fans sitting on their hands

[SACMellos2010]

It could be as simple as the majority of fans aren't moved enough to want to stand up and cheer. I think the kids in drum corps today do a phenomenal job in performing the product they are given and I feel it safe to say there is more talent in today's drum corps than in the past because of training as well as there are simply less drum corps to dilute the talent.

With that being said, and I am sure I will get lots of "positive crowd response" for this one, I don't feel the shows have the energy or grab people out of their seats programming. When looking back throughout all of drum corps history it was the music primarily that grabbed peoples attention and then the jump out of their seat moments was when you combined great music with a visual impact via a great drill move.

Today it seems to be about the visual and arts side versus the music and energy but as always just one person's opinion. I think it would be amazing to see what the kids in drum corps today could showcase with a music centered program with the visual demand they have put on them.

I was at a Crown rehearsal last year and can tell you the visual and physical demand is much greater for a sustained period than we ever experienced and we were considered a trend setter for demand.

[c.l.]

Obesity is on the rise, some people just can't stand up as easily as others...

Though I'm slightly kidding, the past two shows I've been to (2010) there were some people who just didn't give standing ovations and were quite hefty so it was certainly understandable given their condition.

[snowrider]

Combination of reasons. 1) you already said. You are in marching band land. Todays drum corps fan is not the same as it use to be nor are todays drum corps goes hand in hand. 2) Corps have to give me a reason to stand and cheer. Great horn lines of the past use to get the fans out of their seats throwing babies at them. I haven't been moved musically by a corps like that in quite some time with perhaps a couple of exceptions. Lastly, I stood and cheered for my daughters corps because it was my daughters corps at their home show.....I had people stare at me like i was a fish out of water, back in the day even the smallest of corps got great home corps receptions at their home shows. Times have changed, corps have changed, fans have changed....sad indeed.

NAILED IT....look at shows in the 70s\80s...many used to elicit a response from the crowd DURING the shows because they were exciting. The "art" factor has replaced the "excitement" factor for the most part and sometimes it isn't that exciting. Interesting maybe, but not always exciting or entertaining.

[snowrider]

Drum Corps audiences vary from show to show. Sometimes you get a conservative one. It depends on individual personalities. It's a great time when you have a live one. There are individuals who are willing to cheer but only if there is a "leader." It's organic. By the last corps, you pretty much know you're going to give up collectively. Oh. . .can't wait.

Well, it used to be organic until they added all the crappy electronics!!!

[jwillis35]

........I always wait until Ron White finishes his whole comedy routine to laugh; it's the polite thing to do.

Funny! But yes, in some situations, like comedy, this would be somewhat bad, but in music it is considered common practice when attending a recital, a chamber performance, a band/orchestra concert, choir concert, etc. In jazz people applaud after solos and after the tune.

Everyone is making some great points, and this is why I have always said that you can't judge a corps' performance and their ability to connect with the audience by FAN REACTION only. Fans in the stands have a thousand different personalities. This affects how they react to the show.

The biggest mistake you can make at a show is to bash a corps over lack of audience reaction, or better yet YOUR view that the show lacked reaction. You can only speak for yourself. Sure, we can all say "so and so got 2 ovations, this corps got 3" and draw some comparisons that way, but even that only tells part of the story.

I have seen shows were a corps had 1 or 2 really great sections in the show that warranted big applause, even a standing O from the audience, but the other 10 minutes of the show were not so thrilling, at least for me. Yet another show might have 10+ minutes of wonderful effect and musical development, but perhaps no super huge impact moment. Which would you rather see? I guess this is a personal-taste kind of thing, but I would rather see 10+ minutes of great effect and music than 1.5 minutes of brilliant and nothing more. So comparing standing Os and audience reaction in that sense can be deceiving.

[JGuy1288]

I think there are lots of reasons why people may not clap a lot for performances. I sat next to a kid at Giants Stadium in 2007 who didn't clap once until the last three corps came on. Until then he just complained about his seats being bad. I just clapped louder to make up for it. But anyway, there's location to think about. There's how close the field is to the stands, which actually makes a big difference. There's the temperature that can factor into it. Different crowds are made up of different kinds of people. A lot of the time people, especially people who are new to the activity, are only there to see one corps perform, and screw the rest because they've never heard of them. I don't really think it's that sad, I think it's the corps' job (and the staff/designer's too!) to make the audience like them.

[dmb4040]

On a slight tangent, I think I'm in a minority here, but I only clap at the end of a show. I know fans, especially at bigger events like Allentown & Finals love to cheer wildly for every big brass hit or every major guard toss, however I just hold my praise for the end, simply for the fact that I'm straining to hear the big brass hits over the crowd cheering. Don't get me wrong, at the end of the show, I show my appreciation of all of the hard working corps members by clapping enthusiastically, usually standing, just not during the show itself.

[WOOHOO]

I have found from a performer's perspective that certain regions of the country cheer more than others. The southeast and the west are pretty loud, more the west. The midwest and the northeast most definitely are quieter. I'm sure all regions appreciate the shows, but have different ways of showing it. I cared more about applause when I was performing, obviously. Now, I'm okay without all that to-do.

[CROSSMENCORPS30]

I really wanted to stay away from telling this story but when I noticed this thread open up, I couldn't resist.

Let me set it up like this:

DCI EAST...last year...upper deck...about 10 rows up, really nice seats. A long time friend had asked me if I wanted those seats, at face value, for my wife & I...it'd been YEARS since we went to Allentown & had great seats! We usually just get whatever seats are available that day & so forth...no big deal. I've been going to East since I was a little guy, my sister was in Crossmen from 79-82 & my entire family are huge drum corps fans so needless to say, we never miss; like most of you. Get a hotel for 2 nights, see friends you only get to see once a year & have a great time.

SO DCI EAST comes and I'm pumped, the crowd is pumped, my friends are pumped etc etc...what is better than Allentown!!!! Seriously!!!

We get to our seats. No problems. Everyone is being considerate. Now Madison had a great show last year & needless to say the crowd was jacked up to see Madison, & see Madison with a really great drum corps show, in Allentown! I have several friends that are former Scouts & this only adds to the excitement.

So Madison is lighting it up & towards the end of their show, like the last 20seconds, go figure, people start to give their standing ovation & start going nuts, the entire stadium it seemed, typical right? No news here, right?...I was one of those people. No problem right? No big deal right? Well, I felt someone grab my shirt from behind, dig their nails into my skin while grabbing, spin me around, get in my face, slowly, nose to nose almost & explain to me that "do you know that when you stand up, I can't see what's going on"????? Yes, this really happened at a drum corps show. Her hand is still gripping my shirt with the intensity of a million suns & yes, her finger nails were still digging deep...yes, this was a woman...

Now when this happened, I thought I was being spun around by a friend or something, couldn't believe this person had put me into this spot...I told her to remove her hands & she went on to taunt me like "oh, I'm sorry, am I hurting you".."oh, did I wrinkle your shirt"..."oh jeez, I'm really really sorry"...I thought my wife was gonna choke slam this chick...

I went on about how she had to be nuts & that there are kids on the field that need our applause etc etc...she didn't care & her poor husband didn't say more than "dear, please sit down...Jesus"...

I called security & they asked her if she did what she did & she denied it, but ofcourse their were a million witnesses that saw the whole thing & she was called out on it...security warned her.

During the next corps, she started whispering in my ear, no freaking lie, that I must be one of those 700 level Philadelphia Eagles fans & white trash people that get drunk (no, wasn't drinking) & ruin everyone's time!!! That was it, I got security back over & they threw her out...funny thing is, her husband stayed.

& this lady went on to tell me how many years she's been watching drum corps & how many years has she been coming to Allentown etc etc...who cares. Ruined my night. It's sad to admit that. Hope she gets the same seats this year...

Thanks for reading gang, this was my longest post ever...I'll conclude with this, no matter how boring a corps may be, no matter if someone is playing bass guitar in the pit, try to reward the members with applause...just don't ever stand up in front of this lady!!! I'm still shaking my head!!!!

Peace & go Crossmen!

[Plan9]

As I have pointed out in the past…and this season (IMO) bears it out… if there is a repeated (over multiple seasons) dominant corps in the mix and a consistent trend continuing…this is the condition that produces extreme reactions (in both directions) by the audience. Some would suggest that "it's the show stupid", and there is (admittedly) always a degree of hitting the sweet spot in design (or not) that gets the crowd pumped (or not). But IMO this is not the case in 2011. We simply have no villain to displace this year (except maybe the demons in the Cadets show ). The current leader that is dominant has not had a title in some time. The previously dominant corps is comfortably back (in some eyes), and all of the most recently non-dominant corps have great designs that can easily be seen as title winners. So (IMO)….any crowd response is (largely) not flavored with the sentiment that "they" (the crowd) need to influence the judges or send a signal to the dominant corps. The reactions so far this season are pure and (largely) non-emotional…..just good reaction to great performances.

In short, there are no Yankees this year…….yet!

NOTE: There is evidence of this from the past, but from last year (again IMO) there was a clear change in crowd response from BC to Cavies toward the end of the season. They wanted one of them to beat BD and when it was more obvious that it would be Cavies, you could feel the change from the stands. No real change to the shows or performance….just the sense that "we're going to push Cavies in front of BD like we did with PR". And again, this has nothing to do with the remarkable designs and performances of the above mentioned corps.