Tom Brace Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Ah. But should we attribute declining attendance to dissent, necessarily? Or should we attribute it to the fact that, between fan network, ***tube, and all the other digital ways of experiencing the drum corps season as the season progresses rather than experiencing only Finals on vhs/dvd, many people simply don't feel the need to attend shows any more? I'm speaking specifically about people for whom attending shows was never really convenient. There's something to be said for the real-time experience that these new technologies offer us. DCI's audience is not simply the bodies in the stands. So, to be honest, I'm not sure fewer bodies circling the football field really indicates much about peoples' attitudes towards the "Changing nature of DCI." After all, there've always been disgruntled dissenters. That number might have remained stabilized along the years, for all we know. Digitality is the new factor. DCI is going to have to work harder to remind people of the importance of experiencing the activity live and in person. The economy is more attributable for the decline in attendance than any other issue. DCI Atlanta proves this may be a turnaround year, however, I believe this is just audience shifting...cheaper tickets, all in one day, etc. People who would have bought tickets for Atlanta and also gone to Finals most likely are choosing one show over the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 DCI is going to have to work harder to remind people of the importance of experiencing the activity live and in person. Come FEEL the music! Although I've found when I crank my stereo up all the way and stand right in front of the speakers it's *almost* the same sensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 But if this season is teaching me anything, it's that drum corps today maintain a high standard of mutually-imbricated tradition and innovation for the sake of all of us, old school and new. Next time just say overlapping. You'll confuse too many people by using a good vocabulary. Well, since "imbricated", which is sometimes misused, means "overlapping or layered as scales or shingles", perhaps we can think of tradition and innovation forming a roof to protect the future growth of drum corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortAndFast Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I identify as new school because that seems to be the title chosen for me, considering how happy I am with the state of drum corps today.If it were up to me, I'd sidestep old school and new school and just post as an Independent. I'm happy to join you as an independent. I obviously still like drum corps or I wouldn't be going to DCI every year. So when you say that there's good and exciting material performed every year, I completely agree. There are also programs every year that completely miss for me, but that was also true two decades ago. I definitely get that a show like the Bluecoats 2010, which I absolutely love, couldn't have been done even 5 years ago. I am old school enough to see that DCI has imported a lot of design aesthetic from WGI and competitive marching band in the last decade or so. Generally, those activities don't appeal to me as a spectator, and I similarly find DCI shows dominated by these influences tend not to work for me. It also doesn't strike me as a good thing that many completely awesome shows from BITD would be DOA in today's DCI. Trust me when I say that a 30 second homage to the past in today's shows doesn't really compare to the original. My main concern about DCI show design is that the sheets are pushing everyone towards a homogeneity in design, especially visual design, and towards a fragmented approach to the presented music. From 50,000 feet it seems like there should be a great many show styles that could win "general effect", but in practice, that's just not true. To pick one example, practically nobody programs jazz today because it's believed to be too hard to succeed with competitively. Ultimately, BD 2010 doesn't really bother me. Even if the design is not my cup of tea, I'll still be impressed with the proficiency. The problem comes when everybody else (most of whom lack BD's talent) feels they have to copy BD 2010. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 (edited) The economy is more attributable for the decline in attendance than any other issue. We don't know this. It is pure speculation. There are sports, music shows, other enertainment, etc that have not been similarly effected by " the economy ". Some have even shown an increase in attendance year over end, despite the economy. Edited August 2, 2010 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 The economy is more attributable for the decline in attendance than any other issue. DCI Atlanta proves this may be a turnaround year, however, I believe this is just audience shifting...cheaper tickets, all in one day, etc. People who would have bought tickets for Atlanta and also gone to Finals most likely are choosing one show over the other. I totally agree with this. People have to make choices what or what not to do these days. It's very clear in every news program EVERY DAY. Unfortunately many people would rather blame it on a specific director or the shape or direction of the activity and maybe there is a little of truth to it and the decline but to not recognize todays world and it's issues and how it relates is pure ignorance ....JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrVinegar Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Personally, when I see shows from the 70s and early 80s I wonder how drum corps survived. I understand the quality of the recordings is much lower but I personally find the shows unpalatable. People seemed to jump to their feet for company fronts. Company fronts aren't very exciting. I guess people in the 70s were easily entertained. The sacrifice of intonation for volume. I don't get that. Yes the corps were loud but they also had terribly off pitch lazertone. Maybe some people miss that. And the color guard routines, yikes. Those poor girls, how did they stay awake on the field? Because they were hardly doing anything even remotely visually interesting. But hey, old-timers still like that. For the life of me I can't figure out why but they do. A horribly off pitch and loud "Johnny Comes Marching Home" gets them all excited for some reason. I guess that is passion. Who knew. Actually what I think a lot of this old-timerism is about is the amount of time spent with the corps. When we marched we were immersed in the corps shows 24/7. We saw them, listened to them, heard them warming up, we would witness the daily progression each corps made. We saw and heard those shows so much they became part of our consciousness. Now, if you only see a show 2 or 3 times it will never sink in the same way so of course it will never grab you like the shows of your youth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I'll I identify as new school because that seems to be the title chosen for me, considering how happy I am with the state of drum corps today.If it were up to me, I'd sidestep old school and new school and just post as an Independent. i like some of each. some old school bores me. I really would cringe if I heard Birdland one more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 I'll I identify as new school because that seems to be the title chosen for me, considering how happy I am with the state of drum corps today.If it were up to me, I'd sidestep old school and new school and just post as an Independent. i like some of each. some old school bores me. I really would cringe if I heard Birdland one more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMichael1230 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 The economy is more attributable for the decline in attendance than any other issue. DCI Atlanta proves this may be a turnaround year, however, I believe this is just audience shifting...cheaper tickets, all in one day, etc. People who would have bought tickets for Atlanta and also gone to Finals most likely are choosing one show over the other. I tend to agree with you, Tom. I take my situation .. I used to bring many people to shows and I would entice them by buying tickets....I could get a good block of quality tickets for about $100 or so dollars and sit really well...not even close today....doing mutiple shows alone, it has clost me over $500 in ticket prices..... Cant afford the luxury of paying for others due to some economic changes in the past few years. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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