Crowd Reactions

[Granny Smith]

As for the steak analogy: I think it's important that we keep it steak (whether you like it rare, medium, or well-done). The frustration seems to be, from some that it's turning into chicken or fish or God-forbid, VEGETABLES.

[ChicagoFan]

I'll be dead in the cold cold ground before I recognize Missour-ah."

A little non-sensical levity courtesy of one of my favorite philosophers.

[AzEuph]

the crowd response didn't have the same zeal and fervor that I remember when I marched in the early to mid 80s.

Well of course the crowds are going to be louder when you marched, you were on the field with 15,000 thousand yelling. In the stands you either miss out on the top screaming or the bottom screaming and the people in front of you depending on where you sit. So you will never hear all the fans cheering. I thought it was loud.....

[A27Lancer]

I liked hockey better in the old days because there were lots of fights!

I liked football better in the old days because they only wore leather helmets and got more concussions.

I liked American League baseball better in the old days because there was no designated batter.

I liked frozen chicken pot pies better in the old days because the pie crust went all the way to the bottom of the pie-tin and wasn't just sitting on top.

I liked the Super Bowl better in 1971 because the half-time entertainment was the 27th Lancers. All you get now is Janet Jackson baring her....

Shoot!!!! Thought I was going to make a good point about the past here!!

[SkyRyder_FMM]

Tim:

Don't give up so quickly...the flailing of wooden swords at giant windmills that some aspire to is caused by the mere facts at hand.

DCA last year...approximately 8K in attendance

DCA this year...estimates at 7K as a sell out

This is today's version of olde tyme drum corps.

DCI last year...22K and an ESPN2 contract AND one of ESPN2s largest viewing audience...according to ESPN...not DCI.

DCI this year...24k+ and a renewal of an ESPN2 contract

The majority of the fans agree based on paying for tickets and viewing on television that THEY find DCI entertaining.

These are undeniable facts...more people bought tickets to DCI shows than ever in the past. Look at Atlanta this year.

Entertainment speaks with $$$. When people don't like what's being produced entertainment-wise, they speak with their pocketbooks...God, that phrase is so dated.

Tom Brace

I don't disagree with you. I was just stating that what one person finds to be entertaining, another may not. Neither is right, and netiher is wrong. More people do in fact attend DCI than DCA, though I do not think it is due to entertainment value. Numerous factors contribute (i.e., smaller number of competing units, geographic location, more regional focus, composition of the audience is different, date of the show, etc.).

[Newseditor44]

Audience response seemed in line with DCI crowds over the past 10 years.

Long ago, we counted how many standing ovations we would receive in a performance. Now it is pretty rare to see the crowd stand at all during a show.

That in and of itself should be telling, don't ya think?

[SkyRyder_FMM]

I'm not telling you that you were seeing things any more than you seem to be telling me I was seeing things, when I clearly remember (and have my memory supported by evidence -- both empirical and otherwise) differences in crowd reaction through the years.

As to not getting my point -- I don't think it's so hard to "get." Some people view the past through rose-colored glasses in that they see everything as rosy back then. They remember it as better than it really was. Others seem to be viewing the present through the same lens. They are so caught up with the here and now; so enamoured of the experience that they cannot see it objectively. They refuse to see any problems or shortcomings.

I'll agree with you on your comments in the second paragraph. As for your remarks in the first paragraph about evidence about responses in the past, we will have to agree to disagree (or you will have to provide me with evidence that the DVD's of championships from 74 to pick a date have been doctored to downplay the audience reactions). I have not seen any evidence to support a decline in audience reactions through the years - only anecdotal comments from indivduals that are not supported by the video recordings of DCI Championships.

[Shenandoah Vibrato]

After having been away from drum corps for more years than I care to admit, IMO the crowd knows the outcome of the competition before the show. All you have to do is look at the program sold at the gate. The corps with the lowest scores have been scheduled first. Knowing this the crowds lean towards a "Here we go again" frame of mind. This takes a little of the edge off the crowd's enthusiasm. I would like to see scheduling changes and maybe some rules changes in the judging to enhance a certain amount of unpreditability. I know this is easy to say but back in the 60's and 70's, I think we had that! Just my opinion!

[X DM]

Funny you should say this. There was a comment very similar to this printed in Drum Corps World. In 1971!

I don't recall anyone in 1971 writing that the music being played n '71 was not accessible. Not sure how anyone could ay that in '71. Almost every Corps played at least one recognizeable song that 99% of the audience knew. The biggest issue in '71 shows with the fans was visual in nature, ie color presentations, the Flag, Not understanding the music, that it was unfamilar ? Never heard that in '71.

[X DM]

I know...just showing captures from the video. You need to see the videos to see folks chattig, sitting, applauding, etc..pretty much as they do today.

The big head is some guy in a golf hat...told you they sat in the stands to video these old shows!

Charlie and his wife Jackie were the team who did this. Charlie told me he would man a huge reel-to-reel set up below the stands, and his wife Jackie was the camera-person with a huge camera that ran via a cable down to the recorder.

Corps from the 60's and early 70's had an identifiable concert that they played. People sometimes would rise out of their seats only after that portion of the show and at the end, if they enjoyed the show. As a matter of fact, all DCI Corps today tend to get a standing O when they troop the stands after their performance as an appreciation for their efforts, even if they were as boring as could be. Corps in the 60's came off a starting line. The marchers did not face the crowd thus few fans would be on their feet during this portion of the show. Corps in the 60's did not all get standing O's, like today's Corps. This was reserved for those few Corps that genuinely reached an audience. All Corps got appreciative applause in the 60's, but standing O reception for ALL Corps came about in the DCI age. The longest SUSTAINED reception this poster has ever seen generated toward a Corps was the 1994 exihbition of the 27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps at DCI. If there is a LONGER, continuously sustained ovation and standing O for a Corps performance I don't know who that Corps was, nor when it took place. And the 27th performance was most decidedly " old school ", not " new school ". And if the Madison Scouts Alumni Corps reception this year does not tell people how much people are craving great MELODY in their drum corps music, then some people are frankly deaf to both what 2006 audiences want and uniformed as to why age old videos from the pre DCI days are the way they appear today re. audience reactions.

Edited August 25, 2006 by X DM