ALBGREN62 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 After reading most of the posts re DCA shows, got me to thinking why there are not more drum corps in local parades. The entire community would benefit as there would be no cost to those that attend. Exposure of drum corp to all the public would increase awareness to the benefits of the world of drum corp. Great recruitng tool, eh? Instead of playing to a limited crowd at field shows, think of the thousands (in many cases tens of thousands)of onlookers who see up close what drum corp is. Close enough to feel the rhythms of a favorite tune from the past. Yeah man, I can relate! Chugging a Genesee 12 Horse Ale and grooving. Man, I can get into that. Sign me up. Im sure many of you have experienced ropes being strung across the street to hold the corp until a tune was played. What a rush! Let's speed this up so we can get to the beer tent and do it again. Who knows, perhaps this economic "downturn" will force us to do just that. And we ALL beneift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 i'd imagine part of the problem is scheduling....with corps membership bases not being as local, anything mid week can be a killer getting bodies there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereese Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 After reading most of the posts re DCA shows, got me to thinking why there are not more drum corps in local parades. The entire community would benefit as there would be no cost to those that attend. Exposure of drum corp to all the public would increase awareness to the benefits of the world of drum corp. Great recruitng tool, eh? Instead of playing to a limited crowd at field shows, think of the thousands (in many cases tens of thousands)of onlookers who see up close what drum corp is. Close enough to feel the rhythms of a favorite tune from the past. Yeah man, I can relate! Chugging a Genesee 12 Horse Ale and grooving. Man, I can get into that. Sign me up. Im sure many of you have experienced ropes being strung across the street to hold the corp until a tune was played. What a rush! Let's speed this up so we can get to the beer tent and do it again. Who knows, perhaps this economic "downturn" will force us to do just that. And we ALL beneift. I would assume Albgren62 means Albion Grenadiers 1962? If so, this year Irondequoit's fourth of July parade had, (in no particular order) Empire Statesmen, Crusaders, Dansville White Sabres and Mighty St. Joe's. They are there you just have to look for them. MSJ will march about 11 parades this year. Post DCA, Sept 12 they march in the parade in Gaines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabstuba04 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 I know the Caballeros do as many as we physically can. It is a great way to raise funds to operate the corps. It does raise the awareness of the corps within the State of NJ between Memorial day and Fourth of July we have 5 parades and an exhibition or two. We have traveled to out of state parades in the past.. This year attending the St. Patrick's Day parade in Holyoke MA.. To do many more would be difficult for sure. Our rehearsal schedule and ($1.00 to Jeff ) Our corps is made up of 120 some odd members form seven different states and two provences of Canada. So off season parades are difficult...But on topic... We do try to do as many as we can... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phalanx Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Yea I think most corps do many as they possibly can while still maintaining as much rehearsal time as possible. The problem with parades, is that the majority of people watching still have NO idea what we do, they think all we do is the parades. In fact, I think they might be a little surprised to find out most of the corps membership absolutely hate marching in those parades . They're a necessary evil for most corps and I think morale would take a bit of a hit if they started doing more parades and were required to do some off-season/mid-week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pearlsnaredrummer77 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Unfortunately, a lot of communities have been hard hit by the economic down turn and have less funds for parades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Funds to pay for music have been reduced. Some corps will do a parade for a bit less, others won't. On the West Coast, I think the corps have to PAY to be in the parade. Like someone said, lots of corps people don't like parades - especially in the summer heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAFL Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 i'd imagine part of the problem is scheduling....with corps membership bases not being as local, anything mid week can be a killer getting bodies there. True. It doesn't take huge numbers to do a parade, though. Around here, we don't get paid for parades, so it's entirely for the fun of it and recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Unfortunately, a lot of communities have been hard hit by the economic down turn and have less funds for parades. True in some of the big parades I've heard about. And let's face it, in the Northeast lot of corps parade to get the $$$ to survive. And the small town local parades in many cases can't afford to pay out a lot even before the downturn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSop66 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 (edited) I think there are a few issues at work here. First - many parade organizers are simply ignorant of drum and bugle corps. They know bands from colleges and high schools - drum corps are something they have little experience with. Second - as has been pointed out - many (most?) corps use parades as a way to make money for operating expenses. If they looked at them as a recruiting tool they might have a better outcome. Yes - I realize it's not cheap to send a corps to a parade, but there are usually some local parades that members can get to on their own without the expense of buses, etc. The exposure a corps gets from parades within their recruiting area would seem to me to be a no-brainer. High schoolers and older people who play instruments may be totally unaware of the corps and upon seeing and hearing them might want to get involved. A good showing and appearance would be invaluable to many corps, imo. Personally, I used to love parades, and the existence of "parade corps" would seem to show that many others do too. Who doesn't remember the look on peoples faces when a drum corps gets near them and they're thinking "oh - just another band", then they get their faces blown off. My first exposure to drum corps was via parades and I knew right away I wanted to be part of that. Just sayin ... Edited August 18, 2009 by SunSop66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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