The Troopers, the American Legion, and a Rebuttal

[N.E. Brigand]

Part of the problem, IMO, lies between what a given piece of music "is," and what it "represents." There are those who, if confronted with a time-worn Trooper selection which is given a new, modern treatment, would undoubtedly still respond "Yes...but it's still the same old piece they played back in 19XX -- it just sounds modern." They could perform a musical selection from an obscure modern film which just happens to take place in the west and contains cowboys as subjects, and which sounds as modern as anything any other corps currently puts on the field, and there will be those who will immediately respond "Cowboys and west...cowboys and west...can't they just once get away from cowboys and west?". In the case of Troop, it has reached the point where they are fighting against both the type of sound or style of a given musical selection (what the music "is") AND the thematic content as well (what the music "represents"). I think it is a given that they will not be programming opera, heavily classical instrumental, aleatoric, screaming jazz, tequila-inspired latin, or futuristic electronic music in the near future. And nor should they -- JUST to keep the naysayers happy. It simply isn't what they are. For them to make that radical a departure would be as much a "WTF" moment as if the Cavaliers or Phantom suddenly opened a show with "Ghost Riders."

Hmm, I can think of one opera that might be appropriate for Troopers: Puccini's The Girl of the Golden West, set in an 1840s mining camp.

[HockeyDad]

Hmm, I can think of one opera that might be appropriate for Troopers: Puccini's The Girl of the Golden West, set in an 1840s mining camp.

I think it would be panned.

[Slingerland]

The DCI judging community might find a problem with the shows and music The Troopers put out these days ( and a small minority of the Drum Corps fan base), but for the vast majority of unafiliated, non biased Drum Corps fans, there is nothing wrong at all with The Troopers. They are delivering the entertainment goods to the majority of fans ( clearly evident by the response of audiences from coast to coast ). We might keep in mind that the vast numbers of the audience really don't care so much for the scores and the placements as much as they do to their being entertained while at the shows. Increasingly, its clearly noticeable that more than half the audience don't stay around for the scores the DCI judges give these days. The stands are mostly empty by the time the local placements and scores are announced. And The Troopers " won " with the majority of fans who are 5 miles down the highway when the judges give their opinion on it. We need to put some of this discussion in the context that only a small minority are apparently having trouble coming to grips with the success of The Troopers ( from a fan's perspective, instead of a DCI placement perspective). From a placement perspective, most of the DCI Corps, the vast majority, similar to The Troopers in this respect, have enormous decades long chronic placement " issues ". But for proper context and perspective, lets not kid ourselves that from time to time a couple of the G7 Corps don't have major entertainment "issues" that are far worse than what The Troopers deliver for the vast majority of Drum Corps fans from coast to coast most seasons. There is a big difference between placement success with the DCI judges, and entertainment success with the fans. We should not blur the two in any discussion of an evaluation of The Troopers.

My God, man. Paragraphs. Look them up.

And as far as "entertainment" goes, I didn't find Troopers to be particularly engaging this season, simply because it seemed "a Troopers show" rather than taking any risks or trying to expand their repertoire of ideas. It was polite and safe, but not particularly stirring or inventive. It was a Hall of Presidents approach to Lincoln's legacy, ignoring the very real fissures from that era that are still such a major element of our life today (the real "unfinished work" spoken of in 1863). I felt the same way, thematically, about Cadets show, so at least I'm consistent.

So while there is always a sense of appreciation for the Troopers organization, I'm less than taken by what they're putting on the field. Has nothing to do with patriotism or love of country or love of tradition. I want them to aim to do something bigger and less predictable.

Edited August 20, 2014 by Slingerland

[MisterA]

Thanks for the response. These appear to be contradictory ideas. Maybe I'm dense, but I don't know how you can be critical of Troopers since 2008 and also have no problems with their direction at the same time.

I get your points about the flow of the 2014 show, and I've heard similar critiques elsewhere. But the argument I have chosen to confront here is different, namely, the claim that Troop's show belongs in 1977, not 2014 -- for musical/stylistic reasons, not because of any flaws internal to the show itself.

I don't feel they are contradictory at all. I may not care for their shows, and think they are overscored. However, there are many people who love their shows very much. So I have no problem with them performing that type of show and the direction they are taking. I don't expect every corps to put out a show I love every year. Most years I enjoy all but one or two of the shows on the field from the 35 plus corps that I see. And we wouldn't want every corps to sound and look exactly the same, or it would get boring. It is also frustrating to see the judging favoritism towards the Troopers that other corps in their groupings definitely don't get.

And I would say that as for their shows belonging in the late 70s, it is more for the arrangements of the songs that were well played in the 70s that might give people the impression the shows they are performing today may be better suited to the 70s. Their drill design is definitely not as challenging as other corps on the field, and probably would have placed better in the 70s. And for me, as someone who doesn't usually care for the patriotic shows(even the better performed ones like Star, Coats, and Cadets have had), if you are going to put it on the field, you better knock them dead with the arrangements or performance level. Troopers have done neither one of those things in my opinion.

[HornTeacher]

Hey, I learned something. That makes it a good day.

Well, you've learned one more thing than I have today.

[BRASSO]

My God, man. Paragraphs. Look them up.

And as far as "entertainment" goes, I didn't find Troopers to be particularly engaging this season,.

My God. man. I said " most seasons". above. Look it up.

( I never said there arn't years when The Troopers are received by audiences better than other years... similar to ALL DCI Corps in this respect, by the way )

My comments above also recognized that there are small minorities in the DCI fan base, such as yourself, that did not particularly care that much for The Troopers generally very well received show with coast to coast audiences this season. It was a thumbs up with the majority of show goers this season. I don't think there can be much dispute on this either.

Edited August 20, 2014 by BRASSO

[HornTeacher]

Hmm, I can think of one opera that might be appropriate for Troopers: Puccini's The Girl of the Golden West, set in an 1840s mining camp.

Omigosh!! An actual Spaghetti Opera!!!

[Cappybara]

My God, man. Paragraphs. Look them up.

And as far as "entertainment" goes, I didn't find Troopers to be particularly engaging this season, simply because it seemed "a Troopers show" rather than taking any risks or trying to expand their repertoire of ideas. It was polite and safe, but not particularly stirring or inventive. It was a Hall of Presidents approach to Lincoln's legacy, ignoring the very real fissures from that era that are still such a major element of our life today (the real "unfinished work" spoken of in 1863).

So while there is always a sense of appreciation for the Troopers organization, I'm less than taken by what they're putting on the field. Has nothing to do with patriotism or love of country or love of tradition.

Yeah I usually end up skipping over Brasso's larger posts because it's just too difficult to read without basic separation, occasional run ons, etc. His stuff is definitely interesting to read though if you're determined. Edited August 20, 2014 by Cappybara

[cowtown]

I really liked their train show, 2008, I think

didn't they do Hair once?

perhaps they could do a re-work of Crown's Triple Crown from 2007 but as Cars, NASCAR !

I'd love to hear Good Bad and the Ulgy...

[c mor]

I'd like the Troopers to know that I would be open to absolutely any programming choices they wish to present. I think they should have that freedom.