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Shaun Canon Performance


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Something about the self-promotion of this seems wrong/strange. Shaun Canon is very aware of the comments. So? What is the purpose of that statement? He is a great guy with a huge heart. OK.... so are the parents of just about each and every current and past marching member. And I would be willing to bet that a whole lot of them have given of themselves for the betterment of dci, whether that be their time, talent and/or treasure. And they didn't have surrogates coming on here talking about how great they are. You want to know who the greatest advocates and influencers of youth in the arts are? Their parents. The ones who, when all their peers are quitting band, make their kids stick it out, knowing that the reward will come later, when their kids thank them for "making them" stay in band. Does this ring true to any of you?

Maybe Shaun Canon IS a great guy with a huge heart - I don't know him. I'll assume he is! But I'm not impressed with his public relations people - you come off as arrogant and defensive.

Yes. I'm sure the first thought that came into his mind when he was trying to decide how to promote his music was "Hey. Let's go to a drum corps competition and play a pop song for a bunch of people that don't love pop music." He is either incredible stupid (and doesn't have very good promoters), or he isn't doing this for "self-promotion".

Can we think about some of the crap we say before we say it?

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Do you honestly think he played at finals in order to sell more of his own records? Give me a break!

Do you honestly think that wasn't a part of it? Seriously?

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Well...most of these comments here are pretty ridiculous.

I got up at 4am the day of semi finals to drive 10 of my students up to participate in this band on my last free day before I started school. I passed up a free ticket to sit in a suite for semi finals so 9 of my students could experience drum corps for the first time. The 10th student was my daughter who has seen a lot of drum corps.

During class today I asked all of my students if they had enjoyed their drum corps weekend, and they all said yes. This rarely happens in middle school. They all wore Madison Scouts, Phantom Regiment, and Carolina Crown gear to the first day of school. Most of their parents, brothers and sisters came to watch them, most of who were seeing drum corps for the first time. My school superintendent came to experience drum corps as well and loved it. There were 265 students in the INPact Band, most of who brought their parents, brothers, sisters, grandma, and grandpa. I would estimate that because of the INPact band, there were 700-800 more people at finals that would have not gone before and had never seen drum corps before.

Shaun Canon is a very good singer. If you think otherwise, then I really question your knowledge of music. How many artists do you know that actively promote music education, give money to music education, and make video consisting of high school marching bands, music programs, and drum corps. Personally I don't know of any to ever do anything like this. After our rehearsal Shaun stayed for quite a long time signing autographs for any kid in the band that wanted one. He told the students how he had played clarinet in his high school marching band and encourage them to stay in music. Yet, the comments posted in this thread are "kind of a bust", "the guy can't even really sing", "awkward", "downright awful". Gee, I bet every singer across the country was lined up at DCI Headquarters on Monday to sign up to sing for free at Drum Corps International World Finals next year.

The funniest comments posted were that it was silly to talk about supporting music education at a place where everyone is for music education. Really? Where might I ask should music education be promoted then? Maybe in a prison to death row inmates? As a music educator I think supporting music education needs to be promoted everywhere.

In 1985 as a college freshman I begged my parents to let me audition for the Star of Indiana. My Dad said no. I needed to work in the summer to make money for college. Drum corps was just me wanting to get out of working all summer. That summer I drug my Dad to see a drum corps show in Bloomington, IN After that show I begged him just to let me march one year, and he agreed. I have never been the same person since. I bet there were a lot of people that were up in the stands on Saturday that were just like my Dad.

For those of you that did not see the performance by Shaun Canon and the INPact band, here it is.

Great post. Thanks for your inside perspective. Sure there were some performance issues with the balance, but on the whole this was a positive thing for our mostly invisible activity and certainly a great moment for those middle school kids. Just think about what they got to experience that evening - not only the opportunity to play with a celebrity but to watch the top 12 drum corps in the world. I'm glad Shaun has found our little activity and hope that he continues his enthusiastic crusade for music education.

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Yes. I'm sure the first thought that came into his mind when he was trying to decide how to promote his music was "Hey. Let's go to a drum corps competition and play a pop song for a bunch of people that don't love pop music." He is either incredible stupid (and doesn't have very good promoters), or he isn't doing this for "self-promotion".

Can we think about some of the crap we say before we say it?

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were the only one entitled to state an opinion. :thumbdown:

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Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were the only one entitled to state an opinion. :thumbdown:

Where did I say you couldn't express your opinion? You are obviously free to say whatever stupid thing you want to say all day long.

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While I appreciate what Shaun Canon was/is attempting to do - it was a shame that we couldn't hear the band kids. I was waiting for them to start and then finally noticed the drummer's hands going and cymbals crashing - then realized they were already playing. I may have actually heard a cymbal once - but I don't recall any other sounds from the kids (was in the 300 section - 45 yard line).

I suppose there was no time to do a sound check before the program.

To preface, I wasn't at finals and didn't view the clip. I did see the music video posted at the beginning of the season and thought it was cheesy but there are pop stars selling millions of recordings I could say the same about. If it brought people into the activity, it's worthwhile.

Of course it's self-promotional. People that have won American Idol have faded into obscurity, let alone people who were eliminated early in the competition. He got to perform in front of, maybe, 10K people (let's assume the crowd wasn't all seated/paying attention.) Maybe a few percent of those present Googled him or downloaded his stuff, so he derives a benefit. To the extent that his participation also benefits our activity by getting more kids involved, he deserves whatever benefit he received.

It might have been intentional to block out the sound from the kids so you'd only hear Shaun. It could have been a mixing or miking error as well. You'll never know and it's mostly beside the point. The kids got out on the field and I'm sure that was a thrill for them. They didn't seem to know or care if they were heard; they got some free swag, bought some more, and enjoyed their participation. What more could you ask?

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So, all of you here that thought this performance was so terrible...How many of you boo'ed Star of Indiana in 1993 and then applauded them in 2010? ...maybe you are just slow learners :)

So in 17 years I am going to see a video of this performance and fall in love with it?

This comment hardly relates to this thread.

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To preface, I wasn't at finals and didn't view the clip. I did see the music video posted at the beginning of the season and thought it was cheesy but there are pop stars selling millions of recordings I could say the same about. If it brought people into the activity, it's worthwhile.

Of course it's self-promotional. People that have won American Idol have faded into obscurity, let alone people who were eliminated early in the competition. He got to perform in front of, maybe, 10K people (let's assume the crowd wasn't all seated/paying attention.) Maybe a few percent of those present Googled him or downloaded his stuff, so he derives a benefit. To the extent that his participation also benefits our activity by getting more kids involved, he deserves whatever benefit he received.

It might have been intentional to block out the sound from the kids so you'd only hear Shaun. It could have been a mixing or miking error as well. You'll never know and it's mostly beside the point. The kids got out on the field and I'm sure that was a thrill for them. They didn't seem to know or care if they were heard; they got some free swag, bought some more, and enjoyed their participation. What more could you ask?

Yep - that right there.

I know we're all knowledgable about drum corps, but maybe it would be a good thing to put down the tic sheet once in a while and just enjoy what Shaun was trying to do - promote our activity to kids. I think the only thing we should really be saying about this is "Thank You".

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