FTNK Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I actually wish drum corps would play less loud lol... I’d rather have disengaged than drunk guys in VFW jackets yelling the whole show or teens saying “omg we did that toss last year! omg they have the same flags as us! omg we played this in concert band!” in my ear all show 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdValvesAreForWimps Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 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. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) It could be that, because of the internet, audiences are becoming more capable of evaluating and dissecting shows, and are therefore harder to please. Edited July 23, 2018 by MikeRapp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes 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. I think you assume everyone is like you. I have never seen a WGI event. I dare say a huge number of attendees are like me. If anything, DCI shows are now NOT all the same. The pace of change has quickened in the last five years, due largely to the shows Bluecoats are doing. I see things every year I have never not ever seen before, and now it isn’t some rifle toss or flag design or marching sequence. It’s entire show concepts and prop concepts that have never been done before. There is now SO MUCH being put on the field that it is hard to focus enough to have a reaction. Edited July 23, 2018 by MikeRapp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCIDADDIO Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Wow, quite a bit on this topic...but I guess I'll chime in w/ my 2 cents. Yes the length of a show can take a toll. Technology is a distraction... but if I buy a ticket, I'm watching whats in front of me and not a tiny little screen. The nuances to the routines you see live cannot compare to what you might think on Flo or a recording. My wife went to DCI TOC in Broken Arrow and she recorded the performance for me. I was SHOCKED! I thought if anyone knew about drill, marching and music...it would be Broken Arrow. The Singer from Bloo came out of that school and they have a rich tradition of making or winning finals. The response...tepid at best. Even my son who was in one of the corp said...what was that? I heard crickets! Anyway...the video told the story. Katy was much better and it was relatively hot there as well. I can someone understand a muted response in Belton or Denton as there were no uniforms or scoring. Personally, I got to the Alamodome when Spirit of Atlanta was finishing up and I thought the response was pretty good. However, when you got to Bloo, BD, Crown, Cavies...there was much more noise in the dome. And SCV....well that was really electric. There were people standing for that opening hit. Applause for the ballad, hornsnap, flips, dance....yeah, they got some love, no doubt. It will be interesting to see what shakes out in Atlanta at the New Mercedes dome, Allentown...and of course Lucas oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Before Corps had show " themes ", Corps only needed to impress audiences with the sheer wonder, brilliance of their brass playing, percussion playing, skilled guard work, and appealing music played. But with the development of " themed shows " Corps then had to sell that theme messaging to audiences, if they wanted to connect well to audiences. The Corps themselves decided to go with " themed shows " So if the " themed show " is unclear to the fans, then naturally, the brilliance of the playing and the skill sets are not as applauded as they might have been if the show theme was cogent and more appealing as a message to most fans. But like in any performing arts, the onus is not on the audience, the onus is on the production to engage the audiences more. DCI shows used to have program books that explained the Corps. Corps could have their themes explained a bit in these program books, or at handouts to ticket purchasers. They do this at most Performing Arts, Theatre Productions, and Art exhibits. But they abandoned this years ago. Thus, do most DCI show audiences understand ( for just one example of many we could cite ) the 2018 Blue Devils themed show that is inspired by one of America's most iconic paintings ? My guess... No. Is this a missed opportunity then by the Blue Devils with many in the audience at shows. Oh sure. Most have no idea what is taking place.. only the small few of us that read up on the theme in the offseason, or from a winter's press release. The die hards know. But most at local shows have no idea what the Blue Devils show is about, not what BD has taken inspiration from. Thats not these ticket purchasers fault however, imo. Edited July 23, 2018 by BRASSO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seen-it-all Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, MikeRapp said: I think you assume everyone is like you. I have never seen a WGI event. I dare say a huge number of attendees are like me. It seems to me that the general audience at a DCI show is made up of people largely associated with "the activity" to some degree, whether that means current/former marching band members, indoor color guards/drumlines, former drum corps members or potential future members. It's kind of a closed loop with little to no "outsiders" and while I don't have any numbers to back this up, I'd say a decent percentage of them have seen their share of WGI events and BOA events. And the very thought of a DCI corps entering the field in 2018 without some kind of massive props or wild costuming or mic'd solos or vocalist(s) or extensive choreography would be completely alien to them. I could definitely understand if a sort of "seen it" mentality starts to slowly seep in. Especially when some of those BOA bands are twice as large (as is the spectacle they present) as DCI corps. The basic difference in design quality when it comes to the very upper echelons of DCI, BOA, WGI, et al, has gotten closer and closer. Even the performance qualities have gotten closer, though DCI will always have the edge there considering the amount of intensive rehearsal time they get to perfect their shows. Taking all of that into account, I can definitely understand the "sameness" argument. Someone a few pages back asked, "What more do these people want?" A possible answer could be, "Something they've never seen or heard before." There was a time when DCI corps offered that. There was nothing in those other circuits that looked or sounded like a DCI corps. Now? Well, I'd say the difference is not so great. Also, as a related anecdote, a good friend of mine attended the show in San Antonio this past weekend. She marched back in the day, spent 7 years with the same corps, was an absolute beast of a performer. Since then, with life and all, she's only been to a few shows here or there. She messaged me about having seen the show and I asked her what she thought. Her reaction was muted at best and the comment that stuck out most to me was when she said, "Thank god for the PA announcer, otherwise I would have had no idea which corps was which. What's up with THAT?!" I think she has a point there, and hey, I get why corps are following the leader so hard on the costuming thing. But she brought up a good point about that idea of "brand identity" and how crucial it is in the real world, how long it takes to establish, and to see it just discarded to the point where you really do need someone to tell you which corps is which (aside from a few groups who have held onto certain semi-identifiable details). Especially if you don't spend time online following each corps' twitter or Instagram feeds, or come to places like DCP to get a glimpse at what all the corps are wearing this year, etc. For the record, I don't characterize any of what DCI is doing now as better or worse than it used to be. It's just different than it used to be. People can make up their own minds about whether they like it or not and want to follow it and support it. I, myself, don't find myself nearly as interested in it as I used to. The performance quality is better than it's ever been, and I acknowledge and appreciate that. But for me, there definitely is an undefinable quality that's just, for lack of a better word, missing. Edited July 23, 2018 by seen-it-all 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Having high school-aged kids (ack!) and going to many, many band contests, I think in general the audience is more educated and sophisticated. The general "etiquette" for marching performances has standardized and evolved over the years into what it is now. I don't think it's due to lack of excitement from the corps, if anything, I think people might be afraid of missing something exciting next. Also worth considering - in the digital age, *way* more fans come in to a contest having already seen or heard the show, so there may not be the general spontaneous reactions there used to be. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfirwin3 Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Finals week crowds are uniquely different from others (especially semifinals and finals). These are often the groups you see on the older video broadcasts. Crowd reaction on finals night (especially for the presumed winner and the crowd favorite... which is often not the same) is usually rock-concert-esque. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlamMan Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 5 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. 5 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. Well said and 100% spot on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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