Crown Rehersal Thoughts, Among Other Things

[DrumManTx]

Just got back from watching Crown rehearse, will get to that in a minute. Have a few things to say to everyone on DCP first.

• We need to remember that shows are designed to be seen live, not in a video. There are SO many things you will not notice unless you see it live, as I came to once again realize today. See it live, then make your judgement.
  
• I think we more often than not forget that these groups are comprised of people doing something they absolutely love, with a staff behind them that does as well. Next time you're writing your trash comment (not directed at everyone), think about the fact that these young men and ladies, regardless of the show, are doing something absolutely incredible and greater than anything they themselves can do alone. You don't have to like the show, just be respectful in how you word your criticism.
  
• If you are a parent and your kid is doing this, you should be absolutely out of your mind proud of them. They are inspiring kids like me and reminded me today why I love this activity so much. It's a group of amazing people doing amazing things under amazing circumstances. Have some respect for that. I could care less what you all think about the activity, I wouldn't by a long shot say the activity is dying after today when it made me feel how it did.
  

On to the show. I'm not going to give away anything, you NEED to see this show live, there are things I didn't notice and never would have noticed if I didn't see this show live. Still taking this beast of a show in, so my comments will be brief:

Brass - The strongest section as expected. Some early season issues as expected, but that is a hell of a book. If you can't get past the vocals (which I'll get to) and throw some babies at some point in this show, you are pathetic. There are some moments that are going to be ABSOLUTELY incredible in August.

Guard - Not a guard expert by any means, but there are A LOT of tosses in this show. Work was very appealing, and liked the use of equipment.

Percussion - This show could not stand without the percussion this year. They are fantastic too, so many more features than last year in my opinion, and they are a lot better as well. I think they have a top 4 drumline.

The Vocals/Electronics - Questioned them in the videos, absolutely fell in love with them today. They are an integral part of the source material and this show. The number counting stuff is REALLY cool, especially in the drum feature. Ballad stuff is still growing on me, but I quite enjoyed it today.

Overall - If it is any easier than last year, it's not by much. The brass has some ABSOLUTELY incredible moments, and if they get clean, this is going to blow your freakin mind. The body work in the opener is some of the best body work I have EVER seen. The closer had my ears ringing. The ballad was gorgeous, and the drum feature was my favorite part of the show. That's all I'll give away, I can't count on two hands how many little things there are in this show you have to be there to see. In my opinion, with some tweaks, this could win. The talent is there, the show is there, it's just a question of if they can get as clean and effective as BD. They have some balls doing this show and what they're doing in it. In my opinion they found the perfect balance of innovation/out there type stuff and still being the Crown we've come to love over the last few years.

So that's all I have to say, thanks Crown for an incredible experience and making me feel all mushy inside and reminding me of how I felt back in June 2009 when I saw my first corps live. Crown has a special place for me now. Will definitely be giving the souvie booth a visit in San Antonio.

Some pics:

Edited June 19, 2013 by DrumManTx

[N.E. Brigand]

Nice comments. Regarding this point:

The Vocals/Electronics - Questioned them in the videos, absolutely fell in love with them today. They are an integral part of the source material and this show.

Do you think audience members who don't know the source material--i.e., almost everyone--will feel this way?

[DrumManTx]

Nice comments. Regarding this point:

Do you think audience members who don't know the source material--i.e., almost everyone--will feel this way?

This is something I think you honestly do have to do a little research on. Everything but the ballad fits in the show theme without former knowledge in my opinion, it's a sciency/mathy show, so those work regardless. The ballad is the part that will have some people scratching their heads, and I honestly wouldn't blame them, even though I might disagree with them.

So I guess that's half yes/half no.

Edited June 19, 2013 by DrumManTx

[DCImonkey]

Well the narration in the ballad is taken straight from Einstein on the Beach..... but then the ballad ITSELF is NOT from Einstein...it's from the Abyss, so I scratch my head at that moment too, but I'm usually too involved in listening to the ballad than wondering about trivial things

[DrumManTx]

Well the narration in the ballad is taken straight from Einstein on the Beach..... but then the ballad ITSELF is NOT from Einstein...it's from the Abyss, so I scratch my head at that moment too, but I'm usually too involved in listening to the ballad than wondering about trivial things

Yeah, regardless of what they do with this portion, someone's not gonna like it. I didn't have a problem with it, wasn't my favorite part of the show, but I didn't hate it by any means. The rest of the should more than make up for it if you didn't enjoy that part of it.

Edited June 19, 2013 by DrumManTx

[N.E. Brigand]

This is something I think you honestly do have to do a little research on. Everything but the ballad fits in the show theme without former knowledge in my opinion, it's a sciency/mathy show, so those work regardless. The ballad is the part that will have some people scratching their heads, and I honestly wouldn't blame them, even though I might disagree with them.

So I guess that's half yes/half no.

Thanks. I am of two minds on what should be expected of an audience. When J.R.R. Tolkien was, at his aunt's suggestion, compiling poems for the collection The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in 1962, he sent them to her for review, and she questioned whether words like "plenilune" and "argent" were too difficult, particularly for children. He replied at length, saying among much else of a possible younger audience that "As soon as you limit your vocabulary to what you suppose to be within their reach, you in fact simply cut off the gifted ones from the chance of extending it." So I believe that art or entertainment, including drum corps, should challenge audiences. A little. But most audience members, without whose ticket purchases there would be no drum corps, are going to see any show only once in a season. (And it is difficult to judge how much the audience is likely already to know. I was stunned last year by how many people seemed never to have heard of Dada before.) To tell that audience they have to do some research to appreciate the show will turn them off. The show has to be enjoyable enough in the first place that they want to do that research. I hope that's true of Crown this year.

[DrumManTx]

Thanks. I am of two minds on what should be expected of an audience. When J.R.R. Tolkien was, at his aunt's suggestion, compiling poems for the collection The Adventures of Tom Bombadil in 1962, he sent them to her for review, and she questioned whether words like "plenilune" and "argent" were too difficult, particularly for children. He replied at length, saying among much else of a possible younger audience that "As soon as you limit your vocabulary to what you suppose to be within their reach, you in fact simply cut off the gifted ones from the chance of extending it." So I believe that art or entertainment, including drum corps, should challenge audiences. A little. But most audience members, without whose ticket purchases there would be no drum corps, are going to see any show only once in a season. (And it is difficult to judge how much the audience is likely already to know. I was stunned last year by how many people seemed never to have heard of Dada before.) To tell that audience they have to do some research to appreciate the show will turn them off. The show has to be enjoyable enough in the first place that they want to do that research. I hope that's true of Crown this year.

I think that even if you don't do the research, this show is still VERY enjoyable. I should have said this, if you do a little research, it will make it that much better, you will notice a lot more than if you didn't have any knowledge, but not so much so that you can't enjoy it without researching the source material a bit.

[DCImonkey]

I think that's the key to great shows nowadays. They should be good enough musically and visually to stand on their own merit with one viewing....but they should also reveal things with each viewing and understanding of the theme to those that see the show numerous times. I think that's the only way to keep the die hard fans and judges engaged throughout a season.

[DrumManTx]

I think that's the key to great shows nowadays. They should be good enough musically and visually to stand on their own merit with one viewing....but they should also reveal things with each viewing and understanding of the theme to those that see the show numerous times. I think that's the only way to keep the die hard fans and judges engaged throughout a season.

Boom. That's what I was trying to say, and they are doing that in my opinion. I can't count on two hands how many things I don't think I'd ever notice in one viewing let alone a video on youtube. But at the same time, that show is an absolute blast regardless.

Edited June 19, 2013 by DrumManTx

[DCImonkey]

I call it the Shrek effect in program design. It has to have LAYERS ....like an onion :)