Is there a place for the lighter side of Drum corps?

[geluf]

cire's post removed -Danielle.

Right...so, in order to not be a copycat corps...they need to be like everyone else.

Got it.

edit:

Aw man, now my reply doesn't make any sense. :P

Edited June 28, 2006 by geluf

[DrumCorpsMom]

And don't forget Jersey Surf ! :P

[dckid80]

There is plenty of room Ron.

Fun exists today but I think most people see it as gratuitous or call it cheese because of the corps that try to incorporate it.

Once you have an "identity" people have a tough time letting you try different things.

If you start off with fun as your defining characteristic, you may get the leeway you need.

The biggest barrier I see to an effort such as the one you seem to be describing is originality.

If you are not, people will not cut you a break.

Edited June 28, 2006 by dckid80

[EuphCub]

DII is the home of "lighter side" drum corps fun. Surf and Impulse, pick up where VK and Bridgemen left off. i guess NJ and CA are the only corps states with a sense of humor.

[Triple Forte]

I'm doing a little marketing research.

Is there a place in todays drum corps activity for a competitive, Div I corps like a Bridgemen, Velvet Knights, Impulse styled Drum corps?

Or will modern day judges and audiences always see the lighter side of drum corps as something disprespectful to the activity and relegated to DCA or Div II/III?

I invite existing judges as well as educated drum corps fans to respond.

Great question.........

I agree with a statement that a member of VK's visual staff said back in 1989 or 90. He said that “There was a lot of serious stuff in the top 12 and that he felt that the activity was slightly self serving in its respect to that it doesn't please the audience as much as it could as an activity. I think that this statement rang true then and rings even truer these days. The word “Safe” comes up all the time now when folks write show reviews. Why ?? Why are staffs afraid to stick out a little bit and take chances?

I would never suggest that all corps clown around or try to emulate VK or the Bridgemen. No way.. What I “would like” to see is more corps designing shows that will please the audience as much as it pleases the judges, staff and members. I mean.....how many darked themed shows/music is being presented this season ?? I didn't count but it seems to me like ....A TON. Corps staffs.....its getting a bit silly. By playing shows with such sameness.....you are definitely narrowing the potential fan base. Why would anyone want to do that ? Is winning really more important then attracting new fans and retaining existing ones? There can only be one winner in each division each season. Thats some pretty big odds to go after when writing a show.......

Back in 2002 the Cadets presented Boogle Woogie Bugle Boy and every member of the the Cadets I talked to said it was there favorite tune in the show. And.....it lit up thousands of fans night after night. Is winning more enjoyable then that ??? I doubt it......

Corps staffs have to really start exploring different avenues of music and concepts. Even it means a change to the judging system. I think the word ENTERTAINMENT has to find its way on to the judges sheets. Do I like todays DCI drum corps.....yeah....I do. But to quote the VK staff member I mentioned above "I feel that the activity can be a yeck of a lot more entertaining then it currently is"

Wow…..this was kind of OT……sorry for the rant….

Triple Forte

Edited June 28, 2006 by Triple Forte

[rzeilinger]

Great question.........

I agree with a statement that a member of VK's visual staff said back in 1989 or 90. He said that “There was a lot of serious stuff in the top 12 and that he felt that the activity was slightly self serving in its respect to that it doesn't please the audience as much as it could as an activity.

Wow…..this was kind of OT……sorry for the rant….

Triple Forte

That was Steve Sanger on the 1990 DCI telecast. Coming from a former Blue Devil Drum Major (and one of the more celebrated ones) It was surprising and pleaseing for me to hear that from him.

And your response wasn't OT or a rant. It was.....exactly what I've been feeling but have difficulty convincing my own staff of this ideal.

(And I'm sorry to have forgotten our eastern cousins Jersey Surf....but they wear shakos!)

[MN DCI Fan]

I loved VK and Bridgemen back in the day. And I've never seen Impulse perform, so I can't comment about what they're about.

The original question that was asked was, "Is there a place in todays drum corps activity for a competitive, Div I corps like a Bridgemen, Velvet Knights, Impulse styled Drum corps?" The simple answer, I think, is yes, there's a place for it. I think audiences would eat that type of show right up. But we again run into the problem of what an audience wants to hear vs. what a judge will give a corps credit for doing.

It seems that, in today's era of drum corps, a corps that is more "light-hearted" will certainly not score as well as a "serious" corps, even if their technical performance levels are exactly the same. I liken that to the Academy Awards: comedies, no matter how good they are, are rarely considered to be as "good" as the dramas. I don't know if that's just because of a subconscious impulse (pun not intended) that suggests that serious = better, or what, but it's there, IMO.

So the long and short of it is that I think there IS a place for "fun" corps, and that audiences will definitely appreciate and applaud their performances. But they need to stay and course, and can't get too distressed if the judging community fails to credit their technical performance. Enjoy your niche - it's a niche that's largely missing today.

[rzeilinger]

I loved VK and Bridgemen back in the day. And I've never seen Impulse perform, so I can't comment about what they're about.

Loved your response. Impulse was created by Alumni of the Velvet Knights who marched in the finals years and a Charter member of the VK Charlie Groh (who should be a hall of famer). After the VK folded in 97, we created Impulse to carry the torch. The uniforms were design to represent an amalgam of the VK and Bridgemen, baseball caps, rolled up sleeves colored yellow and black.

Many of our shows were humorous and campy at times, we didn't have the level of staff VK had (we have some great staff members that operate at that level in certain captions but never all at once) because we couldn't afford to pay what the VK did without bingo or major fundraising. We have been all volunteer since day one.

Over the last 4 years, Impulse has trimmed back the "camp" and "goof" to draw focus to performance excellence, since judges attention always seemed to stray toward design and not toward performance.

Present staff believes the judging community has "locked out" fun, light hearted drumcorps from attaining the credit more conventional corps receive. Effect is the defining factor. What is it, what do the judges say it is, they never provide tangible information, mostly seems like personal taste. No insult to the judges, it's the impression we get in critique.

This season Impulse designed a more conventionally "structured" show with the music from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Certain elements of the corps receive praise for their performance from the audience but they largely sit on their hands. The judges are rewarding the conventional design, but we seemed to have alienated "our" audience.

I believe all we may need to do is structure shows conventionally, but utilize more "familiar and broadly appealing" themes without having to throw ourselves on the goof and camp sword. At least not until we are at a top 6 Div I level, then there may be more room to entertain the way we want.

You can see performances of Impulse on the DivII/III grand finals DVDs going back to 2003. which was the beginning of the more conventional shows.

The camp & goof years existed between 99-2002.

I hope this all helps everyone understand my desire to gather more information.

Impulse is ready to take a large step organizationally and we are interested in what the audience would like to see.

Excellence is always a given, everyone is endevoring to achieve the highest levels they can, but in terms of unique, please and interesting. If we changed to cadets and shakos (blue, red, black or white), we would be just another corps from an image stand point.

We have had great imput and advice from Pat Seidling, George Hopkins, JW Koester, M Cesario, all whom I believe understand our vision.

Thanks you all for your supportive responses.

Ron

[Orpheus]

There's definitely a place for it. I'd love to still have a corps like VK or the Bridgemen in the upper tier of D1. The general audience would love it. Some of the more "serious" fans who love the high-concept stuff might have a problem with it, but they'd probably appreciate the change, too. And most judges would likely also get a kick out of it. There's no reason it couldn't work. With so many corps today *NOT* aiming their shows at the casual fan anymore, we could certainly use another one that would.

[DNgo]

I miss seeing VK as a part of the top 12. Part of the reason that I liked marching Senior Corps so much was the ability to do fun stuff without worrying about getting "marked down" at the show. We didn't care! We just wanted the audience to have a blast with us. :)