Bill Schaefer posted yet another interesting question about corps members and their attention to (or lack of attention to) the crowds while performing. Here is his comment:

(A young man who had performed with Star of Indiana) told me that he never heard the crowd, that he zoned them out, until the final applause after the corps had just finished their program. He said the crowd could be cheering or booing; he never heard it, during the corps' show on the field. I had asked him about this and that is why he told me. He said that if he listened to the crowd, he might miss a step and/or a note, or be late, and, therefore, he trained himself to zone out all but what he had to concentrate on. He thought that "everybody" does this. Interesting. Did you guys/gals used to zone out the crowd noise too?
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Well, as for me ... I never paid attention to the crowd reaction during the corps performance. EXCEPT, you'd notice it after concert and after the show. DURING the show, you were busy DOING the show and also couldn't really hear the crowd.

What about other alums?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

(The young man played some sort of horn, in 2006, with Phantom, actually. Makes little if any difference as to which corps, tho.)

I also do not remember many instances where I was at all aware of the crowd. When we performed, it was like the show was a blur of activity and you were more worried about playing the right notes musically and hitting the sets in the drill. I can only remember one instance that I was really aware of the crowd and that was at 1972 World Open. I don't remember a single thing about the show except that I knew we were cooking, that is until we started to play Auld Lang Syne. From about the 2nd note on, we got a standing ovation that progressively got louder and louder and louder as we went through the song. When we finally turned toward the crowd and let it all hang out with the last couple of measures and the song's climax, the crowd was all on their feet screaming and cheering their lungs out. The crowd realized before we did that it was one of those special moments and a terrific show by the corps. It was very moving and impossible to not notice them and their reaction. But to be honest, that was the only memories that I have of a crowd during a performance. Mainly we would have about the same level of crowd noise during most of our shows. It was only when that level was above or below the norm did we even slightly become aware of the crowd.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

It depended often on where the show was. For example, you couldn't help noticing the crowd in Momence, considering they were basically on the field with you! And if you personally knew people in the stands and they were yelling your individual name, that was hard to ignore.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Yes, Momence was a special show. The crowd sat on the sidelines and were really close. In fact, as a judge it was a real pain .. because you HAD to get BACK to listen at times .. and to do that, you had to fight your way through the crowd!

Actually, the Momence parade was special for the same reason. We marched mostly down some narrow side streets .. and the crowd was really close. In fact, there were times you almost HIT them!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63