Has Audience Culture Changed?

[N.E. Brigand]

21 hours ago, Tim K said:

Remember, last year on finals morning we woke up to Charlottesburg. That evening, we were at finals. Personally I did not discount the horrors of that event, but seeing an example of the best did remind me of what is right in our world.

I'm glad someone mentioned this. (One show last year in particular resonated that day, I thought, in a way it hadn't all season.)

[Lead]

Shows have changed. There used to be literally 6-8 seconds of nothing built in between 4 separate pieces of the show.

Now a show is one continuous thing. Most shows don't have 'applause moments' built in. 

Even (competitive) high school shows are now doing the same thing. It's one concept and one flow, and typically that flow isn't broken.

[GUARDLING]

3 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Yes, this is more like it. Specifics! Thank you.

ahhh ok gotcha with specifics..I think..lol

[N.E. Brigand]

21 hours ago, Tim K said:

At the BAC show in Lawrence in 2012, a family I know decided to give drum corps a try. The oldest boy was a young trumpeter and the Mom thought he’d enjoy it. Cascades performed among other things music from “Kung Fu Panda.” The show featured Cadets with “12.25,” SCV and “Music of the Starry Night,” “Bridgemania” by Surf, a funky dance by Cavies, and BAC “Titans.” All sorts of great moments loved by the family but the kids in the family who love the “Kung Fu Panda” series felt Cascades were robbed. It’s a  good reminder that drum corps can be fun.

Took my sister and nephew to the first drum corps show last year at Centerville. She liked Cascades' show the most!

[pudding]

13 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

An acquaintance works as a classical music critic at one of the smaller media outlets in his large city. A few year ago, he was so moved by a visiting orchestra's performance of ...<checks notes>... the first movement of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 that he applauded after that movement. The critic for the largest local paper complained that someone had spoiled the beauty by applauding between movements.

But applauding between movements used to be the regular practice.

Used to be, sure. I hear this oft repeated when discussions of "proper etiquette" arise concerning classical concerts. However, I am of the opinion that there is a certain courtesy that should be paid to the other members of the audience; of course, one should enjoy the music and the experience as one wishes, but only to the extent that it does not diminish the experience and enjoyment of the person next to you. In Mozart and Beethoven's time, it was expected that audiences would respond with their cheers or jeers immediately; this is no longer the case. Particularly when artists and composers are crafting subtle, nuanced experiences into their works, it is rude and disrespectful to disrupt not only the performance, but the experience of your fellow audience member. 

Of course, if live reactions are expected at a particular venue, then naturally one should not hold back their reactions. I still think, however, that some consideration should be given to whether the reactions are disruptive to the person next. If I cannot hear a percussion lick because the person next to me is screaming about a fantastic brass hit, then I will be put out. 

[N.E. Brigand]

21 hours ago, jwillis35 said:

I disagree with this. It's not all mic'd and amplified. I think people are confused because they see microphones for solos or some small ensemble moments. Some of the field mics are not on all the time and only get turned on for the solos. In terms of brass most of what you hear is real acoustic brass.

A fair point, but acoustic brass solos are vanishingly rare these days.

[GUARDLING]

1 minute ago, Lead said:

Shows have changed. There used to be literally 6-8 seconds of nothing built in between 4 separate pieces of the show.

Now a show is one continuous thing. Most shows don't have 'applause moments' built in. 

Even (competitive) high school shows are now doing the same thing. It's one concept and one flow, and typically that flow isn't broken.

lol..true...remember the days of the drum major turning to the audience for applause and interacting. Even in DCA those who were famous for it did away with this sort of thing

[Jeff Ream]

25 minutes ago, GUARDLING said:

If people don't like the direction remember we have no one to blame but ourselves. MONEY was at the band programs more for many staff ( especially new people and mid-level staff ) We took our style to the band programs, not the other way around. We went to other venues like a WGI and we started to change the activity which would bounce back to other parts of the activity. Some of our beloved icons in the Drum  Corps activity were very much a part of it including those still in the judging community today.

Some evil force did not come in, It was our own, many who we still admire who took the activity to a different level, Like that, agree with that, support it or not..

I know you know all this.....lol...just backing up your statement... and agree Sometimes great, sometimes not...like with everything and every time.

everything can be hit or miss. Personally, 2000-2007 were wasteland years to me. I liked fewer shows than I disliked. With the heavy GE emphasis on intellectual over everything, man it got to be ###### boring. But the tide truly started turning IMO in 2011, and every year I like more and more. This year top to bottom, flaws included, no show makes me say I want to skip it, even Madison, but I think thats more train wreck than anything.

[N.E. Brigand]

16 hours ago, barigirl78 said:

Another thing that may impact is the heavy use of electronic enhancement.  How do you give a standing ovation to recorded vocals?

One thing was guaranteed a good ovation “back in the day” was volume.  It was thrilling that 50-60 hornplayers could make the stands vibrate. But, when I see a corps perform now with ensemble microphones set all along the sidelines, I don’t know if the volume is real anymore.  Is it the corps or the sound guy?  I am not going to give a standing ovation to a sound guy...

or a recording.

It’s unfair to the marching members, but I think true standing ovations are something visceral.  They happen because the audience feels what the corps is doing and it effects them. The audience may not be consciously aware they are hearing something that is enhanced by electronics, but they viscerally are aware of it.

I know there is a world where there are EDM superstars who do nothing but manipulate sounds on a computer, but a live drum corps performance shouldn’t be like a Zedd concert.

Good comments here. Applause is rare after a movie screening but expected after a theater performance.

[N.E. Brigand]

10 hours ago, ThirdValvesAreForWimps said:

DCI, BOA, and WGI have blended into a seamless garment of boring sameness.  There’s nothing unique about drum corps anymore, nothing, and that’s what made it special.  Audiences in the summer still come to shows expecting something unique and spectacular but they leave feeling empty because they’ve already heard it in the fall and seen it in the winter.

If you show today's young people video of the top twelve DCI corps from say, 1980, like as not they'll tell you that all those shows sound the same. Not kidding. You or I may see huge differences between Blue Devils, 27th Regiment, Bridgemen, and Spirit of Atlanta, but to someone brought up on more recent drum corps, those four corps will seem much more like each other than they seem like today's corps.