Street Percussion Complaint

[lostchops]

To whoever watched some of the more established drumlines yesterday at the Vintage Band Review, I have one complaint. I feel that the instructors, people video taping, and general audience should NOT be allowed on the street in the FRONT of a competing percussion unit. I understand that every parent wants to capture every proud moment of their child but sometimes, the number of watchers IN the street gets ridiculous. Even to the point where those who are actually watching from the sidewalks can only hear the drumline and not see the performance. If you saw Jesse Bethel Drumline at Vintage on Saturday you'll know exactly what I mean. Are there any rules against bystanders being on the street? If not, there should be some type of rule prohibiting this from happening. It really gets on my nerves when this happens.

[Sirsplitalot]

i think you're kind of right. sometimes it gets ridiculous. i think instructors of the competing unit should be aloud to be on the street, and one parent for filming purpouses maybe. but everyone else should stay to the side. granted some sidewalks are too small. there should just be a side area. Bethel has great support from their parents, but if it doesnt bother them, then they can have whoever they want on the street.


Another complaint i have though, if you're instructors from another school, you should keep your comments to yourself while on the parade route, because people might be around that can hear you talking bad about your competitors group.

[dceribales1]

Not even drumline instructors should be allowed on the street. If it were a winter competition, they certainly wouldn't be allowed on the floor. I agree it is pretty irritating to watch and to some extent even embarrassing seeing these recent high school graduate "percussion instructors" whoop it up while their kids perform.

case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhOvSG1h ... re=related

[JenKozy]

I love how the instructors were keeping time behind the judge. Priceless!

[tooweird]

i remember someone posted a jesse bethel video of them at foothill....it was chaos...the guy filming was on the street and there were so many people there that you couldn't see the drumline at all...it was just people!

[newbee]

Somehow I sense that Springstowne and now Bethel always gets bad rap........it's not their fault they have such parental support. You should visit their camp sometime and see how else they're being taken cared of. Priceless!!!!

[bandparenttwobands]

To be fair to Bethel, Springstowne and even some of the other bands out there - it isn't always the parents of that bands performing. I was also at the Vintage parade and saw the Bethel performance. Prior to Bethel getting there a lot of parents and members from other bands were already lining the street watching the high school drumlines go by. It was nice the sidewalks were clear for people to walk on and homeowners to get by also, but when the parents got there for whatever school they support the only place to stand was in the street as far away from the competition zone as possible. A lot of parents ran to the other side of the street to stay out of the way also. I don't care what school you are with I think it is great to see so many performs, parents and spectators at the events. The kids work hard and deserve all the support possible! Everyone watching is alway kind and I've never heard another school bad mouth the school of the street. So band directors - congratulation on teaching your kids such great manners! Parents keep the support up!

[bandparenttwobands]

Last comment....the video being used as a case in point is over a year ago...instructors grow and change and get better also no matter how old they are - going after someone a year latter is a little out of line don't you think?

[LHSCHIORGOD]

Last comment....the video being used as a case in point is over a year ago...instructors grow and change and get better also no matter how old they are - going after someone a year latter is a little out of line don't you think?

True but at the same time the guy was just saying that instructors can some times be vary irritating when they try to pump up there group and the fans. You do manly see it in instructors that are just out of high school, like I know when I was younger i did some of the same things they did but it needs to stop come on guys grow up and just let the fans get in to it not you and your staff so much.

[dceribales1]

Somehow I sense that Springstowne and now Bethel always gets bad rap........it's not their fault they have such parental support. You should visit their camp sometime and see how else they're being taken cared of. Priceless!!!!

The original poster's issue is that during street performances there are too many people on the street besides the performers and the judge. I agree, it's great to have parental support and instructors that take care of their kids, but that is not the complaint in this thread. As I said earlier, parents and percussion instructors would not be allowed onto the gym during a winter competition; why should we allow them onto the street directly in front of the performers during a street show?

Parents or other observers who want to tape a street show should WANT to stand off to the side and tape it from there rather than in front so as to get a better angle. You only see the front row or so by taping from the front.

[lostchops]

Honestly, the best spot to see a drumline performing is from the sidewalk and about 20 feet in front of the drumline (still on the sidewalk) BUT the thing is... when people are right in front of the drumline taking video, the people from the sidewalk & 20ft ahead can't really see what's going on in the drumline because of the people ON the street. It gets annoying....

The audience & especially the instructors should NOT be allowed on the street. Just like in DCI, instructors/audience aren't allowed on the field and in WGI, instructors/audience aren't allowed on the floor.

That's just my opinion, which is only worth what you paid for it.

[redbeard]

Looking at the rules for the parade performance (full band) shows that non performers are not allowed in the comp zone during the performance. NCBA Parade Rules "6. NO PARENTS OR CHAPERONES WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE COMPETITION ZONE WHILE THE BAND IS PERFORMING."
This rule is not re stated in the percussion portion of the rules.
As a judge, I have to agree that it can create a huge distraction during a performance. I enjoy a good drumline just as well and can get totally pumped up while judging. However, sometimes lines drill can be unpredictable and cause safety concearns especially when non performers are in the performance area.
JCYS may be able to help make this appropriate rule change at an upcoming NCBA meeting.

[JenKozy]

Instructor ettiquette should be a new rule. Period. Some instructors tend to get WAY to rowdy in the gyms during winter as well. So much so that they distract the attention from the performers to themselves. It's a sad case that we would have to vote in a rule like that, since it really should be common sense that the performance is about the students and not the instructors, but it looks like this is becoming a big problem in NCBA. All it takes is to DQ one drumline for these infractions. I bet then the rest will fall in line.

[baritoneplayer]

To whoever watched some of the more established drumlines yesterday at the Vintage Band Review, I have one complaint. I feel that the instructors, people video taping, and general audience should NOT be allowed on the street in the FRONT of a competing percussion unit. I understand that every parent wants to capture every proud moment of their child but sometimes, the number of watchers IN the street gets ridiculous. Even to the point where those who are actually watching from the sidewalks can only hear the drumline and not see the performance. If you saw Jesse Bethel Drumline at Vintage on Saturday you'll know exactly what I mean. Are there any rules against bystanders being on the street? If not, there should be some type of rule prohibiting this from happening. It really gets on my nerves when this happens.

Boy do I agree with this one! I video tape GV's performances (from the sidewalk) and several of our parent's show up and get in front of me and other parents who are doing the right thing and all I have is some guy's bald spot in my video! But obviously you can't teach courtesy to those type of people.