Corps 2.0

"The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed."

Contemporary author William Gibson may offer the best reading of today's DCI; really, calling "Marching Music's Major League" drum and bugle corps, is just like holding on to the "glory days" of DOS computing systems. After the weekend's opening events, it's clear: this is high-end stuff, Corps 2.0 is on the field!

For the DOS crowd, this season is going to be a bumpy, electronic ride.

Which inevitably brings at least some people to a conversation, or rant, about just whose input has the most relevance?

A framework for the question came over the weekend, in a review of Mark Helprin's new book, "Digital Barbarism."

"Helprin acknowledges the peculiarity of arguing with anonymous commenters rather than training his fire on more intellectually serious targets. 'Why talk to the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room?' he wonders, quoting Churchill; the answer, he explains, is that in this case only the monkeys really matter. 'The philosophical basis of the war on copyright is crackpot and stillborn,' and 'apart from unavoidable forays, it is best to stay out of such thickets.' Instead, the battle should be waged 'wherever the gnats in their millions crudely make real the musings of the Mad Hatters.'”

But, but ... aren't these folks the REAL drum corps fans; aren't they the ones who bleed green, blue, red, teal, et al on behalf of their favorite unit? Aren't these folks (who Halperin later refers to as "a million geeks in airless basements") the ones whose butts are in the stands, no matter what? Aren't they the audience that matters most?

So, aren't their voices, and opinons, the ones that should be most carefully weighed, and considered? Yes, but: that uneven distribution and the future is precarious. Our first love of drum and bugle corps is uneven. My first live love was for the spit and polish that was the Kingsmen, 1972. Love for Blue Devils' 80's jazz, for Cadets' 05 "Zone," indeed for the Troopers' "circle," 27th Lancers' "cutting edge" color guard, and Argonne Rebels' 1969 "Barnum and Bailey's Favorite" are among the fields of dreams. Fields whose numbers match precisely the number of people who profess love of the idiom.

From my view of opening weekend, via DCI Channel "Fan Network," this season is going to be as technically proficient as anyone can remember, and as idiomatic as ever. Plus some.

Level your personal playing field, the future is here already. Plus some.