going to have to collapse before anything improves. thanks for your voice. We'll miss you...but inevitibility, eh. Again, I ask...for all of those so alarmed with the current status of DCI...I am asking for one solution working for both the fans and the members. And give me the examples...please. HNC? Crown? Troopers? Phantom Regiment 2008? SCV? Really...you don't like these shows? Then, I'm afraid something IS wrong. Because I just named 5 of my all time favorite shows of all time...4 from this year. And I am 49 years old. Help me. Show me the light as to why I should dismiss these classic shows. Please. Help me understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetman1287 Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Gotta' agree with you 100%.When I moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, I thought one of the perks would be living in Drum Corps Heaven ... right in between my two favorite corps of all times, with a bunch of others nearby. This year I could barely drag myself to two shows. The activity, from an entertainment perspective, has gotten hopelessly eclectic, and the few fine lines that separate the activity I grew up with from marching band are slowly disappearing. From a business perspective, the attrition in corps at the top level continues ... 19 corps in World Class this year? The powers that be at DCI (i.e. the corps' directors) are unwilling, or unable, to change the course of the activity. An activity that, in its present form, is unsustainable. There seems like nothing coming out of DCI HQ except bad decision after bad decision, yet the DCI powerbase refuses to seek out new leadership better equipped to lead. I can't support this activity right now ... It's throwing good money after bad. I fear the whole system is going to have to collapse before anything improves. But see, I think it' being held back because it's stuck too far in the past. Big reluctance to increase member limits, increase instrumentation, and make the activity more accessible to kids. Thousands of kids do BOA/HS. A SIGNIFICANTLY smaller percentage do DCI. How can we reduce costs so it's not $3000+ to march for a summer? Why does the tour schedule have to include all these poorly attended HS shows on Monday nights? It is a huge commitment, yes. But I think kids today are more reluctant to spend $3000 (in reality $5K when forgoing summer job wages), and about 90 days straight while sleeping on gym floors and school buses... It is WORTH IT!!! in the end, but these are the changes we need to think about making. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Drums and bugles have been reduced to nothing more than musical props. Sad but true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyfromhowardst Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 k peace dude k peace dude what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbaManiac Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 This years top 5 (well....2-5) have some of the most dynamic, interesting and exciting shows I've seen in a VERY Long time. This is the first year in recent memory that I can honestly say I'm excited to see more than just one or two shows. Crown's show is nothing short of AMAZING, and I see something new every time I see it. The use of synths and electronics is so well integrated that even the OP admitted he actually had to look to the field to see that the tubas weren't playing before he realized what he was listening to. Maybe you should think about how great it is that the tubas are freed up for a moment to participate more in the visual aspects of the show, then just trying to blow loud chords the entire show. People need to LET GO of the past, and their idea of what drum corps used to be, and appreciate the level of sophistication and complexity that these organizations are putting on the field. Maybe it's not your cup of tea, maybe you need mindless loud chords and true to life representations of well established pieces with classic drill moves to be happy, but that doesn't make what these kids are doing now any less amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impulse_dm Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I don't like the direction show design is going as of late, and I also agree that some staff members are probably WAAAy overpaid in comparison to others...but I can deal with it for now. I've got 2 years left to try and march in DCI, so I kinda have to until then. My opinions on show design have nothing to do with "education" and "opportunity", I just really like shows that only utilize things that were legal in the 2003-past era of drum corps. Try not getting paid at all. This economy has had such a major impact on drum corps. Instruments costing a fortune, busses and gas going up, and housing sites charging an arm and a leg. It's really sad that there is a whole league of kids out there that can never march because it just costs too much now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyfromhowardst Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 (edited) thanks for your voice. We'll miss you...but inevitibility, eh.Again, I ask...for all of those so alarmed with the current status of DCI...I am asking for one solution working for both the fans and the members. And give me the examples...please. HNC? Crown? Troopers? Phantom Regiment 2008? SCV? Really...you don't like these shows? Then, I'm afraid something IS wrong. Because I just named 5 of my all time favorite shows of all time...4 from this year. And I am 49 years old. Help me. Show me the light as to why I should dismiss these classic shows. Please. Help me understand. I think you are more than welcome to enjoy whatever shows you want and have fun at it! The American way. But let me ask--if you went to the opera (and dropped $250 on tickets) to watch Joan Sutherland do Madame Butterfly--and the Blue Devils showed up blaring some sad-### warmed over Chuck Mangione arrangement on the stage next to the opera performers, would you consider it opera? Would you even consider going? Some might, but the patrons and benefactors of opera would cut it to ribbons. That's what's happening here with DCI. How many people would stop going to shows if DC decided to drop dancing and smiling and electronics? Would you stop going? Or would more people go? Edited August 7, 2009 by tommyfromhowardst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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