cabalumnidrummer Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I guess the exhibition acts don't count anymore. Apparently, they count with the audiences, judging by the folks I've met this season. Just as much time, sweat and energy are expended by the exhibition corps, and our only feedback is crowd reaction and an occasional mention by a reviewer. Competing corps get both of these plus a score. Would it hurt to give the exhibition groups (mostly older alumni folks) a few words of review/critique/encouragement? Shows would be considerably shorter and provide far less value for the price of admission without them. Thank you to those reviewers who are kind enough to include all of the performing corps, competitive and exhibition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle B Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 Check out my Bridgeport review, I did talk about Cabs Alumni. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fecontra Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Check out my Bridgeport review, I did talk about Cabs Alumni. I think the poster was hoping you would review the show , not just competing corps. It is what it is , I was also a participant in the alumni portion of the Clifton show and accept that it is what it is. That being said I attended a DCA show several years back , and the competition included a corps undefeated for a few seasons , a corps taking a shot at them for the first time that year ( IMHO they have never recovered from that night ) , a host corps trying to get their swagger back , a corps with 18 horns ( 14 marched entire show ) and a corps with 8 horns that stopped at the 8 minute mark. Without the alumni corps , the question was I paid that much for a show with 5 corps? At any rate , we geezers appreciate the crowd response at shows and look forward for the next outing. fecontra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Many reviews stopped writing about alumni and exhibition corps because when they did, it was a lose-lose situation. I stopped writing about alumni corps after getting ripped for evaluating them like I did the competing corps. So folks still do (BigW for one), but most don't bother. Either way, it doesn't mean they don't count. But they are in exhibition. Enjoy it for what it's worth. yeah some of the biggest flak i have received was on alumni corps. I still cover them, but some people just gettoo ###### sensitive. Not too long ago I commented something about bridgemen's comedy bits not being funny, and man did the haterade come out 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I think the poster was hoping you would review the show , not just competing corps. It is what it is , I was also a participant in the alumni portion of the Clifton show and accept that it is what it is. That being said I attended a DCA show several years back , and the competition included a corps undefeated for a few seasons , a corps taking a shot at them for the first time that year ( IMHO they have never recovered from that night ) , a host corps trying to get their swagger back , a corps with 18 horns ( 14 marched entire show ) and a corps with 8 horns that stopped at the 8 minute mark. Without the alumni corps , the question was I paid that much for a show with 5 corps? At any rate , we geezers appreciate the crowd response at shows and look forward for the next outing. fecontra no disrespect to alumni corps members out there, as I am one...but....not everyone cares about them as passionately as some do. I mean I couldn't believe my eyes last year at Allentown seeing how many people got up and left as Bridgemen came on. Look at attendance for the Alumni Spectacular. It's not everyone's cup of tea. And, IMO, #####ing about on here actually doesn't endear alumni corps to people who haven't been checking it out. Like I said above, I always review them, but sometimes it's not worth the headache afterwards. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 no disrespect to alumni corps members out there, as I am one...but....not everyone cares about them as passionately as some do. I mean I couldn't believe my eyes last year at Allentown seeing how many people got up and left as Bridgemen came on. Look at attendance for the Alumni Spectacular. It's not everyone's cup of tea. And, IMO, #####ing about on here actually doesn't endear alumni corps to people who haven't been checking it out. Like I said above, I always review them, but sometimes it's not worth the headache afterwards. Jeff, you should be highly commended for reviewing the alumni corps. Every organization is so important to the activity. Kudos to you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Personally, one of the things I like about the reviews is that everyone brings their experiences to the table, and everyone is different. I do perform with Jeff with Westshore Alumni- and drive him crazy in the process, but we do agree- if you're part of the evening, scored or not, it's part of the event and there should be recognition. If some folks just want to cover the contest itself, that's how they run, and I also respect that. You need to write about what interests you and what you feel comfortable about writing. When Jeff mentioned what happened at DCI East/ aka "Eastern Classic", it doesn't surprise me. DCI seems to be in a quandry about Alumni organizations, and I've seen some comments out there from some DCI fans that are negative. Heck, even the way the G7 initiative document intimated Exhibition units were "Filler" was bad. I guess it's not "Filler" when they use a Cadets small ensemble playing "Candide" to cover the time at a DCI contest.... I know the Cadets have had Alumni performances but I think they're tied to making money for YEA!, IIRC. Then again, I see that pic of Mike Boo with the Cavies Alumni and that joyous smile on his face when he was performing, and you go from one extreme to another with DCI and what they seem to think. At least DCA and the DCA fans "get it". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Personally, one of the things I like about the reviews is that everyone brings their experiences to the table, and everyone is different. I do perform with Jeff with Westshore Alumni- and drive him crazy in the process, but we do agree- if you're part of the evening, scored or not, it's part of the event and there should be recognition. If some folks just want to cover the contest itself, that's how they run, and I also respect that. You need to write about what interests you and what you feel comfortable about writing. When Jeff mentioned what happened at DCI East/ aka "Eastern Classic", it doesn't surprise me. DCI seems to be in a quandry about Alumni organizations, and I've seen some comments out there from some DCI fans that are negative. Heck, even the way the G7 initiative document intimated Exhibition units were "Filler" was bad. I guess it's not "Filler" when they use a Cadets small ensemble playing "Candide" to cover the time at a DCI contest.... I know the Cadets have had Alumni performances but I think they're tied to making money for YEA!, IIRC. Then again, I see that pic of Mike Boo with the Cavies Alumni and that joyous smile on his face when he was performing, and you go from one extreme to another with DCI and what they seem to think. At least DCA and the DCA fans "get it". :satisfied:/> not all DCA fans do Dub ( and yes you drive me crazy LOL).......as DCA gets younger, the connection to alumni corps is going to wane. Sure you have the Cabs corps...the mutual love is awesome to see. But an overhwelming majority of the alumni corps out there no longer have a field corps, and the emotional investment isn't there with the younger generations. you and I know, with Westshore, we get teased a lot because...gasp...we play 80's and 90's stuff. I mean...My God.....that's new aged stuff :tongue:/> . Well really, because for us, it's the stuff we played in the few times we were really good! Look at the Alumni Spectacular if you go......the audience is old, and getting older. One year in Rochester, in my late 30's, I felt ###### young! Kids coming up through the ranks today have no ties to Reilly, Blessed Sac, etc.....hell I know people in our corps who were amazed Hanover used to have a field corps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 not all DCA fans do Dub ( and yes you drive me crazy LOL).......as DCA gets younger, the connection to alumni corps is going to wane. Sure you have the Cabs corps...the mutual love is awesome to see. But an overhwelming majority of the alumni corps out there no longer have a field corps, and the emotional investment isn't there with the younger generations. you and I know, with Westshore, we get teased a lot because...gasp...we play 80's and 90's stuff. I mean...My God.....that's new aged stuff :tongue:/>/> . Well really, because for us, it's the stuff we played in the few times we were really good! Look at the Alumni Spectacular if you go......the audience is old, and getting older. One year in Rochester, in my late 30's, I felt ###### young! Kids coming up through the ranks today have no ties to Reilly, Blessed Sac, etc.....hell I know people in our corps who were amazed Hanover used to have a field corps! True. There are few students of history. I guess I'm one of the weird ones that was always curious about the older stuff, even BITD. Neidiger had a pretty extensive collection of pre 1970 vinyl he'd break out and we'd listen to (even an old Pittsburgh Rockets show Jim Kirkwood was featured in), and Rook has/had a copy of the original Longshoremen taken off a 78. I really like listening to the older arrangements on Frank's podcast because there's stuff I can learn from those. I'm always learning from everything I can listen to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennTux Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 not all DCA fans do Dub ( and yes you drive me crazy LOL).......as DCA gets younger, the connection to alumni corps is going to wane. Sure you have the Cabs corps...the mutual love is awesome to see. But an overhwelming majority of the alumni corps out there no longer have a field corps, and the emotional investment isn't there with the younger generations. you and I know, with Westshore, we get teased a lot because...gasp...we play 80's and 90's stuff. I mean...My God.....that's new aged stuff /> . Well really, because for us, it's the stuff we played in the few times we were really good! Look at the Alumni Spectacular if you go......the audience is old, and getting older. One year in Rochester, in my late 30's, I felt ###### young! Kids coming up through the ranks today have no ties to Reilly, Blessed Sac, etc.....hell I know people in our corps who were amazed Hanover used to have a field corps! I guess we'll (Reilly) see how the "reviews" go after West Chester..... Reilly is doing the exhibition and they have a special finally tribute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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