BoyWonder1911 Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Drum Corps is a youth music activity - something old people can't get enough of. I'm sure there are plenty of attendees at every show that have never seen a drum corps show before, or at least don't follow the activity closely. Drum Corps fans aren't generally the young. After attending 30+ competitions this season, I'd have to say that probably 70% of all those in the crowd were over 35yo. I'd have to say that 15% were under 18 and the other 15% between 18 and 35. This is an average. Some shows there were a lot of older people, and some shows there were a lot of younger people. I don't see any problem in this. 90% of the shows I went to were at least 80% filled to capacity. As long as they're getting butts in the seats, who cares? There will always be those that wish to march, and will always be those who wish to attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Who cares what "looks" one gets from others in the stands... on anything at all. If my friends are at a show, we care about our friends and we look for them. As for others, we don't really care what they're looking at. If you want to bring kids, grandma, grandpa or anyone else to a show... just do it, and don't concern yourself with any nitwit busybodies. You'll never see the lookers again anyway, so who cares what they're looking at. Thats their problem. Don't make it yours. not making it MY problem - just commenting that folks act obviously frustrated when you show up with kids - crazy IMO considering it is a youth activity and the "kids" will hopefully march someday with the way people act you'd think it was an opera hall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 (edited) Drum Corps is a youth music activity - something old people can't get enough of. I'm sure there are plenty of attendees at every show that have never seen a drum corps show before, or at least don't follow the activity closely. Drum Corps fans aren't generally the young. After attending 30+ competitions this season, I'd have to say that probably 70% of all those in the crowd were over 35yo. I'd have to say that 15% were under 18 and the other 15% between 18 and 35. This is an average. Some shows there were a lot of older people, and some shows there were a lot of younger people. I don't see any problem in this. 90% of the shows I went to were at least 80% filled to capacity. As long as they're getting butts in the seats, who cares? There will always be those that wish to march, and will always be those who wish to attend. The problem long range is that the activity needs more younger fans to stay and follow the activity and support it with their attendance, finanacial support, and volunteerism. The old fans will die out. DCI will need to have the recent age outs still remain active in the activity at larger numbers than ever before. This is because there are fewer marchers today in DCI Drum Corps than in ( say) the 70's and 80's. So the DCI margin for error is much less. It is the youth of today that are currently marching or who recently aged out that will determine if this activity we all love remains strong and vibrant into the future. The old dinos won't determine its future fate. It lies in their hands of today's youth. They hold its future in their hands. They will need to pick up the lighted torch and run with it... or the torch light will ultimately become extinquished due to inattention and apathy. Its THEIR call. Edited August 16, 2011 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 OK, it was a great year. GO Cadets!! Very proud alum! I saw the show in Lawrence, MA, and BD, Cadets, Boston, and SCV were all great. Fantastic corps, one and all! As an alum, like I said, I'm very proud of the final results for the year. I can see how BD were so close, as back in early August when I saw them they were clean as all get out. The fact that Crown beat them in horns at finals means that Crown must've been PHENOMENAL because BD were incredible sounding when I saw them! OK, I digress- At the Lawrence MA show, it was well attended, I'm thinking 2000+ easy for attendance. It was Boston's show, so I'm sure someone has the actual attendance #'s somewhere. There may have been more. The crowd was enthusiastic, polite, and respectful. All corps were given their due as far as reactions. Here's my concern: There were almost NO young people. If there' were 2000+, there were 150 people below the age of 20. It was startling. The mean age was EASY 53 years old. I'm 43 myself. I was proud to attend. But I think there's a real issue here. Not one I've ever really thought about, but really struck me at the show. Now, I know, NE is not the hotbed of marching band it is in the other parts of the country, but that fact only reinforces my point: Where's the groups of young people? Those familiar groups of 4 or 5 at the shows cheering that are the real meat and bones of the activity? It was BAD. I'm happy to have gone to the show, but this is a youth activity. Where's the youth? What's happened to the craving to see the "pros" in the summer? Is the product so spread thin that the activity doesn't have the draw? It bothers me. It makes me nervous for the long-term viability of the activity. Please tell me that the shows are well attended in different parts of the country when it comes to young people! Any thoughts? Whenever I come to a new post about a provocative subject I am loath to wade in without reading other posts and get the lay of the land (as it were) and then tread lightly as to not hurt anyone's sensitive nature. But, see ... there's that one line. And I must respond before I forget why I have had more than concern over this youth activity for well over a quarter of a century. I'm old, and I will forget. In answer to your question: "Where's the youth?" Dude, there is no youth! Because it is no longer a youth activity. It stopped being so when there were no more young men and women under voting age competing at the very highest levels. It stopped being so when consenting adults starting marching. It stopped being so when everybody in a particular Drum Corps all came from the same particular town or city. It stopped being so when the marching members stopped spending nights in Holiday Inns and other (albeit cheap!) Motels during their tours. It stopped being so when it stopped being about the youth and became all about being the money. Cynical thoughts and probably some that sound all too old school and damningly familiar, but kids want to be kids! They want to have that "oh and ah" of driving into a town for a weekend show and see other Drum Corps they've never seen or heard of and compete against them. Yeah, yeah ... whoa is me. What is that word: Tangent. Sorry. Play through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetalTones2012 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 When I performed in DCI a couple of years ago, I noticed that about a lot of the New England shows too. Not that it was a bad thing (in fact those were some of the most enthusiastic audiences I've ever played for), but it was definitely noticeable. I think it's just a New England thing, everywhere else there's a wide variety of ages coming out to shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I'd like to share a few thoughts about this particular show, in no particular order.. First, someone mentioned that perhaps it is an aging facilty...it is not. Veterans Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, MA was completely renovated in 2007. It is an ultramodern, superclean facility with huge stands and a beautiful turf field surface. Liahona, I KNOW you can provide us with a pic..... While I don't have hard figures on the Aug 4th show attendance, my estimate would be SUBSTANTIALLY higher than 2000...in fact, I believe they sold out the reserve seats. The biggest reason for the "older" fans, is that there are thousands of drum corps alums in the Boston area...don't forget that in the early 80s, we had 5 World Class Corps and more than 25 Open Class (Div ii-iii) corps, and these folks are all still around. With regard to marching bands in New England (and this is an activity with which I am very involved), the predominant circuit around here is NESBA. I think there are a total of about 30 high schools bands who compete, but keep in mind that all but a half dozen or so have anywhere from 25-60 members. With a few notable exceptions, we do NOT have the huge bands like they do in FL and TX around here. I teach the largest band in Maine, (South Portland) and we top out at about 75 members. There is great outreach to these bands, particularly from BAC and the Spartans, and most competitive bands around here are taught by drum corps folks. The Spartans do a great job of having a very professional recruiting booth set up at all the major band shows, and BAC's "Mass Bay Music Festivals" for high school jazz ensembles during the spring have become a huge draw. I think the audience had a healthy mix (I actually had 6 of my band kids there). Conversely, when I go to a show like the early season Virgina (Arlington, maybe?) and see 800 high school kids and only a hundred or so "adults" in the audience, I get concerned about that..... The East Coast Classic was the best attended show in New England, and a great time was had by all. As a matter of fact, all three Massachusetts shows (Quincy, Lynn, Lawrence) had a welcomed vibe of "Drum Corps is alive and well" to them. I was looking for the "like" button all through this post. Just an addition to the highlighted paragraph. If you go back ten more years there were double that many world class drum corps in the Boston area. The Tri-State area of NY, NJ & Conn had dozens of championship caliber (We called them Class "A") competing corps. And there were literally thousands of smaller parade and Class "B" corps up and down the Eastern Seaboard from Canada to Delaware. Three of the best shows you could ever march in during my era were right in the Boston area and all during the same weekend. The alum and fans who attended those shows will always flock to a show that reminds them of the Good Old Days when you didn't know who was going to win but you always knew who was going to be in the top five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emc2 Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) I was looking for the "like" button all through this post. Just an addition to the highlighted paragraph. If you go back ten more years there were double that many world class drum corps in the Boston area. The Tri-State area of NY, NJ & Conn had dozens of championship caliber (We called them Class "A") competing corps. And there were literally thousands of smaller parade and Class "B" corps up and down the Eastern Seaboard from Canada to Delaware. Three of the best shows you could ever march in during my era were right in the Boston area and all during the same weekend. The alum and fans who attended those shows will always flock to a show that reminds them of the Good Old Days when you didn't know who was going to win but you always knew who was going to be in the top five. This is why Boston did the CYO show this year. Maybe we can call one of the toc shows TOC world open. Edited August 17, 2011 by emc2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 When I performed in DCI a couple of years ago, I noticed that about a lot of the New England shows too. Not that it was a bad thing (in fact those were some of the most enthusiastic audiences I've ever played for), but it was definitely noticeable. I think it's just a New England thing, everywhere else there's a wide variety of ages coming out to shows. When I came back to following corps a few years back, my wife and I went to a DCA show at Reading, PA. Exhibition corps were Jersey Surf (Elvis show) and Lehigh Valley. Later one of the Jr corps helpers or parents (forget which) said the appreciation and attention the crowd gave the corps were the best they had that season up to that point. Sitting in the crowd it appeared to be a typical Sr crowd and everyone was enjoying the Jrs shows (know we did). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) For those who attended all three contests in MA this year, was the ages of the audience similar to Lawrence? (Only one little line and I still have to edit it!!!) Edited August 17, 2011 by Ghost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) not making it MY problem - just commenting that folks act obviously frustrated when you show up with kids - crazy IMO considering it is a youth activity and the "kids" will hopefully march someday with the way people act you'd think it was an opera hall 'bring more kids next time. Make'em get even more frustrated. That said, I do like it when fans.. of any age... use the good common sense to shut their trap when Corps are in performance. Sometimes fans think that they are on the playground ( the young weezers ) or in a VFW dance hall ( the old geezers ) Some ( just a few ) just can't seem to learn to STFU when Corps are in performance. Edited August 17, 2011 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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