Why is DCI so unknown by almost everyone?

[MikeD]

I always thought "Blue Jay Way" and "Wild Honey Pie" would work.

In a "we're all dropping acid 24/7" sort of way.

Our 1970 concert for half the season was "Day Tripper" and "Paperback Writer". Then we changed to a medley from "Paint Your Wagon"...neither were very good, IMO.

[Todd Tanji]

Yes, and they have been gone as a group for 40 years. And guess what...some folks thought the White album and Let it Be were pretty bad.

And fwiw Magical Mystery Tour bombed on TV.

and ... you can't get music rights for their tunes anyway.

[Jeff Ream]

You mention Madison playing recognizable music. Many corps did do that this season.

Examples

Troopers had clips of Bon Jovi

Pacific Crest had "Sams Gone" from the movie "I am Legend"

Cavailers-Mad World

Crossmen-Played some very popular Metheny tunes that had been done before.

Phantom Regiment-Not everyone knows the "Old Moon in the New Moons Arms" but it sure as hell is easily accessible.

Bluecoats-Played "Aha" by Imogean Heap which was used as background music in an Alice in Wonderland Trailer as well as "160bpm" by Hans Zimmer from Angels and Demons

Pioneer-Played "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" which if you have seen Blazzing Saddles would have at least heard of the title.

Anyone else that knows another corps that did that this year please chime in on this.

It's just the interest of the people and not being exposed enough to the activity that is causing DCI not to be noticed. Still think making a movie to be released in theaters would be a great idea.

I would hardly call the Jovi stuff recognizable.

[Jeff Ream]

People like to be able to relate to something, they want a group to have a certain style. How many people do you think would keep going to a Pink Floyd concert if one year they played classic Pink Floyd and the next year they decided to play easy listening? Fans love the songs they made popular and would go to concert after concert to hear some of the "classics" thrown in with new songs of the same style. Drum Corps used to be that way also.

well put

[Jeff Ream]

IMO, people aren't still going to these shows for the quality of the music.

and not everyone goes to a drum corps show for the quality of the music. they go to be enterained. these same people now can hear the same stuff at a marching band show for 30-70% less expense.

[Jeff Ream]

I managed to get a good smack to the head thanks to David Hill's blog - and Bawker on here - about the fundamental truths we see as self-evident about drum corps that, to a complete outsider, are anything but.

-We spin and throw fake rifles, and fake swords, with no context whatsoever.

-We play music that only the "band kids" have ever heard. (And no, most people *don't* listen to orchestral music or movie scores on CD.)

-Our color guards wear some truly, *truly* hideous outfits and perform body movement that is not communicative of anything to the casual observer. (Backsticking and scrapes are cliche in drumming, but the audience latches on to it because they look so hard...)

-Horn line body movement rarely transmits anything to the audience and in fact can pull someone right out of the mood. (Rewatch the beginning of Crown this year through the eyes of someone who knows nothing about marching music - they don't know that it's hard to do that - they know folks are laying down and windmilling their arms for no reason.)

-Percussion lines play fast, technically amazing drum breaks - with no visual flair to them whatsoever other than the leg kick and body pivot.

-Corps uniforms make no sense to the casual viewer - see Uni Watch (themselves dedicated fans of sports uniforms) try to puzzle out the DCI photo galleries to no avail.

-Finally, and I hate to mention this, we reduce all of this symphonic wind ensemble, orchestral and movie score music we *do* hear to 4-part brass harmony with xylophones plinking along from the sideline, and that - at the end of the day - does not really sound like the source music in the way we think it does.

In a very real sense, even the things we consider "dumbed down" for the casual audience truly aren't.

Mike

your best post ever

[WOOHOO]

and not everyone goes to a drum corps show for the quality of the music. they go to be enterained. these same people now can hear the same stuff at a marching band show for 30-70% less expense.

They could have always done that.

[Jeff Ream]

They could have always done that.

and perchance they are. then again, I'm at many band shows in the fall, and attendance isnt exactly huge there either.

had a parent come up to me the other week at intermission...i was judging, no horse in the race. parent asked me why bands play all of this weird music now, but score well.

I told her my job was to judge the percussion on how well they play, and she should ask her local band director, as I couldn't begin to tell her.

for once, a band parent thanked a judge for their honesty

[WOOHOO]

and perchance they are. then again, I'm at many band shows in the fall, and attendance isnt exactly huge there either.

had a parent come up to me the other week at intermission...i was judging, no horse in the race. parent asked me why bands play all of this weird music now, but score well.

I told her my job was to judge the percussion on how well they play, and she should ask her local band director, as I couldn't begin to tell her.

for once, a band parent thanked a judge for their honesty

Gotta love confirmation bias

[Jeff Ream]

hey she was right. i had no idea why her kids band chose that stuff.

and i was 100% honest