I don't love any of this year's shows

[2000Cadet]

You're absolutely right, but I love the roughness of June. Appeals to the old instructor/judge in me. Plus you think about it on the way home and imagine how they'll fix the issues.

And you look back early in the season to see how much corps have improved.

[TeamQuavers]

I think there are quite a few shows this year that I see a lot of potential for me to love by August. I haven't seen all the WC shows yet, but these ones stick out to me the most so far...

Carolina Crown

Phantom Regiment

Santa Clara Vanguard

Blue Knights (though I'm not crazy about the opening monologue)

Spirit of Atlanta

Academy

Mandarins

[DCImonkey]

I sort of feel this same way about DCP. I'm not overly excited about posting on here.....I guess because I have Netflix and can watch movies all night. I don't don't have to sit up and discuss drumcorps all the time. C'mon DCP.....don't lose a fan so early in the season

[soccerguy315]

I sort of feel this same way about DCP. I'm not overly excited about posting on here.....I guess because I have Netflix and can watch movies all night. I don't don't have to sit up and discuss drumcorps all the time. C'mon DCP.....don't lose a fan so early in the season :tongue:/>

Your signature made me laugh. Thanks.

[flammaster]

I love every show I have seen. Certain aspects I might dislike of some shows but I was very impressed with every single corps I have seen so far!

Then again I'm the guy who wears a BD jacket with an SCV shirt on a Boston Crusader hat and lots of other buttons on too.

I must look like a total bando geek at shows.

[CrunchyTenor]

You know what bugs me? The fact that the OP got three negatives for coming here in a corps-fan crisis, looking to us for help. Oh, the humanity!

So, no SoCal shows for me this year. It's a trek even from Las Vegas. Missed the theatre Monday because my little one wasn't feeling well. BUT, I'll be in DeKalb in July! Haven't been to a midwest show since 1984, and first show after early July since finals in Pasadena. AND, my lovely bride will be able to make it, too, and be able to reconnect with her beloved Regiment.

Garry in Vegas

[Tim K]

I'm not sure I will have an all-time favorite show this year, but if you have followed drum corps since you we're twelve and you celebrated your fiftieth birthday this past year, you have more seasons without an all-time favorite than with one. That being said, I think I will enjoy more shows this year than in the past because from what I saw at the theater Monday night and on the Fan Network does impress me and I see a great deal of potential. At heart I'm old school, and most of my favorite moments were before 1990, and there have been a few years I have thought my ticket money could have been used for something better, but what I have found helpful is following certain corps from the beginning and watching the show improve and finding a corps with a killer piece of music. This engages me and before long I have an appreciation of most of the competitors.

[flammaster]

My favorite one is the one my son is in but I really do like the top ones in WC!

[BRASSO]

Agreed...however there are some things seen or heard on tapes (brass overblowing, poor tone quality, intonation) that will only be exacerbated by seeing it live. I mean if it's apparent on the recording, you cannot miss it by being there.

There are several shows that I considered favorites when i was a kid that I can barely watch now because I can hear the "bad" now that I have experience and more education on what to listen for.

Everyone is different. I personally don't primarily look for the perfection levels of the musical performing artist... of any kind. I look for the level of the bareing of their soul and their communication skills that comes from the artist in their performance music. I'm not looking for technical things. Far from it. But thats just me.

For example, a performing musical artist by the name of Richie Havens died 2 months ago. He was 72. Because he was a high school drop out that joined a street gang, he became a self taught musician, and learned to play the guitar himself with help from other guitar players. He had enormously large hands so his guitar player took on an unconventional playing with fingering. It was highly unorthodox, probably considered sub par by most music teachers. His voice was average at best. So he would be considered technically weak in his skills I would suppose. But then he would go on stage and then start singing and playing and for a lot of people, including myself, it would not matter a wit what his technical skills were or what a music teacher somewhere might think of his technical skills. His musical communication skills with audiences took over, and none of the rest mattered at all for most in the audience. That said, I do understand that others are more technically demanding of their musicians, singers, composers, etc... and thats just fine too.

Edited June 26, 2013 by BRASSO

[NR_Ohiobando]

So, I'm sorry to be a stick in the mud, but I have a problem. I don't love any of this year's shows. I've watched what's available on the Fan Network and, frankly, I'm disappointed. Is there something wrong with me or something wrong with DCI?

The best show of the bunch is Phantom, but even that feels . . . different. With the exception of SCV, it seems like everyone is taking a turn toward Weird Town, where BD Is the mayor. This is a town where everyone must have obtrusive props and electronics of you're penalized. This is not to say the members aren't putting forth a great effort and executing well, but it's more a reflection of the designers and the "adults in the room." What in the world is happening?

The music selection/arrangement is perhaps the biggest disappointment for me. Sure, there are some great moments, but the overall entertainment value is suffering. I feel like I"m hearing and watching a modern dance ensemble rather than drum corps. I really, really help this is just a passing fad because, if not, I don't know how much longer I can stick around.

Please help.

/rant over.

Hey just letting you know you're not alone. I'm essentially DCI's demographic, but I am also incredibly unhappy with modern DCI shows. I still follow it on youtube clips, but there's no way you'd catch me in a live show nowadays.

For me it's mostly the cognitive dissonance regarding Design Presentation and Design Ambition. It's like having a friend who over-hypes a movie to the point where it doesn't match your expectations of what the movie was going to be like. It kinda hurts to experience, and in the end you feel like you wasted your time.

Right now in DCI I feel like there is an excess of ambition and claiming of "innovation" when in fact no one is doing anything of the sort. Ambition isn't even a bad thing; in fact it's a great thing. The problem is that the product doesn't match the advertisements (I'm looking at you Crown). It's why I still tend to follow DCI mostly for corps like Regiment/Boston/Madison/Blue Knights, they are usually pretty consistent about presentation and ambition. But even they can have missteps. (Madison has been guilty of this)