KeithHall Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 I don't feel as excited about drum corps like I did. I am not marching anymore or teaching so that could be it. Maybe I will be back up in NY this summer for good and can catch a show or two (DCI or DCA) and maybe have a job up there. I miss it alot but do love to see old videos from the 1970's and 80's. Anyone else feel the same? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Thunder Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 No doubt about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsBusDriver Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 (edited) Sometimes I feel that way. In fact it almost looked like I wouldn't make it down to California for DCI West and I wasn't even upset that I would miss seeing my beloved SCV live along with all the rest. After 40 years of DC, I figured that I'd finally burned out. But, now that I'm definitely going, I'm beginning to get excited about it. And I know for a fact that when I hear the drums and horns warming up and I see the guard doing their thing, my heart rate will rise and I'll be into it once again. So hang in there Kiddo, it will all come back to you... Edited June 21, 2011 by MsBusDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonW Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I too have been wondering... I've been doing the downloads-of-the-week and building an audio collection, but find I listen to the 70's and 80's FAR more frequently than any of the 90-00's (although I am really diggin' all of 1990, especially SCV:Carmen & VK:Hollywood). I am greatly excited to be going to Cedarburg and Middleton (Madison) shows but, I'm also hesitant about what I'll see and hear. I went to that theater Tour Preview, and while there was still much to enjoy, there was also just as much to annoy (really, what is it with all the slutty goth/punk guards?). Arrg, I'm too young to be feeling this way (I'm only 50), hoping this year will generate a genuine competitive spark. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Priester Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I don't feel as excited about drum corps like I did. I am not marching anymore or teaching so that could be it. Maybe I will be back up in NY this summer for good and can catch a show or two (DCI or DCA) and maybe have a job up there. I miss it alot but do love to see old videos from the 1970's and 80's. Anyone else feel the same? It's not just you, Keith! I guess I miss the raw, kids-off-the-street, in your face drum corps. The kids today, if you can still call 19-22 year olds 'kids', are very polished musicians doing what they do very well. There just doesn't seem to be that 'edginess' to it and there doesn't seem to be as many of those 'goose-bump' moments that I loved BITD. I guess it's just a matter of taste. They are very good today, but it's just not my cup of tea. So you are not alone. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apoch003 Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It's not just you, or anyone else Keith. Drum corps has dramatically changed in the past two decades. Bb horns instead of G, three valves instead of two (or piston/rotor, piston/slide). Smaller bore. Amplified pits, and now amplified hornlines because they just aren't loud enough anymore. No more retreats. No guarding the colours. All the uniforms look the same. No one plays anything that you know, only what they've written that's "new!" and "moody" instead of toe tapping/dancing along/rockin'. Drum majors no longer have rank. Dancing on the field instead of precision colour guard.... Yet, the prices to go to events keeps going up while audience numbers keep going down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I don't feel as excited about drum corps like I did. I am not marching anymore or teaching so that could be it. Maybe I will be back up in NY this summer for good and can catch a show or two (DCI or DCA) and maybe have a job up there. I miss it alot but do love to see old videos from the 1970's and 80's. Anyone else feel the same? It's almost eerie Keith, that you posted this. I was pining away today wondering when the spark would come back. I saw the scores from last weekend's shows posted and almost chortled when I realized they looked like scores from back in the 'tic' days (forever now known as BITTD!) and a bit of the old ennui lifted. But that was only because I was remembering how it was and not thinking about how it is. I've said this before: I totally eschewed the activity from '73 until about '87. Maybe those were some of the halcyon days for some of you but I must say my Drum Corps DNA was completely re-energized by the verve and almost mystical presence of Star and their rise ... I believe they took the whole of DCI to a another level. We had a lot of that kind of raising the bar action during the late sixties early seventies. By that time, many of the corps from the west, mid-west and east had competed against each other and we all began testing the boundaries and each other and not 'playing it safe'. I think DCI during it's fledgling years only saw a couple of corps willing to take chances - so few, I don't even have to name them - and then nothing really hit the fan for a long time. To bad, I think, we did not have the technology available to bring back even more memories from those days now a half century gone. I agree with you Keith. Maybe they could do something for the fans, like bringing the championship show to Lynn or even Marion or host an Evening With the Corps at a cool venue like the Hollywood Bowl (bet the kids would like that!) But it's that kind of thinking that seems lost on those who run the show now and makes it difficult for us who are looking for some action that wows and amazes us ... OK ... ME! And please, folks. This is not a knock against today's Drum Corps, just the off the cuff ramblings of an old guy who remembers when Marilyn's skirt was blown up by the air rushing under her from a subway train ... and not blown up by a brick of semtex like they do today. And all you saw - ah never mind. Thanks, Keith! Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 I don't feel as excited about drum corps like I did. I am not marching anymore or teaching so that could be it. Maybe I will be back up in NY this summer for good and can catch a show or two (DCI or DCA) and maybe have a job up there. I miss it alot but do love to see old videos from the 1970's and 80's. Anyone else feel the same? I love the old videos for the nostalgia value, but for me I love modern drum corps. The musicality of the performers, the athleticism of the guard members...the creative visual designs and music arrangements...for me its never been better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 (edited) Got bored in the early 90s and walked away for a while (while = 10 years). But had a ton of other changes going on in my life so that had a lot to do with leaving and not really missing it. Not now as excited as I used to be and some of that has to do with other things going on in my life and some with the fact that most shows don't grab me like they used to. Finding myself more entertained by the smaller (Class A) and Mini corps as there is more variety between the corps. Guess wanting more variety is a hold over from my days in the "lesser" Senior circuits. Edited June 22, 2011 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottgordon Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 The shows are amazing achievements, but I find the musical arrangements less compelling than they used to be. So I find myself going to fewer shows. It's the music that drew me to corps in the first place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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