Tonight I felt like an old timer!

[IMcomguy]

Those are just symptoms people blame and those with the power to change pursue to recapture something lost. What is lost is a reason to throw babies. That can be done with any instrument in any venue when you think about it. It can happen with saxaphones, rattles and zithers.

We have to protect the babies these days. The world will not survive without the babies growing up.

Wrap them all in a plastic bubble, keep them away from teh int3rnetz, and DON'T TAKE THEM TO DRUM CORPS SHOWS!!!!!1!!11

[Mello Dude]

All afternoon I've been looking forward to coming home and watching the top 8 drum corps in the world battle it out. From what I've been reading on dcp this is shaping up to be one of the best seasons ever for drum corp. Brought the projector home from work, plugged in the bose to the laptop and prepared for an evening of big, loud and live home style version. I even had my girlfriend, someone who has never seen a drum corp show, sit on the couch watching.

I have to admit for the first time in the 25 years I've been either participating or following this activity, I finally feel like one of those "old timers" who just dont get the direction of this activity. Im not talking about electronics, vocals, preshows, or any other of the rule changes that have taken place over the last 5 to 10 years. I dont see the diversity or passion written into the shows anymore. There is no question the kids in this activity are highly trained, extremely hard workers with a passion for perfection that many of our nations youth will never achieve.

There was not a single show tonight that grabbed me, threw me down in my seat and then made me jump up before the last notes screaming like a little school girl with goose bumps covering my entire body. Did anyone else notice the crowd reaction during the performances and after the last note? Yea!!!!!!! Great job kids, we can tell you're very talented and work very hard, my ### hurts so its time to stand up!

After the Blue Devils (actually every corp) final note, and seeing the look of utter confusion on my girlfriends face, I almost felt like I needed to appologize for wasting the last few hours. I then decided I needed to show her one of my favorite shows of all time. Without saying a word I played 1988 Santa Clara Vanguard. After the corps disapeared she leaned over and said "now that was something I could get excited about and would pay to see!" I then realized what's missing from todays activity. Diversity, Flow, Melodies and Passionately written shows! Im sure I'll be blasted by the younger generation for expressing my disatisfaction and that's fine, we all have a right to an opinion. It was just a sad realization this evening that for the first time in nearly 25 years I realized I am losing touch with an activity that has given me so much joy over the years.

Yep, Drum Corps has definitely "jumped the shark" for about the last decade. Newer fans will of course love what is going on now but are simply ignorant of what made drum corps unique and God forbid entertaining in the recent past. As they say ignorance is bliss.

[brassyNsassy]

Ahhh! The Good Ole Days!

They're gone. So are the 5 minutes it took me to type this post.

I started drum corps in the early 80's and I also see the difference in the activity from then until now. Of course it has changed. It has to or it will die. DCI corps have to recruit TODAY'S youth. In case you haven't noticed, they are not really very much like we were in the 70's & 80's. They have been exposed to much more sophisticated entertainment from the day they were born. They do not get excited by the same things we did. The performance bar has continually been raised, year after year, decade after decade. Nowadays, you have to be just about perfect to be in te top 5. Corps like the 88 Vanguard caused that to happen over time.

I go to a few shows every year and I still LOVE IT! If you can't find passion in the performance of today's corps, you do not want to find it. But that's ok. Drum corps audiences have always been made up of mostly people that were recently in the activity, with less and less of each generation staying with the activity. It would be impossible to satisfy you, the guys that want the 70's back and today's audience.

To say there is no variety in drum corps means that you must not be watching all the corps. There is really something for everyone if you check out all the WC, OC, DCA, Alumni, Mini-Corps, Parade corps, etc. If you can't find the type of drum corps you like, you are not looking for it with an open mind.

[Michael Boo]

Winner!

You are a wonderfully educated and erudite individual.

[ReformedDCFan]

Dear Freelancer 92 -

I agree with you - last night I was just watching clips on youtube from shows this year - and I have to agree - drumcorps doesn't appeal to me anymore - I enjoy following the scores and the standings, and it makes me happy to see certain corps do well - but even with my favorite corps, I'm really not interested in seeing or hearing what they are doing with their on field projections.

I aged out in 91 - we marched through the golden age of drum corps - that era is gone and will never return.

Corps designers are not interested in entertaining the audience - they are interested in impressing the judges and the top echelon of drum corps designers.

It's kind of an emperor has no clothes kind of a thing going on - people in the inner circle of course want to be accepted, so of course they say - yes! That's great! (even knowing that the new designs don't engage the audience)

I'm not going to gas and carp about this - you know what I mean and I agree with you - even if I could afford to go to shows, I wouldn't.

Since leaving drumcorps, I have gotten into traditional folk music like bluegrass and Irish traditional music - in these musical forms, the musicians appreciate and respect their roots - they are free to innovate but they always acknowledge the tradition and will perform the classic tunes.

[cowtown]

I agree with Lance and the OP

breaking up is often a slow process, step by step

I almost wish I was a line in the sand guy and could have made a clean break

it's difficult, you feel something is taken from you, cheated

it's out of your control, so go with til you can't

I wanted to storm out but find it's more like....

softly, as I leave you

Edited July 31, 2010 by cowtown

[Mello Dude]

Ahhh! The Good Ole Days!

They're gone. So are the 5 minutes it took me to type this post.

I started drum corps in the early 80's and I also see the difference in the activity from then until now. Of course it has changed. It has to or it will die. DCI corps have to recruit TODAY'S youth. In case you haven't noticed, they are not really very much like we were in the 70's & 80's. They have been exposed to much more sophisticated entertainment from the day they were born. They do not get excited by the same things we did. The performance bar has continually been raised, year after year, decade after decade. Nowadays, you have to be just about perfect to be in te top 5. Corps like the 88 Vanguard caused that to happen over time.

I go to a few shows every year and I still LOVE IT! If you can't find passion in the performance of today's corps, you do not want to find it. But that's ok. Drum corps audiences have always been made up of mostly people that were recently in the activity, with less and less of each generation staying with the activity. It would be impossible to satisfy you, the guys that want the 70's back and today's audience.

To say there is no variety in drum corps means that you must not be watching all the corps. There is really something for everyone if you check out all the WC, OC, DCA, Alumni, Mini-Corps, Parade corps, etc. If you can't find the type of drum corps you like, you are not looking for it with an open mind.

I see, so he doesn't have an open mind because he points out the obvious in DCI or wants the 70's back? Where in the OP does he even come close to saying that or even had MARCHED in the 70's? Again, if one TRULY had an open mind, instead of ranting how others do not, one would read and comprehend what he and others are saying. There is VERY little left that tethers current drum corps to the past (and it's history); be it the "experience" as some call it or whatever.

[Jeff Ream]

bye

great way to keep the business alive. that attitude is what has hurt drum corps

[Jeff Ream]

I wonder how many people would agree with you about the Cavies being the only ones to get anything from the audience?

It's amazing what individuals perceive, and then try to foist onto "the audience."

the next two weeks when I'm in the audience, i'll gladly let you know what they're doing

[Grumpy]

I can agree with the OP to some degree, but I go by my own "entertainment component"-did the show entertain me? Very subjective, yes-but if I didn't enjoy the show, what's the point of paying for it and sitting through it? When I first started seriously following drum corps in the mid 90's, Madison ALWAYS played for the crowd and to #### with the judges...and outside of Phantom '08, Madison was the last corps I remember where the entire audience was standing and going nuts for the last 30 seconds of their show. My wife never even knew such a thing as drum corps existed until we met (late 2005)which means she never saw a live show until 2006. She goes with me mostly for me, although she enjoys some of the shows. After 2008, she was absolutely beside herself-she loved almost every show. From my "entertainment" perspective, I agreed-almost every corps had an entertaining show that year. Last year, after quarters in Indy, she said to me that very few corps were doing "good shows"-her way of saying that they weren't as entertaining. I felt the same way, there were maybe 4 corps from last year whose shows I truly enjoyed. This year, there are even fewer than that-I have seen most corps, some live but most via Fan Network. I know live is different, but I have seen 4 of last year's Finalists live and I am having a hard time trying to figure out why I am spending $1,000+ for a trip to Indy in a couple of weeks. I am not disputing the talent level in today's corps-they truly are some of the most talented musicians in the world and what they do, they are doing far better than I could ever hope to-but there are brain surgeons like that, and I wouldn't pay to sit through watching a brain surgery. This has nothing to do with rule changes and that whole argument, or becoming more like band and that discussion. Suffice it to say that I don't think any of this year's shows will be on my MP3 player, since I haven't seen Madison "live" yet, and they are going "old school", that may be the exception.