Another open letter to DCI.

[Mello Dude]

But then where would they get the dramatic, soap box, rhetoric spewing, grandstanding?

In gaming we have a term for that: Rage-quit.

So, would you two rather have another Huffington Post stroke fest board? Boring. Quite honestly, looking at post count at people that try and dismiss what these posters are telling you and why so few are trying to cut them down speaks volumes.

Guardling, this is precisely what I was talking about FYI.

[trionbd]

The main thing that bothers me is there are Friends of DCI (read: major financial supporters) that are on their way to the door because of design decisions and the evolution of the activity via WGI. I spoke with some of them just this past week. I think they are tired of seeing elements from an organization that had been so foreign and free-thinking in comparison to DCI for so many years encroach its ideals pretty much by brute force to the activity they all know and love.

In my opinion, we have seen nothing else across the history of the activity evolve more in such a short time than we have the free and open interpretive "art" that WGI has lended to our activity.

Good or bad, I will argue to my death bed that even amplification, electronics, Bb horns, and George Hopkins have not had as much of a profound impact as the above. The abstract staging "revelations" and "works of art" we see used as methods to max out the visual sheets in recent years has to be very concerning for those at the top of DCI. This is purely because it is bad for business, and DCI (as much as we like to think otherwise) is not in this for the education. They are in it to make money. The source of that money comes from putting butts in the seats, and from a multitude of donors.

I am personally bothered that often we no longer have right and wrong in shows, we have interpretive design that can reach perfect scores without any way to compare it to regimented routines and design aspects of the past. We have endless free motion that can't possibly be judged objectively.

Also, on any given night, we can see up to 5 WGI judges on the sheets at a major regional (we did once this year). This is a shame IMO, because a majority of the commentary comes from a color guard perspective that isn't properly evaluating the remaining 70-80% of the corps proper, when it's quite possible the rest of the corps is creating a visual environment that is infinitely more difficult and well executed than another corps above them. This seemless plague of cross caption commentary has further infiltrated its way into marching band circuits across the country as well, as we see more and more visual adjudicators from WGI looking for opportunities to round out their year of involving themselves in other areas of the marching arts activity. I've listened to tapes and spoken with many directors who share this same concern.

The Color Guard in drum corps has a purpose, and can also certainly be a GE evaluated facet just as music can. But when it becomes the entire focus of the visual product and shares such an insane chunk of points for the total score because you see 4 or 5 subcaptions being commented on for guard staging alone, it fails to evaluate the rest of the corps as it should. It is only when we see visual judges not involved in WGI adjudicating subcaptions such as visual proficiency where we get a clearer picture of the entire corps and the product on the field.

Remember when we used to have drill innovation that drew a crowd response? Michael Gaines, where are you?!? George Zingali likely rolled over in his grave a few times last night alone.

I can't remember any moments this year where the abstraction we saw utilized in the Blue Devils guard drew a crowd response of any sort. If this is the way the activity is heading, that's fine. Just don't expect paying customers to stick around for long.

I would further wager the largest portion of Friends of DCI donors are over the hill already and not looking back once they bail out. The younger generation isn't going to pull DCI out of the doldrums of debt once the dinos all die out. This is largely due to the declining numbers of participating corps and members. We don't have 300 drum corps anymore across the country. We've got 1/10th of that, and it is ever decreasing as the days and weeks roll on by. The sustainability of DCI is going to be dependent on paying customers and giving people a product they want to see, no matter how much the Blue Devils don't care about that.

Just my two cents for today.

I was about to write a response to this topic...until I read this. I couldn't have said it better.

[Catan]

These "open letter to DCI" reek of narcissism to me. Why post a rant on DCP before you leave the activity? If you don't enjoy it, just leave, don't stir up the pot here and give people more things to complain about. If you are really that concerned about the future of DCI, try to contact DCI or your favorite corps and explain it to them. Posters on DCP have no real power and represent a tiny minority of the DCI fan-base at large, so posts like these look like blatant attention-mongering to me.

As others have said, where were these threads last year? or 2008? Oh yeah that's right, the favorite corps didn't win this year, so fans feel compelled to complain about the direction of the activity on a public forum, bemoaning that corps don't "play to the audience." Puuhleeze, how about enjoying the blatantly "entertaining" corps more (like Surf) and quite whining about a few shows you don't like. Honestly, I am glad we have that kind of diversity in the activity, but I'll take flawless execution over cheese any day.

Guess what, lots of fans (myself included) actually ENJOY those darn "WGI-type" productions, ENJOY corps willing to take a chance instead of rehashing Malaguena for the umpteenth time, and APPRECIATE/ENJOY the level of execution that most corps bring to the field, regardless of show design. I loved Surf this year, don't get me wrong, but I can see the same thing from dozens of college marching bands during the fall. Halftime entertainment is for marching band; pushing the boundaries of marching music is for drum corps.

Congrats to corps like BD, BK, Cavies, and Academy for taking huge design risks this year and pushing the limits of drum corps; congrats to everyone else for bringing a product to the field and performing well.

[IMcomguy]

Congrats to corps like BD, BK, Cavies, and Academy for taking huge design risks this year and pushing the limits of drum corps;

[Fan of D.C.]

I will admit that deep down inside I was pulling for Crown and thought it was the most innovative production I have ever seen! With that said, I also loved BD this year and though the show was a bit strange at first viewing, I grew to love it more with every viewing. The Apollo was beautiful and stunning and woven in throughout the production masterfully. The BD performers presented sheer excellence throughout the production and deserved the win!

For me this activity is still about what these young people are able to accomplish, and this year was nothing short of amazing from one corps to the next for me. I have been watching Drum Corps for over 20 years and just like a prior poster in this thread my first exposure was the 1987 PBS broadcast, and I have been hooked ever since. :) Yes, there have been some bumpy years along the way that I have wondered whether or not I liked where the activity was heading, and the use of electronics took away the purity of what my perceptions of drum corps is/was. As the years have progressed with the use of electronics I think that most corps have struck a balance and are using them much better since their introduction and in allot of cases this year have enriched the production value of their shows with their utilization of them.

To the OP, I can relate to what you are saying and although I was not ready to walk away from the activity, I was angry, disgruntled and in complete dismay over BD's win in 2010. I hated that show and still do! It offended all my senses (yes, it left a bad taste in my mouth) and made me squirm through the entire production. However, as much as I hated to admit it, the performers were the best on the field and deserved it. I realize that as much as I wanted any other corps to beat it, I would not be willing to throw the members under the bus to have another corps win who did not execute at that level, and unfortunately there was not another corps in 2010 that presented the level of excellence BD displayed IMO. The corps themselves have had a hand in designing the criteria for which they be judged and performance, excellence and achievement of the performers is paramount to the sheets in every caption. Right? Perhaps the system could use some tweaking, but I do think the judges are doing their best to interpret them.

DCA is a different animal, and I marched a DCA corps for 4 years. I agree their is a mutual respect that exists between all the corps in DCA even with some heated rivalries, however I think DCI corps are the same in that respect. I was at the Pittsburgh show this year when Crossmen and Spirit were both playing for each other after the show.

In closing, what we value and call entertainment is going to be different for all of us. I love what I saw this year in DCI and enjoyed almost every corps. I have to chuckle when I hear people on here say that these corps are loosing their identities when in fact what I saw was corp after corps for the most part getting back in touch with it! Crossmen this year was a throw back to the Crossmen of years past, look where it got them. I can remember Blue Knights being weird in the late 80's and 90's can you? Well Phantom, need I say more. I could go on and on!

All the best,

LJ

Edited August 13, 2012 by Fan of D.C.

[Shadowtron]

DCI shows are far more entertaining than DCA, sorry. That's how Jeff Fiedler personally feels BD and Cadets? Interesting.

And you will argue to you death bed it's worse than amps? Dude, it's just marching band. Chill

[Kevin Powell]

You should ask the members of BD what they think about that.

How many of those BD folks marched another corps before marching BD? Many of those changed to BD to get a ring and they should be satisfied.

[Kevin Powell]

How about just leaving quietly?

Everyone wants to be a soloist at least once.

[MikeD]

Was there this much angst after The Cadets won in 2011? I'm guessing there wasn't. Which kind of undermines the argument that this has nothing to do with BD.

There was a lot of this "stuff" back in 2005 when the Cadets won, not so much in 2011.

[MikeD]

I don't know how many new fans were created this year, but I know there are at least two...myself and a young lady from Kansas that I met through BK's FB.

I'm a fan because, through my son, I've discovered a musical entertainment medium that I find just as enjoyable as a symphony orchestra performance, albeit for different reasons.

The young lady from Kansas traveled to Indy as part of her high school marching band to participate in the parade. She's a Freshman this year and she is determined to become a Blue Knight.

The two of us will take up the slack two of you quitters leave behind.

Cya.

OT to this thread, but BK had my favorite show of 2012. I especially loved the opening section where the horn line swooped around the field like a flock of birds to the music from the pit, and then the battery entrance...my favorite 2012 moment.