Tupac Posted February 22, 2014 Author Share Posted February 22, 2014 DCI East late 70's early 80's = fans bringing in coolers loaded with beer for prelims. DCI Eastern Classic now = I think if someone even tried to sneak a beer in and opened it, you may get a few dirty looks. Of course there are no prelims in the blistering sun anymore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 It is not possible to demonstrate, one way or the other, the demographic of early Allentown DCI crowds. No formal effort was made to do that, so any opinion would need to be just someone's impression. Here is my own. Sorry for the confusion Fred. I meant comparing 2013 demographics between newer shows and shows that have been run for a while. Not compare 1970s crowd to today at the Home of the Fighting Canaries. 1977 DCA at Allentown... are you sure..... kidding our first Finals in almost 10 years was that show.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) Man-- bringing up DCI East prelims... great memories. And what's interesting here is not what the corps did, or even how good or not good some of them were. I don't need to go there because the entire "get there early for a good seat and get crazy burned" was something I looked forward to every year. East prelims was a veritable buffet of Drum Corps of all kinds, a real arena of ideas. Things to experience and learn from. And also a great deal for the ticket for a guy like me. My first experience was my rookie season in corps, 1979 we went to it on the way to a DCA show that evening, and for a 16 year old kid it was great. Offensive Lions and Boston, exciting, different, fun, the big names were all there. So much to experience all at once. I'm gonna wax nostalgic for a reason now, and not to gripe that there are fewer numbers of corps, and not because shows are different now- but here's a short list of corps I saw over the years at prelims: Black Gold from Tulsa, Beatrix, Dutch Boy, the California Dons, the Longview Marauders, Masquerade, the NYC Lancers, Offensive Lions, Connexion Quebec, Greece Cadets, Watkins Glen Squires, Les Chatelaines, Les Eclipses, L'Insolite... all kinds of different ideas, things to listen and learn from coming at you from every direction. It was a real feast, man. Note none of those corps ever cracked the top 10 at finals, so what? They were out there trying their very best to do something cool and exciting and some of it was pretty daggone good and original. Now, you have to have your tickets bought immediately for when you go in advance or you end up on the 25 yard boonies. I gave up on that because frankly, I'm a bit tight on money at this time of the year. It is what it is. I went a few times, some fine performances, but I'm spoiled with where I sit at shows, I want the best seats, just me. Saw SCV Scherezade, PR's Faust show, some real fine moments when I went- don't get me wrong there about the whole battle over old and new. The crowds, appreciative, but very golf clappy. A lot less of that kind of crazy Woodstock feel with the bleachers sorta full but full in the sweet spot and would get fuller as the morning crawled on- those spots full of us hardcore drum corps bums wearing our T-shirts and caps full of badges that would stand on the bleachers and give it up huge when someone rocked it out. We were all like Zingali when he lost his mind when it got good. Not those little genteel claps and the polite smiles and the band contest reactions when its over like I see more and more of now. Heaven forbid you "Blooo!" the Blue Coats when they inspire. How dare anyone react and give it up, the band moms in the crowd find that just too over the top. Just my tuppence. Maybe it's not the "what" of what the corps do or not do that honks me off. Maybe it's just that somehow, those kind of experiences have diminished somehow for me in DCI. That sense of discovery, the sense of white hot cool, the sense that the crowd dug it, the corps knew and responded in kind. I don't think amplification is to blame for it. Frankly, I'm not sure WHAT is to blame. I wish I knew so i could give whatever or whoever it is royal heck. And yeah, the crowd could be tough. Like the time a certain troublemaker heckled a certain corps in '91 prelims that deserved it big time, but... that's another story. I think in that case, DCI took note.... Edited February 22, 2014 by BigW 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Black Gold from Tulsa, Beatrix, Dutch Boy, the California Dons, the Longview Marauders, Masquerade, the NYC Lancers, Offensive Lions, Connexion Quebec, Greece Cadets, Watkins Glen Squires, Les Chatelaines, Les Eclipses, L'Insolite... all kinds of different ideas, things to listen and learn from coming at you from every direction. It was a real feast, man. Note none of those corps ever cracked the top 10 at finals, so what? They were out there trying their very best to do something cool and exciting and some of it was pretty daggone good and original. In my limited mind...is this not what the activity is all about?? If I am the only, I don't care to say this...very well stated, BigW.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) Man-- bringing up DCI East prelims... great memories. . East prelims was a veritable buffet of Drum Corps of all kinds, a real arena of ideas. Things to experience and learn from. And also a great deal for the ticket for a guy like me. My first experience was my rookie season in corps, 1979 we went to it on the way to a DCA show that evening, and for a 16 year old kid it was great. Offensive Lions and Boston, exciting, different, fun, the big names were all there. So much to experience all at once. Speaking of Boston here, and Allentown( and with another thread on here resurrected about stories from the past ), Boston in DCI was so out of resources one year back in the 70's that they could no longer afford bus transportation, nor school gyms reservations to sleep, but the spirit and will to compete and put on a show at DCI East Allentown here that you brought had the members go in their own cars and drive the 7 hours to compete there one year. With no accommodations, they slept in the park beside the Allentown stadium under the stars, or in their cars. They didn't make the Finals there that particular year but that wasn't the point as they knew they wouldn't make Finals before they decided to even make the 14 hour round trip drive down to Allentown from Boston. Edited February 22, 2014 by BRASSO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 The thing I remember about '79 Boston was this, and we all remarked on it- heckuva 24 person horn line. Also, a nice rendition of Hank Levy's "Time for a Change". Yeah, some of us in the stands to pay attention to the little guys. I'd rather talk about that or about Offensive's rockin' 8 man bass line and their quints than talk about what warmups I saw in a field or lot. Just sayin'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I'm sure Ream was there. Jeff, you concur? i go to DCI East, but i'm rarely at a YEA sponsored show. Usually due to real life schedule conflicts ( or the many years of over priced tickets that were also marked the same seat number for someone else) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 A little 'trivia-like' information . . . . The first DCA Championship in Allentown was awarded in 1976, with the event held September, 1977. The first DCI-East in Allentown was determined in March, 1977 with the event held July, 1977. It is not possible to demonstrate, one way or the other, the demographic of early Allentown DCI crowds. No formal effort was made to do that, so any opinion would need to be just someone's impression. Here is my own. The very first DCI-East crowd demographic would not be a good representation of DCI's earlier years there. That event was a last-minute switch from someplace else and did not have the usual lead-up promotion. The second year there would be a better representation, however even that is not a pure indicator. The first Allentown DCA Championship, held two months after DCI-East, directly exposed a huge, new, mostly older audience to the facility. It can be assumed many were pleased with Allentown and began a habit of going to that city for BOTH DCI and DCA. I would think, beginning in 1978, the DCI crowd became 'older' than it was in 1977. Even a few DCA corps kept DCI-East weekend open so their membership could attend DCI-East. My unscientific observations of every Allentown event since that time leads me to say, Allentown is still DCI's oldest average crowd, as a percentage of total crowd. Unfortunately, the percentage of older spectators has dropped considerably over the years, mostly due to the aging process, and partly due to the changing nature of DCI performances. i'd agree with this, but I do see more and more young faces popping up every year. what's sad is I see MANY older faces that tailgate all weekend and never once go inside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 i'd agree with this, but I do see more and more young faces popping up every year. what's sad is I see MANY older faces that tailgate all weekend and never once go inside its the beer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 its the beer that may be part of it dude. but given drunk driving laws, I don't think people would drive there just to get smashed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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