Fran Haring Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: thank God corps fans dont bring cowbells and whistles and air horns That ever happens, I'm done. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 6 hours ago, Fran Haring said: That ever happens, I'm done. i judged a show last fall where right in front of the press box was cowbell city. I try to make sure I stay in the box and keep my voice at a respectful volume so i do not disturb the fans, but that night, I leaned ye olde head out of the box and decided to be a little louder LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 Trust me, it's not hard to filter out the cheering sections. One of them caused their band to melt down at a State Championship a few years ago. Had a feeling it was gonna be rather interesting when one of the "airgrams" (I LOATHE airgrams, yeah they're a quick and easy fundraiser... still... I loathe them) was from their Band Moms (there were no Dads. Either they were at work, part of the set-up crew, or watching College football.) saying "We all love you even though the Judges don't." Nice. Classy. Amusing! The band had serious problems with keeping a lid on their emotions all season and overcooked everything to rather overblown levels. Loud is good... if it's in tune and isn't grotesquely distorted and spread. If it's together rhythmically, and has some dynamic contrast... Well, they opened with Kerchner's arrangement of "My Favorite Things", and wow... it was pretty good! Some shape, pace, subtlety...cool. Looked like they were really making a sincere effort to do the piece the way it should be done and be as good a bunch of musicians as they could be. Cool! Then... the 35 Band Moms went potty, started screaming out of their everlovin' minds (I've heard HS Band Mom cheering sections, this one is by far the loudest.), and going off with their cowbells. The Band instantly ripped off the lid, lost all musical discipline, and reverted to previous practice. Any musicality, out the window. Blat city the rest of the show. A "Sweet Baby Jesus" moment.... but not a good "Sweet Baby Jesus" moment like you get from the last minute of Tilt. Not a good thing when the band is trying to do the 3 against 4 section of that piece and blasting away out of control. "Tear" would be an understatement. To cap it off, they then wondered how they ended up getting announced earlier than they expected to at retreat in placement. No one was happy with the overall results in that class, a band from the "wrong" region of the state won... and I don't think they took any captions. They were basically second in everything and the people that beat them in any single caption were so bad in the other captions they took the championship. Guess the judges were out to get them. Over the years, I've kind of taken note how they love to tell everyone who will listen how they're martyred again and again. Some folks never listen. Listening to this was like watching a disaster movie when the disaster hits. Oh, and by the way... I found myself on YouTube. Search "Bluecoats 2014 Pitch Bend Reaction Video" and watch the crowd, which I am in. Those who know me will see me if they look hard enough. I am not the first to stand, but yeah, the crowd reacts in a way that simply wouldn't happen in DCA because they ones standing or freaking will get stared down. There's a problem in DCA with this, whether anyone wants to admit it. Obviously, it's still okay in DCI to react in the moment. On the other side of this discussion, there actually is one time I've strongly disapproved of a staff reaction at a contest, though I wasn't there- saw the DCI CD and had it played back to me on good speakers several times to confirm what was done. Somewhere in the mid 2000's with one of the top DCI teams, a young man in the brass fluffed a visual thing- (body issue, out of form, feet, combination of all the above) and you can hear a staff member yell loudly (OH, MY GOD, [name of victim]!!!!!!) Not cool to call out a performer like that. Ever. Period. That being said, had this momo on staff yelled "I'm so excited with this I'm gonna get naked right here and now!!!!" Actually, I'm fine with that as a spectator. As far as I'm concerned, strip down and knock yourself out, dude. All part of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 29 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said: i judged a show last fall where right in front of the press box was cowbell city. I try to make sure I stay in the box and keep my voice at a respectful volume so i do not disturb the fans, but that night, I leaned ye olde head out of the box and decided to be a little louder LOL HS Stadium in Western PA I visited last weekend specifically forbids cowbells and airhorns in their stadium. Needless to say, I was amused as I read that sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 1 hour ago, BigW said: Had a feeling it was gonna be rather interesting when one of the "airgrams" (I LOATHE airgrams, yeah they're a quick and easy fundraiser... still... I loathe them) I'm already done with airgrams. In the rear-view mirror. LOL 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 20 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: Thank God corps fans don't bring cowbells and whistles and air horns. There are rules against those things in OMEA, at least at "state finals". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbriggs Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 what's an airgram? google was no help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 3 hours ago, dbriggs said: what's an airgram? google was no help *rubs my hands together* Let's set the stage. Before every team goes on, the announcer reads Airgrams for every specific team, someone has paid a few bucks for the privilege. It's a clean easy fundraiser. It's also a horrid plague and infestation that's been around since at least the late 80's/early 90's in some Band and indoor contests. Imagine as each Team enters the field Fran announcing things like these, and I have heard hundreds of these things, Jeff can prolly confirm my accuracy: "Angie, play that clarinet! Love, Aunt Mabel and your Mom." "Ted, we'll still love you even if you screw up your solo. Your parents and sister." "Flutes do it BEST! From Moms Mabley. and Granpa Derf." "Jeff Ream, BEAT THAT BASS DRUM! HARD! REAL REAL HARD!!!!! Love and kisses from your sekrit admirer!" "Connie, DON"T SCREW UP! Your little brother." "Katie, Marry me you sexy sax player, your secret admirer." I can go on. At one contest in the early 90's, the chief judge began to fire his starter's pistol at the press box in a desperate effort to get the announcer to stop because they'd gone on for three minutes and were still reading on while the band was set to compete. The BEST moment was a couple of years ago at one show where three to five (I lost count) potential suitors asked the same girl in the one band to the homecoming dance. AWKWARD..... So, there you have the Big W guide to Airgrams. And I hope those who read it will understand how much I wish they'd be sent to the dump with Starter pistols for the chief judge and G-D Bugles and single tenor drums. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 (edited) W's post pretty much sums up airgrams in a nutshell. There are many behind-the-scenes airgram stories I could share... several of them not suited for a public forum. They were a challenge sometimes, fun sometimes, not fun at various times. LOL. Done, done, done. D-U-N. Done. Edited September 16, 2017 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AoEnut Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 7 hours ago, BigW said: "Jeff Ream, BEAT THAT BASS DRUM! HARD! REAL REAL HARD!!!!! Love and kisses from your sekrit admirer!" I'd settle for in time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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