Jump to content

DCA Crowd


Recommended Posts

hay Fran,

Many orchestral professionals, musicians and conductors are sick and tired of playing the same things over and over again. They program the familiar warhorses purely to draw in the audiences which only seem to respond to more of the same old same old. And yes, they very often feel that the music they are forced to program in order to survive, is, in fact, beneath them.

I understand what you're saying, Jeff.... I have a good friend who was a career percussionist with the Army Band at West Point, and he and his bandmates.... many of whom had doctorates in music, and at least one person who was literally considered among the best in the world on his particular instrument.... wrestled with the same thing you're talking about.

I can understand why paid, seasoned pros who are the best/among the best in their profession... who perform week in and week out, sometimes on a nearly daily basis.... feel that way.

But when it comes to drum corps.... I still don't get why anyone, in what is essentially an amateur activity, would feel that a certain type of programming is beneath them. Maybe even more so on the all-age side..... where one of the key "missions" since the inception of the DCA circuit has been, for all intents and purposes, "audience first." And maybe even more so in this day and age.... when various drum corps at ALL levels are struggling financially. More paying customers = more cash.

NOT saying that the corps don't try to perform to the best of their ability; of course they do. I'm amazed at what many drum corps can, and have, accomplished... hey, I wouldn't still be involved if I wasn't still enjoying things.

And I am not at all saying the corps perform at an amateurish level. There's a big difference between "amateur" and "amateurish." Having been both myself...I know. :thumbup:

I guess the bottom line of what I'm saying is......the all-age corps, in order to survive and thrive well into the future, might want to consider charting more of their own course, coming down more on the "general-audience appeal" side of things.... shows that reach that type of audience for the ENTIRE season, not just from mid-or-late August on, when those shows are rounding into championship form.

By "general audience" I mean more than the fans... hardcore marching music fans, whatever you want to call them... who attend shows now.

Being absolutely honest.... and this is my opinion only... the overall product is great on championship weekend... wonderful. But, overall, it could be better during the early-to-mid season, even factoring in the normal "get better as the season goes on" variables. And, again my opinion only.... I think programming (musically AND visually) and philosophy have something to do with that. Maybe quite a bit to do with that.

Not every corps is going to please every fan... that's impossible to do. But I think if drum corps is ever going to reach, and maintain a relationship with, a more "mainstream" audience... maybe that's no longer a goal, I have no idea... some "programming re-thinks" might be needed.

A well-known drum corps music teacher/programmer (I won't use his name because I don't have his permission to do so), in a recent interview in Drum Corps World, said... and I'm paraphrasing here ....if drum corps design teams were to focus-group their product from a marketing standpoint, the end result very well might be quite a bit different than what we see today. I agree.

Again, sorry for the long-winded stuff here. I think I need to get out of the house more.... or less, I'm not sure. :thumbup:

I wish ALL corps the very best for 2011 and beyond!!!

Edited by Fran Haring
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I probably don't even need to explain this... but I bolded the "my opinion" parts because I think some folks think I speak for others.

I don't.

I can barely speak for myself. :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I understand what you're saying, Jeff.... I have a good friend who was a career percussionist with the Army Band at West Point, and he and his bandmates.... many of whom had doctorates in music, and at least one person who was literally considered among the best in the world on his particular instrument.... wrestled with the same thing you're talking about.

I can understand why paid, seasoned pros who are the best/among the best in their profession... who perform week in and week out, sometimes on a nearly daily basis.... feel that way.

But when it comes to drum corps.... I still don't get why anyone, in what is essentially an amateur activity, would feel that a certain type of programming is beneath them. Maybe even more so on the all-age side..... where one of the key "missions" since the inception of the DCA circuit has been, for all intents and purposes, "audience first." And maybe even more so in this day and age.... when various drum corps at ALL levels are struggling financially. More paying customers = more cash.

NOT saying that the corps don't try to perform to the best of their ability; of course they do. I'm amazed at what many drum corps can, and have, accomplished... hey, I wouldn't still be involved if I wasn't still enjoying things.

And I am not at all saying the corps perform at an amateurish level. There's a big difference between "amateur" and "amateurish." Having been both myself...I know. :thumbup:

I guess the bottom line of what I'm saying is......the all-age corps, in order to survive and thrive well into the future, might want to consider charting more of their own course, coming down more on the "general-audience appeal" side of things.... shows that reach that type of audience for the ENTIRE season, not just from mid-or-late August on, when those shows are rounding into championship form.

By "general audience" I mean more than the fans... hardcore marching music fans, whatever you want to call them... who attend shows now.

Being absolutely honest.... and this is my opinion only... the overall product is great on championship weekend... wonderful. But, overall, it could be better during the early-to-mid season, even factoring in the normal "get better as the season goes on" variables. And, again my opinion only.... I think programming (musically AND visually) and philosophy have something to do with that. Maybe quite a bit to do with that.

Not every corps is going to please every fan... that's impossible to do. But I think if drum corps is ever going to reach, and maintain a relationship with, a more "mainstream" audience... maybe that's no longer a goal, I have no idea... some "programming re-thinks" might be needed.

A well-known drum corps music teacher/programmer (I won't use his name because I don't have his permission to do so), in a recent interview in Drum Corps World, said... and I'm paraphrasing here ....if drum corps design teams were to focus-group their product from a marketing standpoint, the end result very well might be quite a bit different than what we see today. I agree.

Again, sorry for the long-winded stuff here. I think I need to get out of the house more.... or less, I'm not sure. :thumbup:

I wish ALL corps the very best for 2011 and beyond!!!

well said Fran.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know. I'll have to actually go see next year and then I'll tell ya. :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

HollederStadium.jpg

I just found a photo of the fabled stadium !!!

DCA championships were held at Aquinas/Holleder Stadium in Rochester 1969-1976 (except 1972). It was a U-shaped football stadium, seating ~20,000.....True DCA aficionados did not remain long in their reserved seats. They congregated, by the hundreds, at the fence in front of the track. In close proximity to the front sideline, which was unencumbered by any pit instrumentation......The stands were packed, back to the finish-line endzone.
Edited by HornsUp
Link to comment
Share on other sites

HollederStadium.jpg

I just found a photo of the fabled stadium !!!

Holy Crap... so that's what the other side of the stadium looked like. During my time there (74-76) we got dumped off dang near from the street at the corner left of the score board. Never knew there was parking at the other end. :tongue:

Stood at that fence talking to some Boys of 76 in 1974. We couldn't believe they came the whoooole way from Wisconsin (go figure today) and they couldn't believe we came in lower at Prelims. "Hey <forget the name> c'mon over and meet these guys. We beat them!". That's where we saw someone throw a bottle from the stands during Crus show. No one hit but security drug the guy out bodily as he looked pretty soused. 'bout that time I realized I wasn't in MB anymore. :tongue:

Never did Finals there :tongue: just a regular season show in 1979.

Edited by JimF-LowBari
Link to comment
Share on other sites

HollederStadium.jpg

I just found a photo of the fabled stadium !!!

Awesome looking./ :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The weather...? Really...? Remember Ernesto...? That's a pretty lame excuse IMO. If and when there is a seat-jumping...standing-0 performance given the fans will respond accordingly.

Light it up and entertain me and I'll be the first one on my feet.

Yeah I gotta agree, I was wearing a thin corps jacket and it wasn't a problem. It was unusually cool, but not overly so. I guess you could use it as an excuse if it were in Arizona os something, but NY is a bit more used to cooler weather. I think it might have something to do with the falling number of fans from year to year. Less people, less noise. Just a thought

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...