Why Aren't Crowd Reactions Like They Used to be?

[perc2100]

Recording quality and mic placement may have something to do with...

Could it also have to do with stadium acoustics? I've never been to LOS, but I know that acoustic characteristics in stadiums can wildly differ. In some stadiums the field sits far from stands, and crowd noise gets sucked up to the room wile in others the stands are right on top of the field and crowd noise can sound deafening.

[Stu]

I think you are way underestimating the drum corps fan base when you say that "not many" of them ever heard of Spartacus until Phantom played it in 2008. You may have been correct when they played it in 1981, but not 2008.

Here is what I think: On the corpsreps website there is a quiz page where a person can answer 25 questions concerning the repertoires of the top 12 DCI corps since 1972. Many who engage in posting on DCP would possibly do well on those quizzes. Nevertheless, I think that most, yes most people who were 'sitting in the stands' at the 2012 DCI Finals would not be able to answer very many of the questions correctly (especially the questions from the 70's - 80's).

[Quad Aces]

Here is what I think: On the corpsreps website there is a quiz page where a person can answer 25 questions concerning the repertoires of the top 12 DCI corps since 1972. Many who engage in posting on DCP would possibly do well on those quizzes. Nevertheless, I think that most, yes most people who were 'sitting in the stands' at the 2012 DCI Finals would not be able to answer very many of the questions correctly (especially the questions from the 70's - 80's).

Yes, I know of that quiz (taken it several times myself). it's a pretty cool little aspect of that great site. However, I was only talking about Phantom's Spartacus shows, and not the entire decades of shows from the 70s and 80s. DCI's own website had a Field Pass podcast discussing the past/present versions of the Spartacus shows in 2008, so one needn't be alive in 1981 to know of that show and the music.

In order to not further derail this topic, perhaps we should agree to disagree here.

Edited December 7, 2012 by Quad Aces

[Captain88]

Back in the day there was no (youtube) internet. Today, people can't wait to see the shows get posted on youtube. Many fans see the shows before they go. Thus the diminished crowd reaction. In the day when people would go to shows it would be there first exposure to that years show.

[craiga]

I'm sorry, but I disagree with this entire premise. I go to 7 or 8 shows a year, and depending on the corps, the audience reactions are as great as ever. Granted, I tend to go mostly to shows in the Northeast, but I continue to find incredible crowd reactions throught the area....the East Coast Classic and CYO Nationals in Massachusetts and Allentown (both nights) spring to mind.

Yes, there are a handful of corps each year whose programming, whether weak or simply too esoteric, don't garner the baby-throwing response, but if anything, I think the last three years in particular have seen corps ratchet up their crowd response levels.

And, I'm not some clueless newbie...at 52 years old, I've seen ALOT of drum corps in my day....and I can find corps from every era that I have witnessed at both ends of the extreme.

At the same time, I have a couple Legacy dvds from the golden age of drum corps (late 70's/mid 80's) where the crowd is asleep during certain corps. Lest we forget, virtually noone even applauded Star of Indiana in 94 (some even booed) and I recall a couple mid-80's Suncoast shows where the audience was completely silent. Interestingly, these are examples of corps who have garnered great artistic respect with the passage of time.

Generalizations are just that.

[MikeN]

Lest we forget, virtually noone even applauded Star of Indiana in 94 (some even booed)

Well, basketball arenas could only hold half as many people as a HS stadium... (I kid, I kid...)

Mike

[HockeyDad]

Lest we forget, virtually noone even applauded Star of Indiana in 94 (some even booed) .

As they were inactive in 1994, I'm guessing you are correct. No one applauded them. But I don't think anyone booed them either.

[drumcorpsfever]

I think we've just become too darn anesthetized by too much doggone input! Sensory overload!!! In spite of that, I don't agree that crowd reaction was better in yesteryear. Design has a lot to do with it. Remember Color Pre's for example? Who wouldn't cheer for the flag presentations, Stars and Stripes, and concert renditions that were all part of the formula for drum corps-past. However, for today's fans, I believe, design is much more measured, deliberate, building, purposeful, and cerebral - sometimes to a fault. However when you come right down to it, a basic company front, in-your-face, blow-your-brains-out presentation will bring any of us on our feet.

To the corps designers - it never gets old to throw some babies! Don't overthink yourselves!!!

[jjeffeory]

I think crowd reactions are quite loud and instantaneous these days, as witnessed by the video snippets accompanying a project I recently completed.

I believe the perspective of our memories changes with time. I remember the snow being worse when I was a kid, the Christmas windows in downtown Chicago being better, the pop music artists being more distinctive from each other, and I'm pretty sure I was thinner and had thicker Dennis DeLucia-like hair.

It's possible that a greater use of on-field subtleties encourages audiences to get more intellectually involved in the shows and react with more "ooooos" and "ahhhhs" than sporadic yelling, but I still witness a lot of loud screaming from those around me.

In an age when kids have so many more distractions, I'm glad there are still some who are willing to give up their summers and much of the rest of their year to continue to give us indelible memories that elicit all sorts of reactions, enthusiastic and emotional.

Heh,

Just heard a story on the radio about winter snow being heavier in the past ( 10-30 years) than it has been in the last couple of years because of climate change, so maybe something things were actually "more" whatever in the past?

From my perspective of the few shows I now choose to go to, it DOES seem that the crowd reactions are different. Of course I'm not going to the same venues, and I live in a different region of the country than where I first attended shows. Maybe there's a cultural/regional thing going on... I kind of doubt it though... It is different than it used to be for sure.

[Triple Forte]

Of course, show design has changed as well. We've matured from a peak-peak-peak type show to one with many more valleys in there as well.

Also, don't minimize the effect of the shifting audience over the years. As the music has become more sophisticated and the typical marching member is much more now a trained specialist than ever before, these people (and their parents) with a lifetime of concert etiquette are now sitting in the stands. More highbrow, if you will. :smile:/>/> Trained audiences know when to clap, and can generally hold it in.

Corps bringing down the house still happen, of course, but I think we as fans know when we are supposed to clap, we know the shows will have moments where we aren't supposed to, and ... yeah, that stadium does kind of suck up sound.

Mike

I agree with a lot of this....but I don't like the mentions in this topic of stadium acoustics. Why? Because there are so many other venues that shows take place at during the course of a season. To compare a small handful of stadiums and say the results are one way or another is not a good overall indicator. I agree with others that many factors contribute to the lesser applause (arrangements and show theme/choices are different (tech heavy..not emotion heavy), fanbase...etc). As a fan...I can tell ya there is a different vibe sitting in stands during a dc show these days than there use to be. The 'buzz', excitement from corps to corps, performance to performance is less overall then I remember it from yesteryear. Its reality...period....no rose color glasses in my possession. Although certain seasons are more emotional than others. And some reactions vary greatly from show site to show site. For example 2008 was a highly charged finals crowd vs. 2009 and even 2010.

As the music has become more sophisticated and the typical marching member is much more now a trained specialist than ever before, these people (and their parents) with a lifetime of concert etiquette are now sitting in the stands. More highbrow, if you will.

This is really key....an unfortunate reality. Fan culture has changed....big time. A parent of a member asked me who I was supporting....and quickly looked at me like I was nuts when I said 'I just follow the corps...I do not know anyone who is participating...i am just a fan'. Another fan sitting in front of me turned around in their seat at finals in 2005 and went Shhh!!! to me when I made a comment to someone next to me that SCV's drumline feature was awesome !! Also...look at how many fewer fans go to watch the early performing corps on Thurs and Friday's during finals week...a huge difference in numbers compared to the past. The hardcorps fans are being replaced by....let's get to the stadium at 6:30pm...because that is when Steve is performing. :thumbdown:/> I also think a lot of longtime fans are opting to show up later so they can enjoy dinner in a posh restaurant vs. getting to the stadium when it opens and eat hotdogs for lunch and hamburgers for dinner.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Triple Forte