TESB Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) Will the majority of fans know how to react if they find themselves absolutely enamored with a BD production? Nope. BD has had melodies and "real music" all along, they never haven't. It is seriously a matter of people who are inclined to dislike BD (newsflash: people have been hating blue devils since their first championship show and through the 80s, 90s, 00s, to now, yet people are now suddenly so eager to pine for those shows as if they loved BD all along) choosing not to hear it so that they can say 'they never play melodies'. 2012 had the satie melody and the apollo 13 melody throughout as well as the jazz piece from The Artist, 2011 was a freakin burt bacharach show, 2010 had Laura, incident in jazz, and La suerte melodies throughout AND it was a Kenton show so poo poo on those who claim shows like this lack a comprehensible concept or central theme. 2009 was full of melodies, I've got rhythm, rhapsody in blue just to name some of the Gershwin in that show, don't forget the happy days are here again and get happy tunes. 2008 had the sweeny todd them, the gordon goodwin take on the Bach invention, I will wait for you (!). Sure there are beeps and bops in places but that's certainly not what BD shows are exclusively, it's just something they do (and not even that often, people just hang on to those moments and allow it to drive their 'bd never does good things i like' narrative) and a lot of people happen to like it. This isn't hard people, none of the past five years shows' melodies were subdued, subtle, sparse, clouded, random, or confusing and that paragraph there is by no means exhaustive. 2013 probably won't be any different. Edited March 22, 2013 by TESB 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortAndFast Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 After half a decade of practice at collectively dissembling every jot and tittle of BD's shows and criticizing any departure from the norm or any of those definitions of what constitutes "entertaining" or "accessible" music and visual ....some fans will be reactive as a Pavlov dog when they see the Blue machine hit the field! I'm guessing BD would have to come out with such a swing toward tradition as to look positively pedestrian to change that vote. Then just about the time they are willing to accept that they like them (again)....they'll remember that BD has been Gold, Silver, Gold, Gold, Silver, Gold for that half decade and will suddenly recall their mission.....ABBD! It's just the lay of the land. I disagree. Plenty of people (including me) loved BD in the mid/late 90s when they were just as dominant. I'd love to love BD again. Maybe re:Rite will be the show that does it? Anyhow, if BD nails it this summer, nobody will have any massive cognitive dissonance around here. DCP hated Cadets when they kept talking through their shows. It loved Cadets again when they did West Side Story. See how that works? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 This is like asking If the Chicago Cubs win a World Series will their fans know how to react ? In both cases ( BD, and the Cubs ) wouldn't you love to find out ? As for the Cubs winning the World Series and me, having lived in and near Chicago my entire life...I'm not sure I would want to find out as I wouldn't want to attend that many funerals at once after all the heart attacks that would probably ensue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Nope. BD has had melodies and "real music" all along, they never haven't. It is seriously a matter of people who are inclined to dislike BD (newsflash: people have been hating blue devils since their first championship show and through the 80s, 90s, 00s, to now, yet people are now suddenly so eager to pine for those shows as if they loved BD all along) choosing not to hear it so that they can say 'they never play melodies'. 2012 had the satie melody and the apollo 13 melody throughout as well as the jazz piece from The Artist, 2011 was a freakin burt bacharach show, 2010 had Laura, incident in jazz, and La suerte melodies throughout AND it was a Kenton show so poo poo on those who claim shows like this lack a comprehensible concept or central theme. 2009 was full of melodies, I've got rhythm, rhapsody in blue just to name some of the Gershwin in that show, don't forget the happy days are here again and get happy tunes. 2008 had the sweeny todd them, the gordon goodwin take on the Bach invention, I will wait for you (!). Sure there are beeps and bops in places but that's certainly not what BD shows are exclusively, it's just something they do (and not even that often, people just hang on to those moments and allow it to drive their 'bd never does good things i like' narrative) and a lot of people happen to like it. This isn't hard people, none of the past five years shows' melodies were subdued, subtle, sparse, clouded, random, or confusing and that paragraph there is by no means exhaustive. 2013 probably won't be any different. sadly in many cases you're mistaken. I myself and many others on here were long time BD fans regardless of placement. They may have had SNIPPETS of melody, but minus 2011, rarely long fully fleshed melodic phrases that weren't a tease leading into the next blasto chord over layered with body moves underneath. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 People will still hate it, but secretly love it. They'll still be upset if BD wins, even if it is deserved. I've gotten some uncomfortable comments in the recent past when I admitted "Through a Glass...Darkly" and "Cafe Voltaire" each left me speechless, mesmerized, captivated, covered in goose bumps, and left me to pick up my jaw off the laptop on which I was blogging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normy diploome Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 (edited) But then again, Michael, truth be told, you are, beyond all the blustering and humor, a professional musician with advanced education...and not the "common" ticket-buying fan in the stands. Edited March 22, 2013 by normy diploome 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 And some folks just don't like modern jazz. It's a personal taste thing. My favorite BD show ever was 2000, only because I'm a fan of Bernard Hermann's music. The Apollo 13 theme last year was great, as was the Bacharach show, but 2010 and 2009 did nothing for me in a musical sense. Most of those melodies that were mentioned in those two shows were just quotes more than anything else, even though they are all great songs. Just wish there had been more of them. As with every year, I'll go to the first show with an open mind, and see what happens. If I don't like it, there will be enough other shows out there to keep me happy. if I like it, then I'll openly admit it on here. At least I'm honest about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 sadly in many cases you're mistaken. I myself and many others on here were long time BD fans regardless of placement. They may have had SNIPPETS of melody, but minus 2011, rarely long fully fleshed melodic phrases that weren't a tease leading into the next blasto chord over layered with body moves underneath. Jeff, I completely agree with TESB (no real news flash there)....but melody is in the ear of the beholder. I have to say this....gulp.....but this could be a generational thing. This is not the first time this has been proffered on here. Just look at TV, communications and entertainment today.....(for me) it borders on "frantic". Where a conversation subject might have lasted 2 or 3 minutes on an old sitcom, today they last mere seconds and then on to a new one or multiple simultaneously. It's like watching frickin' pin ball. These kids minds are so #### fast and easily bored that it must be muli-tasking (face to face conversations while texting) or they drift off looking for more to engage them. They're positively ravenous. So, I chose to watch many of BD's latest productions with that mindset and a free-form jazz open-mindedness and it worked perfectly. I didn't have to try hard at all. And when (as pointed out by TESB) those wonderful big musical moments happened (relative to the fast paced, rapidly morphing musical framework) to me they were huge and gorgeous. Absolute genius! All that probably sounds like too much work for you....in fact....I bet you think it should just touch your memory bones or not! And if it doesn't..........next! BTW, that's not a criticism.....but it's probably true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecoats88 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 But then again, Michael, truth be told, you are, beyond all the blustering and humor, a professional musician with advanced education...and not the "common" ticket-buying fan in the stands. I'm not a professional musician with advanced education, and I'm tone deaf and I felt the same way about both of those BD shows. If people would stop #####ing about what the show isn't and just watch it for what it is they would really be amazed at what that corps did those two years. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I'm not a professional musician with advanced education, and I'm tone deaf and I felt the same way about both of those BD shows. If people would stop #####ing about what the show isn't and just watch it for what it is they would really be amazed at what that corps did those two years. Bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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