Parades, good or bad?

[HornTeacher]

Are you asking whether the loss of a few hours of practice time in exchange for a few hours of its' contributions toward Civic celebration of the most revered Day of National Pride and Observance in our country is justifiable? Well....

If a given Corps' raison d'etre is to win DCI championships...then I guess not.

If a given Corps is imbued with the philosophy that we are all, first, foremost, and above all else (and before brass/percussion playing or guard membership individuals) Americans...then I suppose it does have not only its' benefits -- but its' responsibilities as well.

Edited July 5, 2014 by HornTeacher

[skevinp]

I think it is good for exposure, though some guard uniforms may not be appropriate for sensitive adults, impressionable children or small animals.

[Slingerland]

I noticed a lot of the corps do parades but some don't. I know its a nice public relations thing to do and they get paid but it kills a few practice days (July 4-5). I know Cadets had 2 yesterday and one today and a show tonight so no or minimal practice time, is it worth it?

You can make more money doing one little parade than you can doing a DCI contest. Not doing them on days when you know they're out there makes no financial sense. Some of the corps will do two or three on July 4th, which goes a long way to filling the fuel tanks and buying the food for that week.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Slingerland

[drumcorpsfever]

money = good

no money = fold

[Lincoln]

Here in the Boston area, July 4th parades are a huge deal...some pay as much as $4000-$5000 for a DCI corps, and that can feed the entire drum corps for close to a week...or buy one heck of alot of diesel fuel. In fact, there is a parade in Wakefield, MA that is such a big deal that even corps who are not booked into the local DCI show will TRAVEL to it just for the $$$.

I had no idea a parade could be worth that much.

[va9590jm]

I think it is good for exposure, though some guard uniforms may not be appropriate for sensitive adults, impressionable children or small animals.

Not all guards necessarily wear their show uniforms for parades. Many wear something simple like shorts and a corps t-shirt or something like that.

Parades can be a lot of good for a corps. If taken seriously, it allows for the members to have a good chance to work on marching technique at a comfortable tempo, really working to get a good feel for it, and can also help improve ensemble listening and awareness. I've heard from marching members before who finally "got" and understood the marching technique during a parade. Plus, it also helps give a mental break and rest for both staff and members alike, and as long as there isn't a show that night (like there almost always isn't on July 4), then I assume most corps get some sort of free night, as well. I know most if not all the corps who participate in the Wakefield, MA parade stay in the area and have a free night there. I know they used to all share food with each other in a "food truck olympics" but I think that stopped a few years back, not sure if that cool thing is still going on or not.

Add in the obvious exposure that the corps get from doing parades. Think about how many people get to see them, and even if just a couple people become donors, that should be considered worth it, seeing as at most shows, almost everyone there already has a good idea of what things are compared to the average parade goer.

[burgerbob]

As a corps, parades are probably great!

As a member, I don't think I have worse memories of anything.

In 2011 I was hopelessly sick for July 4 and it was the best July 4 I had when I marched.

[N.E. Brigand]

While on the topic of parades (maybe a little off topic), where I grew up in So Cal, the competition parade was a tradition (additional to the field shows). Here is an example of a nice performance of Alford's Purple Carnival:

http://youtu.be/uNeXQjYobog

Not a straight-leg corps stride, but seeking a smooth flow with some decent precision.

That is quite a nice performance!

[TubaJon]

Does anyone have any idea of how much these parades pay for a corps to play in them?

[perc2100]

While on the topic of parades (maybe a little off topic), where I grew up in So Cal, the competition parade was a tradition (additional to the field shows)...here is an example of a nice performance of Alford's Purple Carnival:

http://youtu.be/uNeXQjYobog

not a straight-leg corps stride, but seeking a smooth flow with some decent precision.

Ha; I teach in that school district (my wife is actually the middle school band feeder for the HS in that video)!

When we first moved to SoCA summer of 1999 and I started teaching, a colleague talked about parade band, and I couldn't believe that was such a thing. I was absolutely FLOORED with the amount of attention to detail, and the old-school philosophy that is SCSBOA Parade Adjudication, and it still really amuses me (for reference, their visual scores are on the "tic" system, the vis. judge is on the street looking at rank/file/diagonals for perfect & other marching tics; the Music and other judges are at a table with scores of the march and the march has to be from an approved list). It took me a looooooong time to figure out the craziness of adjudicated parade at the levels of this circuit (that's right: SCSBOA is a circuit - I said it!! ) and if you dig the old school judging philosophies of the DCi tic system then you might really enjoy SCSBOA parade (often called "street" competition, a FAR more appropriate designation than parade IMO).

This video either the final year of Rancho Bernardo's band director (who opened the school and is considered one of the best in the area), or the first year or so of their new band director. Either way, this particular band is VERY well trained (note my kind-of bias though obviously they perform very well) and has an incredible marching & concert band program.