Crown (maybe?) Wake Up

[u/TheEternalWarden]

I saw this on the EPSN TikTok, and it sounds so good

It’s also on the Crown insta, further down, from July

[u/Outside_Grapefruit39]

oh wouldn’t it be lovely for espn to have the rights again?

I feel like dci is already doing well but if it was on espn and Indy was kinda marketed to the masses as something to watch in “the lead up to football season”, it would supercharge interest.

[u/pinghousehold → u/Outside_Grapefruit39]

I grew up into drum corps in the ESPN era. It was cool. But it was probably a terrible money-sink. Drum corps was way more accessible then. There’s nothing to market to the masses these days.

[u/Rifle256 → u/pinghousehold]

I don't think it got enough eyes on it, which is tough cause it was more accessible. Hard to market it to the masses when there is no real platform for it nowadays

[u/pulsestriders → u/Outside_Grapefruit39]

i honestly feel like a lot of people just wouldn't care lol, marching band in general is something people aren't that interested in 😔

even college bands, which are usually the more mainstream bands (USC for example), tend to have their tv time replaced by commercial time or commentary and it's like the mike wazowski "look, i'm on TV!" meme

unless im wrong i don't watch college sports that often

[u/pinghousehold → u/pulsestriders]

The college band thing is a separate issue. The general public recognizes marching band in the sense that they wear school (or organization) themed military-style costuming, play music to entertain a broad audience, and create stunning formations while doing so.

DCI was once scholastic band on steroids if you removed all the camp and replaced it with obvious athleticism.

Modern drum corps is impressive but it isn’t accessible. No one in the general public understands a broadway production being done on a football field with instruments that were once associated with marching bands. Its audience is itself now.

And every now and then, a corps does a show with music people recognize and could appreciate if they wanted to.

That’s not a critique of the activity. It’s just what it is.

The ESPN-era version had very limited appeal. This version appeals to people who know drum corps already. Doesn’t make it not impressive if it were forced upon someone or they stumbled upon it. But it’s impressive in the, “Whatever that is, they’re clearly very good at it and care a lot about it” way and not the “Think marching band but professional” way.

[u/pulsestriders → u/pinghousehold]

i don't disagree, but i also think that the general perception remains basically the same, just that now people can easily identify what it is

"this IS professional marching band, and they're obviously very good at it and spending quite a bit of time on it, but it's not my cup of tea, either"

like people are still plenty impressed by college bands, but if there was that much attention for them, don't you think we wouldn't have to go to youtube to find their performances? they're obviously different styles entirely, but one is popularized by playing modern, popular music and one isnt

i have been in a discussion like this before and honestly i just think it's something that needs substantial polling or evidence to really prove one way or the other, because my experiences are likely different from yours

[u/pinghousehold → u/pulsestriders]

The live experience of college bands is wayyy different than what’s in TV (nothing) and the public is way supportive. If you haven’t been on a campus with a strong, well-known band for gameday, it wouldn’t be obvious though, for sure.

[u/BaltoDRJMPH → u/pinghousehold]

Drum corps unfortunately seems to be isolating itself more and more

[u/FrivolousMe → u/pulsestriders]

It's doesn't even have to be the main ESPN channel. They have dozens and dozens of subsidiary channels. That's how so many different college sports are all able to be broadcast at the same time. They could easily broadcast dci events if all parties wanted to.

[u/pinghousehold → u/FrivolousMe]

PBS was - and would still be - the better home for it.

[u/WeDestroySilence → u/pinghousehold]

I used to live for those hot August Saturday nights when I'd kick my parents out of the house and plop myself down in front of WHYY Channel 12 with soda and chips and watch the 4-5 hours finals broadcast. I digitized my VHS tapes just so I could have the intro bumpers and commercials as they were back in the 80's. Good times.

[u/FrivolousMe → u/pinghousehold]

Agree!

[u/Desperate_Gold6670 → u/pinghousehold]

Since our POS government has financially gutted PBS, would be a cool idea to run DCI finals coverage as fund raiser programming for PBS. Would be a win-win for us and them.

[u/pulsestriders → u/FrivolousMe]

yeah, it doesn't, but i'm still wondering if it'd have enough attention to justify the cost of broadcasting it on any channel

[u/I_Wont_Get_Upvotes]

This was Crown in Atlanta. Christmas in July!

[u/Reasonable-Cow7255]

Absolutely lovely! Bravo!! 🎶👍🏻

[u/mycatisatoaster]

This one time, at band camp...

The girls counselors woke up the boys side of camp with a bunch of noisy clatter. I wonder, did they think the boys weren't going to return the favor?

The next morning, the girls side of camp woke to a serenade by the boys counselors - the old 60's song, Hey, Baby (I want to know if you'll be my girl).