Which show moves you emotionally?

[sabrefan62]

The Buffalo Fan Network live feed moved me in various ways. I was excited to see the last TOC show. Then I was angry that it looked and sounded so terrible. Then it became comical to see how badly the camera crew was handling the extreme closeup maximum camera zoom shots. Anger returned when the audio became worse as the night went on. This turned into disgust as I recalled my entire 2013 Fan Network experience. Sadness set in as I thought about what else I could have purchased with $69. Finally, I let go of all emotion and apathy set in. I said "F___ it" and turned it off.

You mean you didn't like the closing shot of Crown's timpanist's crotch? Or the random 15 second shots of the back of the head of Crown's drum major (though I must say she did a great job putting her hair in a bun last night!), or the "let's go 100 yards across the field in less than a second on maximum zoom" shots? If you didn't like those, you must have liked the long zoomed in shots of the Cadets' front ensemble or the shots of the ground that were randomly shown throughout the night.

[FlamMan]

You mean you didn't like the closing shot of Crown's timpanist's crotch?

Speaking of crotches, why in the world are Drum Corps wearing pants that are so tight & thin that you can see the outline of their s h w a n t z?

I know the answer...

[fsubone]

Speaking of crotches, why in the world are Drum Corps wearing pants that are so tight & thin that you can see the outline of their s h w a n t z?

I know the answer...

Because the more form fitting pants along for more easy movement doing what the corps need to do. Not all of them show the bulge as much, that is an odd choice on Crown's part.

[Brian Tuma]

Mandarins - My grandfather took a huge risk coming to America at the age of 16, not knowing a soul. He didn't have the Chinese Exclusion Act working against him but he had to be resourceful and brave. Mandarins' show really portrays the immigrant experience as an exciting, risky adventure without being preachy. I get choked up imagining the risks people take to come to the States.

Oregon Crusaders - Someone mentioned the long title of the show. I think that title is genius. It really sets the tone and dispenses with the need for NARRATION. It moves me in a way similar to that of the 2010 Phantom Regiment. (I enjoy my drum corps deaths presented in a subtle manner.) You just get to sit back and enjoy the experiences that the couple portrayed in the show must have lived. The mournful wails from the brass soloist in the opener really hit the mark. There's so much in this show that moves me. At times it's joyous, sad, frivolous, irreverent, and solemn.

Colts - Field of Dreams. So happy to see the Colts being all wholesome.

Crown - The emotion in this show , for me, comes from thinking about how talented and hardworking those kids are. Crown is really putting out something special.

BD - Once again, their unsettling brass book is giving me the shivers - in a good way.

[bdlykdad]

For me, music is an emotional expression. It's the international language, meaning whatever language you speak when you hear a piece of music you hear the same thing, you don't need an interpretor...and IMHO a show that has the most impact on me is that which moves me, because the performers have effectively communicated that emotion into their performance. I also think that in today's world we don't credit that as much as we should. Music is simply notes on a page, the performers have to invest themselves in their performance, feel it and express it for it to be effective...to me, that has always been the essence of Drum Corps, and why I love it.

In my book this year, Carolina Crown does the best job of any corps of expressing power, tenderness and wonder in their show, and it moves me, I can relate to it, I feel it. Not discounting Blue Devils and their technical proficiency but their show does nothing for me except make me appreciate the difficulty of what they are doing. I get it, it's hard. But to me, that's not what music is intended for. It is to communicate feelings so you feel it with them, you are in suspended disbelief while you take the journey with them. Trooper/s show does that...I think we've gotten away from this very simple, yet very difficult mission...how can we move an audience> how can we pull them in and take them on a journey with us? I think SCV's show does that well too.

We over complicate things and focus on areas that the common fan will not appreciate. I'm not saying dumb it down at all, bc we all have a high sense of musical appreciation, what I am saying is pull a page out of CC's play book and design a show that accomplishes the objective of musicality...move me!

Whatever the results are on Saturday, THANK YOU Carolina Crown, Troopers and Santa Clara Vanguard, you are the essence of musical expression.

The whole judging thing has gotten away from the essence of why we are musicians...if I wanted zero emotion and technical greatness, I would have been a math major or software programmer. As a musician, what piece would you rather play...that's what I'm talking about.

But what moves you, might NOT move me emotionally .... and vice versa. And performers in many of the groups are investing their heart and soul into their performances. Some people really love opera or country music, and others prefer jazz or metal. It's not a cut and dry activity to adjudicate, and that's why I try to take things for what they're worth..... and that's people performing. My father played Dixieland every Sunday in Atlanta, and I used to LOVE going to hear him play. Then again, he played in the ATL symphony too, and while I enjoyed going, I would have rather been playing! My point being, people have different tastes and don't think it's as simple as saying some groups play technically proficient but with no emotion. I've heard GREAT groups play flat shows ..... and I've probably been in groups that did the same.

For me, I connect with SCV, BD, Crown, and Troopers ..... probably in that order. Spirit on a good night would be thrown in the mix too .....

[bobjective]

Madison, Troopers and SCV!!!!!

[Triple Forte]

For me, music is an emotional expression. It's the international language, meaning whatever language you speak when you hear a piece of music you hear the same thing, you don't need an interpretor...and IMHO a show that has the most impact on me is that which moves me, because the performers have effectively communicated that emotion into their performance. I also think that in today's world we don't credit that as much as we should. Music is simply notes on a page, the performers have to invest themselves in their performance, feel it and express it for it to be effective...to me, that has always been the essence of Drum Corps, and why I love it.

In my book this year, Carolina Crown does the best job of any corps of expressing power, tenderness and wonder in their show, and it moves me, I can relate to it, I feel it. Not discounting Blue Devils and their technical proficiency but their show does nothing for me except make me appreciate the difficulty of what they are doing. I get it, it's hard. But to me, that's not what music is intended for. It is to communicate feelings so you feel it with them, you are in suspended disbelief while you take the journey with them. Trooper/s show does that...I think we've gotten away from this very simple, yet very difficult mission...how can we move an audience> how can we pull them in and take them on a journey with us? I think SCV's show does that well too.

We over complicate things and focus on areas that the common fan will not appreciate. I'm not saying dumb it down at all, bc we all have a high sense of musical appreciation, what I am saying is pull a page out of CC's play book and design a show that accomplishes the objective of musicality...move me!

Whatever the results are on Saturday, THANK YOU Carolina Crown, Troopers and Santa Clara Vanguard, you are the essence of musical expression.

The whole judging thing has gotten away from the essence of why we are musicians...if I wanted zero emotion and technical greatness, I would have been a math major or software programmer. As a musician, what piece would you rather play...that's what I'm talking about.

Troopers!!!

The closer is magic....

[Brutus]

The Blue Devil's show is without narrative structure of any kind. The show almost antagonizes the audience and dares them to "figure it out". The performers face away from the audience throughout most of it, literally alienating them. The charge the horns do as they run down the corridor is away from the audience, not toward. It's a collection of playful, supercilious, abstract expressions and in-jokes between designers. It's exclusionary and self-indulgent, but meticulously performed. The show design apparently encompasses the evolution from invertebrate animals to humans who play jazz at the end, as the guard appears to be emulating the characters of animals, elephant tusks, and galloping horses at one point, but it's completely unclear what the progression is, or what the visual statement is they're trying to make. The various clusters of performers gather and disperse, ad nauseum, and the lack of through line is frustrating to watch, and alienating to experience. The ending park and blow, when the corps has evolved into human life form, looks desperate and out of place after ten and a half minutes of unflinching abstract posturing and crisp, modern circus like technique. It no make-o sense-o. Other big issues are why isn't there any improvisation in this jazz show, how does the animal choreography fit into the overall arc, why is the crowd so contemplative and silent during the show, and what in God's name do the white posts represent, and what have the same white posts represented in each of the last two seasons' differently themed shows?

The Carolina Crown show is clearly about humans finding meaning in their lives in the high tech age of space exploration. Crystal clear. The voice arrangement of the pulsing numeric chatter is both ridiculously absurd and haunting. For a corps to capture that emotional duality is unheard of. The material is fresh, funny and profound. The wide open chords are haunting and rich like the depths of space. The guard captures both the comedic robot-like jitter, and the balletic "How much do you love me?" passage so well, it's hard to believe they're the same performers. There's something for every level of sophistication in this show-- shaking knees, an e=mc2 spelled out, and an infinity symbol, and a spinning 3-d pyramid at the end. But it also asks the big questions about measuring love, "How much do you love me" and measuring the significance of life and love in vast cold space. Profound, breathtaking and moving to the core. When that drum major bows and clasps her hands together at the end of this moving show, she is thanking us for allowing her to share her message-- an utterly absurd opposition that I last experienced in the very first season of Cirque du Soleil when the performers bowed, and thanked the audience when it was they who had blown our minds. Such warmth in their universally human message. Same for Carolina Crown. Emotionally, it's almost too much to handle.

Edited August 7, 2013 by Brutus

[saxfreq1128]

In my book this year, Carolina Crown does the best job of any corps of expressing power, tenderness and wonder in their show, and it moves me, I can relate to it, I feel it. Not discounting Blue Devils and their technical proficiency but their show does nothing for me except make me appreciate the difficulty of what they are doing. I get it, it's hard.

You expected the tenderness and wonder of Crown's show to be matched by a show based on "Rite of Spring"...?

I guess I just don't think the comparison is particularly fair... It isn't really taking each show -- to say nothing of their source music -- on its own terms.

And at the end of the day, what's the endpoint of this line of thinking? If our expectation is "emotions" = "feeling good," and a corps is dealing with source material clearly meant to make us feel the opposite of good -- which is still a feeling -- are we saying a corps shouldn't use that music? Or that they shouldn't use it unless they resolve it emotionally? Sounds lame, to me.

[saxfreq1128]

The Carolina Crown show is clearly about humans finding meaning in their lives in the high tech age of space exploration. Crystal clear.

I see what you mean, but I don't think "high tech age of space exploration" is accurate... I don't think their show is that specific.

I think Carolina's show ultimately just fleshes out a bunch of puns on the theme of "relativity." That's where the formula comes in, and the wormholes, and the love story. In fact, I think I'd even like the show more if they called it "Theory of Relativity." That would have made a lot more sense, to me.