Another open letter to DCI.

[Kevin Powell]

Well that brings up an interesting thought for me. Are the designers under constant pressure to up the artistic/innovative game every year? Are they actually doing what they want to do or what they feel they need to do to put the numbers on the scoreboard?

Take BD out of this question, then ask it. I say that because BD tends to do what they want. Cadets used to.

I would saw they are all chasing an invisible innovation tail. Even back when I marched you would here it said "OH... That's Been Done." I always thought "Just do it better, it does not need to be made square if a round wheel works."

Now, that the music is no longer the main focus of the design, I am sure "It's been done" is said more and more often. When companies get larger, the departments of the company start going into silo's and there becomes division between departments. I think this is very apparent in today's drum corps. WGI has made visual very strong, and Indoor Percussion has strengthened Percussion. Maybe Brass needs a traveling winter circuit to compete with the year round egos of the other two. (or the other two need to realize that Corps is actually the one FULL ensemble)

The three are not blending like the once did. They are in those silos like the big companies. Not what the fix is.

[FlamMan]

Post of the year. Very well said. I know a lot of former drum corps members & nearly every single one of them feels the same way. They lost interest and don't attend shows anymore.

It is time to clean house at DCI & begin a new direction.

Dear DCI,

I spent the last 10 years of my life, religiously following drum corps, and had the opportunity to march for a couple (Blue Stars 2005, Minnesota Brass 2010). Over those 10 years there have been experiences that I’ll never give up, people who I’ll never forget, traditions and philosophies that I practiced in the military, and even now going through college. In my opinion, DCI has lost its roots to the history of Drum Corps.

In 2005 I auditioned for the Cavaliers, and the first thing that Jeff Fiedler said to us was “If you’re here to win, then you don’t belong here. Either go two thousand miles west, or a thousand miles east to do that.” These were words that as a rookie, I had no idea why anyone would not strive to win. Later on in the month, Chad Armbruster called me up, and said we have a spot open if you want it. Thinking that I’m planning on joining the military, this may be my only chance to join a corps, so I took it. For the first half of the season, I thought, “if I don’t join the military after this season, then I’m going to go back to the Cavaliers”; I even strived to get better at the Cavalier style of marching, for practice. It wasn’t till mid season, for our home show, that we added the Star of David to the drill, and premiered it for our alumni, and families. There wasn’t a single person in their seat when we hit that chart, people were crying, the crowd erupted, and cheered till they couldn’t talk anymore; even now, just recalling this instance brings a tear to my eye. When this happened I started to realize, that maybe it isn’t about the scores, maybe it’s not about me but that it’s really about being with the people around me, the alumni, those people we were performing for. From then on, it was all about those around me, not going back to the Cavaliers or a division one championship contender. Shortly after, I went to the doctor to find out that I had gotten bronchitis, which was really close to pneumonia; I refused to quit, even for a day to get better, I kept going no matter how bad it got. It even earned me the nickname ‘coughdrop’. After a lot of dead grass, even more sunburns, and finally getting to finals; when we were getting ready to march on to the field, I heard someone say “These guys deserve to win everything”, sitting there at the end of the show, watching possibly the longest standing ovation ever, and seeing people all around us crying as we marched off. During retreat, all I could think about, was Fielder was right; it’s not about winning, not about the scores, not even about us, it’s the fans, those people who go to one or as many live shows as possible, that without, we wouldn’t exists, I wouldn’t have gotten the experience, and made the friends that I have.

Now I’m not going to sit here and talk to you about G vs Bb’s, or amps, voiceovers, synths, or even an old school having only a 50 yard line with marching pit members. Because even with the changes along the way, the appeal to the audience has stayed there. From the 88 scouts playing Malaguena, to the 95 Cavaliers playing The Planets, to Phantom 89, 96, 03, 08, even now bringing back Nessun Dorma and making who knows how many people cry. I even enjoyed Jersey Surf’s ‘amped’ phone call “about packing enough underwear” while having “a good band show, with his drum corps”. Some corps still uphold the integrity of how important the audience is, and ignores the scores. Now I’m sure you already know one of the corps I’m referencing to, and before I talk about them, I just want to say that I respect the corps, and members, and all the hard work they have been through to put a show on the field. But when I was watching quarterfinals in the theaters, they announced the future corps coming up after intermission, and for each corps, people cheered, and it louder each time, until the Blue Devils. You could hear a pin drop, when they announced the Blue Devils, even when it came time for the performance. The focus was not there, no one cared at this point of time, why not? Why are the fans, the audience not interested? I guess the better question is, why are corps being rewarded for a technical show that takes all interest away from the fans? I don’t know one person that I’ve ever marched with, that would willingly stay in a corps to win a title, on the basis of losing the audience. I have a friend, who I served with in the Navy; he left the Cadets after 2005 when they did it, refused to march for them again. This activity is no longer about the audience, and I appreciate the corps who stick with it, but it seems that in order to win, the corps have to break their bonds with the fans.

As I said before, I only marched one year of junior corps, then I joined the military. I spent my age out year (season), on deployment off the coast of Somalia doing piracy operations. The only thing that kept me sane, was looking at the scores every night. Finally seeing a corps that deserved to win more than once, rise to the top, made the deployment that much more enjoyable. When I got out of the military, I joined Minnesota Brass; just remembering the kind of respect that they gave the Blue Stars in 2005, with loaning out their horns to us, and sharing the field during an encore. In Minnesota Brass, I saw even more respect between the corps, in 2011, when there was a marriage proposal with a couple of MBI members, the Govenaires stayed behind and played for them. Another instance was when the Buccaneers stayed off to the side, instead of marching off, to cheer on Minnesota Brass, for the championship run. They cheered for a corps that was potentially going to end their 6 year championship streak. The fans stayed behind to watch a cancelled encore, after retreat. I saw a corps member in a wheelchair, and they pushed her around the field to make sure she was involved in the show. In 2005, we were told to have respect for all corps, and it doesn’t matter if they were in front or behind you in standings. The fans have respect back in DCA, and they want to be there and cheer for everyone, especially since the shows are designed around them being entertained, in DCI, I think they’ve lost that respect.

With all things considered, I think I’m going to have to part ways with DCI, maybe temporarily, maybe permanent, depending on how things turn out in the future. I will always remember what my time in a junior corps taught me, the life values, or when they refused to teach me the definition of ‘easy’, ‘quitting’, and ‘failure’, and the new family that I made, and will never forget. I will stick with DCA, and will return to March again for Minnesota Brass, and will enjoy the comradery between the corps, members, and fans. I feel that DCA will never lose its history of playing for the audience and alumni, more than technicality.

Edited August 14, 2012 by FlamMan

[Kevin Powell]

Post of the year. Very well said. I know a lot of former drum corps members & nearly every single one of them feels the same way. They lost interest in don't attend shows anymore.

It is time to clean house at DCI & begin a new direction.

PROVE IT!!! I am kidding of course but I have had people say this to me. I also have those former member friends who just do not like the new shows.

Are we tired of it? I do not think so. It is different now. I never enjoyed indoor percussion or WGI for one reason - I enjoyed the entire ensemble. DCI now feels like it is watching 3 ensembles at one time.

[cixelsyd]

I think DCI isn't bold enough to call a spade a spade, and it bothers me that the judges are in lockstep on what is and is not good art.

This sentence caught my eye, as I was just realizing via my last post that innovation is in the eye of the beholder. With 50 different beholders among the DCI judges, they should not be in such close accord.

[Jeff Ream]

I hope you are right.

I never care who wins (unless it is my old corps, of course!). I usually like corps down the placement list from the top. I can still admire and understand how the placements were reached, but for me as a fan, it just does not matter to me.

Why? Their show was fun, for sure, but IMO it worked for them because of its uniqueness. If there were 5 or 6 shows like that, it would get REAL old. Plus, they had nothing to lose placement-wise, and lots to gain fan-wise in performing that show.

Oddly enough, at West Chester a couple about my age attending their first corps show EVER did not pick them as a corps they liked best.

No I wouldn't want 5/6 shows just like Surf's.

However I'dlike more shows that make me spontaneously get off my ###, andnot just because they are done performing,

There's a zillion ways to get there...but I don't see enough corps trying

[Jeff Ream]

How about just leaving quietly?

well, we've had lots of that. Doesn't seemed to have helped make any changes for the better has it?

How many more people need to just up and walk away and never say why til people realize there IS an issue?

[Jeff Ream]

In my opinion, it isn't really a fine line at all. I could care less if the crowd is entertained or not. Yes, keeping fans buying tickets is important, and I understand why people would be concerned at making sure paying fans still find the activity accessible. If every corps was doing shows like BD did this year, that would be a disaster (I loved BD's show this year, by the way). But I am not addressing the general trend of show design. I am addressing the attitude of "I am not entertained, therefore I am going to stop supporting DCI and the opportunity it is offering to young people." I find that very selfish, and I don't think it is a fine line at all.

If we want to talk about increasing the fan base, I would be happy to do that in another thread. I just think people need to think about what their priorities should be with respect to drum corps. Everyone can make their own decision, but for me ... while I find drum corps very entertaining ... I find the opportunity for growth and achievement that is offered to the participants far more important. That is why I plan to continue supporting the activity for a long time to come.

well maybe you don't care, but many people DO want to be entertained for the prices required to see drum corps today.

I don't like NASCAR, so I don't spend money to see it. Ditto for the opera.

So, should I spend money to see that which bores me?

Not that DCI totally bores me. But enough does anymore to make me wonder.

see DCI IS entertainment.

[wishbonecav]

Contra worked in '99 because it was...a contra.

It was, and always shall be....a contra.

And Cadets will always be Garfield (everyone knows who I mean when i say it, even here).

And may the Colts move back to Baltimore (or Canada) so I dont have to look at that goofy helmet in every Finals picture for the next 5 years.

it is still the "Contra Bass" voice of the ensemble - so contra works now in referring to the Tuba Section.

Edited August 13, 2012 by wishbonecav

[Kevin Powell]

No I wouldn't want 5/6 shows just like Surf's.

However I'dlike more shows that make me spontaneously get off my ###, andnot just because they are done performing,

There's a zillion ways to get there...but I don't see enough corps trying

THE WHOLE use to be entertainment. Like you said, 5/6 Surf, Bridgemen or VK shows would drive me nuts. The 70s. 80s and early 90s we did have that comic relief. We also got a little broadway, some serious jazz, a little southern jazz, some masterful classical, modern classics and so on. I also wanted to revisit those shows by listening to them (quite a bit) and watching them time and time again. I do enjoy watching these show now but I am not inclined to listen to them over and over. I might watch them 2 or three times but that is it.

I am not sure where or why there is this disconnect but it has occurred within the past 10 years. I would usually think it is just me, but my friends have the same issue. We use to love the shows, love to go to the shows, ramble about the good ole days and aww of the new shows. That luster is gone.

[CrunchyTenor]

Well, at least the OP spurred some serious discussion. I've got to give him that.

I'm a Dino. I've been enjoying, marching, teaching (DC and HS), directing and volunteering since 1970. I can't count the number of shows I've enjoyed in those 42 years. Yeah, there's also been a few along the way that I haven't cared for.

I'm not ready to walk away. Of course, there are a few things I'd change. Or eliminate. ( Heh!)

The bottom line is we're not all going to enjoy the same things, and it's a good thing there is such diversity in programming. The judging/scoring system is going to dictate to a certain extent. It's up to the staffs to determine how they interpret the criteria on the sheets, and it's up to the judges to respond, rank and rate. Our response, however, can and will be different based on our own criteria and personal likes and biases.

Glad I got to the theater since attending live was out of the question this summer, and thanks to DCI for showing the pre-theater prelims for free on the Fan Network.

Let's remember that we do have our personal opinions, and we aren't all going to like the same things. And that's OK. Just because you don't like a particular show doesn't make you evil, or a hater, or uneducated. It makes you human.

So, cut the OP some slack. He got us talking, right?

Garry in Vegas