KeithHall Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 I loved traveling from Marion to Butler. For our corps, it was our "tour" plus we got to watch the top corps perform. Seeing Blue Rock, Garfield, Anaheim, Racine Scouts, Purple Lancers, etc for the first time was incredible! I remember Garfield finishing their show and hanging around the concession stand and being in awe of them. Saw a young Blue Devils rehearsing in Marion, was it 73 or 74? We were walking around and we heard a corps practicing so we found them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabMaster Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin, you never came out the way you went in. Manning Bowl in Lynn was an iconic stadium for drum corps in the northeast. It was the home of the World Open. It was in a neighborhood, had little to no parking available. It was a mess for corps trucks and busses to deal with. The acoustics were terrible for competing corps with a backfield set of stands that would bounce sound all over, creating a horrible echo. The bathrooms were to be avoided and lighting was bad too and then you often times had the sound of passing jets heading in or out of Logan Airport because the stadium was directly under the flight path. Listen to old recordings and you'll hear passing jets drown out a corps performance. BUT as bad as all that was; a show there, was always an event not to be missed. Local drum corps kids grew up performing there. It was a virtual who's who of drum corps and drum corps attendees. It was oddly magical. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Marion was great as the neighbors allowed the corps on their front lawns to warm up. One thing that stands out for me...while on staff with the Rochester Patriots, a couple of us were walking on the street adjacent to the stadium and staff members from Mandarin came up and started talking to us. That was what drum corps was all about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 5, 2016 Share Posted March 5, 2016 Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin, you never came out the way you went in. Manning Bowl in Lynn was an iconic stadium for drum corps in the northeast. It was the home of the World Open. It was in a neighborhood, had little to no parking available. It was a mess for corps trucks and busses to deal with. The acoustics were terrible for competing corps with a backfield set of stands that would bounce sound all over, creating a horrible echo. The bathrooms were to be avoided and lighting was bad too and then you often times had the sound of passing jets heading in or out of Logan Airport because the stadium was directly under the flight path. Listen to old recordings and you'll hear passing jets drown out a corps performance. BUT as bad as all that was; a show there, was always an event not to be missed. Local drum corps kids grew up performing there. It was a virtual who's who of drum corps and drum corps attendees. It was oddly magical. What is cool is that the 1971 WO at the Manning bowl is preserved on DVD thanks to the Haas family. I bought the 3-DVD set of the entire show from them at drumcorpsvideos.com. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I loved traveling from Marion to Butler. For our corps, it was our "tour" plus we got to watch the top corps perform. Seeing Blue Rock, Garfield, Anaheim, Racine Scouts, Purple Lancers, etc for the first time was incredible! I remember Garfield finishing their show and hanging around the concession stand and being in awe of them. Saw a young Blue Devils rehearsing in Marion, was it 73 or 74? We were walking around and we heard a corps practicing so we found them. First time I saw the Blue Devils was at the 1973 U.S. Open parade. I've been a fan ever since!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucbari Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 What is cool is that the 1971 WO at the Manning bowl is preserved on DVD thanks to the Haas family. I bought the 3-DVD set of the entire show from them at drumcorpsvideos.com. . Mike I happen to think that may have been the most competitive show ever in the history of drum corps. I have said before you could have run a show with the groups 13-20 and had a fantastic night. 71 of course there were more national shows. Just think, Blue Rock won CYOs and US Open, 27 won the World Open, Vanguard won VFWs, and Argonne won American Legion Nationals and they all were competing against each other at the World Open in 71. What an incredible show Fran, please confirm did we sneak into the World Open in 71? I remember sitting on the aisle because we didn't buy a ticket. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 (edited) Mike I happen to think that may have been the most competitive show ever in the history of drum corps. I have said before you could have run a show with the groups 13-20 and had a fantastic night. 71 of course there were more national shows. Just think, Blue Rock won CYOs and US Open, 27 won the World Open, Vanguard won VFWs, and Argonne won American Legion Nationals and they all were competing against each other at the World Open in 71. What an incredible show Fran, please confirm did we sneak into the World Open in 71? I remember sitting on the aisle because we didn't buy a ticket. I do remember us sitting in an aisle watching a big show that summer... the WO very well might have been it. And not paying to get in.... that was not uncommon for us back then!!! LOL You're right... that was a great show in Lynn that weekend. All the big guns in one place. Like you said.... several great corps didn't even make finals. Edited March 19, 2016 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Mike I happen to think that may have been the most competitive show ever in the history of drum corps. I have said before you could have run a show with the groups 13-20 and had a fantastic night. 71 of course there were more national shows. Just think, Blue Rock won CYOs and US Open, 27 won the World Open, Vanguard won VFWs, and Argonne won American Legion Nationals and they all were competing against each other at the World Open in 71. What an incredible show Fran, please confirm did we sneak into the World Open in 71? I remember sitting on the aisle because we didn't buy a ticket. I agree. While we (Garfield) were not going to be in the top 5, coming in 6th was a real accomplishment for us at the show. We were a VERY young group of members overall, esp the drumline. Between 6th-8th, the three of us with "total show themes"(us, Cavies and Madison) were separated by 5 tenths. 1st - 4th had less than a point spread at finals. That was a great weekend, starting with the CYO, then the WO and many sticking around for the Danny Thomas (we did not), all in one long weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I do remember us sitting in an aisle watching a big show that summer... the WO very well might have been it. And not paying to get in.... that was not uncommon for us back then!!! LOL You're right... that was a great show in Lynn that weekend. All the big guns in one place. Heck, several great corps didn't even make finals. BS came in 12th, and 12 made finals, but as defending champs the Troopers did not compete in prelims, BS missed the cut, as did the Brassmen, CMCC Warriors, Bon bons and St Andrew's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) "Competitive Season" 1964 comes to mind. Boston Crusaders won CYO (The inaugural), St Kevins Emerald Knights (In a GREAT late season comeback) won the National Dream, Racine Kilties won VFW, (Talk about an "Upset"), Chicago Royal Airs won the World's Fair Championship, Chicago Cavaliers won the World Open., and Garfield Cadets won the Legion Nationals. All of the above competed against each other at the VFW Nationals, and several other contests prior to and after the Veterans Championship. As far as "Knock down drag Nationals prelims" go, 1964, 66 and 1969 were spectacular. Great memories. Elphaba WWW Edited March 18, 2016 by elphaba01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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