Jeff Ream Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 7 hours ago, camel lips said: I rather enjoyed attending one show where one corps "played the game" by meeting the 35 rule head on. There they were. The same corps with its 11 or so "marching" members on the field. Parked on the sidelines were clearly Family members and even small children with Corps T-shirts snapping their fingers during partial segments of the show. Counted every one of them. Yep 36 "marching members" on the field. Way to stick it to the man...I mean meeting the 35 rule of course. 🙂 are they still alive? doesnt seem like to a way to build a successful organization Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 21 hours ago, camel lips said: Or you can have no shows to host the following years because of lack of corps available to participate because they fold. Then those paying customers won't be attending. Like what happened over the following years. Pick your poison. Didn't happen out here. Or maybe the audience decided they'd had enough based on what they saw in certain cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 13 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: are they still alive? doesnt seem like to a way to build a successful organization Agreed. Better off to build as a street band and have fun that way. Again, if this is what people were subjected to after taking the time to travel and buy the ticket, I have a feeling the folks that ran the show had complaints. Serious ones. It certainly isn't how the more successful Class A corps did things to build their programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 21 hours ago, camel lips said: Way to stick it to the man...I mean meeting the 35 rule of course. 🙂 I'm sure that the judges after being appalled by the half 🐴 performance and grudging compliance to the rule stuck it right back to the organization with a great number after looking how low they could go on the backs of their sheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 (edited) 17 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: are they still alive? doesnt seem like to a way to build a successful organization Know of one corps had the bus driver in the pit to get 35. They haven’t been on the field for a while. One of the TX corps did have 2 elementary age kids in the pit at DCA one year but they had about 40-50 members IIRC. Kids did a good job with cowbell, blocks, etc. Talked to the parents after the show and said kids enjoyed and rest of corps were glad the kids were part of it. Edited July 17, 2021 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 5 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said: Know of one corps had the bus driver in the pit to get 35. They haven’t been on the field for a while. One of the TX corps did have 2 elementary age kids in the pit at DCA one year but they had about 40-50 members IIRC. Kids did a good job with cowbell, blocks, etc. Talked to the parents after the show and said kids enjoyed and rest of corps were glad the kids were part of it. That's different. It was designed in, and it wasn't to grudgingly comply with the rules. One of the bigger problems I note with a lot of the under 35 fly-by-nights is this, and I've seen this creep into other groups who were bigger... One or two incredibly talented screamers won't save you. The brass number is predicated on what the total sum of the effort is from that brass section, not from your one or two best people. Now when you have a fundamentally strong and capable brass section as a whole (Anyone say.. Govies!?) along with the talent... that's a whole olther story. The corps that have been successful in the smaller end... strong finances, strong design... taking several years for everything to come to fruitition/careful planning... Many of these corps have failed to do so in spades. You have to do more than just get a couple of cats who can play and grab bodies to fill in blanks and do your fave charts that no one but the soloists can hack. And have a well thought out infrastructure, not something half baked. Sound Sport is perfect for those kinds of groups to develop or perform at. Until you have all the right things in place, stick to SoundSport, stick to some street appearances in your locale, maybe some performance clinics, work with kids who need something more in their lives. Instrumental music in Urban areas gets woefully slighted. Do some good. It would be better then trying to compete and lasting a year when the membership realizes it's half baked and quits. BTW instances of good planning with smaller groups who built themselves up the right way- Fusion and White Sabres. Both are now very solid, excellent corps that I'll sit down and watch any time. And recommend young people to join who want the experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 Only brought up the kids in the TX corps as that’s the only time I saw people that young on the field. As for the bus driver… knew a member of that corps… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 7 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said: Only brought up the kids in the TX corps as that’s the only time I saw people that young on the field. As for the bus driver… knew a member of that corps… If the Driver and 8 year olds perform what they're supposed to well, credit is due. It's usually people that should be better trained and developed that are the real issues, sadly. Or, design has to take into account their inexperience, or maybe that the performers aren't in top shape. As Jim Prime Sr. used to say, "anyone can do a tough chart badly". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 1 hour ago, BigW said: If the Driver and 8 year olds perform what they're supposed to well, credit is due. It's usually people that should be better trained and developed that are the real issues, sadly. Or, design has to take into account their inexperience, or maybe that the performers aren't in top shape. As Jim Prime Sr. used to say, "anyone can do a tough chart badly". The kids of the TX corps did what they were supposed to and were with the corps all season from what we heard. The bus driver was one show only and because this corps was one member short. Think he hit wood blocks or something couple times during the performance. Remember a judge watching the pit and supposedly he was checking that everyone in the pit actually did something during the show and not just standing there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbriggs Posted July 18, 2021 Share Posted July 18, 2021 2 hours ago, JimF-LowBari said: The bus driver was one show only and because this corps was one member short. Think he hit wood blocks or something couple times during the performance. Remember a judge watching the pit and supposedly he was checking that everyone in the pit actually did something during the show and not just standing there. that's better than someone filling in on brass, just holding it to his mouth and trying to mimic the appropriate field steps. pretty sure I've seen that from a here-to-be-unnamed corps 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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