Going Home Again

Though I have largely abandoned this site, since it served the temporary needs I established it for. It seems a shame not to make use of it from time to time as I still have the occasional thoughtful observation about the world of drum corps or marching band. Maybe I might even make this a full time blog like I dreamed of doing when as the DCI season approaches again. Since I'm pretty sure no one ever reads this blog anyway, I don't think the lapse in postings will bother anyone. Until such time as I can create meaningful content I'm planning on just throwing up a stray post here or there related to marching music.

Recently I was back in my home town to attend an old friend's wedding (BTW: Congrats Ashley and Adam!). In a stunning coincidence I discovered it was also the same weekend that my alma mater ( high school edition) was hosting their annual marching band competition. While I haven't been able to stay involved with the old band program since I started moving around to different states, I will always hold a special place in my heart for my memories of high school marching band. On top of that I was told that this year's show would be the largest in the history of the competition including the best collection of top level bands that our town had ever hosted. I was especially excited to hear that one of the local bands had a show based on the music of Led Zeppelin, which I thought was bound to be either awful or excellent but fascinating either way.

This serendipitous occurrence was too good to pass up. So, I made arrangements with some friends and fellow former band geeks to meet up at the event after the wedding and reception. We got there just in time to see the cream of the crop perform. We arrived toward the end of the competition and rushed to purchase tickets and find seats. We were fortunate enough to stumble onto some of my family members (there to watch my cousins who had now joined my ol' marching band), and they were able to get us a spot in the stands. Sadly we just missed the Led Zeppelin show (well done according to those I spoke with later), but got to see several top notch bands put on very exciting shows. Because it was already late in the marching band competition season the all the bands were clicking with no serious flaws or glitches. The students had memorized the drill and polished the music and the overall design of the shows had come together into clear artistic visions. The weather was good. The performances where sharp. The stadium had been recently improved so the facilities were outstanding. Most importantly, the company was as good as I could have hoped for. My companions and I had a great time.

When it was over my old friends and I chatted together about how it was odd to look at a marching band from the outside after all those years being on the field. One friend commented that she was more impressed than ever with how well our high school band director manages the show. A long time friend said that he couldn't get over how weird the activity seems to him now. I expressed my wonder that you could get hundreds of teenagers to do anything involving that much complex coordination and it not turn into a giant rolling disaster. We all agreed we should try to see more marching band shows. So that's my recommendation to anyone who reads this. Try to save a little bit of energy after those Friday night football games so you can make it to the band show on Saturday.

Drum Corps Running Diary: CrownBEAT

In the area of my residence drum corps is not a major event. In fact the state of North Carolina seems much cooler in general to marching music than my home state of Ohio. I attribute this largely to two factors. First North Carolina’s favorite pastime by far is basketball, so there’s much less of a focus on football culture and therefore much less interest and participation in marching bands. Also it can get so blazingly hot during the summer months in North Carolina that I don’t think many corps would want to spend much time rehearsing and performing here. This means that any live drum corps show I can attend is all the more precious which is why I had to make it out to the second Carolina Crown sponsored DCI even of the season CrownBEAT, held on July 21, 2007 at West Johnston High School in rural Johnston county North Carolina. What follows is my running diary of the events that took place that day.

7:16- After a frantic journey down Interstate 40 from Durham, we arrive at WJHS with just barely enough time to park, buy tickets and find our seats before the show starts. I immediately get into an argument with my mom (tonight’s Official Running Diary Companion) about who is responsible for buying the tickets. She says I drove so she’s buying. I say that I’m an adult now and I can take care of myself thank you very much (well most of the time I can take care of myself).

7:19- Out of nowhere Mom is jovially accosted by Marty Spitzer, former band director of the school district where Mom teaches. He recognized her as she walked by and they quickly start catching up right in front of the row of corps merchandise booths present at ever Drum Corps International event. Mr. Spitzer has been called upon to start up a marching band program and University of North Carolina- Pembroke since they are going be fielding a football team for the first time since 1952. As I write this I have no idea when and where this band will be performing yet, but if you do happen to see them I can tell you what you can look forward to. Their show for the first year is entitled “Groove Machine” and will feature an assortment of pop music featuring danceable beats and catchy tunes. Spitzer’s goal is to make a show that’s palatable for general audiences that can be put on easily by a first year marching band program with out much in terms of institutional support or experienced leadership. If nothing else I’m sure they’ll make things interesting for anyone who comes to watch their show. So if you’re in the vicinity of Pembroke, North Carolina during the fall try to look them up.

7:25- The disadvantage of my insisting to purchase my own ticket springs up quickly once we reach the actual bleachers. I have a ticket for seat G-12 Mom has E-12 two rows down. The woman in G-11 found this hysterical.

7:28- We rush to get food from the concession stand before the show’s scheduled start time of 7:30pm. I’m absolutely certain there are no other circumstances in which two adults could have a panicked discussion of whether a “cheese dog” is a hot dog topped with chili and cheese or just cheese.

7:31- As the exhibition corps takes the field a quick glance at my and the schedule at the program lets me know this show will so significantly longer than I thought. I shouldn’t have told my wife to expect us by 10 o’clock because we definitely won’t be home by 11.

7:32- This isn’t a problem for a standstill performance by the exhibition corps, but I have to note we have TERRIBLE seats (what do you expect when you buy them eight minutes before the show starts). So incase this diary reduces to nothing but a string of grumpy comments and complaints about by neck cramping, you’ll know why.

7:33- Why do the announcers at these events introduce themselves? Does anyone care who it is in the press booth that reads the corps’ names and show titles? Is anyone going to come to a DCI show based on who asks the drum majors if their corps is ready?

7:36- The announcer (whose name I refuse to acknowledge) explains that our exhibition corps, Carolina Gold, will be performing a program made up of selection from past Carolina Gold programs. Ummm, we all know that all senior corps shows are just random hodge-podge of old drum corps book numbers. You really don’t have to make excuses.

7:38- A bird flies by and its call interrupts the show. Animals seem to naturally despise all things drum corps. I was once at a show where a performance was ruined by, kid you not, llama bleating.

7:40- Two startling revelation: 1) the cheese dog comes with chili, a cheese whiz type topping, and an impressive dose of delicious; 2) the Carolina Gold performance is actually quite good which in my experience is saying quite a lot for any senior corps.

7:44- We are told that “due to unforeseen licensing issues” the Carolina Gold will not be performing their complete show. Wait, how could a bunch of songs the corps has played before result in unforeseen licensing issues? In the words of my Mom, “That’s kind of too bad.”

7:46- We use this unexpected break to negotiate with the woman in seat G-11. Mom at first proposes a simple seat swap, but the woman decides to try sneaking over to the premium seats. So Mom comes up to fill the newly vacant territory.

7:49- Looking through the program, Mom insists she knows the guy who instructs percussion for Carolina Crown. It may be true, but my Mom spent a few years as a substitute teacher around our home town so she tends to think she knows nearly everybody. (The Marty Spitzer instance early this night only supports her theory.)

7:50- Members of the West Johnston High School marching band perform the national anthem, and Mom is the only person in the stand with the confidence to sing along.

7:55- We start the evening with Teal Sound. Their shows entitled “Voices of the Sun: The Music of Rajaton”, and I officially have no idea what that means. From the titles of the songs/passages it seems to be themed around the son’s passage through the sky during the day.

7:57- We are told by the nameless announcer that Rajaton is a renowned a capella group. So we’ll be getting an instrumental performance of music originally written for voice only. That’s DCI, baby, marching music’s major league.

8:00- Teal Sound makes sure that first big brass hit counts for something.

8:01- We’re seated too close to the field for me to make out the marching forms which is a shame because I love seeing how the corps construct those big shapes you see on field. I truly believe that each corps has a distinctive style of forms they like to make with the marching performers and methods they use to break out of one form and move to another. If I had an animated program that just showed dots move around a grid, a dedicated drum corps fan could tell what forms belonged to what corps even without uniforms or music to clue her in. I guess I’ll just have to spend the evening watching for flaws in the performers’ footwork.

8:03- Now that I think of it transferring music from an a capella vocal group to a drum corps works well because they both use different voices of the same musical “instrument”. All right Teal Sound you win this round, but I’ll be back.

8:07- I’m not an expert, but I think at only 8 minutes we only saw part of the show.

8:08- As Teal Sound exits I’m still watching footwork flaws. HAH! I told you I’d be back Teal Sound!

8:09- I really enjoy Boston Crusaders. I consider them one of the most visually interesting and creative corps at work right now. Their show tonight is call “A Picasso Suite”, and I’m expecting big things. I’m just hoping that if I give them a bad review tonight Bill Simmons won’t bash me on his blog.

8:12- Perfect demonstration of what I’m talking about with BC. The guard is wearing Spanish style dress and setting up easels. This can’t help but be interesting.

8:15- The movements are based around Picasso’s artistic periods Red, Blue, Cubism, then Surrealism. I really hope the Surrealistic movement has people playing in different keys, and marching over each other, just to really take the them all the way.

8:17- Spanish music really works for Boston. The show that vaulted them into the top of the DCI ranks in 2000 was called “Red”, and it was also primarily Spanish themed. Maybe they’ve just been importing musicians from a feeder corps in Madrid.

8:19- I don’t like hearing a middling drum lick performed well and knowing that its not the lick they plan to play at Finals, its just the lick the battery is ready to play at this point.

8:21- Hearing a full rich brass sound live was all I needed to remind me why I love this activity.

8:24- The guard has “extra-artsy” rifles to twirl and I can tell that the musicians little body movements and dances are meant to have a cubist feel.

8:30- Now we move on to Spirit from JSU a corps with a history of struggling to survive. Their show is entitled Genesis but sadly it seems that none of their show was inspired by Phil Collins.

8:33- A hint to all you guard coordinators out there: black spandex is a look that works on so few people its probably best to just avoid it altogether.

8:36- Why is it the pit always has the show fully developed and mastered before the rest of the corps? Is it just part of nature’s design like girls hitting puberty like three years before boys do so everyone’s early teenage years are as awkward as possible?

8:38- Its always a risky move to have your corps members sing. You trade all the natural harmony and amplification the instruments provide in favor of the always shaky human voice box basically in the hope of a random comedy moment if somebody’s voice cracks.

Intermission- I’m going to get chips.

8:47- They have chili, cheese, and Fritos, but not walking tacos. That’s just tragic.

8:58- The Cadets are setting up. I know this sounds crazy, but I really do miss their two sided costumes of 2005. Those just made the show a little bit more fun to watch.

9:02- There’s a group of people taking notes just behind me in the stands. I hope they aren’t also planning to blog about this event, because I’ll probably crack against the pressure of competition.

9:04- I just remembered I could have gotten the chance to march out with the Cadets if I had entered their essay contest. I just had to write about something I believe in, because their show is entitled “This I Believe”. They probably would have said my essay was too sarcastic and snarky anyways.

9:10- Remember my hint to color guard directors about black spandex? Follow up: white spandex is worse. (Hat tip to my mom).

9:12- Um, Cadets I don’t know how no one mentioned this during your preliminary show planning meeting, but this whole “This I Believe” show, it’s pretty much just like a high school marching band show. I know this because I think I’ve seen about seven dozen schools put on the same freakin’ show over the last couple of years.

9:15- I love that moment when the guard pairs off to act out a dramatic scene, but you can still see them counting beats in their heads. It sort of saps the moment of the music.

9:17- I know that the amplified narration over top of the show is supposed to be cute and all, but when they start imitating every band director in the world during a marching rehearsal just kept having trippy flashbacks to hot August afternoons from my youth.

9:21- Dagnabit! They just did something that I know looked much cooler from above. Maybe we should look to pull a seat change and ditch this crummy G-11 ticket.

9:28- Now comes the host corps Carolina Crown with a highly horse themed show called “Triple Crown”. They’re so committed they even have brown plumes in their shakos.

9:31- They just hit a note that lasted longer than most horse races.

9:32- I want to see a performer pretend to break a leg during this show, then the pit can imitate the sound of a gun shot, an then the guard can drag him off the field. Okay I’m an awful person I’ll stop now.

9:36- Crown may just sucker me into this goofy show yet. They play a selection from Copland’s “Red Pony Suite” one of my all time favorite pieces of music.

9:40- You have to admire the guts it takes to try playing the William Tell Overture on a marching field even if they are staging an incredibly hokey fake horse race in the background.

9:59- The most underrated moment of any corps show is when one of the corps’ batteries plays a cadence to lead the other corps back onto the field for the awards.

Your final scores for the night are

Division II- 59.65 Teal Sound

4^th- 67.10 Spirit from JSU

3^rd- 71.50 Boston Crusader

2^nd- 75.20 Carolina Crown

1^st- 78.00 The Cadets

Now I’m going out for frosty chocolate milkshakes.

Daily Dose 5/8

Every day in every way I find more and more ways to ensnare people unfamiliar with drum corps into becoming nascent fans of marching music. My current scheme involves using quotations from the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin to describe different aspects of drum corps life. It's all part of my effort to get new drum corps fans to think a little bit about the marching arts and realize that drum corps is good enough, it's smart enough and doggonit people like drum corps.

Today's Quote:
Dude, you look like a man-o-lantern. -David

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
As we expand our view of life in a drum corps beyond the actual performance aspect, rehearsals certainly deserve some serious attention. For every minute you see a corps on the field the performers, designers, and instructors all had to pour in untold hours of work to make that happen. On the days they have a competition drum corps will spend the morning and afternoon fine tuning every aspect of their show under the glaring, boiling, unending summer sun. On the days they don't have a performance they will practice even more and absorb even more UV rays. All of that time under all of that solar radiation leads to some pretty intense tanning. Drum corps members have to watch out for heat exhaustion and sun stroke, but they can also get some pretty odd tan patterns. Wearing a shirt (as I understand experts recommend), results in the unsightly "farmer's tan" where a person develops a deep brown tone on their neck and forearms but retain their pasty complexion everywhere else. If the corps member tries going bareback he may find that all the movement around the field plus the shadows from carrying his equipment results in some pretty odd patterns. I have seen many a tan inflicted by harsh drum corps rehearsals. While few rise to the level of "man-o-lantern" oddities, you certainly see some odd things blazed into the skin of drum corps.

Daily Dose 5/7

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig. Once more I will dance the trick jig that attempts to combine the grace and elegance of drum and bugle corps with the wild craziness of the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. I will use all of my flexibility and skill as a rhetorical dancer (which barely exists at all) to try and use quotes from a comedy blockbuster to illustrate some interesting aspects of drum corps life. I think I'm gonna pull something.

Today's Quote:
I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it. -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Among those questions you could ask after watching a drum corps show, some fall into a category of "almost never occurring to someone straight off, but seeming blatantly obvious once it dawns on you". One question it took me a long time to ask after seeing a show with nearly a hundred people carrying around instruments, waving flags, dancing with props whilst wearing coordinated uniforms was "where do they put all that stuff"? Drum corps have to tour across the country during the competition season. This means they also have to bring along tons and tons of equipment. The corps members themselves, the professional staff who instruct the corps and design the show, and all the supporting parents ride on buses. They have limits on how much luggage they can bring so that they can fit all these people and all their things onto a few charter buses. Then they have a massive trailer (usually an 18 wheeler) to carry all of their equipment from instruments to flags to uniforms to all the gear they use during rehearsals. then you have to feed everyone so there is usually a dedicated vehicle just for carting food around and preparing meals, sometimes nicknamed the chuck truck. Each and every drum and bugle corps requires a convoy of vehicles just to stay up and running. The sheer tonnage of gear involved with a drum corps often means that one of the biggest parts of a corps day is just managing it all. Trying to take a drum corps on tour is almost comparable to mounting some kind of low grade military deployment except instead of invading France you're trying to craft and perfect a musical performance. I have mentioned that life in a drum crops requires a grueling amount of effort on the field, but off the field its still very demanding.

DCI Classic Countdown 2007- Running Diary

As I so rarely get a chance to actually take part in a drum corps related activity, I like to make a big deal of it when it happens. So when I managed to finagle my schedule enough so I could make it to this year’s Classic Countdown from Drum Corps International –where fans of drum and bugle corps get to relive classic performances through archive footage shown for one night only in movie theaters across the county- I had to do something related to it to add into the blogosphere. After explaining to my wife that I would be abandoning her for the evening to do about the dorkiest thing she’s ever seen me do (though she seemed neither surprised nor upset that I would rather spend my evening chest deep no dorkdom than with here), I purchased my tickets and rushed to get a good seat. The event itself went down on April 26, 2007 at 7:30pm Eastern Time. Sorry if you missed it. What follows is my running log of my observations and impressions as they occurred.

7:15- I have made a conscious effort to arrive at the theater early to ensure I could get my choice of seats. In 2004 I went to DCI’s first “cine-cast” of their World Championship Quarterfinals and that theater was pretty packed. So if I want to find a place where I can comfortably stretch out and get enough ambient light to take notes, I figure I should be sure to beat the crowd.

7:18- Okay the crowds were not actually a problem. You probably could have guessed that. I’d thank you to stop you snickering.

7:20- I’m watching this show from the luxurious facilities of the Regal Cinemas at Brier Creek in Raleigh, NC (just in case anyone wanted to offer me some sponsorship dollars). Representatives from the local corps, Carolina Crown, sent some representatives to pass out post card sized advertisements for discounts on Crown tickets if we order early. Heck, if I knew there would be deals this sweet, I would have started coming to these Classic Countdowns sooner.

7:29- Instead of the traditional preshow entertainment you get at the cinema like movie trailers or even commercials, we are stuck watching a little animation loop with a grating light jazz ditty playing in the background. It may have already driven me insane.

7:30- Thank God the show started just before I tore off my own ears. We first get a pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy of those corps considered for this countdown. I don’t know if this pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy was assembled in any real order because it doesn’t seem to be chronological or alphabetical. Maybe it was done by how the shows did in the online poll that determined what I’ll be watching tonight. I’m starting to think I maybe should have voted in that.

7:33- As the pre-mini-countdown-rundown-thingy continues I wonder if the new DCI slogan “marching music’s major league” is going to do anyone any good. No outsider knows what they mean by “marching music”, and the comparison to baseball’s major league is completely off the mark. I’m sure Bands of America would love to be considered some second-rate puppet organization to Drum Corps International.

7:35- Seeing a clip of this show reminds me, does it bother anyone else that the Cavalier’s 2003 World Championship show is best known for a moment that includes no real marching and almost no music?

7:39- Through the miracle of prerecording, Steve Rondinaro is welcoming us to the show from Pasadena and pimping the DCI Championships that coincidently will be held at the Rose Bowl this August.

7:40- We get our first full show of the night which means this is the show that placed eighth in the online poll

The Garfield Cadets, 1987- Selections from Appalachian Spring

7:40- Could we make Michael Cesario the drum corps version of John Madden complete with the rotund physique, the jovial attitude, and the tendency to ramble about obvious points. I think with the write marketing package we could make it happen.

7:41- The Cadets have “boisterous”, ballet-style male dancer which you just don’t see much for some bizarre reason.

7:45- I may not know all the history of every drum corps, but I have the unshakeable impression that we could put every Cadets show of the last 25 years into a figurative bag pull one out at random and have no idea which year it came from. I know there is something to be said for consistency and tradition, but come on.

7:48- This was the performance where the Cadets famously earned a perfect percussion score. The really interesting thing is that they seem to have done it not so much through flair or brilliance from the battery drums out on the field, but through precision and grace from the pit percussion sitting on the sidelines.

7:49- These may well be the worst color guard uniforms ever. They have big baggy dresses in garish colors and just a bit of a resemblance to bloody facial tissue.

7:50- What?! Did that company front just disappear than reappear? OMG!!1! It’s like magic! I am so glad Cesario told us to watch out for that moment.

The Bridgemen, 1980

7:51- Wait if the Bridgemen are the “clown princes” of drum corps, what does that make the Velvet Knights?

7:52- Not only could you not get away with a Bridgemem style show with all the zany stunts and gags, no way could you get away with their bright yellow rain slicker uniforms. Those things are hard on the eyes.

7:56- Never have I seen any man handle a costumed chicken with as much care as I saw that Bridgeman set down their mascot.

7:58- I catch myself tapping actually tapping my toes to “In the Stone”. I would never do that in real life. Curse you Bridgemen!

8:00- I am not nearly as shocked with the guy in the bright red clown wig as I am that all the featured horn players look like rejects from the Electric Light Orchestra.(At this point you’re probably starting to wonder if we were passing around psychotropic substances in the theater. No, I assure you this is just what the Bridgemen are always like.)

8:02- In my day job I’m teaching middle schoolers about the Civil War. I think I might be able to use the last section of this show, titled “War Between the States” as a teaching tool if I can get it past the school board.

Star of Indiana, 1993- The Music of Barber and Bartok

8:06- When Cesario mentioned that this show was controversial in its time, it made me proud that drum corps in some small way shared in the proud artistic tradition of stirring public debate and discomfort, like Elvis Presley, Catcher in the Rye, and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

8:07- Of course they talk about how odd it was that this show went from being polemic when it first appeard to becoming a cult favorite of drum corps fans today. Ummm, didn’t they want to note that Blast! incorporated huge chunks of this show into their drum corps based Broadway show. So now drum corps fans pretty much have to accept it into the mainstream since it has been offered up for mass consumption.

8:09- The plain and simple black tights the color guard are wearing prove that this show was designed by either a true minimalist or a true cheapskate.

8:12- The guard whips out the brightest most festive flags of the whole show during a passage of extremely subtle and muted music. Yeah, okay, now I’m starting to get why this was a controversial show. Plus the guard’s props and equipment have been weird all show. They’ve already used dowel rods and what looked like partial frames to IKEA furniture.

8:15- You can clearly hear someone from the audience scream “Go finish it!” as the show approaches its closing moments. Now that he mentions it with a nebulous show like this I can’t help but wonder how they end it with anything that looks or sounds like a grand finale.

Blue Devils, 1994- My Spanish Heart

8:19- I could listen to Michael Cesario describe things as “sensual” and “animalistic” all day. Really, just listen to that voice and tell me you wouldn’t love to hear a heavy set guy from New York describe the way you eat donuts as “sensual” and “animalistic”.

8:20- Just from watching the mist filled footage of this show I got the actual physical sensation of being in Foxboro stadium on that cool summer night. That’s what makes these Classic Countdowns such a great experience.

8:22- As the Blue Devils perform I could feel all the people in the theatre pick’em apart. As soon as they came on screen I could see everyone shift in their sheet to take a more aggressive posture. I keep hearing them make little comments and take digs about the show. I just can sense how much drum corps fans love to hate the Blue Devils. No doubt about it they are the Yankees of DCI, which just leaves the question of whether the Santa Clara Vanguard are the Red Sox or the Mets.

8:25- Not much to say about this show. It’s a classic show and a typical Blue Devils performance. What do you want from me? The Blue Devils are what we thought they were. They're what we thought they were. We watched them in prelims. I mean, who the hell takes the three rounds of the prelims like it's b.s.? We watched them the whole season, everybody played their show... the Blue Devils are who we thought they were! That’s why we let them take the damn field! Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their ass! But, they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!

8:30- Okay we get it BD the show’s title is “My Spanish Heart”. You’ve got like three different heart formations in your marching patterns and you have that constant heart beat in the background. It’s clearly a very heart themed show. We get it.

8:32- Now we have the mandatory pimping of Pasadena to appease the shows sponsors from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, because apparently its very difficult to get people to visit Southern California in the summer.

8:33- Hmmm, all the tourist attractions featured would fall under the Trivial Pursuit category of “Arts & Leisure” (Trivial Pursuit being the definitive guide for all questions of knowledge categorization). Apparently the sponsors from the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce don’t think drum corps fans would be interested in their vibrant lucha libre community.

The Cavalier, 2006- Machine

8:35- I’m pretty sure I heard people groan when this show was announced. Listen when you can get sick of watching recent shows after just a few viewing, I say that’s a good sign you need to retire to some old school mix tapes from Drum Corps World.

8:38- I complained that the Blue Devils 1994 show beat their motif into the ground, but they’ve got nothing on the 2006 Cavies. They incorporate machine like elements into every facet of the show including driving the symbolism into our skulls like a ruthlessly efficient industrial device.

8:40- Someone please tell me that I wasn’t the only one who saw those guard uniforms and thought of Captain Power. Come on, help me out Children of the Eighties.

8:44- I guess one advantage of an all male corps is that you can have all the members of your color guard do some pretty athletic stuff, like lifting each other off the field. I can’t help but wonder if the creator of Blades of Glory got their idea from DCI.

8:47- That show was like Return of the King it had about nine different places it could have stopped before its actual ending and been just as good.

The Phantom Regiment 2006- Faust

8:49- Well the fans voted the 2006 runner-up over the 2006 champion. Maybe this is why it is so hard to persuade fans of traditional sports that subjectively scored events like this, synchronized swimming, and ice dancing uphold the same pure competitive ideals of other sports with their Super Bowls and winner take all tournaments. Hear that college football. Subjectivity is bad.

8:53- With all the satanic imagery I’m surprised the people who protest the Harry Potter books weren’t all up in arms about a corps named after ghosts doing a show about a deal with the devil.

8:55- I don’t know if any corps has given us many pure brilliant brass moments through the years as Phantom.

8:56- One of those ultimate questions if you’re a drum corps fan is whether you prefer your Regiment in white or black uniforms. I’m for the all black look myself, though I don’t mind if you prefer the white. If you genuinely like their short lived khaki look though, don’t ever talk to me.

9:00- I guess that big guard outfit at the end was supposed to be an angel of some kind, but I thought it look more like a drag queen getup from Brazilian Carnival.

Madison Scouts, 1995- A Drum Corps Fan's Dream: A Day in the Life of a Bull Fighter

9:01- I remember this show as the definition of everything that’s great and flawed about the Madison Scouts. First they pick a show that’s meant to be raw masculinity and power, terrific choice for one of the few all male corps. However they played their biggest and best song “Bolero” by Ravel as their on-field warm-up before they can earn any points for their performance. Just to show how big, loud and manly they are they spend most of that year performing their show half-spent from the preshow. The ultimate example of blowing your wad to soon.

9:05- The sheer amount of testosterone dripping out of the Scouts as they blaze away on the field makes me think that for every upside of an all male corps the Cavs have shown us, we’ve seen a downside from the Scouts.

9:11- Watching the guard in their glittery matador outfits, I’m surprised they didn’t try to reenact a bloody bullfight somehow. I’m absolutely sure they tried.

Santa Clara Vanguard, 1989- Phantom of The Opera

9:15- Y’know I don’t think I’ll be able to enjoy our top corps’ performance as much now that Cesario has told us that its pretty much an edited repeat of their previous show. Didn’t anyone call shenanigans on this? How can you do okay one year then come back the next year with a director’s cut of the same show and be allowed to win the championship?

9:17- Boy if there has ever been a corps in need of a classic and definitive uniform it’s the Santa Clara Vanguard. Frankly, I’ve never liked any of their costumes, and I can’t help but think that that affected their general effect scores.

9:18- O.K. The eye patches to mimic the famous Phantom half-mask I get, but making the kids with glasses wear one is pretty bloody funny whether they wanted it to be or not.

9:20- DCI’s experiments in frame-in-frame set ups that show both the whole ensemble and the soloists were on display in his footage as the total train wrecks that they were.

9:24- “Music of the Night” has to put chills down your spine. I don’t care who you are. It is the only Andrew Lloyd Webber song I can stand, because it’s just that damn brilliant.

Overall Impressions- Not a bad evening out. I thought they were eight good performances, but not the all time greats they would have gone through at the earlier Classic Countdowns (which meant they couldn’t be used this year). I think getting another look at recent greats like the 2006 Phantom and Cavs were good, plus I think 1994 BD and 1989 SCV belong among the all-time Top 12, even if the vox populi disagrees.

Daily Dose 5/4

Many have tried to make drum and bugle corps an enticing source of entertainment to audiences nationwide and many have failed. I look to join those many (in the trying not the failing) with my attempts to link quotes from the movie The 40 Year Virgin (unsuitable for audience with common decency) with the crazy world of marching and music that drum corps represents.

Today's Quote:
I should pull up the hardwood to see if there's carpet underneath. No. That's never the case. -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
With every drum corps show you are going to have a lot going on. The musicians will be pounding out incredible music while trying to move with the skill and precision of dancers as the color guard has to actually dance with many props, flags, and other pieces of equipment. The judges will be either walking on the field or up in the stands watching the most minute details and carefully calculating the score. The audience will be cheering the performance and pushing the corps to take it to that next level while also hypnotized by the sheer artistic wonder.
With all this going on an important factor in drum corps performance can be easy to overlook even though its right in front of your eyes the whole time: the field itself. Just as sports teams have to adapt their game plans to the type of surface they plan on or the conditions of that surface, so to do drum corps have to deal with all kinds of challenges originating under the soles of their shoes. Whether its grass, mud, Astroturf, or gravel each surface has unique and special properties that the marchers must respond to. If they don't add a little more effort when marching through mud they'll fall behind and ruin the show. If they don't take care on wet 'turf they could seriously injure themselves. The whole idea of marching music is to take music out of the concert halls, clubs, and dance halls and move it out into the elements. Give music room to move and stretch and it becomes exponentially powerful. Ask performers to continue playing symphony level music while they haul their gear back and forth in all sorts of weather and their job becomes exponentially more difficult. A drum corps has to be mindful of all the little tricks a field can play on their feet. If they go out expecting grass and find dirt their whole show could go wrong. So it certainly pays to consider what happens underfoot.

Daily Dose 5/3

I'm dishing out another serving of my delectable casserole that combines the salty comedy of the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin with the sweet music and movement found in drum and bugle corps. With any luck the movie quotations will help to lure casual browsers into potential drum corps fandom.

Today's Quote:
Gandhi baked is good. I always feel bad when I watch it baked because I get really hungry and I'm eating a lot and poor Gandhi is starving his ass off. -Cal

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
This may only be a personal sentiment, but sometimes I feel a little guilty watching a drum corps show. As I have said before on this blog I was never a member of any drum corps, so I cannot pretend to truly understand the hard work and sacrifice these performers put into each show. I have been friends with people in drum corps I managed to dangle my foot in the waters of auditioning before life drew me back out. While I enjoy every opportunity I have to see marching music at its best. I always feel like I missed out on the ability to get an insider's perspective. I will never be able to understand the ins and outs of drum corps life as well as those who actually marched. I can sympathize with the effort I see on the field, but I don't really know what it feels like. I can't change any of that now of course. Yet I sometimes get that pang of remorse or that little niggling sense that I am an outsider inside a special private club. That is why from time to time I will try to bring in guests to this blog. But that's also why I know drum corps because can reach a larger audience. It doesn't matter if someone has marched before or not. We can all join in the glory of drum corps together.

Bonus Mainstream Media Alert:
Some sad news today in the world of the marching arts as Elizabeth Forward High School's drum corps was in an accident on their way to an event. It seems as though no one was seriously injured so everyone involved is counting their blessings. It is a reminder before the DCI competition season begins that each person in a drum corps has to leave their life behind for several months. It's almost always a fantastic adventure well worth the trouble, but sometimes lives can change during that journey. Here's hoping that everyone makes it through this season just fine and we all remember how quickly things can change.

Daily Dose: 5/2

Much like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon show, I am totally committed to my hair-brained scheme to draw in more fans to drum corps. I am diabolically attempting to connect the hilarious (if crude) movie The 40 Year Old Virgin if the amazing (if obscure) art of people marching around a field with brass instruments and drums. Perhaps my bizarre hybrid will conquer the entertainment world, or possibly eat me in an ironic but predictable conclusion.

Today's Quote:
He's performing a public colonoscopy. Isn't that sweet? -Paula

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Last time I wrote about how I find the scale of drum corps an exciting and impressive aspect of the activity. While seeing more than a hundred performers march and play as one is a stunning and powerful experience, it also requires an amazing amount of precision and focus on the part of every person on that field. If ever a member makes a mistake during the performance, the visceral thrill of watching a mob of people move in one direction and play one chord quickly becomes the sad comedy of one person moving in the wrong direction and playing the wrong note. This means that though the power of a drum corps is in its size, its efficacy depends on each individual. If you watch drum corps for any reason you have to appreciate the fact that all the members have to be working together precisely or else one of them could have the most embarrassing moment of their young lives. An example I have witnessed came at a midsummer drum corps show in my home state of Ohio. At this point in the competition season corps are usually pretty set in their shows and are working on perfecting the performance and taking it to that next level. So any mistake is going to be pretty glaring. The Crossmen were on the field and playing Frank Ticheli's wonderful piece "Blue Shades". This music starts with a very difficult section where all the musicians must play a series of syncopated notes with long pauses in between while marching back and forth at high speeds. Bop-bop. PAAAAAAUSE. Bop. PAUSE Be-bop.They we're doing great. Be-bop bop. Until everyone hit one note Bop went into their pause then one player played one note all by him/herself. *beep* You could feel everyone in the stands whince as all the fans said "oooh" as our hearts broke for the poor little guy/gal. So appreciate how difficult drum corps can be. These people have to work hard, because if they don't their every mistake will feel like a public colonoscopy.

Daily Dose 5/1

Once more into the breach of the regular feature where I combine my interest in drum and bugle corps with the widely beloved movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. With any luck by describing drum corps with quotes for a blockbuster I'll be able to draw in a few extra people into the drum corps fold.

Today's Quote:
And now, I'm making your silver pants blue. -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
One of drum corps most vulnerable aspect are the goofy costumes people see the members wearing. Marching bands are usually donned in some sort of brightly colored pseudo-militaristic garb that always looks incredibly dorky in close-up photographs. Ever since Elvis Presley and the triumph of rock as America's choice of popular music, people have grown accustomed to thinking of music as an individual activity. Our image of a musician is a rock star or pop singer not a member of an orchestra or a girl marching around a field with a trumpet. This seems a little regressive to me, since for centuries music was built around the idea of collaboration and harmonizing diverse voices. Pop music has made us latch onto the model of the solo voice. I think we've gotten some wonderful music out of the last several decades. I'm just concerned it has thrown off our sense of scale. No, drum corps does not work on an individual scale, but not all great music has to. Sometimes music should be grand and immense and meant to be seen from great distances. Modern rock tours have to bring in giant speakers, TV's, pyrotechnics, props, sets and special effects to make the audience feel like they're watching something special. With drum corps all you really need are the performers, their instruments and some empty space and you can put on something huge. Blue and silver pants aren't going to win you many fans, but watching hundreds of blue and silver legs dart in and out with tremendous precision and speed will.

Daily Dose 4/30

Another in my increasingly ingratiating attempts to combine the goodness of drum corps with the quotable fun of the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin in the hopes of giving my favorite form of musical performance a more appealing veneer for the uninitiated.

Today's Quote:
Yeah, you should definitely tell her, because I saw this movie called "Liar Liar" and the message was, "Don't lie."And that was a smart movie. -Cal


What does this have to do with drum corps?:
When any enthusiast tries to persuade someone to venture into their chosen past time, they try to play a careful game of salesmanship. You want to persuade someone that there is a lot to be excited about, but you don't want to come across as a geek or fanatic. Often when members of cult fan bases attempt to appeal to a general audience they try to play it "cool". They will try to soften their enthusiasm and give you a polished version of the truth. Describing the activities using half truths and artful euphemisms, these well meaning souls hope to persuade their audience, but ultimately mislead them. It doesn't do me or anyone else any good to try and convince you that drum and bugle corps is any thing other than what it is: a hyperactive relative of marching bands with a very specific appeal and a very limited audience. I don't deny these are facts as the situation currently stands. However, I do hope to change those facts by opening eyes to the wonder of marching music. To do this I will be honest about drum corps in all its successes and failings, because only when my audience can trust me will they be willing to try something based on my recommendation. Therefore you will notice that this blog never attempts to sell drum corps as anything than what it is. I don't want you to go to a drum corps show expecting a rock concert. I want you to realize that if you like rock concerts there might be something worth seeing at a drum corps show. I will be an honest ambassador for the activity I enjoy so much, so long as my audience is honest with me in return, and I encourage all other drum corps fans to do the same. This blog is not a sales pitch it is a celebration. I don't want you to buy into drum corps. I want you to join the party.

Daily Dose 4/27

Let's take another spin around the carousel where I try to make awkward and strained comparisons between the world of drum and bugle corps and the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. My hope is that the use of popular movie quotes will help people understand the beauty and wonder of drum corps even if they've never seen a drum corps perform before.

Today's Quote:
They're not %$#&ing toys! This is Ironman, okay? -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
When an activity involves bright costumes, musical instruments, and a lot of colorful flags it can be hard to get people to treat it seriously. Since the easiest thing for most people to compare drum corps to is marching band and most people associate marching bands with high school football, most people will blow off drum corps as something for children. While I emphasized in yesterday's Daily Dose that this is an activity geared for youth, people of all ages can appreciate it. It takes a mature mind to truly appreciate all of the artistic beauty that's poured into every show. You have to have a developed sense of timing and detail to appreciate the precision and athleticism involved in the marching and movements of the performers. Just like fine food and top of the line products need a certain aesthetic sense to be appreciated fully, it takes a grown person to really love a drum corps show. This should not be taken to mean that only adults would like watching a drum corps shows. With all of the roaring music, rapid motion, and sweeping spectacle these corps put on the field a person of any age can have fun at a show. Even though I don't recommend the movie I quote as family friendly, a drum corps show will always been a fun and special evening out for the family. So come one come all drum corps is the kid friendly show that's not just for kids.

Daily Dose 4/26

Wilkommen, to today's edition of my effort to bring new people into the drum corps fold by using the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin to explain interesting details and tidbits from the world of drum corps.

Today's Quote:
Is it true that if you don't USE it you LOSE it? -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to with drum corps?:
Drum and bugle corps were turned into competition and performance groups in America in the 20th century with the goal of giving young boys and activity to keep them physically fit, involved in the community, and away from the temptations of delinquency. These corps were often the offshoots of other organizations like scout troops, police brigades, or military units to give the youth of the area a way to be involved in the sponsor group. Drum corps have always been first and foremost about providing a structured activity for young people. Though the corps have evolved and become mostly independent, they remain centered on teenagers. The modern corps are organized around a few principles and one of the most important is that drum corps should be an activity for the young. This is why there are age limits on who can participate in a drum corps from 14 to 22 years old. Though many may want to march with a corps for as long as they can it's only a short lived experience. If you don't make use of a year of eligibility to march in drum corps it is gone. This is why for those who turn 22 or "age out" their last year marching is always a bittersweet experience. Most corps try and do something special for those corps members who will take the field for the last time. I don't want to get into the rites and rituals each drum corps honors here, but I do want to emphasize that when you see a drum corps you are seeing a special slice of the members' lives. This is a special time for them and the fact that they spend it trying to entertain the audience is a very special thing. As an audience member knowing this has always made drum corps seem more powerful and poignant knowing that I'm watching someone's fond memories happen right in front of me and I hope you can experience that feeling the next time you see a corps perform.

SPECIAL UPDATE:
I will be attending the DCI Classic Countdown tonight. So watch this blog for special content directly related to the show. For everyone planning to go, I hope we all have a great time tonight. For those who aren't planning, what's wrong with you? Go and get your tickets already! it's in theaters everywhere. More info here.

Daily Dose 4/25

Welcome to my daily feature where I try to use the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin (which I do not endorse for anyone under the age of 37) to explain the ins and outs of drum and bugle corps for the uninitiated.

Today's Quote:
If I have to hear "Yamo Be There" one more time, I'm going to "Yamo" burn this place to the ground. -David

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
I have noticed an increasing trend for high school and college marching bands to rely on the same tired rock tunes for their half-time shows at football games. As this is the version of marching music most people are familiar with, it may be difficult for them to understand the appeal of a drum corps show. After all who wants to spend three hours watching and hearing the same tired ditties from Jefferson Airplane, Earth Wind & Fire, or the Allmond Brothers. While half time shows have become stagnant recycling sessions of the Time-Life "Greatest Hits of the "70's" collection, drum and bugle corps actually push the artistic envelope. No drum corps wants to be compared to someone else's performance of a song. Every corps works hard to find new and interesting music or at least new and interesting interpretations. Even though they draw from orchestral music they often use modern pieces by current composers. Sometimes they dig back for music from the past that people aren't as familiar with (i.e. it hasn't been used in a thousand movie soundtracks already). You even have a rising number of corps commission entirely original music for their performances. I am not guaranteeing that the music these groups play will appeal to you, but at least you have some assurance it won't be the same dull elevator rock you've heard dozens of times before.

The Daily Dose 4/24

Here comes a new installment in which I try to explain the intricate subtleties of drum corps using quotations for the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin. I think it's possible to get people new to the marching arts to better understand and appreciate drum and bugle corps if you jexplain it using something they already know and like.

Today's Quote:
There were two sides to that billboard, and they both hurt equally. -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to do with drum corps?:
Lots of recreational/competitive activities can be physically demanding, but you'd have hard time appreciating how much work being in a drum corps is without actually trying it yourself. Those instruments may not seem heavy at first but trying holding them up for ten to twelve minutes straight while maintaining rigid posture and running up and down a football field or soccer pitch. I bet you your arms will start to feel tired if you just hold them in front of you for one minute and that's without any added weight. Scientists have studied the biometrics of someone performing in a drum corps show and compared it to the physical effort required to run a marathon. Everyone who has to practice and perform in the summer sun has a legitimate right to complain, and I'm not making any claims about how drum corps compare to sports or other popular pursuits. I just think most people would have a greater appreciation for what they see a drum corps do on the field if they realized how much it hurts. The common perception is that athletics are all brutally demanding while anything to do with the arts or music is soft and weak. As someone who has lifted a horn and marched around that field I can assure you there is very little soft about it. The practices are generally even tougher than the performance because that's the only way to make sure the performers can survive the show. I hope to bring more first hand accounts of how hard these performers have to work and how much it can hurt to be in a drum corps as the year goes on.

BONUS- Mainstream media luv:
Some news articles out there are pumping up this week's big drum corps event, the Classic Countdown. Movie theaters around the U.S. will be showing some of the best drum corps shows of all time. If you're a fan this is a great way to support the central organization for drum corps in North America, Drum Corps International. If your new to the activity this can be a great way to get introduced to how drum corps has changed over the years. I'm desperately trying to fit it into my schedule, so I can share my experience with you.

The Daily Dose 4/23: Quick and Easy Drum Corps Facts

Since this drum corps blog is meant to be an experiment into outsider journalism about drum and bugle corps I thought it might be handy to use this space to help introduce those outside of drum corps to some of the interesting nuances of the activities. I figure I'll do this once a day (or at least once every weekday) until we get closer to the coverage and I can start using this space for coverage of competitions and links to real journalism. To try and make drum corps accessible and appealing to someone without a background in the marching arts, I will attempt to tie these little nuggets of info to something I know a lot of people already like. What better choice than a recent blockbuster hit like The 40 Year Old Virgin (not recommended viewing for families or those under the age of 17)? So for the next several weeks watch this space for my explanation of how a quotation from The 40 Year Old Virgin relates to some interesting aspect of drum corps life.

Today's Quote:
"What am I supposed to say? I went to magic camp. I am an accomplished ventriloquist. I am a seventh-degree imperial yo-yo master. Oh do me yo-yo master I want you to do me 'cause you're the yo-yo guy." -Andy Stitzer

What does this have to do with drum corps?
Sadly for most fans of the activity it's hard to explain to outsiders what makes drum and bugle corps such a thrill to participate in or just to watch. It always seems like your talking about some cult like society or a bizarre hobby. While it may contain elements of both it really isn't anything the average person isn't familiar with. A drum corps is really just like a marching bands except they only have brass instruments and percussion. There are no flutes, clarinets or saxaphones just horns. Really you don't even need to know much about music to understand the instruments used in corps, because everyone's familiar with how drum works and all the horns are variations on a trumpet. It's just like a marching band amped up on energy drinks and pumped up from a lot of weight lifting. And c'mon everybody can relate to that. What is more everyday Americana than a marching band. This isn't a freak show, this isn't a nerdish pursuit, this is good clean summer fun that everyone can enjoy.

Coming Attractions

I plan to spend the next several days/weeks leading up to the beginning of drum corps season proper finding nice pieces of content to add into this blog, trying to build up some contacts I can call upon to help my coverage over the season, and seeding the Internet with links back to this blog. In fact if you are stumbling across this blog as a result of one of those links: Hello! I am working hard to make this an actual web destination and will be bringing some real posting power, just as soon as I can figure out what to write about.
On that note I will share with you some of my specific plans. I would like to write up some preview material for the coming season. With dozens of corps touring North America in DCI alone I don't think I'll be able to bring comprehensive previews for everybody, but I want to at least hit the highlights. If I can fit the 2007 Classic Countdown into my schedule, I might have to go see that and write up review of the experience. I would love to interview youth who are going to be participating in a corps this season/have participated in one before and any member of a corps instructional staff. However, I realistically doubt I will be able to pull anything together before the season, so I will just try to do this when summer hit. I have a break down of drum corps for those uninitiated to the marching arts on the back burner, but I am working on compiling just the right set of clips from YouTube to make that work. Along with the standard collection of links to important drum corps sites that people are actively reading, I am setting up a system to scour the internet for any mention of drum and bugle corps, and I will try to bring you the freshest juiciest corps related links as they happen.
Enough with the teasing, you will hear from me again when I have something of value to share.

Watch This Space

As the drum corps season approaches, I am forming a vision of this blog's future. I am aspiring to bring the drum corps world a website they can come to for full season coverage and analysis. When I look for drum crops content on the web, I see some authoritative drum corps sites from the various organizations and individual corps, the general forums sites that serve the larger community and some personal sites that reflect one person's drum corps experiences. Or, I see sites that deal with marching arts or music and only tangentially or occasionally cover drum corps directly. I do not see much fan level content aimed at keeping things up to date and interesting. As such, this will be modeled to some degree off of the numerous sports blogs I have seen. These sports blogs can represent what is best about outsider journalism. They provide observations and opinions from people who may not have the direct access of participants or institutional journalists, but who do bring the level of passion, dedication, and insight you would expect from a devoted fan. So, I will state the following right out in the open, so no one can later say I didn't or claim that I tried to present this blog as anything other than what it is.

1. I am not a participant in any drum corps, junior, senior, alumni, or otherwise, nor have I ever marched with a drum corps. My perspective is that of a dedicated drum and bugle corps fan and a believer in the marching arts nothing more and nothing less.

2. I am neither a professional nor an aspiring journalist. I am not using this blog as a launching pad for a career. I am only interested in providing the best portal for drum corps information and insight I can. I want to create a website that will provide the drum corps fanbase with the sort of attention that sports fans can receive from countless websites. I want to give you the kind of website I would visit daily if I were a drum corps fan.

3. I do have a rooting interest in the world of DCI. It is for the only drum corps I have had any involvement in whatsoever The Glassmen of Toledo. When I am writing something that shows bias for this corps or shows me pulling for them in any way, know in advance that I am not entirely neutral. That having been said I have nothing for or against any of the other drum and bugle corps in the world. This is not a zero sum game, I can hope for the success of all corps. If your corps is doing well, I am glad for it. If your corps is doing poorly, I am sympathetic for it. I want to see the marching arts be as successful as they possibly can be and am mostly interested in seeing good shows and a good experience for the people involved.

4. I am not on expert on much so I will do my best to bring in others who know more than me about the ins and outs of a drum corps or about life on the road to share that information with you. I am never hiding behind anyone else or trying to duck out of doing something myself if I include any guest blogging. These people will be here to provide you with the best drum corps content you can find on the web.

5. If anyone is worried about this blog being as bloated and sluggish as my other blogs let me assure you I will try to be as concise and informative in my posts as possible.

6. If you are reading this I appreciate the time and attention you are showing. I know there are plenty of other things you could be spending your time on so I thank you for choosing me. I never want to forget that the only purpose this site has is to please the drum corps fans who visit it.

A blog for the miniscule community of drum and bugle corps fans

Hopefully this blog will develop into an outlet for my great interest in drum and bugle corps. I am still putting together a plan for how that passion of marching music will take shape. Hopefully I will have enough mental energy and free time to make this a useful resource for the literally dozens of drum corps fans out there. I realize there are other drum corps based websites out there, but I will endeavor to make this a special site to visit.