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Cause and Effect?


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New ground is being broken now, for sure....but the crowd isn't going ape for it like they used to.

I wonder why that is. Naysayers would likely blame whatever changes they personally dislike, proponents of modern drum corps would maybe blame fans for being not as sophisticated or something. And both of those answers are likely wrong (or at least the answer more complicated).

Is it possible that between the gluttony of WGI units & the sophistication of the top BOA bands that DCI just isn't as different anymore, and thus has to do a lot MORE to get the crowd going nuts?

I honestly don't know, nor am I trying to stir up the nest. Genuinely wondering why the crowd doesn't go ape for stuff like they seemingly used to. I first got into drum corps in 1990, so I don't have any personal experience or reference in regards to what the scuttlebutt was like in the crowds during Garfield in the early 80's. I do know that a lot of people I was generally around in the early 90's maybe "appreciated" Star for the proficiency, but didn't seem to give it up (and a lot of people I knew or was around in 92 & 93 flat out disliked) Star. I think the 1993 show was maybe the most innovative show since I've been involved in drum corps, and I'm not sure any one show since has innovated design more than Star 1993 did. Maybe Cadets 83 kind of came from nowhere (really, that started with 82 though, I think). Maybe one could argue Cavaliers dynasty/Gaines era innovated visual design and thus got the love. Blue Devils seem innovative but in a more subtle way that kills on the sheets but maybe not-so-much from the stands? Maybe modern innovations are more subtle with more mainstream attention on the obvious addition of electronics: like the obvious change consumes the thoughts of the fans while the most subtle stuff gets missed.

IDK; fascinating thoughts/conjecture

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I wonder why that is. Naysayers would likely blame whatever changes they personally dislike, proponents of modern drum corps would maybe blame fans for being not as sophisticated or something. And both of those answers are likely wrong (or at least the answer more complicated).

Is it possible that between the gluttony of WGI units & the sophistication of the top BOA bands that DCI just isn't as different anymore, and thus has to do a lot MORE to get the crowd going nuts?

I honestly don't know, nor am I trying to stir up the nest. Genuinely wondering why the crowd doesn't go ape for stuff like they seemingly used to. I first got into drum corps in 1990, so I don't have any personal experience or reference in regards to what the scuttlebutt was like in the crowds during Garfield in the early 80's. I do know that a lot of people I was generally around in the early 90's maybe "appreciated" Star for the proficiency, but didn't seem to give it up (and a lot of people I knew or was around in 92 & 93 flat out disliked) Star. I think the 1993 show was maybe the most innovative show since I've been involved in drum corps, and I'm not sure any one show since has innovated design more than Star 1993 did. Maybe Cadets 83 kind of came from nowhere (really, that started with 82 though, I think). Maybe one could argue Cavaliers dynasty/Gaines era innovated visual design and thus got the love. Blue Devils seem innovative but in a more subtle way that kills on the sheets but maybe not-so-much from the stands? Maybe modern innovations are more subtle with more mainstream attention on the obvious addition of electronics: like the obvious change consumes the thoughts of the fans while the most subtle stuff gets missed.

IDK; fascinating thoughts/conjecture

Especially when you go waaaay back, some of the memories of crowd reactions are filtered through rose-colored glasses. Not 100%, of course, but they do tend to tint the memory.

if you look at some of the Haas videos, the reality of crowd reactions, even at a show like the 1971 World Open, which some have called one of the great shows of all time, at an iconic stadium, do not show the crowd "throwing babies", even for corps like the local favorite 27th Lancers, Blue Rock, Garfield, the Troopers, Anaheim, SCV, etc...

Yes, there is applause, and at the end of shows you see the crowd stand and give the corps a standing ovation, but it is no more frenetic than shows of today, from my viewing.

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I often wonder., when talking about the " purity " of drum corps or whats played, whats acceptable, what isnt, etc etc...............................WHO SAY'S .....I dont remember a rule book given out back in the day.....who made the almighty rule up what it is or isnt...and who says it has to stay the same to still stay drum corps........................and lets not hear because thats what it was ......so what!...doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me.....I personally dont have to like a particular change and maybe not even want to support the activity for whatever PERSONAL REASON but it doesnt mean Im writing the rules either............the " it AINT DRUM CORPS " is an old one and IMO not vaild statement...................................who says it aint drum corps?

Edited by GUARDLING
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loud is a chemical reaction in the brain...less of an emotional one

Uh, what?

Emotional reactions aren't also chemical reactions in the brain? I don't understand.

Edited by HockeyDad
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Uh, what?

Emotional reactions aren't also chemical reactions in the brain? I don't understand.

look it up....loud music cause a chemical reaction in the brain....its used to get reaction whether one wants to give it or not......its very interesting read how loud music effect the brain and how we THINK were reacting to one thing and its actually another.

I did a paper in college on brain reactions to outside stimuli .Kinda interesting, and what we think are emotional reactions are more chemical reaction to sound or sight..if I also remember correctly ( was a while ago could be wrong , I should look it up again BUT sound is a. delay . Sight , faster

Edited by GUARDLING
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I wonder why that is. Naysayers would likely blame whatever changes they personally dislike, proponents of modern drum corps would maybe blame fans for being not as sophisticated or something. And both of those answers are likely wrong (or at least the answer more complicated).

Is it possible that between the gluttony of WGI units & the sophistication of the top BOA bands that DCI just isn't as different anymore, and thus has to do a lot MORE to get the crowd going nuts?

I honestly don't know, nor am I trying to stir up the nest. Genuinely wondering why the crowd doesn't go ape for stuff like they seemingly used to. I first got into drum corps in 1990, so I don't have any personal experience or reference in regards to what the scuttlebutt was like in the crowds during Garfield in the early 80's. I do know that a lot of people I was generally around in the early 90's maybe "appreciated" Star for the proficiency, but didn't seem to give it up (and a lot of people I knew or was around in 92 & 93 flat out disliked) Star. I think the 1993 show was maybe the most innovative show since I've been involved in drum corps, and I'm not sure any one show since has innovated design more than Star 1993 did. Maybe Cadets 83 kind of came from nowhere (really, that started with 82 though, I think). Maybe one could argue Cavaliers dynasty/Gaines era innovated visual design and thus got the love. Blue Devils seem innovative but in a more subtle way that kills on the sheets but maybe not-so-much from the stands? Maybe modern innovations are more subtle with more mainstream attention on the obvious addition of electronics: like the obvious change consumes the thoughts of the fans while the most subtle stuff gets missed.

IDK; fascinating thoughts/conjecture

honestly.....i think it's because of the over-importance of intellectual effect being crammed into every nook and crany of shows, at the expense of emotional and aesthetic.Even at band shows, which always used to be a mirror of drum corps a few years prior, reactions were more than just mom and dad cheering and ringing the cowbells. I don't think the gluttony is the cause. i think it's the fact that everyone is trying so hard to be super deep intellectual.

i judge indoor for Tournament, and do the watches a lot for guards. I don't see people going nuts for guard shows the way they used to. sure, every god toss thats caught ( and even some that arent) get the obligatory applause, but even watching Onyx online was clapping by rote.

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Especially when you go waaaay back, some of the memories of crowd reactions are filtered through rose-colored glasses. Not 100%, of course, but they do tend to tint the memory.

if you look at some of the Haas videos, the reality of crowd reactions, even at a show like the 1971 World Open, which some have called one of the great shows of all time, at an iconic stadium, do not show the crowd "throwing babies", even for corps like the local favorite 27th Lancers, Blue Rock, Garfield, the Troopers, Anaheim, SCV, etc...

Yes, there is applause, and at the end of shows you see the crowd stand and give the corps a standing ovation, but it is no more frenetic than shows of today, from my viewing.

That's true, as well: about rose-colored glasses. I've heard recordings of DCI Finals with the crowd going nuts chanting "EAST EAST EAST," and I certainly wasn't personally around BITD to witness that stuff so maybe I am over-glorifying what I thought was a much bigger reaction.

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For the most part, the crowd reactions in some of those early years were much more intense. There were spontaneous standing Os more frequently, across more corps, including the smaller, earlier corps. I would just like to get MORE of that fervor back. It certainly makes it all more fun for audience and performer, in my mind. No one wants to scrap all what is different about today's shows, just package those shows a little differently.

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