TrainWreck Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 If you are paying to see a show in June you should have a reasonable expectation that some corps might not be finished. If you can't deal with shows not being finished then don't pay to go to the show. Thanks for the clarification. Expect corps shows not to be finished or don't pay to go to the show. I failed to see that listed anywhere on the advertisements. "Please, we only want spectators who don't mind an incomplete product. If this bothers you, stay home". Drum corps really has changed if this is the attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwscv87 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 It seems the main point is being missed.People pay to go to the shows. Reading part of this thread, it's apparent that that's not a concern. I don't think that point is being missed at all. Your last sentence says it all. For some of us the money is not a concern at all. Like you, I find it irritating when a corps does not start the season with something close to a complete show - at least in length (understanding that shows evolve over the summer). The difference is that I find it mildly irritating and that's it. If I arguably over pay as a result, big deal. I am not looking to get every last dollar value I can from the activity. I will gladly "over pay" if it is helping fund drum corps. I suppose I would have feelings closer to yours if there was a single corps that was habitually coming out under prepared, but I don't see that as the case. It is a lot harder to come out ready to go now versus when I marched. Less local kids, less local rehearsals, and with schools getting out later move in dates have slid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbc03 Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Thanks for the clarification. Expect corps shows not to be finished or don't pay to go to the show. I failed to see that listed anywhere on the advertisements. "Please, we only want spectators who don't mind an incomplete product. If this bothers you, stay home".Drum corps really has changed if this is the attitude. The June shows would probably be less attended than later shows even if all the corps did manage to get all their sets on the field. Lots of people enjoy drum corps based on the level of excellence. The level of excellence in June is not as good as it is later in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 It seems the main point is being missed.People pay to go to the shows. Reading part of this thread, it's apparent that that's not a concern. We hardly missed that point back when I marched. Of course it was a concern. No corps wants to go out and perform an unfinished show. But that didn't change our circumstances one iota. Knowing that an audience would be paying to see us perform didn't magically translate into our visual staff being paid, hence getting the complete drill and guard book written and taught before our first show. I'm not sure what the circumstances are now, but I sure know what they were for us then . . . and they weren't pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskl3rings Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 OK, for those of you who don’t get the point. West Coast fans have no other choice than to go to early season shows unless they have the time and monetary means to travel hundreds of miles. When they buy a ticket to the Stanford show (which replaced both SCV’s & BD’s home show) they should at least see a representation of what will be presented at finals. Maybe your attitude would change if all the mid-west and east corps only competed in their region in June and then spent the rest of the summer travelling up and down the west coast with finals in LA, Seattle or SF. Finally answer this question. What if there was a DC show and nobody showed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd Tanji Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 OK, for those of you who don’t get the point. West Coast fans have no other choice than to go to early season shows unless they have the time and monetary means to travel hundreds of miles. When they buy a ticket to the Stanford show (which replaced both SCV’s & BD’s home show) they should at least see a representation of what will be presented at finals. Maybe your attitude would change if all the mid-west and east corps only competed in their region in June and then spent the rest of the summer travelling up and down the west coast with finals in LA, Seattle or SF.Finally answer this question. What if there was a DC show and nobody showed up? Absolutely correct! Sometimes it feels like I am the ONLY ONE NOT ON THE WEST COAST who actually understands AND cares about this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 OK, for those of you who don’t get the point. West Coast fans have no other choice than to go to early season shows unless they have the time and monetary means to travel hundreds of miles. I get the point. Pretty much every year, I go to the show that's closest to me, or closest to wherever I may be traveling if I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel at that point. In 2005, the only show I could attend was the June show in Evansville, Indiana (back when they actually had a drum corps show), because my husband and I were visiting my family in Evansville at that time. Having marched corps, I warned my husband that the shows would be incomplete, rough, whatever, because it was early in the season. He got that, and of course so did I. It didn't mean I appreciated the shows less, just that I knew to expect less than I would later on in the season. I can understand people who never marched not getting that, but surely people who did can remember? This is not anything new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyTenor Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 (edited) I suppose I would have feelings closer to yours if there was a single corps that was habitually coming out under prepared, but I don't see that as the case. It is a lot harder to come out ready to go now versus when I marched. Less local kids, less local rehearsals, and with schools getting out later move in dates have slid. Since the corps in question at the beginning of this debate was SCV, I will address your last point. Fiedler has made it clear that the corps made a decision to recruit and retain more California kids. This is great, IMO. For all intents and purposes this should have made camp attendance easier and put the corps ahead of past seasons. Plus, the opportunity for more frequent mini-camps or sectional rehearsals was there. We've already discussed the favorable weather compared to lots of other regions in the country. So there are more local kids and relatively great weather. I can't think of any reason proposed anywhere in this thread that should have kept SCV, or any corps in a similar situation, from coming out with a complete show. Garry in Vegas Edited July 7, 2010 by CrunchyTenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiodb Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Well, since this thread is still kicking.... Until a few years ago, my only beef was that undertime penalties were being waived in some places and enforced in others. Unfortunately, the solution to that was to waive the penalties nationwide. Then, we had the Cavaliers purposely leaving 2-3 minutes of drill out for early-season shows, and being rewarded for it. Not surprising that SCV would do the same under Fiedler (they've often been late finishing drill before Fiedler joined the organization). Nowadays, we don't even have a full panel of judges for these early shows. Not as much incentive to get guard equipment work in for those June shows when no one is judging it anyway. Bottom line, IMO....a contest is a contest. If we're not ready to play by the DCI rulebook and evaluate brass, percussion, guard and visual, then stage an exhibition instead. Standing still for three minutes should not get you a higher score than performing your full drill. Failing to perform the minimum-length show should be penalized. Presenting equipment work should get more credit than holding the flag/rifle stationary for 11 minutes. And if we need smaller panels to save money, use four judges (brass, percussion, guard, visual) and judge all captions on the quantity and quality of what is presented. Fans should not expect to see every corps complete and clean in June....but they should expect to see that day's completeness and cleanliness reflected in that day's contest results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84skyrydr Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 How do you simplify drill and then build upon it without relearning all of your drill? I don't know I am not a drill writer. Its not my job, but I could tell you how to start slowly on learning to run a crane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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