Death of Corps

[JimF-LowBari]

Besides, you are way too late. Drum corps died in 1971. Before DCI ever started. They made tee shirts and everything.

Might explain why I was told "that ain't Drum Corps" in 1975. Reason was the marching "#### tink tink" bells.

[N.E. Brigand]

After the Cavaliers performed "Frameworks" --the highest rated show of all time (tied with the other show I will mention)-- I was sure that DCI was on the upswing.

Upswing from what? SCV's "Inventions for a New Millennium", one of the greatest shows ever, was just three years earlier. In the interim there had been such classics as Cadets' "We Are the Future" and "Juxtaperformance", Blue Devils' "Methods of Madness", and SCV's "New Era Metropolis". (I expect others might name Cavaliers' "Niagra Falls" or SCV's "Age of Reverence", as well.) And that's just looking at the highest-scoring shows; there were gems in the lower placements as well.(Colts' "Voices" in 1999, as hostrauser has repeatedly noted, is probably the best 12th-place show ever.) For myself, I think the music of "Frameworks" is pretty dull, and haven't listened to it on CD in some years. I agree that it's a visual masterpiece, and beautifully executed. But rather than this show (or "Four Corners", which I enjoy even less), I'd much rather watch, or hear, a third-place Cavaliers show, "Classical Innovations" (1999 again -- it was a good year), or what I consider to be the peak of total design for the Cavaliers, "Spin City", in 2003 (the only totally original corps score to approach the loveliness of Suncoast Sound's "Florida Suite", though it's totally different in style) and "007" in 2004.

In the mid 2000's George Hopkins became the bad-guy of DCI. The year before I marched, he proposed numerous rule changes that drove DCI closer to being BOA, and that scared people. So, he became the bogey man. However, in '05 the Cadets tied the highest scoring show of all time with "The Zone" -- my favorite drum corps show of all time, and the only Cadets show I ever liked. And it only became possible through those same numerous rule changes.

This was the peak of DCI in my eyes. And at the time, I was hoping this was just the beginning. I thought new rule changes would happen every year and through this, DCI would become more accessible to those WITHOUT marching band backgrounds.

I'm confused. By your account, the rules made DCI more like scholastic marching bands, and further rule changes (what did you have in mind, by the way?) apparently would make DCI more like other activities familiar to people outside the activity. Why would anyone want DCI's copy of something else? And in what sense would DCI "push the envelope", as you go on to demand, by changing to become more like something else?

But how much weight should we grant to the opinions of someone who's liked no Cadets show except "The Zone"? I actually enjoy much of that show, although not particularly the aspects that were enabled by amplification. (That's what you're referring to, right? The "drum-speak", which is OK as a one-off stunt but isn't as crisp as it should be. The "Bjork-speak", which is mystifying if you haven't seen the relevant clip from Dancer in the Dark -- and once you have, you realize how badly it's done. Perhaps the opening narration, but that's lazily enunciated. And the whistling, which is well done, but as an effect, I prefer the Cavaliers whistling in 2004. All made possible by one change, not "numerous" changes, to the rules.) But, score notwithstanding, if there aren't at least another dozen Cadets shows you enjoy, I begin to wonder if you really enjoy drum corps at all. Just in the past ten years, "Angels and Demons" and "Our Favorite Things" were first rate (many people would add "West Side Story: Celebration and Conflict" to that list, but like most 2009 shows and more than a few from 2010-12, I find the overused bass synth very annoying), "12.25" was highly enjoyable and "Toy Souldier" nearly every bit as much so, if you just don't look at Li'l Geoffrey. "Living with he Past" is certainly not unpleasant. The three recent Cadets shows that have the most detractors, from 2006-2008, come in for criticism primarily because of effects generated as per the rule changes you praise! And I haven't even listed all the great Cadets' shows from the 1990's and 1980's.

At the beginning it seemed like I was right: 2006 brings "Machine" from the Cavaliers. They took a few things from the previous year and incorporated them. Brilliant show.

2007/08/09/10/11 brings? nothing ... 2012 brings? A winner who only plays dissonant chords and fast runs, but no melody whatsoever. And a second place that dresses in cream in order to make the color combination, with the green field, look more like vomit.

There was another rule change that took effect in 2009 that has certainly affected shows: electronics, i.e. synthesized sound. I would say that was a change for the worse, but your earlier comments would lead one to expect you to praise that for making drum corps less unique, thus more familiar to the non-specialist. Were it not for the flaws introduced by this change, I'd probably rank at least "The Grass Is Always Greener", "Ballet for Martha", "A Second Chance", "Into the Light", and "XtraordinarY" as modern masterpieces, and I esteem another half-dozen shows each of those years even when I wince at the synths.

Moreover, as others have mentioned, you overlooked what may be the single most popular drum corps show ever, "Spartacus", in a year that also featured a second masterpiece in "Constantly Risking Absurdity", the Cavaliers' best visual design in "Samurai", a supreme crowd-pleaser in "Finis", and two very strong second-tier performances in "3hree" and "Le Tour". Not to mention an unforgettable brass feature in "The Knockout"!

"Frameworks" came when I had never seen DCI before. It imprinted on me as what DCI is.

This may be the key section of your post. The first DCI show I ever saw was in 1989. These were the scores:

1 Cadets of Bergen County (93.8)

2 Madison Scouts (91.2)

3 Bluecoats (88.2)

4 Freelancers (85.9)

5 Boston Crusaders (79.6)

6 Florida Wave (78.1)

7 L'Insolite (71.7)

So what "imprinted" on me as defining DCI is Bluecoats' lush "My Funny Valentine", Scouts' enormous "Make His Praise Glorious", and the whole audience at Byers Field erupting together in a cheer at one moment in Cadets' "Les Miserables". But it obviously hasn't kept me from enjoying much of what followed, for more than 20 years, and once my tastes matured a little, I found that I could enjoy a lot of earlier drum corps as well, even when the drill was symmetrical and the pit was minimal or non-existent. (Similarly, although the first movie I ever saw was a special effects extravaganza in 1977, I grew to be able to enjoy vastly different films, and my three favorites now are a) from 1955-1962, b) in black and white, c) with no special effects, and d) in foreign languages with subtitles. But my love of Pather Panchali, A Man Escaped, and Yojimbo (not to mention some, gasp, silent films) doesn't keep me from still enjoying Star Wars! (Or to pick the top-grossing and Oscar-winning films of 2010, for a more up-to-date perspective, Toy Story 3 and The King's Speech.)

Without the amazement that comes from shows like that, DCI will lose interest with everyone. It will be too boring. [...]

And finally, high school marching band members will lose interest and stop auditioning, because BOA is more exciting.

From what I've seen of BOA shows, I have difficulty believing this. Discussing "dark" shows recently, someone praised this year's Broken Arrow show, which placed second in BOA finals, so I looked it up on youtube. Though it's not wholly without interest, I was mostly bored. Maybe I'd feel differently if I saw it live? (I haven't seen the winning show, by Carmel, but I came upon video of a pair of 2012 shows on the Ohio Music Education Association circuit, by Grove City and Lakota West, that if less technologically advanced, showy, or even technically proficient, were much more enjoyable than Broken Arrow. It makes me wonder about the discrepancy in achievement I've noticed between the few bands that compete in both circuits is as much a matter of style as of quality.) This is more exciting than drum corps? (It's not of surpassing excellence: change the rules to allow woodwinds, and I would be shocked to see any scholastic marching band placing as high as 15th. That would be impressive, sure, but hardly a vanguard of the activity.) Anyway, most schools don't compete in BOA, so most marching band members aren't participating there anyway.

P.P.S. [...] I'm only talking about the artistic qualities of the shows themselves.)

However, you are doing so in only the vaguest way. You don't say specifically what you like about "Frameworks" or "The Zone", beyond some "New! Shiny!" hand-waving.

[drumcorpsfever]

After the Cavaliers performed "Frameworks" - the highest rated show of all time (tied with the other show I will mention), I was sure that DCI was on the upswing.

2007 brings? nothing

2008 brings? nothing

2009 brings? nothing

2010 brings? nothing

2011 brings? nothing

2012 brings? A winner who only plays dissonant chords and fast runs, but no melody whatsoever. And a second place that dresses in cream in order to make the color combination, with the green field, look more like vomit.

Nothing since 2007??? You're kidding, right??? "Vomit"? C'mon!!!

I've had about enough negativity one can stand for awhile. Although I won't be providing a complimentary pair of rose-colored glasses anytime soon, but can we slow the backlash on the activity for a bit? DCP is becoming a repository for moaning subject matter. Take a look at the recent rash of topics similar to this one. For goodness sake, the production on the field continues to provide entertainment excellence. And enough about BD's 2012 show! Okay, so some folks didn't like it. There's enough "likes" to go around.

It's the dawn of a new year with endless possibilities for performers and corps alike. I'll put my money on the kids and professionals of the activity.

[N.E. Brigand]

If "fast" didn't matter, I don't think Chopin's rags would ever be any fun to listen to.

Hate to be "that guy", but that rag ["Maple Leaf Rag"] is actually Scott Joplin.

Joplin, Chop-(l)in, what's the difference?

What's really funny is that Scott Joplin famously noted on his compositions:

"Do not play this piece fast. It is never right to play Ragtime fast."

Edited November 21, 2012 by N.E. Brigand

[Michael Boo]

Nothing since 2007??? You're kidding, right??? "Vomit"? C'mon!!!

I've had about enough negativity one can stand for awhile. Although I won't be providing a complimentary pair of rose-colored glasses anytime soon, but can we slow the backlash on the activity for a bit? DCP is becoming a repository for moaning subject matter. Take a look at the recent rash of topics similar to this one. For goodness sake, the production on the field continues to provide entertainment excellence. And enough about BD's 2012 show! Okay, so some folks didn't like it. There's enough "likes" to go around.

It's the dawn of a new year with endless possibilities for performers and corps alike. I'll put my money on the kids and professionals of the activity.

[contraBand]

A follow-up to my earlier suggestion about Spartacus- I wasn't actually kidding. Spartacus was the first show I ever saw (on video), I was in eighth grade and had little understanding of marching band, and zero knowledge of what drum corps was. In spite of that, the name "Phantom Regiment" stuck in my head through 2010, when I saw my first ever live drum corps show in Pasco, WA; and through my first two seasons of actually marching in 2011 and 2012- which were two of the best summers of my life.

That video is the reason that I am flying to Illinois in two days to audition for what became my dream corps.

So please, don't tell me that no show since 2006 has made an impression. Don't tell me that drum corps isn't accessible to people with no marching backgrounds. And definitely don't tell me that nothing of value was to be found in the last few years of shows. Because you, sir or ma'am, would be blatantly wrong.

[elmhurstmusiced]

After reading this thread, this is what I feel is the intent, correct me if I am wrong:

1. We hate the Blue Devils because they're good and other corps just can't keep up with their originality so it must not be exciting which means its not good considering thousands of fans still love(d) them

2. The Cavaliers aren't exciting now that their music actually isn't a bunch of whole notes with quarter note melodies like in 2000-2002 and since they haven't won in a while, they're not exciting anymore

3. George Hopkins is the devil

4. All these changes are ruining DCI even though changes are the reason drum corps turned into DCI in 1972 but because I only like a certain time period now sucks

5. Excitement is gone in DCI even though the Madison Scouts had the sort of reaction at the end of 2012 that they did in the 90's(oh, and I marched in the 90's so I can say that based on REAL experience, not an observation.

Happy Thanksgiving. Keep complaining.

[drumcorpsfever]

I was concerned I would be entering the Thanksgiving holiday with the burden of having something for which to be thankful when your gift of Debbie Downer depression fell from the sky like manna from heaven. Now I'm going to have to re-read my liner notes for all those years to try to figure out how I somehow pulled a Seinfeld by writing glowingly about nothing. (Must have been hopped up on the after-effects of stadium popcorn fumes.)

As for 2012, learning that Satie's "Gymnopedies" has no melody and Crown visually looked like the after-effects of my intestinal disgorge has given me something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, which is the realization that I mercifully was not blessed with the same worldview that enlightens your take on the activity.

Only a masochist would return to be inundated with even more ennui after getting absolutely nothing out of drum corps for five years in a row. I guess I've got to admire your fortitude.

'Tis the season to be jolly officially starts in several hours. I hope you're not expecting Santa to fill your stocking with coal, because I think he's more environmentally conscious now and has replaced that good old standby with carbon offset credits.

No matter how bleak things look, I would never slit my wrists, so I think I'll do the next best thing and eat a bucket of worms.

Cheers!

Boo!

[Michael Boo]

yeah, I forgot about spartacus... I'll admit that, but just because PR is always the exception, not the rule.

However, BD is NOT a good corps. Fast, Loud, and Dissonant is not important at all in music. And crap drill on top does not add up to good. I'm also disappointed that during 07-12 they've won so many times without being good or having really any serious competition. (Excluding the years they lost obviously, however "Between Angels and Demons" was not very good.)

Well, I guess that finally proves that I know nothing about drum corps, unless you meant it wasn't very good because it was spectacularly excellent. I wonder if my joy spasms during the corps' finale in Indy last year might have just been due to gas. "It's an okay painting, Leonardo; but get rid of that stupid smile."

[charlie1223]

I love the TWIST in this DCI DEATH Post...

Usually we're worried that if they continue to push the envelope they will die but here its argued that pushing the envelope is required to survive. Yes, very interesting! LOL!