State of drum corps manifesto

[Lance]

seemed to be pretty easy to do in the 80's......

no

excellent points from Ian. It's a rare show that nearly everybody will like or love, and trying to go for that ends up pleasing almost nobody the vast majority of the time. for every Phantom 08 or Madison 95, there are 50 other shows that a lot of people like and a lot of people don't like. People can pretend otherwise, but they're fooling themselves.

like with anything else, people think their opinions are more important than those of others. it's our nature to the think that if we don't like it, it must be ####. thank goodness for variety is all I have to say.

[Scoutnout]

no

excellent points from Ian. It's a rare show that nearly everybody will like or love, and trying to go for that ends up pleasing almost nobody the vast majority of the time. for every Phantom 08 or Madison 95, there are 50 other shows that a lot of people like and a lot of people don't like. People can pretend otherwise, but they're fooling themselves.

like with anything else, people think their opinions are more important than those of others. it's our nature to the think that if we don't like it, it must be ####. thank goodness for variety is all I have to say.

AMEN !!!!!!!!

[ducttapedgerbil]

no

excellent points from Ian. It's a rare show that nearly everybody will like or love, and trying to go for that ends up pleasing almost nobody the vast majority of the time. for every Phantom 08 or Madison 95, there are 50 other shows that a lot of people like and a lot of people don't like. People can pretend otherwise, but they're fooling themselves.

like with anything else, people think their opinions are more important than those of others. it's our nature to the think that if we don't like it, it must be ####. thank goodness for variety is all I have to say.

Not every show in the 80's was liked by everyone....never said they did. My reference was to the fact that a lot more shows were liked by more people in the 80's....not ALL shows....just MORE shows. I am not sure that the CONCEPT of the "hot dog corps" even existed in the 80's. I would have to check in with some old farts that are older and fartier than I am on that detail.

BTW...what variety? ;-)

Edited July 16, 2010 by ducttapedgerbil

[Mello Dude]

no

excellent points from Ian. It's a rare show that nearly everybody will like or love, and trying to go for that ends up pleasing almost nobody the vast majority of the time. for every Phantom 08 or Madison 95, there are 50 other shows that a lot of people like and a lot of people don't like. People can pretend otherwise, but they're fooling themselves.

like with anything else, people think their opinions are more important than those of others. it's our nature to the think that if we don't like it, it must be ####. thank goodness for variety is all I have to say.

Have to agree/disagree. It's rare TODAY to have a show everybody will like or love. It was not always like this. Even corps shows that I did not like at all in the 80's,90's, early 2000's, had me, and most everyone out of the seat at some point because it was that cool or impressive. Most of the time it was the sheer excitement of the horn lines and drum lines themselves.

I think some people fool themselves that somehow they are above the common things that bond us as a human people. Things that most ALL people can look at and say, "That's #### impressive and cool as hell!" What I have seen lately in crowds is the polite golf clap or in internet terms-- it's nice but meh. There are a few that think they "get" everything a corps is trying to come across with and read all kinds of stuff that isn't there at all. The story that addresses this is "The Emperors New Clothes", should have been mandatory reading IMHO.

[Lance]

Yes, personal anecdotes. It's amazing how our own feelings about something we like (or don't like) can influence our perceptions of our surroundings. Just human nature.

The variation in descriptions about what happened with "the audience" for each of the ties at finals I attended is immense. There's a reason for it.

We can speak for ourselves with some degree of objectivity, but not so much others. That's all.

[ducttapedgerbil]

Yes, personal anecdotes. It's amazing how our own feelings about something we like (or don't like) can influence our perceptions of our surroundings. Just human nature.

The variation in descriptions about what happened with "the audience" for each of the ties at finals I attended is immense. There's a reason for it.

We can speak for ourselves with some degree of objectivity, but not so much others. That's all.

...again, marginalizing the facts/opinion/individual

[Scerpella]

AMEN to Boston - they were the ONLY corps at Carmel Tuesday night to try to even come close to a power chord from the past and they had to come up to the sideline packed titghtly to pull it off. I loved it. I know volume is not everything but every once in a while, just every so often, you got hear a hit like Spirit in 79/80 on Georgia, or even Madison back in the day. You have to admit IT IS NOT THE SAME. 60 versus 80 brass and they can;t match the volume timbre like in the past. Is it bad today no not really but it is not Drum and Bugle Corps sound.

Batteries due to the heads they use also do not produce the amount of sound they did prior to their usage, and that contributed greatly to the sound we heard and felt on the field.

[Lance]

...again, marginalizing the facts/opinion/individual

Not marginalizing anything. We all have opinions and perceptions and they're all equally valid and important. That's the opposite of marginalization...in fact, it's just a description of all of our tendencies to INFLATE our own opinions.

[NR_Ohiobando]

The only thing I truly agree with is that crowds are sitting on their hands. I mean, some of the bigger/popular shows get great crowd response, but I feel like the new generation of audience members aren't used to spontaneously applauding and cheering during a show. Is that partially DCI's problem? Yeah. But not all of it.

[Lance]

The only thing I truly agree with is that crowds are sitting on their hands. I mean, some of the bigger/popular shows get great crowd response, but I feel like the new generation of audience members aren't used to spontaneously applauding and cheering during a show. Is that partially DCI's problem? Yeah. But not all of it.

I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if today's audience sat down for the top 12 from 1984. Some on here think the audience back then was hooting and hollering through every show....and it's simply not true. But I do think crowds were generally more vocal back then.

IMO, the reaction would be much more subdued for those shows than they are for today's. The audience has changed, and so have tastes. It doesn't mean any era is better than any other, it's just the way things work.