June 2011 Tour Premiere

[BOBSMYTH]

Some thoughts and opinions:

1. Drum Corps being shown to fans all over the country featuring some of the best corps on the field today. I can't make it down to Texas to see the show but I can make it to my local theater.
   
2. The competition between these groups - who normally do not see each other until later in the season - will virtually guarantee that somebody (maybe a couple of somebodies) are going to be gunning to take down last year's champ. That might take care of some of the "it's June - our drill's not done and our guard uniforms are getting delivered next week" problem.
   
3. DCI wants you to come to the show. Bring a friend, even better. The target audience is anybody who likes drum corps - or who might like drum corps - and has a valid credit card or enough cash for some tickets and popcorn.

[Stu]

Some thoughts and opinions:

1. Drum Corps being shown to fans all over the country featuring some of the best corps on the field today. I can't make it down to Texas to see the show but I can make it to my local theater.
   
2. The competition between these groups - who normally do not see each other until later in the season - will virtually guarantee that somebody (maybe a couple of somebodies) are going to be gunning to take down last year's champ. That might take care of some of the "it's June - our drill's not done and our guard uniforms are getting delivered next week" problem.
   
3. DCI wants you to come to the show. Bring a friend, even better. The target audience is anybody who likes drum corps - or who might like drum corps - and has a valid credit card or enough cash for some tickets and popcorn.

I will make you a bet: More opening-day tickets will be sold for the movie "Dylan Dog, Dead of Night" across this country than the TOC theater event.

[luvs me sum mello!]

Thread is really showing the true colors of some "fans." And it's pretty pathetic.

So for everyone who's B****ing about watching "dirty shows," consider this:

There are fans that get to see one show every year because it's within driving distance. This show is in the first week of the season and has 1 or two of the top six, a couple more finalists, a few more from the WC, maybe an open class corps and a DCA corps. That's the show they get to pay for every year and they sure as hell eat it up. Some of the most appreciative and enthusiastic fans are at these shows because they know it's the start of something great.

And you want to complain about a theater broadcast of the top 8 corps that ISN'T your only show to see this season?

I can guarantee my bands students will be THRILLED to go and scream and cheer and buy t-shirts and be excited to see them again when they come back through denton/dallas.

You, on the other hand, are a cancer on the activity.

[BozzlyB]

Thread is really showing the true colors of some "fans." And it's pretty pathetic.

So for everyone who's B****ing about watching "dirty shows," consider this:

There are fans that get to see one show every year because it's within driving distance. This show is in the first week of the season and has 1 or two of the top six, a couple more finalists, a few more from the WC, maybe an open class corps and a DCA corps. That's the show they get to pay for every year and they sure as hell eat it up. Some of the most appreciative and enthusiastic fans are at these shows because they know it's the start of something great.

And you want to complain about a theater broadcast of the top 8 corps that ISN'T your only show to see this season?

I can guarantee my bands students will be THRILLED to go and scream and cheer and buy t-shirts and be excited to see them again when they come back through denton/dallas.

You, on the other hand, are a cancer on the activity.

Word.

[BozzlyB]

yea... I like the shows that don't have excessive talking and brilliant hornlines ruined by amplification balance. I buy DVDs every year. I go to Qfinals in the theater, and I go to local shows.

Instead of attacking me, maybe you should make the argument that June drum corps is clean and very impressive. You won't, you know why? Because it isn't. And you can't argue that fact, so instead you resort to attacking the poster instead of the post.

When I take new people to drum corps, I take them to late season shows. Why should I introduce new people to an a product that is not representative of why we all love drum corps? There's no way you can argue that the product on the field in June is the product that everyone loves.

Why do you post on here if you get so upset when people disagree with you? Maybe you should only post on dailykos instead.

Whatever. Obviously you won't support ANYTHING that can be somehow tied in your mind to the evil G-8. That's a bitter pill you're swallowing, hope you don't choke on it.

[MisterA]

Ok; so the target audience are the people who already know about drum corps and "not" the uninitiated mainstream?

I think realistically there are 3 target audiences for this show.

First of all the hard corps drum corps fans who want to see/hear/feel how each of the top 8 corps is doing this year, whether it be the first week in a theatre, or on the field.

The second target audience in my opinion would be the band community. Alot of students involved with marching band will love what drum corps are putting out on the field.

The third target audience would be friends or family members of people already involved in the activity who get brought along for the reason of being exposed to the activity. So it is up to people like us to not only go and support this theatre event, but also to maybe introduce 1 or more people to the activity in a nice cool air-conditioned environment. This is a great activity, and regardless of some politics of some corps, it is nothing short of amazing to see what these young people and thousands of staff and volunteers put into it. And to alot of us, nothing ever comes close to the rush we feel when we hear that first full hornline blast of the season.

I respect those of you who don't want to see this event. I respect your opinion of the corps involved. I just personally think this is a great event, and I am excited to have the opportunity to go and see this event. And if it exposes a few new people to the activity, that would be even better.

[Stu]

So it is up to people like us to not only go and support this theater event, but also to maybe introduce 1 or more people to the activity in a nice cool air-conditioned environment.

I hate to break this to all of you but while we fans are thrilled with watching the high quality marching activity, and we all want to support drum corps, most uninitiated actually view DCI like I view Olympic Badminton; I do not care if the contestants are the best in the world, I just flat have no interest at all in watching Badminton.

[nemesiscorps]

And we wonder why the activity is supposedly dying. A chance to see some drum corps in a theater at a lower cost than going to an actual show, no chance of getting rained on and probably less travel involved, and you guys aren't interested because they might be incomplete and dirty? Wow. Just . . . wow.

Though I understand your disappointment with the sentiment, there is a larger point for consideration.

Perhaps there are people that not only are unenthusiastic about drum corps in a theater (I, surprisingly, experienced it for the first time last year and absolutely loved it.), but they also resent the fact that several (if not most) of the featured corps have been known to come out with an incomplete product, and with no apology for doing so. It's my understanding that whereas this practice (incomplete shows) is discouraged for this new experiment, there are no guarantees. We all know and accept that everyone is dirty early season, so that's not really a factor here.

More importantly, some people are still at odds with the exclusion mentality of the whole thing. The irony being that it's being sold as the "best of the best," but early season realities dictate otherwise. It's not unreasonable for some people to view it as...

"Spend your money on us because we're better than everyone else, even though we've traditionally never cared enough to give you a complete product early season."

Elitist? Arrogance? Maybe, maybe not. I get it.

For strictly personal reasons (It's the first show of my son's age out year, I don't want to miss it.) I'll be catching it at the theater, though I originally had plans to attend the Texas shows live. Fuel costs (Wisconsin to Texas) these days put a damper on that one, so I'm thankful for the opportunity, and I'm letting all the rest of the controversy go. It's not worth the frustration.

[TubaJon]

I hate to break this to all of you but while we fans are thrilled with watching the high quality marching activity, and we all want to support drum corps, most uninitiated actually view DCI like I view Olympic Badminton; I do not care if the contestants are the best in the world, I just flat have no interest at all in watching Badminton.

And the uninitiated will only retain that attitude untill you show them otherwise. They can't become interested if they do not see it. The people who do like badminton didnt like it untill they were exposed to it.

[Stu]

And the uninitiated will only retain that attitude until you show them otherwise. They can't become interested if they do not see it. The people who do like badminton didn't like it until they were exposed to it.

Name one red blooded American, old enough to have cognitive thinking ability, that has never seen a marching music unit perform on a football field. These "uninitiated" people know what the marching activity is; and while "to us" marching band and drum corps is an equivocation, the difference between marching band and drum corps to most people is not distinguishable enough in their eyes to bring them any new-found interest in that type of marching entertainment.