Jim Anello

Went to the show, my first of the year. Previously, saw Madison in a rehearsal last Wednesday in Whitewater. Scouts were much improved over what I saw in Whitewater. Articulation in the horn line was cleaner, and the visual was easier to read, All that said, I see them nip and tuck with Blue Stars all season. The visual during the percussion feature in Blue Stars' show - is that supposed to represent ringing the bell at a carnival? Cute idea, but the downside is that the corps returns to the same visual form three times in a row. What does that do for their visual analysis numbers? Otherwise, a lot to like for me. Was a bit surprised by Colts' score. Wonderful horn sound. The numbers don't reflect it, but this is the best Pioneer corps in years. Certainly the largest. No more small horn line getting buried by percussion. Guys in the guard with the ladies - quite a cultural change for them. Open Class has the most pleasant surprise and saddest disappointment. Most pleasant surprise - Genesis! A huge, young corps. Accessible music just a little over the kid's heads. Challenging, but not impossible. Good design decisions by their staff. Kids seemed to really enjoy performing their show. Bravo. Saddest disappointment? The Racine Scouts. Only four horns? Kudos to those guys for hanging in there, and my hope that they can pick up and retain some more horn players this summer. What happened to them over the season? Major staff changes? They were much bigger last season.

Thought I should add the non-drum corps portion of my musical background. My Dad played clarinet, alto and tenor sax, and flute in big dance bands, wind ensembles and concert bands starting in the late '30s until just before his death a few years back. One of his bands opened for Stan Kenton back in the day. One of my uncles was co-founder of the Florentine Opera Company, which is the largest opera company in Milwaukee. Both my Dad and my Uncle Ned sang in the chorus. I think I was roughly 10-12 years old when I saw my first opera. Before my brief stint with the Kilties, I played in youth bands here in the Milwaukee area, which was very big in the '60s.

I marched very briefly with the Kilties in 1970. Younger brother#1 marched the full 1970 season with the Kilties and was also drum major of the Mariners. Younger brother#2 marched with the 1978-79 Kilties and with the 1982-83 Madison Scouts.

You have a different recollection than I do. I remember going to shows at Lambeau in the late '70s. The sound is not good in that stadium. Too much echo. I would prefer a stadium that is a natural bowl, a la Whitewater. But, a side tour of the Packer Hall of Fame would be nice.

I'm fairly sure they went back at least to the mid-'70s. If I recall correctly, both '75 Madison and '76 Blue Devils did encores.

Edited.

I'm surprised it hasn't been noted in DCP, but I'm seeing multiple notices on FB that Glenn Opie recently passed away. I never met him, and I'd be very interested in learning more about him.

Just stumbled onto this thread, and really liked the stories about the 1965 Royal Airs. While I had heard corps in 1964 and 1965, the first memories of corps that stuck with me were from 1966. I had heard the Wisconsin corps a lot, and I thought they were quite good. Then, I went to the Midwest Dream at old Marquette Stadium in Milwaukee and saw the Cavies for the first time. My goodness! Just another league entirely. No Wisconsin corps that year marched or played with the presence that they did. Later that year, I was fortunate enough to attend VFW Nationals at Roosevelt Stadium, with the now famous I.C. Reveries sit-in. . My first viewing of the Troopers. The crowd went crazy for them. Another favorite memory was also at Marquette Stadium in 1970. I had marched briefly with the Kilties at the beginning of the season, but I had to drop out because I needed to work for college. I had heard all the Midwest corps, and I knew what to expect from them. But, I wasn't ready for Santa Clara when they shocked the world and knocked the Troopers out of the unbeaten ranks. Their opener, Festive Overture going into Procession of the Nobles, was spectacular. What a breath of fresh air! Lots of good times and good performances in Wisconsin were at Horlick Field in Racine. Perhaps my favorite memory at that field was in 1977 when the Bridgemen took 1st place, and then performed a stand-still encore. I'm surprised the stands remained in one piece after that. I was in my 20s when DCI started, and a student at Whitewater. '72 and '73 were great days. Corps were sprinkled all across campus and at the high school. It was a drum corps fan's dream. Pack a cooler of beer and "window shop" drum corps run throughs. Watch the '73 Blue Stars do a run-through, walk fifty yards to the next field, and Hawthorne was lined up and ready to go. After that, walk to the nearby pizza joint to have beers and pizza with staff and members from 2-7, Muchachos and Bridgemen. Just tremendous. I close with this memory from '75 US Open. It was my first chance to see the Oakland Crusaders, and I had absolutely no idea what to expect. As they were playing a warm-up of Send in the Clowns to the back side of the stadium, a fan was doing a lap on the track waving a Canadian flag, which really pumped up the crowd. Then Joel Alleyne started the corps in Swan Lake at an insane tempo. They were simply relentless! I was beat just watching them. Then Madison came on the field and pushed the stands back a few feet with the opening fanfare of Slaughter. Wow! So many good memories

As always, thanks for doing this, Hostrauser!

Can't speak for changing brass lines mid year, but there have been instances where corps have been forced to borrow another corps' instruments due to emergencies involving equipment trucks. The one that comes to mind is North Star in the late 70s.

Thanks for the review. Question: so what did your friends think after their introduction to drum corps?

I would worry more about drivers and teachers using something stronger than coffee, Red Bull, or No-Doze to get through those long cross country night drives. I include the teachers because they could well lose sleep while going through the tapes, planning changes, planning the next practice day, and so on.

Not from this fan! Seriously, I think this is the best vehicle they've had since Carmen.

Here, Here!! Couldn't agree more. Best vehicle Madison's had in many years.

Thanks so much for doing this. I look forward to your rankings and analysis each week.