A Dinosaur's Lament

[resipsaloquitur]

This is a great point of view. Through the years, I came to understand why BD stays ahead of the game. It's all about your approach and creating from a canvas and not drill sheets. That alone is unconventional in a game where few others choose to do so. Allowing the staff and students to be creative. Treating the staff with respect and allowing them the space to succeed and fail.

Nothing about recent BD shows is boring to me. Art can be expressed, and felt, in many ways. Emotions are complex, and a variety of them (beyond, look it's a whale tail!) can be evoked in many ways. They don't need to blow my face off or throw babies. The show themes and show design BD selects are part personal expression, part commentary, and part criticism, having meaning beyond a performance, a rifle toss, a snare break.

Like the Met Gala, Drum Corps is another recent example of a much broader phenomenon: the accelerating convergence of performance and art, music and fashion. It epitomizes the rewards, as well as the risks, that come with this marriage of aesthetic industries — mainstream visibility and financial gain on the one hand, and the reshaping influence of success on the other.

This cross-pollination has a long history in the arts. Elsa Schiaparelli collaborated with Salvador Dalí on several iconic designs, including the “shoe hat” and “lobster dress” of 1937. Christian Dior ran an art gallery before becoming a fashion designer and later named his dresses “Matisse,” “Braque,” “Dalí” and “Picasso.”

In recent years, DCI has taken a form that transcends a drum and bugle corps organization. It takes the approach of a cultural brand with a global audience attuned to the mythic allure of storytelling. As DCI and its corps see the potential to have a greater influence on the culture writ large, they court a broad public, promote shows that privileges accessibility over criticality, and embrace commercial tie-ins. Drum corps, long the province of a niche crowd, thus becomes less insular and more inclusive.
 

Edited August 17, 2023 by resipsaloquitur

[ContraFart]

I am with you on 1993. That is where I was introduced to drum corps as well. It was a magical year with tons of innovation. Phantoms pit placement, SCV using hand bells in the pit and a soft ending going off the field. Cavies and Cadets bringing the cutting edge of the band repertoire. BD and Scouts both playing the same piece, but in completely different and entertaining ways, the Phantom crab walk, and then there was Star, redefining what music can be heard on a football field. 30 years later I can still hum entire shows from this year in my head. 

[Mello Dude]

I think part of the problem is giving credit for non-accomplishment and only going off show design.  Shows need to be judged for what is on the field and not what it is supposed to be or will be.  I would also see where and who is training the judges.

[resipsaloquitur]

17 minutes ago, Mello Dude said:

I think part of the problem is giving credit for non-accomplishment and only going off show design.  Shows need to be judged for what is on the field and not what it is supposed to be or will be.  I would also see where and who is training the judges.

It’s the"non-accomplishments" that change the world. Pineapple on pizza. French fries with milkshakes. High interest CD rates. 

Edited August 17, 2023 by resipsaloquitur

[David Hill]

My drum corps origin story is on my profile, but it was 1969. Drum corps has been an enormous pleasure every year, every decade, every iteration! Don't know but that I enjoy both the entertainment and competition as much now as I did aiming towards six decades ago.

Shows were different, so were the corps themselves. Judging was different, so was scoring. My best list morphs with almost every passing season, that's why my five favorite shows of my years are in the late 2010s, the early 80s, the 90s, 2000s and, of course, the late 60s -- from whence my love began.

I love thirteenth place and fifth place units. One hit wonders, classic units (and their alumni corps), and -- yes -- the corps that has defined the DCI years. If I got too pinpointedy I might become jaded, too. I enjoy the corps, the shows, the venues, the competitions, for what they were, and are, in their moments in time.

Admission. There is one thing though that I simply cannot bear: simply not trying. If a corps stages a show that suits the talent level of its members (meaning, they can, by season's end, perform it really well), I love 25th place. And the Colt Cadets!

I'm an old guy now, but please don't think I'm extinct over age and interest in the activity. You should have been my seat mate while I gasped in amazement and wonder this year over ....

[Boss Anova]

15 hours ago, hostrauser said:

 

 the Blue Devils were the first, the fastest, and the best at recognizing what DCI judges do and do not want, and they simply trimmed everything outside of that from their shows going forward. They found the one major, hard and fast rule of modern DCI judging and had it pretty much locked in by 2007. 

What is this magic rule that the Blue Devils learned over 15 years ago, that other corps either haven't figured out or refuse to abide by? Simple:

THERE IS NO EXTRA CREDIT IN DRUM CORPS.

 I think corps feel the need to try to do MORE than the Blue Devils to beat them, but I think it's the exact opposite. They need to do LESS, and make it CLEANER.

 

 

 

 I appreciate your observations and assessment here. I believe its quite obvious that the Blue Devils set the standards now for what the judges reward the most these days now in scores and placements.... and this is true up and down the placement ranks. I might respectfully disagree with you just a tad that " doing less, but making it clean " is now the way to go if you want to score well and place well. The Blue Devils were clean this season, but no, they were not THAT clean, in my opinion. Was the ballad on Finals night played that " clean " ? Was the tuba ensemble feature after concert crisp, clean, together " flawlessly ", as you seem to think ? Cover downs, spacing, etc fundamentals " flawless ". No. Not really. I've seen better " flawless " ( well, nothings " flawless ) in previous winning DCI shows. From other DCI winning shows, including several from the Blue Devils themselves.

So why do they win.... and win so much ? In my opinion, its " GE " now, pure and simple. GE makes up 40% of the scores now, and the judges like their " GE " better than the others. So what is modern day " GE " ?  Well, we can go on for a page and a half on what DCI has determined to be " GE ". But to simplify things for its understanding, " GE ",  is mostly the adult created show design that is put together in the off season. The show design must tie all  sectional elements together in a " holistic " fashion to score well and place well. " Clean " is not as important as you might believe it to be.

 For example, although you did not follow DCI Drum Corps this season, if you did you might have noted that ( for just one example of the vital importance of " GE "), that on July 26th, a Drum Corps ( the Cadets ) in a show this summer placed first in brass, first in percussion, first in guard, first in marching ( Vis. Prof.) first in music written ( Music. Analysis ). These captions are all mostly performer driven on the field. So the Cadets won this show, correct ? Well, no they didnt. They placed second. How can this be ? How can a Corps finish first in brass, percussion, guard, marching, music arrangements....  be more " clean " than the others in that show and not win ?

 GE.  The second place Corps won that and Visual Analysis ( how the visuals " looked ", not how clean it was, thats Vis. Prof. ). 

 The Blue Devils dont win because they are " cleaner " than the others ( although this year and other years a compelling case can be made that they are indeed the cleanest ). The Blue Devils win because the DCI Judges like and reward the " holistic " approach their sectional elements have in their adult created show designs these days now. Thats thats true up and down the placement ranks of DCI too. Winning brass, winning percussion, winning guard ... sometimes all 3...is nice and all. But unless your Corps has an adult created show design better than the Corps in your particular placement tier,  your summer might be one of fun and remembrances and applause from audiences, but your Corps will not place all that well in your tier group unless the judges like your " GE " in your performance and execution of it. Thats how I assess this anyway. Did the Blue Devils win percussion on Finals Night ?  ( no ). Did the Blue Devils win Brass on Finals Night ?  ( no ). So they did not win the " Drums & Bugles "?  Correct. But BD did not need to. They still won going away. All season. Undefeated. The Blue Devils have a GE packed show design the DCI judges like and prefer these days, and thats principally the reason they dominate like they do, imo.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Boss Anova

[Phantom56]

This was my 51st year of attending/marching finals. I was entertained/awed by what I saw and heard, as much so as any year in memory. 

[cixelsyd]

1 hour ago, MikeRapp said:

Compare show designs today to show designs using the tick system. They literally don’t compare. The creativity and general excellence is off the charts now. Literally.

I think the same can be said for any 40-year period.  1980 and 1940 were both tick system - in that comparison, the creativity and general excellence of 1980 is off the charts.

[totaleefree]

By not going to a DCI show this year you missed out on getting a dinosaur Tee shirt from Phantom Regiment, made especially for us old dinosaurs.

[OldSnareDrummer]

4 minutes ago, totaleefree said:

By not going to a DCI show this year you missed out on getting a dinosaur Tee shirt from Phantom Regiment, made especially for us old dinosaurs.

Sutasaurus made it on to a t-shirt? Do I go to sustasaurus.com to get one? 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by OldSnareDrummer