SOA '15

[Geeater]

I am hearing similar comments about this years show and people not getting it. I am in the UK watching from the sidelines and hoping for upbeat positive news every day but not seeing much. Here is the official release about the show if that helps you any.

After any community has been devastated by disaster, those affected find themselves shocked and questioning how such a catastrophic event could happen to them. The community is in shock, as fear, hopelessness, and despair ensue in the disaster’s aftermath. A pervasive sense of loss consumes all of us as we begin the search for answers to “why us”, “how”, and “where do we go from here?” However, as is the case with all tragedies, there comes the opportunity to strengthen our community and the things that bind us together. Pain leads to struggle…struggle leads to perseverance…and perseverance leads to TRIUMPH! To honor our southern heritage, Tara’s Theme from Gone with the Wind binds our 2015 production together. Other musical selections include Donald Grantham’s Southern Harmony, Scott McAllister’s Full Pull and Cage Match, John Adams’ Wild Nights from Harmonium, and original music by William Pitts, Ben Pyles and Greg Tsalikis. Join the Spirit of Atlanta Drum & Bugle Corps as we embark on a journey through the heart of adversity, ignite the fire within, and rise…”Out of the Ashes.”

Okay. Thanks. I guess I did not dig enough.

This does not fit with what I saw last night. I am kind of shocked actually. Seems a version of BAC's RISE, but I do not think it is working for them at this point. We did hear crackles and wind effects. I guess that was supposed to be the fires of Civial war era Atlanta burning or something like that? I think they will need a lot of changes to make this show description come to life. Hmmm.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Disaster? Catastrophe? Despair? Tragedy? Pain? Are we talking about Atlanta 1864? Or SoA 2014? I sure hope it's the former, because that's a heaping dose of hyperbole to load on the backs of a drum corps.

Message to Spirit of Atlanta: We love you. You'll be just fine.

[mjyaub]

I wonder how much sugested change the judges give or audience feed back they actually implement. Some of the same problems from last year such as theme, bad guard a lack of visual seem to be back. Is it egos and reluctance to change by the staff? It seems very audacious if in fact the show is about rising above last year without being able to back it up. Going forward recruiting in the south could get more competitive. Several world class corps already recruit here. Crown will always recruit well, but add in Music City, Lousiana Stars, Southwind, Heat Wave, and Coastal Surge in competing with Spirit for members. I'll even go as far to say 2 or maybe 3 of these will be World Class in the next 5 years or less.

[westcoastblue]

Okay. Thanks. I guess I did not dig enough.

This does not fit with what I saw last night. I am kind of shocked actually. Seems a version of BAC's RISE, but I do not think it is working for them at this point. We did hear crackles and wind effects. I guess that was supposed to be the fires of Civial war era Atlanta burning or something like that? I think they will need a lot of changes to make this show description come to life. Hmmm.

It is a design 101 issue. Want to do a "deep" show? Fine. You better have crazy talent out the wazooo (can I say wazooo?) that can pull it off and allow judges to look the other way at some design flaws or areas that are't really coming across early on (Devs the last six or so years), OR, you pull them in to the show in such a clear way that the audience and judges get it immediately, and are then hooked for the entire 10-minute journey (see Blue Knights 2014- brilliant). If I remember the spring training podcast correctly, when asked about the show, I thought that describing the past finalist SOA shows as "big glitz and Broadway" came across as dismissive. I believe it was stated that the intention was to now be more darker and introspective, yet staying true to their roots.

Many people refer to these types of shows as "Childrens' Tears in the Moonlight" shows. Well, if that is really what you want to do artistically and competitively coming from 17th place, there are several things you will need to do successfully. For the children's tears show:

Children- we need to clearly hear or see children. maybe both.

Tears- we need to know these children are crying,

Moonlight- we need to know its night time, and we need to see the moon

AND, we need to give a rip. Who are these children exactly? Why are they crying? Why should I care beyond the fact that they are children? Why is it night time? What does that matter to the show overall? Are they just going to cry in the moonlight for ten minutes? Will we see the children gathering? Will we see them being lead out of their tearful situation? Where is this all heading? Will they stop crying? Will they be happy? Be saved from crying again? Will the no- tears scene happen just as the sun comes up and the moon goes away? How do you want me to feel at the end?

In Spirit's show, we could apply the same approach to key words in their show description. I will in part borrow from a previous poster, 2muchcoffeeman

"Disaster? Catastrophe? Despair? Tragedy? Pain?" add to that, shock, hopelessness, questioning, struggling, all followed by perseverance and triumph.

Additionally, they state they want to honor their southern heritage. Listing "Tara's Theme" strongly suggests that the show may be the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War. Without going on, this all seems like a really tall order. really tall, for any talent level group. I can tell you Devs would not touch it with a ten foot pvc pole.

Unfortunately, many of the words listed in their show description are difficult to portray (hopelessness, struggling, despair, shock, etc.). Most all require acting, but with context clues that help us get it, costumes, flags, electronics, role playing, etc.

SOA's competitors are doing:

a horse show, clearly with horses, corral fences, Copland-esque music

another is doing a reboot of SOA's own NOIR show with characters and narration, sound effects

one is playing accessible Mary Poppins music, and doing it well

etc.

I get not wanting to be like everyone else, but show design clarity is an absolute must in all competitive ranges, especially the one you are in.

2muchcoffeeman used the term hyperbole. That is a perfect word for what is happening with this show design. If you sit the members down in the gym and say "The arrival at letter A is pain", "this phrase is the struggle", "these chords represent empending resolution", "this major chord is the triumph"- that is all good and fine, but the audience needs to get it without having to be sat down for a show talk in the gym.

Come on SOA, give your talented members a fighting chance.

Edited July 2, 2015 by westcoastblue

[phan771]

It is a design 101 issue. Want to do a "deep" show? Fine. You better have crazy talent out the wazooo (can I say wazooo?) that can pull it off and allow judges to look the other way at some design flaws or areas that are't really coming across early on (Devs the last six or so years), OR, you pull them in to the show in such a clear way that the audience and judges get it immediately, and are then hooked for the entire 10-minute journey (see Blue Knights 2014- brilliant). If I remember the spring training podcast correctly, when asked about the show, I thought that describing the past finalist SOA shows as "big glitz and Broadway" came across as dismissive. I believe it was stated that the intention was to now be more darker and introspective, yet staying true to their roots.

Many people refer to these types of shows as "Childrens' Tears in the Moonlight" shows. Well, if that is really what you want to do artistically and competitively coming from 17th place, there are several things you will need to do successfully. For the children's tears show:

Children- we need to clearly hear or see children. maybe both.

Tears- we need to know these children are crying,

Moonlight- we need to know its night time, and we need to see the moon

AND, we need to give a rip. Who are these children exactly? Why are they crying? Why should I care beyond the fact that they are children? Why is it night time? What does that matter to the show overall? Are they just going to cry in the moonlight for ten minutes? Will we see the children gathering? Will we see them being lead out of their tearful situation? Where is this all heading? Will they stop crying? Will they be happy? Be saved from crying again? Will the no- tears scene happen just as the sun comes up and the moon goes away? How do you want me to feel at the end?

In Spirit's show, we could apply the same approach to key words in their show description. I will in part borrow from a previous poster, 2muchcoffeeman

"Disaster? Catastrophe? Despair? Tragedy? Pain?" add to that, shock, hopelessness, questioning, struggling, all followed by perseverance and triumph.

Additionally, they state they want to honor their southern heritage. Listing "Tara's Theme" strongly suggests that the show may be the burning of Atlanta during the Civil War. Without going on, this all seems like a really tall order. really tall, for any talent level group. I can tell you Devs would not touch it with a ten foot pvc pole.

Unfortunately, many of the words listed in their show description are difficult to portray (hopelessness, struggling, despair, shock, etc.). Most all require acting, but with context clues that help us get it, costumes, flags, electronics, role playing, etc.

SOA's competitors are doing:

a horse show, clearly with horses, corral fences, Copland-esque music

another is doing a reboot of SOA's own NOIR show with characters and narration, sound effects

one is playing accessible Mary Poppins music, and doing it well

etc.

I get not wanting to be like everyone else, but show design clarity is an absolute must in all competitive ranges, especially the one you are in.

2muchcoffeeman used the term hyperbole. That is a perfect word for what is happening with this show design. If you sit the members down in the gym and say "The arrival at letter A is pain", "this phrase is the struggle", "these chords represent empending resolution", "this major chord is the triumph"- that is all good and fine, but the audience needs to get it without having to be sat down for a show talk in the gym.

Come on SOA, give your talented members a fighting chance.

While I do not think design is quite as cut and dry as this may suggest, your thoughts and explanations are pretty accurate IMV. It is puzzling that in 2015, with so many great examples of show design, whether it be in drum corps, marching band, indoor, etc. that a corps would design two shows in a row that have extremely similar design flaws. And these are not the typical flaws that can be fixed over time, e.g., the end of a section stops too abruptly, a feature needs more visual support, a flag design isn't working, then ending is too lackluster, etc. While they seem to have added some things that may help, the fundamental show idea seems misguided and as you suggest, too difficult to pull off period. And, corps in their position shouldspend the vast majority of their time cleaning, not changing. I also thought the comment from JW on the podcast about their more successful designs of the past was a bit of a dig.

Edited July 2, 2015 by phan771

[KennyB]

If they are going to "harken to their roots" then why not embrace the southern jazz that had them in the top 10 pretty regularly back in the day? They play it on retreat and it's what you hear on the website. That's where you had the greatest success, I don't know why they run from it. Do it and do it well. Own it.

[JKT90]

Unfortunately, those who care can't do anything about it...as far as going back to their roots, I completely disagree with that. 2011,12 and 13 were good years and many thought the corps was on an upward track that would place 8,9, 10..and from there top 7 as momentum grew and member retention remained high, after all, do you have any idea how many people who live within a couple hundred miles of Atlanta get on planes and go march elsewhere...

Edited July 2, 2015 by JKT90

[BlueStainGlass]

I wonder how much sugested change the judges give or audience feed back they actually implement. Some of the same problems from last year such as theme, bad guard a lack of visual seem to be back. Is it egos and reluctance to change by the staff? It seems very audacious if in fact the show is about rising above last year without being able to back it up. Going forward recruiting in the south could get more competitive. Several world class corps already recruit here. Crown will always recruit well, but add in Music City, Lousiana Stars, Southwind, Heat Wave, and Coastal Surge in competing with Spirit for members. I'll even go as far to say 2 or maybe 3 of these will be World Class in the next 5 years or less.

I know in 2013 bluecoats held Atlanta auditions so that's another to add. Boston pulls a lot of Florida people maybe even some georgia.

[phan771]

Unfortunately, those who care can't do anything about it...as far as going back to their roots, I completely disagree with that. 2011,12 and 13 were good years and many thought the corps was on an upward track that would place 8,9, 10..and from there top 7 as momentum grew and member retention remained high, after all, do you have any idea how many people who live within a couple hundred miles of Atlanta get on planes and go march elsewhere...

I thought that the 2011-13 shows were really smart in regards to getting back to their roots as much as you can these days, but also writing shows that fit their talent level, and shows that would get them back into finals. Look at Crossmen, same issue. Tons of Texas talent goes out of state, but slowly Crossmen are getting some to consider marching with them. It makes sense with the cost of winter travel, keeping local ties, etc. Yep, Spirit seemed to have completed stage one of a lasting rebuild and probably would have entered stage two as you suggested. Really want to know why the board let that staff go.

[DrumManTx]

I thought that the 2011-13 shows were really smart in regards to getting back to their roots as much as you can these days, but also writing shows that fit their talent level, and shows that would get them back into finals. Look at Crossmen, same issue. Tons of Texas talent goes out of state, but slowly Crossmen are getting some to consider marching with them. It makes sense with the cost of winter travel, keeping local ties, etc. Yep, Spirit seemed to have completed stage one of a lasting rebuild and probably would have entered stage two as you suggested. Really want to know why the board let that staff go.

This is something I have wondered since it happened. 4 years of consistent improvement and 1 right show away from a top 10 finish IMO. I don't want to dig or anything, but nothing about 2013 rang as being an indicator of a huge staff overhaul.

Regarding this year, we'll see. I need to see a good recording and I hope they have some additions planned. IMO they have a lot of talent again this year and their show, again has promising moments. We'll see what path they take starting in mid July between San Antonio and Atlanta, last year they didn't change much of anything and the show just didn't grow. We'll see.