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Interesting development from the case. The judge appears to be dismissing “The Garfield Cadets” for lack of prosecution. I don’t pay for the legal website service so I can’t see the entire document. Not sure if this is just a formality since the Garfield Cadets don’t technically exist anymore so they’re just cleaning up the parties listed or the case is being dropped in full.

Yes the good old days of PBS.

My literal introduction to DCI. BD was just starting on the PBS broadcast as I was channel surfing and seeing them glide across the field stopped me in my tracks — plus I knew the music! Taxi Driver, unforgettable.

Brother you should see the parents in Little League Football. Ten year olds playing on the field, with parents acting like nine year olds in the stands. And Lord help you if you have to deal with the parents who think their kid is the next Joe Montana, and can't understand why their son isn't above reproach, and why he isn't getting superstar treatment from the coaches.

"The Worst Band Parents Ever" Jeff was really young when a lot of this happened so I'm not sure how much he knows about. The HS no longer exists. It was merged into another school in Central Pennsylvania. in the late 70's it was arguably the finest small marching band in the country (under 50-60 musicians) with a really great Director- very kind, developed talent from his students. Never a problem then that anyone heard of. His son was also fantastic, ended up in the Crossmen HoF. He gets a job offer @1980 for a school that has a good program with three times the kids and offers him twice what he's currently paid. He leaves and turns that program into a Wrecking Ball in Pennsylvania for the next 15 or so years. That's when things go bad. They hire an individual right out of college, my guess was to save money. They weren't bad, they weren't a bad person, they weren't untalented but who could really replace this guy right out of college? The band came down to earth and other bands started to beat them. After about two years the Parents rioted and had the District get rid of them before they got tenure. They then managed to hire an experienced guy, who was also a really good and decent fellow, who already had led a pretty successful program. He manages to dig them out of the hole but after about two years, he ends up with stress related illnesses and runs to another program where he takes that program and makes it flourish. The word on the street was the parents drove him to near insanity. He was a lot happier when he got out of there. You could see the relief on his face. They then managed to find someone who had things figured out. They brought in a very good design team and their shows were very airtight and complimentary. The total packages were fantastic, and that's what kept them above everyone. Here's where things unravel. Sometime in the late 80's, the Circuit Championship had to be held indoors at Carlisle HS. Wind gusts in excess of 50 MPH, ice all over everything, and wind chill factors well below Zero. Their parents lose their minds. Standstill contest, no drill, they know that they're losing their major asset of having a total show. I'm working the floor entrance. They lose to someone who better handled the situation. Kids from this band are crying, The Band Parents are flipping out and outraged making all sorts of comments that this show should have been held outside. I glared at them and said, "Your children aren't gladiators." The loudest mouthed parent is obviously thinking of starting something, and I was ready to slug it out. This guy is older. Word on the street a lot of those Boosters hadn't had children in that band for years and pretty much ran the show anyway. The Circuit commissioner gets an "AxxHxxe Certificate" in the mail with no return address. It wasn't hard to figure out the likely culprits. I didn't hear any other complaints from the other competitors. This director leaves. Word on the street was they had enough of the Parents, especially after their obnoxious behavior in public, and the fit the kids had. The job comes open again. I need a job. Dad encourages me. I tell him what's going on. He helps me with a cover letter to the HS Principal stating basically that "The word on the street is that your Band Parents are out of control, and that they interfere with the director's ability to direct the program as they see fit to direct the program as professional educators. As the principal, you'd be my boss. If the Parents get out of line, will you have my back and get these parents under control?" Needless to say, I didn't get an interview. They find a decent guy but by now the program's a wreck and he's pulling every stunt in the book like having suspended cymbals "WOOOSH!" ing at the end of nearly very phrase to try and mask that they can't end a phrase together. They're down to 16 musicians (including percussion) trying to play 8 note chords. The same old big-mouthed clown who hadn't had a kid in the band for years and nearly beat on me over the gladiator comment nearly attacked me for pointing these things out quietly to someone within his earshot once. The whole mess died when they merged with their next-door rivals. Because of the hatred that both schools had for each other, and the parents had for each other, all their sports programs and extracurricular activities crapped out and haven't recovered 35 years later. So, that's the story of the Worst Band Parents Ever. Obsessed with winning over education taking place and wanting to send their kids on an icy field in 40+mph wind gusts and sub-zero Wind chill. And I frankly don't feel bad for them. I do feel bad for a generation of kids that need an activity like this to get them out of the depressed little town they live in and deserve better.

One of my fellow Chiefs I was stationed with in San Diego was a volunteer coach for Pop Warner football. One day he asked me if I wanted to volunteer to coach. I told him no I couldn't handle it and would end up choke slamming someone thru the bleachers. He laughs and says "Bro the kids aren't that bad".........my response.........."I wasn't talking about the kids, I was talking about the parents".

Btw, conductor Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Phil are releasing a CD called Dalia's Mixtape, which will include an orchestral version of Nautilus by Anna Meredith, which you may remember from Bluecoats 2022. (And they followed up with her tune Bump last summer)

Rumor has it that everyone is actually marching with contras this season.

Well the one show I am GLAD to have been at was 1982 DCM finals and the runoff between Phantom and Madison.

This video falls into the "can you name that corps" category. That's my brother as Boston's DM. White shako. I have the finals on iTunes including the classic scores by Tony S., who is in the video saluting. Boston was the highest placed corps from the East, even though they were 11th in M&M.

Man, on that one. I used to officiate flag, peewee, junior high, and some high school football. The day I knew I needed to quit was when I was officiating a 11-12 year old tackle football game. This kid kept going down injured and then would come back in 2 plays later. We as officials had no power to stop the kid from coming back in but I asked a coach what's going on. The coach said the kid basically had no cartilage left in his knee but his dad is forcing him to play and putting pressure on the coaches to play him (apparently he was high enough in the organization to get away with it). That, that day was the day I told my wife I was basically done and quit doing peewee immediately and then all officiating a year later. To this day I don't regret the decision. Some parents just ruin it for everyone.

No lies detected. That’s why Jim quit coaching football. The parents were terrible.

Bluecoats 2015. I had seen the show on video and was disappointed because I compared it to their 2014 show which I loved. But when I saw it live in Houston I was completely blown away. It was a show that you absolutely had to see live. It's still one of my all time favorite shows.

Cadets 1991 show introduced me to "A Short Ride in a Fast Machine". I became huge fan of John Adams after that. Bluecoats 2014 Hymn to Axiom introduced me to Vienna Teng's library. I don't think I would have fell in love with the music of Copeland or Bernstein to the degree I have without The Cadets.

Indeed, and both pre-date DCI. My first hearing of Debussy's Clair de Lune took place the night I joined the Sunrisers in '63. John Sasso's chart was spectacular and, the cursed mellophone not yet invented, the score was enhanced by 8 glorious, heavenly French Horns! A bit later, I heard the Verdi Requiem for the first time, courtesy of Red Winzer's pen and the Reading Bucs. The generation before me witnessed Commonwealth Edison playing Wagner, ... it goes on and on. Drum Corps served to introduce many of us unwashed to the wonders of musical styles we would not have otherwise experienced. It's been happening for over 100 years!

I like this version. I'll admit I don't really enjoy listening to Anna Meredith much. It makes for great DCI source music but its not for my playlist..lol. I think the music needs to be combined with visuals to be effective. Just my opinion. I know this tune popped up in an iPhone commercial recently. It was perfect for that too.

Shhhh

Thank you! It also reminds me of Skeletor from Masters of the Universe (He Man) movie from last century too.

BEEF!

For us, it was the smell of all the surrounding farms since we were in the middle of nowhere west of Toledo. Cows would literally watch us rehearse.

I knew it - someone's finally doing a Flash Gordon show! Mike

I was in Bloomington that night. Drove all the way back to SC after Finals. It was my last live DCI show. I wish I'd seen any of the finalist corps live from 83-87. It was an amazing time for drum corps, but I've been lucky to have seen enough live shows from either marching or teaching to be thankful for those experiences.

It’s not just band parents. There are also science parents who can’t understand why their kid’s volcano didn’t win a Nobel Prize.

and amazingly YEA didn't run it

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=932875491834080&set=a.519193453202288&type=3 they just changed their Facebook photo. Curious…

Tuba!!!!!! Lol! Thank you for the awesome update!

I was surprised at how popular they are here. They’d always sell out in the Chicago area when I’d go but they did in Ocala, too. Must be the The Villages people 😂

You are not lying about the band moms out here in SoCal. Especially the three-way rivalry between the SoCal powerhouses Vista Murrieta, Chino Hills, and Ayala. There were times where I thought the three should just have a Triple Threat Match at WWE SummerSlam lol. But here is a hilarious story about some band moms I encountered. Back in October 2019, my son was in his sophomore year with the Vista Murrieta band, and they were hosting a competition, Of course Chino Hills and Ayala were there for the big showdown. Anyhow, during the intermission between 3A and 4A, there were some band moms from another 5A competing band sitting in front of me. Not going to lie, they were giving off the "Entitled Karen Vibe". So eventually their discussion veered toward drum corps, and one of the mom's (we'll call her son Johnny) says "OMG! Johnny dragged me to one of those drum corps shows at the Rose Bowl a few months ago, and honestly I wasn't impressed with any of those corps. I mean our kids high school band COULD TOTALLY COMPETE AND BEAT ALL THOSE CORPS". Keep in mind when she went to the Rose Bowl, she saw the eventual champion Ghostlight, Bronze Medalist Vox Eversio, and phenomenal shows like Wrong Side of the Tracks, Everglow, and subTerra from Cavies, PC, and Mandarins to name a few. And to top it off, the other moms just chimed in and started agreeing with her (mob mentality) that their kids were totally world class level, and there was no difference between high school band and drum corps. I couldn't help it and laughed out loud, they turned and looked at me, but I passed it off as I was laughing at something else as it would have been a no-win situation getting into it with them. Another guy near us looked at them, and just shook his head lol. So naturally when their kids band came on the field, I was hype and ready to see a historic performance considering these kids could allegedly beat BD head-to-head. Uh yea....................no. They ended up dead last in 5A and got waxed by the competition. Another lesson in its ok to root and support your kids and think they are great, but on the flip side, learn to keep things in reality and know there are levels to this. Lol.

I was the same. When I was a 13 y/o rookie, I'd never owned a classical or jazz album. By the time I was 18, I must have had 100 of them. I see Tower of Power mentioned a couple of times here. 👍