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Will DCA be around in 5 years?


Will DCA be around in 5 years?  

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  1. 1. Will DCA be around in 5 years?

    • Yes
      33
    • No
      66


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22 hours ago, camel lips said:

And Hence THIS is the problem they face the most I suspect and have for years.

When I was marching MCL back in the day we had a certain number of performers who were either music educators or DCI age outs that wanted to do the cutting edge stuff and have high show demand to impress judges while there was a large amount of the paying membership that wanted to do fan friendly performances. Come family days when we would put on performances the cutting edge fru fru stuff fell flat and it was hard getting support. On the flip side of the coin when it came to recruiting at band contest the next year when it came to kiddos they did not want any part of the group because we had these weird instruments that were not bright and shiny and were not running around on the field doing loop da loops. 

 

So I really don't think there is much middle ground to be had. Pick your poison and roll with it. 

the thing is the corps create the sheets. so impressing the judges as you refer to it is what the corps themselves set in motion.

this is why they created that communication portion of the effect scores, which is nothing more than effect speak and extra points. but the common misperception is its supposed to take the paying fans reactions into account, and it doesn't if you judge the sheet as designed. of course in 2014 i sat in front of an effect judge who was talking about the fans going wild over a corps performance where at best the crowd was going mild. it called the show

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On 10/5/2022 at 5:01 PM, Jeff Ream said:

so when i buy a band circuit and hire you, i'll have you start airgrams an hour before the first band

My friend, you would have to pony up a ####-ton of cash to get me to read another Air Gram in this lifetime! 😂 And even then I'd have to think about it. LOL

Edited by Fran Haring
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Re "Air-Grams":

A few years ago I judged a show wherein it seemed there were a thousand of these, all similarly inane:

- "Go, Sally. We know the second piccolos are the best, and you're the best second piccolo." - Aunt Peggy and Uncle Willis

_ "Drum Line, you rock. Win this puppy and we'll all go to Pizza Plaza!" - Mom and Dad Pickleborn

- "Joey, slide that bone, boy. The Marching Alligators are pulling for you." - Sissy and Pete

Though a few of these were more entertaining than some of the bands, after a couple of hours they became painfully annoying. There was a 15-minute intermission and a couple of us decided to act. We concocted a faux-gram, paid the 2 bucks, and sent it to the announcer. This is what it read:

"Dear Mom and Dad, I know you love me, but right now I'm trying to remember the drill changes, so don't call me out while I'm on the field. See you in the parking lot."

Have you ever seen an Air-gram get a standing O ?

I truly think that audiences would pay an additional $.50 per admission just for the guarantee of an "Air-Gram-Free" experience, and there would be a lot less cringing and embarrassment at shows.

Fans might be prompted to attend DCA shows for this very reason

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3 hours ago, Fran Haring said:

My friend, you would have to pony up a ####-ton of cash to get me to read another Air Gram in this lifetime! 😂 And even then I'd have to think about it. LOL

i'd even let you wear any shirt you wanted. 

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1 hour ago, ironlips said:

Re "Air-Grams":

A few years ago I judged a show wherein it seemed there were a thousand of these, all similarly inane:

- "Go, Sally. We know the second piccolos are the best, and you're the best second piccolo." - Aunt Peggy and Uncle Willis

_ "Drum Line, you rock. Win this puppy and we'll all go to Pizza Plaza!" - Mom and Dad Pickleborn

- "Joey, slide that bone, boy. The Marching Alligators are pulling for you." - Sissy and Pete

Though a few of these were more entertaining than some of the bands, after a couple of hours they became painfully annoying. There was a 15-minute intermission and a couple of us decided to act. We concocted a faux-gram, paid the 2 bucks, and sent it to the announcer. This is what it read:

"Dear Mom and Dad, I know you love me, but right now I'm trying to remember the drill changes, so don't call me out while I'm on the field. See you in the parking lot."

Have you ever seen an Air-gram get a standing O ?

I truly think that audiences would pay an additional $.50 per admission just for the guarantee of an "Air-Gram-Free" experience, and there would be a lot less cringing and embarrassment at shows.

Fans might be prompted to attend DCA shows for this very reason

so ...and Fran may have heard this he knows "Gut"...

 

a local school hosts a big show every year and they had their pit guy be the announcer. served two purposes...A) he was good at it and B) it kept him away from the pit at warmups, so they performed better LOL! But the kids went nuts buying airgrams for themselves...and every one had an insult aimed at "Gut". 

 

"hey pit, no Gut at warmups so I know you'll do great"

"hey (insert band directors name here...we'll call him Dave Rohrer) can Gut just be our announcer? it'll help the scores"

"Dear announcer your hair is as bad as our pit instructors"

and he read everyone of them

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11 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

so ...and Fran may have heard this he knows "Gut"...

 

a local school hosts a big show every year and they had their pit guy be the announcer. served two purposes...A) he was good at it and B) it kept him away from the pit at warmups, so they performed better LOL! But the kids went nuts buying airgrams for themselves...and every one had an insult aimed at "Gut". 

 

"hey pit, no Gut at warmups so I know you'll do great"

"hey (insert band directors name here...we'll call him Dave Rohrer) can Gut just be our announcer? it'll help the scores"

"Dear announcer your hair is as bad as our pit instructors"

and he read everyone of them

OMG... that is awesome!!! 

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12 hours ago, ironlips said:

Re "Air-Grams":

A few years ago I judged a show wherein it seemed there were a thousand of these, all similarly inane:

- "Go, Sally. We know the second piccolos are the best, and you're the best second piccolo." - Aunt Peggy and Uncle Willis

_ "Drum Line, you rock. Win this puppy and we'll all go to Pizza Plaza!" - Mom and Dad Pickleborn

- "Joey, slide that bone, boy. The Marching Alligators are pulling for you." - Sissy and Pete

Though a few of these were more entertaining than some of the bands, after a couple of hours they became painfully annoying. There was a 15-minute intermission and a couple of us decided to act. We concocted a faux-gram, paid the 2 bucks, and sent it to the announcer. This is what it read:

"Dear Mom and Dad, I know you love me, but right now I'm trying to remember the drill changes, so don't call me out while I'm on the field. See you in the parking lot."

Have you ever seen an Air-gram get a standing O ?

I truly think that audiences would pay an additional $.50 per admission just for the guarantee of an "Air-Gram-Free" experience, and there would be a lot less cringing and embarrassment at shows.

Fans might be prompted to attend DCA shows for this very reason

Man... some of those crazy-### Air Grams I had to read.

Among other things, sexual innuendo (either unintentional from clueless parents/grandparents, or intentional from various trolls). I wouldn't read the most blatant ones. Or the ones where I couldn't understand the horrible scribbling that passed for writing. 

My first several years, I never pre-read them. Made it more interesting. 😂 I had to use my radio newscaster skills to edit on the fly. LOL. Sometimes I had to turn the microphone off because I was trying not to laugh out loud.

IMO, those #### things were/are a complete ripoff. A total, shameless money grab. Hardly anyone in the bands is paying attention as they get set up to perform.

But hey... folks still buy Air Grams. God bless them. I think P.T. Barnum was right. 😂

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13 hours ago, ironlips said:

 

Though a few of these were more entertaining than some of the bands, after a couple of hours they became painfully annoying. There was a 15-minute intermission and a couple of us decided to act. We concocted a faux-gram, paid the 2 bucks, and sent it to the announcer. This is what it read:

"Dear Mom and Dad, I know you love me, but right now I'm trying to remember the drill changes, so don't call me out while I'm on the field. See you in the parking lot."

 

One year at the US Bands championship event at Philly's Franklin Field, by Sunday night the entire show crew was pretty much toast after two full days of bands. Myself included. I was the announcer for that entire weekend... totally fried by Sunday night. So... our old Sunriser buddy Gary Williams, who was working for YEA at the time, started sending me fake Air Grams with various inside jokes!!! Yes, I read all of them. No one in the stands had any idea!!! 

 

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What corps have left in the past 20 years or so? Rochester Crusaders, Syracuse Brigadiers, Empire Statesmen, Kingston Grenadiers, Kilties, Heatwave, Alleghany Night Storm, Chieftains, etc.  

 

What corps are left? Enough to have all corps participate in top 10 or 12 final show. In this day and age is it worth a prelims since the order is already set in stone?

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