Blue Devils 2013

[Fran Haring]

Jingle Bells. LMAO! End of discussion,

Well... since you left us hanging with a comma at the end of your comments, it's obviously not the end of the discussion.

[jjeffeory]

Some might consider that poop art!

....or she's trying to tell us that BD is so good that she couldn't help herself!

[Stu]

I don't think anyone on DCP has to "justify" a show design that quite clearly dominated DCI last summer. I think Blue Devils staff & membership did a pretty good job of "justifying" the design by beating the snot out of everyone

If 'winning' is the most important thing, as opposed to getting more people in the stands each year, then you are correct; they did a very fine job.

[Stu]

Someone posted on here awhile back that the Blue Devils show designers set out to ( his word ) "offend " the audience last season and that the poster got a kick out of the fact that they po'd many in the crowd.

Please be accurate when referencing back to previous postings. 'Offend' was the word choice of an original Dada Artist who performed at Cabaret Voltaire. Here is the exact quote from the previous posting: "Dada ignored aesthetics and was intended to offend." - German Dada Artist Hans Richter who was at the beginning of the movement in Switzerland in 1919. All I did was use a little levity in agreeing that BD did just that.

[MikeD]

If 'winning' is the most important thing, as opposed to getting more people in the stands each year, then you are correct; they did a very fine job.

Yes, because people who never heard of drum corps just flocked to the shows to hear the Cadets do Christmas music in July and August...or Regiment perform Turandot...or Crown perform Copland...or Surf do Mangione.

[Stu]

Yes, because people who never heard of drum corps just flocked to the shows to hear the Cadets do Christmas music in July and August...or Regiment perform Turandot...or Crown perform Copland...or Surf do Mangione.

And at the rate we are going DCI will end up with just the number of people sitting in the audience at the original Cabaret Voltaire; which was about 14 (on a good night).

[fsubone]

Yes, because people who never heard of drum corps just flocked to the shows to hear the Cadets do Christmas music in July and August...or Regiment perform Turandot...or Crown perform Copland...or Surf do Mangione.

Try and experiment though. Show someone who has never heard of Drum Corps before videos from last year. You honestly think they'll gravitate more to BD doing Cabaret Voltaire, or Cadets doing Christmas music? Or Crown doing Copland? Or Surf doing Earth, Wind& Fire and Mangione?

[BRASSO]

Please be accurate when referencing back to previous postings. 'Offend' was the word choice of an original Dada Artist who performed at Cabaret Voltaire. Here is the exact quote from the previous posting: "Dada ignored aesthetics and was intended to offend." - German Dada Artist Hans Richter who was at the beginning of the movement in Switzerland in 1919. All I did was use a little levity in agreeing that BD did just that.

Ok... so you agree that BD set out to pay homage to a show that was intended to offend audiences. So... if audiences were offended by a show that was intended to offend, then whats you beef with audiences where many received the desired intent and reacted as intended ? The levity as I see in this discuusion comes into play when some people apparently get overly worked up by audiences proper and intended responses to a show meant by BD ( apparently from what you are telling us )that was meant to offend. If BD apparently does not care what the audiences think, then why the heck do you ?. I applaud the BD show for doing what it intended to do... win a title, while in the process offending audiences. I think this is funny. I'm actually on the same page as BD from last season in this respect, although I was not offended by it, I just did not care for it, thats all. I don't care what they think, nor they, me. If they don't care what audiences think, then whats the issue again, as I'm missing what your point is here. Why are you offended by an audience reaction to a show that was meant to offend at the maximum, and at the minimum, they apparently don't care what people in the audience might think ?

Edited May 29, 2013 by BRASSO

[Stu]

Ok... so you agree that BD set out to pay homage to a show that was intended to offend audiences. So... if audiences were offended by a show that was intended to offend, then whats you beef with audiences where many received the desired intent and reacted as intended ? The levity as I see in this discuusion comes into play when some people apparently get overly worked up by audiences proper and intended responses to a show meant by BD ( apparently from what you are telling us )that was meant to offend. If BD apparently does not care what the audiences think, then why the heck do you ?. I applaud the BD show for doing what it intended to do... win a title, while in the process offending audiences. I think this is funny. I'm actually on the same page as BD from last season in this respect, although I was not offended by it, I just did not care for it, thats all. I don't care what they think, nor they, me. If they don't care what audiences think, then whats the issue again, as I'm missing what your point is here. Why are you offended by an audience reaction to a show that was meant to offend at the maximum, and at the minimum, they apparently don't care what people in the audience might think ?

Wow; think about what you are supporting for a moment. The 'Art', if you can call it that, of Dada produced at Cabaret Voltaire was to offend; the Devils staff knew that and thus produced the desired audience effect; so they accomplished what they set out to do (which was to win evoking responses produced at Cabaret Voltaire). That means the 'Art' and 'Winning' mattered more, even if it ends up driving away the paying public, instead of focusing on the entertainment, enjoyment, and show experiences of bringing people into the stands to watch the shows. Nice Ivory Tower Thinking (which is fine if you want a few people intellectualizing about Art) but horrible thinking if you want to increase the fan involvement within the activity.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Stu

[MikeD]

Try and experiment though. Show someone who has never heard of Drum Corps before videos from last year. You honestly think they'll gravitate more to BD doing Cabaret Voltaire, or Cadets doing Christmas music? Or Crown doing Copland? Or Surf doing Earth, Wind& Fire and Mangione?

A small sample...I sat next to a husband and wife who were newbies at West Chester last summer. They were attending their first show ever. Their favorites were SCV and Crown, not The Cadets and Surf, which kind of surprised me. They were familiar with competitive MB, having put two kids through HS who marched in competitive bands.

A complete non-marching-familiar newbie? My guess is that they might not see all that much difference between Crown and BD, at least not the difference people "in the know" see. And yes, they might like The Cadets, unless they thought doing Christmas music in July was a silly thing to do. Surf? Depending on the age of the people, they might indeed like them best. If they were classical music fans, they might like Crown over Surf...and think Surf was silly. It all depends on the individual backgrounds of those you are thinking of as newbies.