Newsgroups: alt.drumcorps
Subject: Re: Impressions--DCI Finals
From: cputnam@vax1.umkc.edu
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 20:44:14 GMT
Organization: University of Missouri - Kansas City

In article <92241.141906JPN@psuvm.psu.edu>, JPN@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
> This is a record of impressions from attendance at my second DCI finals;
> but the last time I went was 1982 in Montreal.  I dont fall in the drum
> corps fanatic category; I try to get to DCI East about every other year
> and once in a while can catch a smaller competition.  Yes, I did march
> in a drumcorps--the Madison Scouts for 5 years--but it was in the pre-
> DCI days.  Back then Madison was a really big corps with 60 members
> (36 horns, 16 percussion, 7 color guard, 1 drum major).  I think
> Madison in 1988 had 70 horns alone.  Things have really changed, but
> the basic objectives of drumcorps activity appear to be about the same.
> 
> 1. SEATS--we had seats at about the 5 yard line in the lower deck.  Not
>    the best, but most of the things being done could be appreciated.  I
>    did  miss some of the VK gimics.  I enjoyed sitting with other people
>    who were all long-term drumcorps fans.  However, they were not happy
>    with the seats.  Several had ordered tickets in September (we
>    ordered in November) and expected to get better seats than they did.

I'm just curios if anyone on the net has ever gotten good seats (in the past
few years) when they ordered tickets after, say September?  I've never gotten
good tickets to Finals by oredering September or later.  Are there that many
Friends of DCI and other people that get the good tickets?
 
> 2. TOP SIX--I thought that the differences among the top six corps are
>    relatively minor or somewhat matters of personal taste.  Madison and
>    SCV were definitely on and Phantom was a bit off.  I love Madison's
>    fast style and BD's sound.  I was very impressed by the Cavaliers'
>    drill; even if it wasnt as fast paced as some others it was still
>    visually impressive.  My top pick was the Cavaliers, followed
>    closely by Cadets, Madison, and BD.  To my mind they represent the
>    best combinations of difficult drills and difficult music.

Since you were on the lower level, I don't expect you could see the drill of
Star of Indiana.  But, musically, Star still had the most intricate of any
corps out there.  When you get the tapes, I'm sure you will notice this and
realize that Star had the most difficult drill and music.  By far.
 
> 3. SOLOS and GUARDS--not having been to finals in 10 years I expected
>    to be blown away by the solos and by the color guards.  However, I
>    only remember a couple of solos (BD?) and was only impressed by
>    the guards from SCV and Cadets.  Was has happened?  Is the music
>    now so complex that there is no room for solos?  Much of the guard
>    work no longer seems to be integrated into the rest of the corps?
>    Why?  Also, a drum solo should be a required part of the competition.

With so many groups playing Classical music now days, solos aren't as easy to
do.  Let's face it, solos aren't in a lot of classical music.  But, groups like
BD and Madison that play Jazz, have to play solos.  That's one of the great
things about Jazz is that it almost MAKES you play solos.

As for the guard, the most integrated guard has always been (to me) the
Cavaliers guard.  Brubaker does a wonderful job of putting the guard into the
horn drill.  As far as I've watched drum corps, the guards have always been
there to supplement the horns and percussion.  They usually don't get
integrated because they do such different things.  It seems to me that it would
limit the ability of the guard to have to be integrated with the horns and
percussion drill.  The guard needs to be able to move around and "do their own
thing".
 
> 4. VK and Star--to my mind what these corps do does not represent the
>    best traditions of drumcorps activity.  Yes, its entertaining to
>    some and it is definitely different.  Both put on shows that are
>    well done in terms of the music, but it doesnt blow me away in the
>    same way the other corps do.  Both rely   too much on gimics to
>    get the crowd excited at certain points, but I want a show that
>    builds to generate excitement.

Okay, here we go again!  You claim you want innovation (the last line of your
post) but you don't think Star and VK represent the traditions of drum corps? 
Innovation will HAVE to break traditions, that's what the word imlies! 
Everyone claimed Star had an inaccessible show last year, and this year they
had too much of an old style patriotic theme.  Make up your minds!!  Star is
doing what they feel is the best show in today's drum corps world and what is
best for the education of their kids.  VK is out there to have fun.  They do it
very well and I hope that they never stop doing it.  They play good music and
add fun to the show by their antics.  They aren't there to win, they're there
to have fun and enjoy themselves.  And they have succeeded in that.

If you haven't seen it, get a tape of the '91 Star of Indiana.  Talk about
blowing you away with drill!!  That last move is spectacular!!  Their drill
this year didn't have a move quite so grand as that, but it did have all kinds
of great moves throughout.  That is Star's strongest point-their drill work. 
Wait 'til you get the tapes, Star's drill will blow you away.  And the low
brass!!  Wonderful!  I can't wait to get the CD's of their 16 piece contra
section.  16 contras and all the low sound you can take!
 
> 5. MARCHING--many of the shows that use the free-form drill look
>    much the same after a while, especialy those that do those damm
>    shapes that look like a lop-sided mountain.  If one looks at the
>    parts of the drill that get the most applause iis things like
>    company fronts and sunbursts.  A corps should be able to march
>    in straight lines, but I could often pick out lines that were
>    not straight (some were very long however).  Again, there is a
>    trade-off between complexity of the music and complexity of the
>    drill, so what a corps does is partly dependent on what the
>    directors think will lead to the best scores.

Again, watch the '91 Star show.  The moves that get the most applause are those
that just boggle your mindas to where the move came from.  Like all of the
stars in Star's show.  They form from nothing and the crowd loves it.  Company
fronts get the applause because 1) they are formed from nothing (a.Star andr
and Cadets) 2) the sound created by the fronts (a.k.a. the Devils or Cadets
[sound vs. silence]) 3) the impact of "hitting" the front (a.k.a. Madison or
Cavies).  The applause is there for one of those reasons, not because the crowd
like a big straight line.  Like the Devils' 105 yard company front at the end
of their '91 show.  That was amazing because it was so big, not because it was
so simple or straight.

As people have mentioned on here before, mistakes are not as important now days 
as they were in the 70's.  If you do a pass through or rotation, you don't get
as many points taken off for a squiggly line as you did in the early 80's/late
70's.  Take the Cadet's rotation of that quadrilateral that wound up having
mega squiggly lines.  No telling how many points they would've lost for that 10
years ago.  But now, corps can attempt hard moves like that without risking
their lives on them.  Big improvement in my book!

> 6. LENGTH--I think I read that the minimum length of the shows is now
>    10.5 minutes.  Perhaps, there are visual or musical reasons for this
>    but I would prefer the old length of 11.5-13.0 minutes and see fewer
>    corps (say, 10) in the finals.  Is the length of the finals conected
>    with money or is there historical evidence that drumcorps activity
>    benefits from a 12 corps final?  Afterall, there are quarterfinals
>    and semifinals so there cant be too many surprises about the rankings
>    of the corps below the top six or seven.

I think the real reason for making the time shorter was to keep the audience's
attention.  It's harder to sit and watch a 13 minute performance than it is to
watch an 11 minute one.  I like it because that means I don't have to endure
any more Bluecoats than neccessary (just my opinion-most of you all probably
don't want to endure more Star) but still get ample enjoyment out of the
Devils' show.  No surprises in the bottom six?  Did you hear the crowd when
Phamtom fell to 8th?  There was some surprise there!!
 
> Those are my impressions.  I cant wait to buy the DCI video and see
> how wrong (or right) I might be on some things.  I was very happy that
> the CAvaliers won after so many great, great years.  If Don Warren is
> still president (I think I read this), then he must be one happy man.
> Secretly, most of us who marched with Madison years ago wanted to be
> more like the Cavaliers musically, although we preferred the Madison-
> style drills.  I hope some corps will continue to play music that is
> familar to the audience, that some corps will occasionally stand and
> blow, and that some corps will experiment with new, different and
> exciting visual treats.

This is what really irks(sp?) me!!  "I'm was very happy that the Cavaliers won
after so many great, great years."  Who cares about their past years'
performances?!?!  They should win based on THIS year's performance.  The reason
(as I have said before), in my opinion, they won was because the crowd wanted
them to win last year.  That isn't the way a corps should win the championship. 
They should win it based on their ability in that year (that night) to win the
title.  The Cavaliers put on the worst show they've done in the last 5 years. 
They didn't deserve it this year.  They deserved 4th.  Just my opinion.

Let the Flames begin!  :)

IRC nick-BlueDevil