March or Die thoughts 2021....

[Fred Windish]

Seems to me, appeal to ‘General Audiences’ remains important. Many of the attendees at local stops along the tour are ‘first timers’ we hope decide to come back again next year. People we want to encourage their neighbors to join them for a good night out, bring the kids, etc.

People go to football stadiums expecting to cheer. This time, for music.
If presentations are too sophisticated, too confusing, and provide little to evoke frequent and spontaneous cheering by onlookers who are ‘not refined enough to get it, ‘  performers are missing out. Polite applause only goes so far. Our hard-working young people deserve much more emotional appreciation from their audiences. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Fred Windish

[Mello Dude]

18 hours ago, GUARDLING said:

I'll say it again wherever the activity goes it will be the corps decision.....as it's always been....So funny I heard this argument in almost every decade...lol,,,starting as far back as 72 when drum corps was dead forever...hmmmmmm By the way who said there wasn't room for throw back shows IF done correctly and done well.. How many times have we heard WSS out of Cadets and as much as some never want to hear it again it seems always fresh to me at least.

I can agree whatever sheets should reflect BUT once again who decides this...thats my point...I never took a side on this nor would I here probably, just stating some facts or the obvious ..

 

 

 

Again, you forget that the judges are the final arbiter.  Your non sequiturs aside about drum corps being dead, I have yet to see a sheet that covers prop usage and amount of playing/marching vs moving props around, running to standing positions on them...and I could go on and on.  The sheets don't cover these and the "judges" are there to interpret these as they see fit.  Indeed fact for the obvious.  You can make all the sheets/rules you want, at the end of the day people interpret those to what they think it is.

[Mello Dude]

13 minutes ago, Fred Windish said:

Seems to me, appeal to ‘General Audiences’ remains important. Many of the attendees at local stops along the tour are ‘first timers’ we hope decide to come back again next year. People we want to encourage their neighbors to join them for a good night out, bring the kids, etc.

If presentations are too sophisticated, too confusing, and provide little to evoke frequent and spontaneous cheering by onlookers who are ‘not refined enough to get it, ‘  performers are missing out. Polite applause only goes so far. Our hard-working young people deserve much more emotional appreciation from their audiences. 

 

 

 

 

It should.  Let me tell you a little secret.  A lot of these drum corps snobs that think they "get it" and read all this crap into shows and talk down to people that don't see it.  Most show designers LAUGH in private about them because of the nonsense they come up with.  Next time you see this just laugh at them.

 

[Mello Dude]

8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

the people the corps appoint to recruit train and hire judges give them the power. and if they suck, well, the people appointed to hire and train them know about it. with digital recording, a caption head can hear any tape from any show at any time and from anywhere they want.

 

and they do listen

..I am sure they do listen..but to whom.  I can think of one corps that spends a LOT of money working on judges.  They tend to win a lot as well.  Hmmmm.....

 

[Terri Schehr]

1 hour ago, Mello Dude said:

It should.  Let me tell you a little secret.  A lot of these drum corps snobs that think they "get it" and read all this crap into shows and talk down to people that don't see it.  Most show designers LAUGH in private about them because of the nonsense they come up with.  Next time you see this just laugh at them.

 

The bourgeoisie aren’t nearly sophisticated enough to understand their deep thoughts. 

[Boss Anova]

2 hours ago, cixelsyd said:

Woodwinds will lead to changes on the sheets.

 The votes do get closer to allow woodwinds during the scored competition segment of shows each time the proposal is brought up, and its likely just a matter of time before they are approved. But its still likely 4-6 years away yet, imo. They'll get the votes needed in time.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Boss Anova

[Jurassic Lancer]

2 minutes ago, Boss Anova said:

 The votes do get a lot closer to allow woodwinds during the scored competition segment of shows, and its likely just a matter of time before they are approved. But its still likely 4-6 years away yet, imo. They'll get there in time.

And if corps wanted to experiment with woodwinds, wouldn’t 2021 have been the perfect time to try them? There was no judging, and so no penalty. I think the designers held off because they understood that the fans wouldn’t accept them—at least for the time being. 

[Boss Anova]

10 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

Audience engagement does not mean throwing burning babies onto the field. an audience can be engaged in many ways that have nothing to do with hootin and hollerin and banging cowbells and basting airhorns

 Yes.. GE Judges  disregard the " hootin & hollerin ", et al.

[Boss Anova]

17 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

And if corps wanted to experiment with woodwinds, wouldn’t 2021 have been the perfect time to try them? There was no judging, and so no penalty. I think the designers held off because they understood that the fans wouldn’t accept them—at least for the time being. 

  Corps don't  " listen to fans " in terms of what should be or not be on the field in performance.  DCI Corps have not taken any polls on anything they have approved in DCI in terms on amplification, props, numbers of marchers on field, instrumentation,  etc or anything else for that matter.   Not saying they should or not. Just that they never have. What is on the field is what the Corps have decided they want that still appeals to their primary audience, ie the students that foot the bill to learn/ enhance their craft and to perform in the summer as a summer adjunct to the schools marching bands, and in the case of the Guards, to WGI.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Boss Anova

[Brian Tuma]

11 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

Audience engagement does not mean throwing burning babies onto the field. an audience can be engaged in many ways that have nothing to do with hootin and hollerin and banging cowbells and basting airhorns

 

5 minutes ago, Boss Anova said:

 Yes.. GE Judges  disregard the " hootin & hollerin ", et al.

I didn’t interpret Jeff’s comment as being the ONLY way. Imo it’s the quiet, well performed moments that often get lost on the audience. Glassmen’s 2002 flugel soloist and Blue Knights 2008 front ensemble feature are two examples that immediately come to mind. How do you show appreciation for a quiet moment? It’s awkward to cheer, yell and give a standing O.