DCI Classic Countdown leaves you dry.

[oldbandguy]

Thank you DCI for a wonderful evening. I can't remember the last time I

left a movie theater thinking "boy, was that worth the price of admission!"

I'll will mention that my only complaint was, like most others, more volume

was needed. I attended the Regal in Columbus, Oh and wouldn't have

minded them cranking it up a bit. (or a lot)

The house looked to be at over 50% capacity. I was told this same location

had to open a 2nd room back in August for quarterfinals, so I was expecting

a few more. The crowd was not "energetic", but seemed to enjoy all of the

corps.

I enjoyed Cessario and Rondo...would have liked to had Brandt Crocker

introduce each group. Would also suggest that the top vote getter, in this

case SCV, get to perform an "encore"...their '04 show would have been nice.

I would also have liked a little more "history" in between each corps...maybe

Mike Boo could help with this if done again next year.

I'm glad DCI is making a DVD available. I would recommend that all colleges

get this for the marching band technique classes. Makes a wonderful marching

history lesson...at least in the world of drum corps.

Unlike several others, I did not have a favorite show or decade. I would love

to have the 70's shows recorded with today's technology. I had never seen the

Kingsmen before so that was especially enjoyable.

Even with the old recording is was obvious that the '75 Scouts = POWER. This

being the 30th anniversary of that show, wouldn't it be great to have the '05

corps include one of the selections as part of their encore performance. They

did a great job with "Ice Castles" last year...may "Mac Park" this year?

It was great to see and hear something from the start of the Blue Devil dynasty.

Although I saw my first DCI show about '73, it was in the '80's that I started

attending shows on a regular basis. I'll never forget the feeling of hearing

Spirit of Atlanta live for the first time. I was hoping the theater sound system

would come close to reproducing that sound...didn't happen, but still great to

hear.

27th Lancers were FANTASTIC. One of the first shows I can remember where

the guard was of equal importance to the horns and drums. Tubas should be

featured more often as soloists!

SCV and Phantom of the Opera...I agreed with the fans voting it #1. My only

complaint with the voting would be the gap between the 1980 shows and this

show. There was a lot of artistic change and development that happend in the

years between.

How great to hear Phantom Regiment's brass from '96. Simply awesome!

Velvet Knights and Star of Indiana...you are missed. Wouldn't crowds of today

just go nuts if they had a VK to enjoy!!

I certainly enjoyed seeing Boston, Cavies, and Cadets. I voted for all 3, but

not any of the years that were shown...still they certainly represented the current

"State of the Art" for DCI. I'm not sure you could pick anything better than that

performance by the Cadets drumline to show just how far the activity has grown

in terms of percussion. I think any Mike Gaines show would do the same for

showing how drill writing has changed.

Finally, I think this evening shows just what a great activity drum corps is. There

have been a few posts in this thread saying how much better one decade is over

another. I just don't buy it. I think the kids that marched in 1975 would handle

the complexity of today's show design just fine. Likewise, the kids marching in

'05 can generate the same energy and excitement of those early corps.

Things have changed, but it's all still DRUM CORPS...and I can't wait for June.

Thanks again DCI and Tom Blair.

[Geneva]

You never saw them. You are basing your musings on a video telecast. The very least you could do is show a little respect towards that what built your activity for you.

Based on what you write here and in other threads previously, it leads me to believe that in my opinion, you have no clue about the shows and the activity that came before you.........

To sit their in your armchair and disect and rationalize and try to denounce the efforts and skill that was put forth in these classic shows while smugly giving us your thoughts on wether you could "handle" such shows......??

Yes all opinions are vaild, relevant and warranted, however one should really have some knowledge and respect when doling it out free of charge

....sigh

~G~

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Absolutely, that IS the point G! The awesome shows of today's drum corps did not just develop the preceding winter. These corps are standing on the shoulders of the great drum corps in the decades before them.

[ScribeToo]

Skimmanc and Leiko --

I'm sorry you guys are getting plowed under here.. There are a lot of people who are from the era you weren't really fond of and it seems they take your opinions really personally.

I can see your points -- and I'm willing to bet that you can appreciate it for what it was (the older shows).. recognizing that what you were watching was among the best offerings of that stage of evolution in DCI. Appreciating it.. recognizing it's impact and importance in the development of the activity today -- that's one thing.. and it does not necessarily go hand in hand with "liking" it. You can see the contribution -- even "appeciate it" -- and still not like it.

I grew up in the 80s era.. I love those shows and the ones that followed in the 90s and currently. I also had a hard time starting to like the shows of the 70s (thank you, Monkey for educating me!).. and I'm still hard pressed to listen through or watch shows from the 60s -- to me, those shows are what the early 70s shows are to a lot of kids today. "Too easy" "Seriously lacking in visual" -- because of what I grew up accustomed to.

I just hope I never get to the point where I knock a kid down one day because he or she saw 1984 Garfield and didn't fall over themselves in love with it.

Ease up on the kids a little, guys. They may be right or wrong about the shows being "easy" or "lacking" -- but they are just stating an opinion!

Jeez.

Stef

Edited April 24, 2005 by ScribeToo

[srmumz]

skimannc1

I just have to step in…. Back when I first started playing (age 9) I was the youngest student ever in my Jr. High Advanced Band, player of the year all three years, all city, tried out for all state (lost out to a flute from the same district) and was nominated for the Mc Donald’s Band. BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!!!!!!! …..IT ALL DIDN”T MEAN ANYTHING, the first time I showed up to an audition for the Kingsmen I was told I needed to play in the Jr. Corp! You could be the best Tuba Player out there my friend, and I’m sorry to inform you but when you are standing in front of 10,000 people with a judge staring down your throat you have just arrived in Drum Corp.

Please - No one on this forum should discount or underscore ANY of the members of those twelve corps. They all performed to the best of their ability with what was given to them to perform. And we should be honored to have been a part of the celebration of their hard work.

Edited April 24, 2005 by srmumz

[sac67]

I haven't been "Hyping" anything. I have been trying to show kids where their history came from but...

Whatever... :sshh:

I'm glad to hear you can play such top notch literature... Say, can you play "Flight of the Bumblebee" On a rotary contra and make all the Judges drop their jaws and WIN with a high score!? That's what Cliff White did (soloist you are talking about)...I guess that's too easy though for you uh? :sshh:

Yes everyone has opinions but yours sure came off pretty condescending like your "era" in drum corps was so much better. Nancy has said all the other things I wanted to say. If you don't "get it" that is your loss as far as I'm concerned.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

IT seems 27th people think this is "27th planet" rather than" DRUM CORPS PLANET", Grow up !!!!!!!!! act your age (OLD) I saw lines that" YOUR STILL BEATING BOSTON"!!!!!!! You beat them in a movie theater, good for you ---now get on with your life!!!!!!!! Did you beat Boston last year??? See what i am saying?

[notelvis]

Hype your one that keeps on hyping them about how good they are.  I am not being disrespectful I am just stating my opinion.  All I had heard was how great they were and I left my opion until I saw them.  It's not about not showing respect for the history.  I am greatful for the history but what I don't see is when people continously say back in the day things were so much better when the activity has definitly grown into what it is today and hopefully will continue to grow which I feel it will.  I would agree that the colorguard was sorking very hard almost too hard because sometime it was distracting and too busy at times.  I would still say it's not as hard as what the performers do today because all you did then is what we teach as basics today.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't think that anyone is questioning that the activity has evolved. I also don't think there is any way I could handle marching today's drills and still have the wind to play......but that comes from being middle-aged and out of shape.

Your post is bringing you heat because you've made a couple of assumptions. The first assumption is that you can adequately assess the nuance and sound quality of a drum corps show you have seen only on the screen at a movie theatre. Big mistake. I know you've probably experienced seeing a modern drum corps show at finals and then later seeing the packaged DCI production on PBS some weeks later and wondered how in the world those production guys had managed to miss filming all the things you remember as making that show so great. This is the same principal.

From someone who has managed to see (or march in) anywhere from 5 - 40 live drum corps shows for each of the last 25 years, trust me when I say that you've seen a nice reminder of what the 27th Lancers were but you have in no way seen the 27th Lancers. They were phenomenal and their playing of 'Niner-Two' the following season surpassed, in my opinion, anything they played in 1980. It is a corps who achieved a performance level that would still be respected today. You are entitled to your opinion but I question whether your opinion is qualified.

The second assumption you make is that the literature available for corps to play is vastly superior to what drum corps were putting on the field 25 years ago. It's different today and arrangers toss in new little tricks that two-valved instruments can produce. These are sometimes tasteful and sometimes just gimmicks. The trend toward snippets of source material layered in unusual ways is an original and modern concept. Again, some corps do that real well (a la Blue Devils a couple of years ago) and others (to remain nameless) do not.

However, the corps of yore were doing some things very well given the capabilities of their instruments. (27's contras were still valve-rotor in 1980 I believe). The demand was there back then and the corps achieved remarkable performance levels.........not neccessarily as detectable when you've only seen it in the theatre minus the expected surround sound. (I would point out that the technology of recording and preserving sound was not what it is today 25 years ago and that what state of the art recording equipment that was available at the time was generally not applied to drum corps!)

I am sure that you are a fine tuba player and I'm sure that you've had a quality music education to help you achieve this level. I'm certain that you've been exposed to Holst, Vaughn-Williams, Grainger........masters of wind band composing during the early part of the 20th century. Their work stands the test of time and is still regarded as among the best instrumental literature ever composed. Later composers including Bernstein and Copland drew some degree of inspiration from these early guys. This group of composers have provided a great deal of source material which drum corps have been playing for at least 50 years. (27th Lancers, Blue Stars, Santa Clara, Cadets, Cavaliers, Crossmen to name a few and coming soon to a field near you this summer, the Colts and Boston.)

I'm sure that you really didn't mean to suggest that the literature many drum corps have been playing for some 50 years was inferior to things being performed by modern corps.......particularly since many modern corps are utilizing the same source material that other corps did a generation or two ago. Again, you are entitled to your opinion but be a little sensitive to your audience when you use it.

Two smaller points, some of what corps were doing 25 years ago are not being taught as basics today as today's corps don't attempt them. Moreover, suggesting that even what guard gadgetry a young George Zingali created is something just anybody could do will get you a quick ticket to the outside on any serious drum corps discussion (meaning your views are less likely to be taken seriously). Beyond that, I would be frightened to have a bunch of veteran 27th Lancer guard members unhappy with me. I admire their contributions to the activity. They were ladies you didn't mess with then and I'm sure they are the same today.

David

Edited April 24, 2005 by notelvis

[ScribeToo]

I don't think that anyone is questioning that the activity has evolved. I also don't think there is any way I could handle marching today's drills and still have the wind to play......but that comes from being middle-aged and out of shape.

Your post is bringing you heat because you've made a couple of assumptions. The first assumption is that you can adequately assess the nuance and sound quality of a drum corps show you have seen only on the screen at a movie theatre. Big mistake. I know you've probably experienced seeing a modern drum corps show at finals and then later seeing the packaged DCI production on PBS some weeks later and wondered how in the world those production guys had managed to miss filming all the things you remember as making that show so great. This is the same principal.

From someone who has managed to see (or march in) anywhere from 5 - 40 live drum corps shows for each of the last 25 years, trust me when I say that you've seen a nice reminder of what the 27th Lancers were but you have in no way seen the 27th Lancers. They were phenomenal and their playing of 'Niner-Two' the following season surpassed, in my opinion, anything they played in 1980. It is a corps who achieved a performance level that would still be respected today. You are entitled to your opinion but I question whether your opinion is qualified.

The second assumption you make is that the literature available for corps to play is vastly superior to what drum corps were putting on the field 25 years ago. It's different today and arrangers toss in new little tricks that two-valved instruments can produce. These are sometimes tasteful and sometimes just gimmicks. The trend toward snippets of source material layered in unusual ways is an original and modern concept. Again, some corps do that real well (a la Blue Devils a couple of years ago) and others (to remain nameless) do not.

However, the corps of yore were doing some things very well given the capabilities of their instruments. (27's contras were still valve-rotor in 1980 I believe). The demand was there back then and the corps achieved remarkable performance levels.........not neccessarily as detectable when you've only seen it in the theatre minus the expected surround sound. (I would point out that the technology of recording and preserving sound was not what it is today 25 years ago and that what state of the art recording equipment that was available at the time was generally not applied to drum corps!)

I am sure that you are a fine tuba player and I'm sure that you've had a quality music education to help you achieve this level. I'm certain that you've been exposed to Holst, Vaughn-Williams, Grainger........masters of wind band composing during the early part of the 20th century. Their work stands the test of time and is still regarded as among the best instrumental literature ever composed. Later composers including Bernstein and Copland drew some degree of inspiration from these early guys. This group of composers have provided a great deal of source material which drum corps have been playing for at least 50 years. (27th Lancers, Blue Stars, Santa Clara, Cadets, Cavaliers, Crossmen to name a few and coming soon to a field near you this summer, the Colts and Boston.)

I'm sure that you really didn't mean to suggest that the literature many drum corps have been playing for some 50 years was inferior to things being performed by modern corps.......particularly since many modern corps are utilizing the same source material that other corps did a generation or two ago. Again, you are entitled to your opinion but be a little sensitive to your audience when you use it.

Two smaller points, some of what corps were doing 25 years ago are not being taught as basics today as today's corps don't attempt them.  Moreover, suggesting that even what guard gadgetry a young George Zingali created is something just anybody could do will get you a quick ticket to the outside on any serious drum corps discussion (meaning your views are less likely to be taken seriously). Beyond that, I would be frightened to have a bunch of veteran 27th Lancer guard members unhappy with me. I admire their contributions to the activity. They were ladies you didn't mess with then and I'm sure they are the same today.

David

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you for saying it without blasting the kid personally or condescending to him. You are absolutely correct.. and what's more.. you said it in a way that a kid might actually read it -- thank you!!

Stef

Edited April 24, 2005 by ScribeToo

[srmumz]

SLOW DOWN EVERYONE......Take a deep breath.......

Let's remember we all are friends, and to PLAY NICE!!!!!

[leiko]

Thanks for stepping in, ScribeToo. I was stating my opinion. Most everyone from the 70's thinks that the era of drum corps they were a part of is more important or was more difficult or more fun than anyone elses. Hey! Let us have some fun too with what we love about drum corps. All that I think was being pointed out was that the performances today are far more physically and musically demanding as well as some real thought given to visual and it's impact on the audience. Current members have all had some formal music training, music education or dance education. I don't even want to see the "60's" style of drum corps after seeing the 70's. Personally, I enjoyed the history lesson of how drum corps has evolved, but I don't think I would of liked performing those programs compared to what we're doing now. Thanks.

[Lancerlady]

IT seems 27th people think this is "27th planet" rather than" DRUM CORPS PLANET", Grow up !!!!!!!!! act your age (OLD) I saw lines that" YOUR STILL BEATING BOSTON"!!!!!!! You beat them in a movie theater, good for you ---now get on with your life!!!!!!!! Did you beat Boston last year??? See what i am saying?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You have a lot of room to talk. It was a JOKE. About the voting thing and I was NOT the only one who made the comment about that. Talk about not letting things go...

and thanks for checking I'm not old, I have not one wrinkle on my face...that showed real class by making that statement.

Nice touch on trying to throw it in the face that one of the greatest corps is no longer around. :sshh:

I have gotten on with my life, thanks for checking. I have the right to my opinions just as anyone else does on here. I wasn't blasting anyone, Not like some on here like to do, I was making points.

Get on with your life...geez.. Don't "assume" to know anything about me... :)

Edited April 24, 2005 by Lancerlady