mobrien Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) If this mainstream audience did not care for drum corps in the 80s and 90s, why would we expect them to like 80s and 90s drum corps now? Just because DCP wishes it so? Don't you remember? DCI was selling 70,000 tickets to Finals back then, and the records from Finals were always topping Billboard's charts. It's always been a niche activity. The niche now might be smaller, but not appreciably so (the crowds at VFW Finals were there because it was part of a much bigger convention, not because drum corps was considered mainstream entertainment). It's been pointed out a million times that the audience for drum corps is people who are involved, or were involved in doing it. You want bigger audiences, increase the number of corps and participants. Any strategy that doesn't focus on creating new corps is wasting time. Edited January 29, 2011 by mobrien 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Not the Green Monster!!! NOOOOoooooo..... You are ruining my reputation as the ----> I try my least 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 True; but the gate keepers of the large foundations open the flood gate of donations to those musical activities such as the Symphony Orchestra or Ballet because they are frequented by community big-wigs like Doctors, Lawyers, Corporate CEO's, ... The average DCI fan does not partake of $300 bottles of wine and $100 Truffles. so we need a plan to reach out them. It'd be more fun spilling wine than beer when someone makes me jump out of my seat to cheer them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesiscorps Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 it's just amazing to see the inconsistencies between what die-hards say regarding growing the activity, and what they say regarding how they want it to look like it did back when they marched. I want to be amazed. Please provide a specific example (cite a user) of a die-hard fan being inconsistent regarding growing the activity and how they want it to look like it did back when they marched. I could be wrong (really), but I suspect that your interpretation of what they're saying may be a factor in your assessment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nemesiscorps Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Let's be realistic here (not condescending but realistic) the average DCI patron is like a sports fan looking at a program to hopefully find a coupon for a hot dog at the concession stand more than the benefactor list. Ouch! And here I was recently complimenting our crowd in a recent thread on their impressive knowledge of classical music literature and composers. Okay, "ham & eggers" we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 so we need a plan to reach out them. It'd be more fun spilling wine than beer when someone makes me jump out of my seat to cheer them! Ahhh, but remember Master Orderone Cannoli that 5,000 wine spillers are the maximum number who attend any given symphony concert, and they sit silently and quietly on their hands with their mouths shut for 45 minutes (with people giving them annoying looks for even coughing) and only stand, clap, and say Bravo at the end of that 45 minuets. Whereas 100,000 beer drinking fans attend each U2 concert or competitive event like NASCAR and those fans whoop, holler, and spill beer throughout the entire event. And moreover, U2 and NASCAR are self-sufficient money making ticket selling machines whereas Symphonies need Foundations Grants, Rich Patrons, and Government Grants to even dream about surviving. So, IMO, if DCI wants to claim Major League Status and perform at Pro Stadiums attracting 60,000 fans to Finals, they need to start appealing to the Major League ticket buyers who attend music concerts like U2 or competitive activities like NASCAR. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 Ouch! And here I was recently complimenting our crowd in a recent thread on their impressive knowledge of classical music literature and composers. Okay, "ham & eggers" we are. And there is nothing wrong with it being a ham & eggs activity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) I want to be amazed. Please provide a specific example (cite a user) of a die-hard fan being inconsistent regarding growing the activity and how they want it to look like it did back when they marched. I could be wrong (really), but I suspect that your interpretation of what they're saying may be a factor in your assessment. To cite individual users might begin a blog sniping fest, so I will refrain from getting personal. However, there are a multitude of postings supporting the contention of Lance in which the posters want to get "back" to the future. For example, many posters who marched in the eighties and nineties will state that they are all for the activity "growing into the future" but they will state in the same paragraph that they want to "revert back to G bugles". Edited January 29, 2011 by Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerriTroop Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 (I wanted to give a public "oops" to Stu for giving him a green instead of a red for liking his comment above. Please forgive me for ignoring your signature, Stu. I'll do better next time! I like what you had to say very much, so in this case green meant good. Sorry!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actucker Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 First off, Lady GaGa has chosen to completely waste her talent. She makes me more angry than any other artist in mainstream music today. Most of them don't have any talent to begin with, so I can't really blame them for making stupid and awful music. Now that that's out of the way, this whole "entertainment vs tradition" thing is a tricky line to walk. On one hand, DCI seems determined to try to fill up gigantic stadiums. On the other hand, if you morph the activity too far towards trying to draw (for lack of a better term) normal people, you risk alienating those who have always followed the activity. I have to say, I've been a drum corps fan all my life, but if DCI were to dumb things down in order to try to draw a crowd, I'd stop following it altogether. I'm definitely not alone in that feeling. At some point, the activity stops being what it was, and loses all of the elements that made you love it in the first place. Maybe DCI would be ok with that, but I think they'd risk the very thing they are afraid of (the death of the activity) from a different angle. I certainly don't have a problem with DCI trying to draw a bigger crowd, and gain more exposure, but they've got to temper their expectations. We are, and always will be a niche market. Perhaps we can expand the niche, but we need to be careful to maintain the integrity of the activity. By all means, try to be entertaining, but don't sacrifice the musical or visual demand. Don't sacrifice what you are teaching your members for the sake of ticket sales, because the marching members of today will be our grandkids' band directors and private teachers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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