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Forget Woodwinds – Beware of WGI


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45 minutes ago, BranchHill said:

I am fascinated by this topic, because in my puppy love years of following drum corps, I COULD NOT STAND the coming innovation.

World Championships were coming to Birmingham, AL; I had secured a volunteer role with DCI's Public Relations Office. It was a dream come true! I was going to be a part of something that had become oxygen for my young professional self. Drum corps was wonderful; I wanted the world to know! And now I had a bit of a soapbox from which to proclaim it.

The Blue Devils notched the highest score ever recorded in its championship show. Phantom Regiment seized hearts with "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral," and Santa Clara's guard dropped into the bottle dance at show's end, to round out the medalists. Atlanta's Spirit was the hometown favorite with its wall of sound, and the 27th Lancers previewed what would become its just-about-almost 1980 championship show for fourth and fifth. No matter. It was the sixth place corps that rocked the stadium and that became the viral sensation (of the times): The Bridgemen. The Bayonne "bananas" played into the never-ending clapping hands of the rousing Southern audience with its off-the-wall, off-the-drum-corps-grid show.

I. Was. Mortified.

What was to be made of this mess, I sulked. There was not the precision of the Anaheim Kingsmen, who I revered. There was not the innovative color guard of the Troopers, that thrilled me. There was neither Spirit's nor the Madison Scouts' soaring hornlines. I know not a whit of the intricacies of percussion, but I KNEW that this drum line was not the razor-sharp sort of the Blue Devils. And isn't all of that what drum corps is all about, I whined, almost apologetic to the very people who I had urged to come experience drum corps.

"They were great!" was the retort. And the next year the Bridgemen offered a rejoinder to my question of drum corps appropriateness by just-about-almost passing the Lancers for second place in front of one of the most raucous, rabid crowds of fans I had ever seen. What was my conflicted drum corps heart to do?
__________
When I least expected it, grow to love it in the same way that Birmingham's crowds did, as drum corps crowds everywhere did, and as we all did for Bayonne's first cousin from California, the Velvet Knights. Good drum corps, it turns out, is good drum corps. No matter the style, the approach, the innovation, the current times: drum corps was bound to change over time, as it has for all time.

Aren't we glad that "Autumn Leaves" is the corps song, not a performance requirement for The Bluecoats? Take this year's splendid Open Class Bronze Medalist, Gold; structurally it was a color guard show. The themes, "acts," and narration could be manipulated, and shortened, to make a life-affirming Dayton-bound production. As for guards not performing "the drum corps way," the mind-boggling, breath-taking, all-rifle backfield unison feature during the Boston Crusaders' "My Shot," begs to differ. (My heart rate jumped just writing about the moment.) All three choices are good ones, with no conspiratorial coup nor organizational take-over in mind/intended. At least in my view.

I am going on 50 drum corps seasons. I love that the Bridgemen of my stiff-minded youth made Legion Field's upper deck sway just as a touchdown in the Alabama/Auburn football rivalry played there used to. I love that the Blue Devils turn choreography into kaleidoscopic drill. I love that the Blue Knights mesmerized with music and drill. I love the adeptness of Santa Clara's cast. I love my drum corps more than ever.

Please don't stop. Any of it.

My first show there was 1984. I leaned over to my father and said "I'm going to do that." I think he replied something along the lines of "Then you best get busy." I went to my first audition camp in 1986 and marched my rookie year in 1987. We share a similar experience and I would agree...don't change a thing. What I don't like, I'll find a way to find the good in. 

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On 8/19/2009 at 12:39 PM, Fred Windish said:

I agree with the original poster.

Evidence seems to suggest DCI is morphing into a form of pageantry that already exists in WGI/BOA, etc. The DCI influence will bring that same pageantry to audiences on a much bigger scale. The new, full-field spectacle WILL require the controlled conditions of dome stadiums. That will allow lighting effects, large set pieces, high tech electronics, laser beams, etc. It will also prevent weather issues from getting in the way of scheduling.

Time will tell if the "enhanced" drum corps product will generate an even bigger audience for its performers. I believe it will, but I don't expect to be in that group. I grew up with an entirely different drum corps. Things change, I guess.

Are you saying that this "full field spectacle" will replace drum corps as we know it ?

If so,how do you make it economically viable.

WGI can put on shows in any high school gym.

There are a very limited number of domed stadiums.

There are also big chunks of the country,like the Northeast and West where there aren't any.

That also means you'd eliminate all local shows.

Just don't see the concept working.

 

 

 

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15 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Fascinating to look back ten years (to the day!) and see what people here thought about future trends.

BTW, it’s really cool that you found the exact day 10 years ago.  How’d you do that?  The search function?

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On 8/18/2009 at 12:39 PM, Jeff Ream said:

been building this way for a while

The sky is falling. While we see record paid attendance. 

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12 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

The sky is falling. While we see record paid attendance. 

I know many focus on these numbers as a measure of health, but I’d encourage you to resist the temptation.

Instead, you should peruse a look at the total, top-line gross revenue in DCI’s 990s.  Has “record paid attendance” translated into more shareable revenue coming in from the tour to share among the corps?  

 

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22 minutes ago, garfield said:

BTW, it’s really cool that you found the exact day 10 years ago.  How’d you do that?  The search function?

Yes but I wasn't looking for this thread specifically or even a thread from exactly ten years ago today. I was more generally looking at some "end of the decade" thoughts I remembered people posting in August 2009. I had no memory whatsoever of this thread.

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1 hour ago, rpbobcat said:

Are you saying that this "full field spectacle" will replace drum corps as we know it ?

If so,how do you make it economically viable.

WGI can put on shows in any high school gym.

There are a very limited number of domed stadiums.

There are also big chunks of the country,like the Northeast and West where there aren't any.

That also means you'd eliminate all local shows.

Just don't see the concept working.

 

 

 

Hey!  That’s pretty cool. Thanks for the memory.   

The only thing I’d change (10 years later) is to suggest big (hockey size) arena spaces. During the past decade, this type arena buildings have spread throughout the nation and are readily available to serve as tour stops.   Many built using government redevelopment funding, like here in Allentown. To make those buildings work in this indoor concept, I propose each stop having a minimum of 2 performances per day. A matinee and an evening show. As such, 8,000 -10,000 front side seats are available to sell in most facilities, over two performances.

 

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5 minutes ago, Fred Windish said:

Hey!  That’s pretty cool. Thanks for the memory.   

The only thing I’d change (10 years later) is to suggest big (hockey size) arena spaces. During the past decade, this type arena buildings have spread throughout the nation and are readily available to serve as tour stops.   Many built using government redevelopment funding, like here in Allentown. To make those buildings work in this indoor concept, I propose each stop having a minimum of 2 performances per day. A matinee and an evening show. As such, 8,000 -10,000 front side seats are available to sell in most facilities, over two performances.

 

This is kind of the direction I was describing earlier.  Fewer shows - 25, maybe? - in bigger venues controlled entirely the same.  To represent the Major League the activity has to be a step above the BOA/USB experience; the “High School” feel of weeknight shows. 

This “Really Big Shoe” ($1 to Ed) concept is truly a step above fall band shows.  Otherwise it’s just “the summer version” of those two other things.

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