BigW

Hopefully will catch you at Scranton, Reading, or both.

The show was what is should have been, a real "halo" DCA season event like it has been for decades. Matt's a good guy, and I'm glad you had a good experience in PA.

The Godspell piece was a staple of the WCU repertoire BITD, and I had the pleasure of performing it. Was really cool- the GRMB sang, and since I was on tuba, I got to play under the singing. A big "Amen" at the end capped it off, people dug it. They had a guy named James Burden that arranged that piece and Jazz Rhaposdy amongst others. Burden and Dr. Munger knew how to arite- but Doc Munger's stuff was pretty insane and difficult, so we never touched it. What's funny is that while Munger's stuff was too hard-- we were able to plat the Wayne Downey "State of the Art" stuff like T.O., Dindi, and My Heart Belongs to Me. Having Dave Cooper from the Crossmen and John Herlihy from Sun enabled us to have the screamers in spades. We also had Barb maroney from Garfield... but Dr. Wells in his infinite wisdumb (Yeah I misspelled it deliberately) never took advantage of that.

Now you mention it the corps could've won some kind of "Green" award from Woodsy Owl for all the music we recycled.

On vacation for the next three weeks. Housesitting for now. The pool is heated to 90 degrees. Want to come over the next couple of days and take a swim? Seriously!!!!!!

Yes. If the cops come after me, that's what I'll tell them.

Westhore won the contest in '82! Sounds like the Kenton fanatics who want to hang Ken Burns and beat him like a pinata over snubbing Stan in his documentary....

A former (emphasis on former) friend's wife dissed a dear friend of all of ours at their wedding , we got even. That's worth a few beers as well. She had it coming. Needless to say, that marraige eventually exploded later on. Dad blames that dismal relationship on why I never got married. You had to not have been there- lord, horn sectionals in the pool, grilled corn on the cob and burgers, messing with Frank's mini-bikes, how could you forget? We still got a lot done that day.

Like I said, Bob, I've been there and done it in 1984. It took a lot of time for Westshore to get things back on the rails, but that was the start of it. It can be the same for Bush, if everyone wants it. And it's not a lack of effort from the corps members for sure. The Glider doesn't serve adult beverages up in Scranton, but I do go to the Glider afterwards. If there's a place near the Reading show, I'll be there. I'd just need to know where.

Yow! You guys have TEN more horns in your pocket? That's like having a hidden nitrous bottle.

Thanks- And yes, Jim you were there- remember the practice in Frank's pool where I nearly killed myself on his mini-bike?

YES. Well put.

Review written for Bucknell, have a good laugh.

The Bushwhacker corps members and staff have obviously scrambled hard to get their corps on the field, which given the available information, was in and of itself a real achievement. There are a lot of issues the corps is battling on-field. From the looks of it, they're all very young, but they're pushing hard to perform with only 15 horns. Fans counted 37 corps members, so they've exceeded the minimum, which I know was a serious issue of discussion. The percussion is by far the strongest element of the corps. They appear to be well-settled in comparison to the rest of the unit. The six guard members are well-staged and I think they're getting a lot out of them. Their Drum Major is quite capable, confident, and very deserving of respect. However, and I have to be frank- there are real problems with their show vehicle for several reasons. It appears the horn book was chosen for a larger horn section. There's a lot of deep harmonic structure that's really stretching 15 people to cover all of the implied color tones with any sense of balance and full sound. To make matters worse, the drill appears to have several holes, and is staged so that it's really pushing the musicians to achieve anything when they're called on to perform. It really appeared to me that the design team had as its main priority to try and max the technical/demand areas of the sheets as their first and foremost priority, which is a very dangerous thing to do regardless of the circuit. With the way the new DCA sheets emphasize comunication and engaement with the viewers, this show isn't addressing the sheets like it really needs to be. The musical ending needs to be heavily restructured harmonically to allow the horn line to make sense to the audience. I have more empathy with Bush then some readers may realize. My last year with the Westshoremen was one in which we literally threw together a show in 6 weeks and appeared at the 1984 DCA Prelims- and even beat some people, but missed finals by a long shot. This is a situation this year for Bush in which keeping the corps together as an entity for the future might be the true priority here. I can say that without the 1984 Westshoremen keeping the corps alive- there would have been no 1996 championship. We bought the corps 16 more years of existence. The true measure of success for Bush may be keeping the tradition alive for the future. I sincerely hope this years Bushwacker corps effort will pay off for their organization. It may take years for the eventual payoff to come in. Next on was a real treat for the DCA fans in this neck of the woods- an appearance from Minnesota Brass. This show's been on everyone's calendar ever since the slate was made public. This year's "Valhalla" program is rather enjoyable and quite entertaining. The opening Viking Longship sequence will really work well once the drill gets cleaned. As has been the M.O. for MBI, the arrangements are crafted beautifully, and the horn line plays incredibly hard-kudos to their mid-range and Bari sections- and quite musically to boot. The corps pushed very hard, at times maybe too hard at the end. I can sympathize with the cat that got a bit over-enthusiastic on Bari. MBI's horn line is a definite contender for the Brass trophy and provides some seriously good face-rippin' moments. The Viking with his real-deal cattle horn is simply fantastic and adds to that swagger that a top end corps needs. A Danish friend of mine has one of those horns, and they're not quite as easy to get a good sound out of as you'd think. They're a lot of fun to play, though. The issue with MBI is that the drill design, while solid, just seems to lack that certain refinement and subtlety to put the entire package together at this point. The color guard is close, but just not quite there to match the top guards in DCA. Their battery is hellish aggressive, but they need to clean their feature. When I hear things fat, and I'm not a percussion guy- you know there needs to be some cleaning. So, MBI threw down a solid, confident performance and drew out the crowd, though there were some issues that the judging panel would have taken note of. The question now was whether the Bucs could and would respond to the Viking incursion on their beaches. I felt the need to do my homework several weeks ago with the Reading program, since I had planned on taking a look at Friends and Family day out of curiosity. Swan Lake and Mambo are pretty familiar fare to most corps fans, but the John Adams opener and the Marquez Danzon were unknown to me. I sourced the originals and understood that the material was certainly there to make things happen if utilized well. I know this has been a source of philosophical debate on DCP, but as a fan, I like to hear and explore music that I'm not familiar with as well as hear selections that are in my comfort zone. There's nothing wrong with discovering new, good music and growing on knowledge. I can tell you this, and I won't mince words about what happened when the Bucs started their run. It was obvious to me after the first thirty seconds, that barring a serious melt-down or the corps being swallowed whole by a crack in the Earth, that Reading had MBI's number and that it was all over. I can't immediately recall a situation where a corps that needed to make a statement on the field made one with such authority over their opponents. Reading's percussion battery seems stronger than last year's. The new drum covers resemble some of Kandinsky's paintings, but they actually work very well. The various elements of the horn book are very different in flavor, but they relate well to one another. The transitions from movement to movement are seamless and they're extremely well-executed. It's also obvious the design team really thought about the new judging sheets and made a lot of sincere efforts to draw the audience in, and the corps itself also reaches out well to the crowd. As for the opener, the front ensemble drives the piece wonderfully when it needs to, and they really took the right parts of a 12 minute composition and made it work quite well. Tne Danzona is lovely, the solo work is excellent, the Bass Drums even did some notable and lovely work, and the arrangement is really lovely. There's some tempo bending that's rather elegant. Definitely no Doctor Beat at work there. Can the Bucs rip your face off? In Swan Lake, they certainly can and do. I'd personally like a bit more middle voice in the impact segment, though. The closing segment of the program is also well done. I appreciate the character changes the corps moves through in that segment, and the crowd also reacted and appreciated it. The corps understands the new "Communication" sub-caption well and makes a successful effort to break that fourth wall and reach out. Visually, the use of the Barre, the color guard costume changes, and such are very fluid and don't impose upon the program, but are well integrated to the total package. Right now, the Bucs are ready to defend. I will take a lot of effort from the chasers to catch them at this point. Yes, there are some musical tweaks and some drill issues that definitely need cleaned, but the total package is strong and they're making it work. The last competitor were the Hurricanes and their Gershwin program. The Drum major was stoked, and the "Mariah" warm-up was tight. They're marching about 38 horns, and they play well, but they seem to lack a consistent subtlety and musicality that the MBI and Reading hornlines have. Their Front Ensemble put forth an excellent effort tonight, deserving of respect. The Battery has to worry a bit in the opening statements about covering the horns a bit, but they're driving the corps well and perform with a high level of authority. Special call-out to their Tenor section for a fine effort. The Hurcs feature players are noteworthy and do fine work. The drill design and color guard are quite, quite good. The horns need to work on their movement techniques to max this advantage out, though. Personally, I felt their drill design is a lot stronger than MBI's, and is more readable at this point. I thought the Hurcs might have been closer to MBI than they were based on how opposed both corps strengths are, but MBI's musical package held them at arm's length. The Hurcs continue to showcase their talents and strengths well, and it holds them in good stead. The Cabs Alumni wrappd up the show, and I've seen them a lot over the last few years, the last time at Serenade. I could tell from the warm-up that the hornline was in a real comfort zone and that they had a good zen for the show, and indeed they did. Their Baris and mellos had an exceptional night and should take a lot of pride in it. The horline just laid into a real groove and in-tune zone and really got things done without having to kill the horns. It seemed to me the percussion fed off that as well, and it was just a great performance. I think there have been some nice changes in "Rio" that really work well. Don't think that we don't notice the details. In "Brazil" the alto work was excellent, but I think you need to move your Bari soloist over to Jimmy's left and more towards the front sideline. He's playing his brains out, but he got covered up a bit tonight. Overall, an exceptional effort from the Cabs and very much appreciated by not only myself, but the fans. In conclusion- Another good turnout. No competitor or exhibition unit suffered from a lack of effort, and it was appreciated from the crowd. The vast majority of DCA units are working hard to relate well to the audience, and it nets positive results. Now, the question is whether the madding crowd can make the necessary adjustments to catch a very, very good Buccaneer corps, and whether Reading will run out of steam. That will remain to be seen, I assume nothing, and neither should any of the competitors. I look forward to Scranton and taking a good look at the Cabs, and I hope to see you there!

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money, BigW has managed to escape the Planet Earth and finally get back to the Drum Corps Planet for 2011! I tried to make an escape earlier through a visit to the Reading Friends and Family Day, but I needed to learn the difference between Saturday and Sunday. This time, I got it right, and had a 50 Yard Line Seat for the Cavalcade of Champions contest in Lewisburg, PA. A beautiful drive up the West Shore listening to Warren Zevon and the Mike Vax Big Band got me to the Drum Corps Planet in style. It was good to run into Buddy Palko, an old corps-mate, and I also got to say hi to Fran and Jeff Ream, as well as a few other old Drum Corps friends. Seeing people you like and respect who share your passion for the activity that you've worked with in one way or another made the trip well worth it. I had a fantastic seat, well up on the 50 and only a few rows under the press box, so I had a near-perfect vantage point. The show started with a scorching temperature like last year, and began again with Scout House. The best way to perhaps describe Scout House is that it's like seeing a 1961 Aston-Martin DB4 at a vintage race. You see a piece of history that's delightful that's also beyond pictures or recordings, or hearing someone describe it to you. The band (they do refer to themselves as a 'bugle band', so don't get irate) members have an average age of 60, and they overcame the heat as if they were less than half that age. Scout House is at their best when they perform the selections that have the big long tones and bright, full harmonies, like "Wayward Wind", or "Waltzing Matilda". They have a very live, bright sound and they bring a sense of shared enjoyment with the audience as they perform. They also have many unique aspects, such as the Glockenspiels, the Guidons, and the pistol-packin' Honor Guard that uses the British high-step and arm swing, which give them a very distinct flavor and really provide a living history lesson to the fans. It's well worth getting to the contest early to see them, and I was quite pleased to see them again at Bucknell. I was also pleasantly suprised to see "The Commandant's Own" again at a DCA contest. The Marine Drum and Bugle Corps was quite polished and was everything that one expects from the organization. In many aspects, they're quite sublime, and I like the new arrangements their arrangers have been using over the past couple of seasons. They take advantage of a fantastic Low Brass section, that really gives the hornline a very robust and powerful sound. They're well-written for the G Bugle and are well thought out and well-performed. The soloists are spot on, and the corps plays in a lot of different styles in their performance and does them all quite well. There's something for everyone in their program. Swing, Copland, you name it. If I'm fortunate enough, I'll see them again later this season. Now, on to the competitive portion of the contest. First up was the defending DCA Class A Champion, Fusion Core. The program is based on "Africa" and uses some of the material from the Robert W. Smith wind band composition to provide some of the underpinnings and motifs. The show has an musically edgier feel than last years, and the 21 horns are showcased very well, and visually staged so they have a solid and strong presence on the field when they play. They phrase very well, which can make for a messy situation for a smaller horn line. I liked the Bari/Mello/pit feature in the ballad. Fine performers, and a very nice interaction between all the elements. They do have some balance issues they do need to address as well as some musical croodles, especially near the end of the program. I'm certain the problems will be cleaned up, and they perform with a feeling of confidence and authority in their program, and they definitely come off as bigger than they actually are. Do they have the ability to defend their title? I certainly think so. Considering that Carolina Gold nicked them early in the season and post roughly comprable scores, it looks like August 13th should be an exciting Class A showdown between both corps. I'll see both of these corps on the 27th at Reading and I look forward to seeing them head-to-head. As I said last year, the Class A corps are well worth watching and bring a lot to the table. It's almost 4AM, so I'll continue this review with the Open Class competitors later today. See you later!

That was the REPEATED MANTRA that I CONSTANTLY heard. Delusional as heck. I told the kids when I heard that load of crap brought up, "If I even THOUGHT if ANY of our evaluations were bad because of the color of the band, I'd IMMEDIATELY go to Jim Prime, Sr. who is a person of color, a fellow judge AND a mentor and friend of mine and discuss it! That individual would be GONE from judging. PERIOD!" Needless to say, the people at HHS did NOT like having that excuse removed from consideration. Excuses, whining, the refusal to commit to doing anything with any real quality, it all plays a part as to why that program has been a mess ever since that idiot took it over and made it what everyone thinks it has to be. You know-- there are a lot of people from other ethnic groups that attend HHS and play instruments. I can tell you the sizeable group of asians who attend there want no part of the tomfoolery and the attitude, which is why they don't participate. The sad part is that those kids are hard workers and have talent and great attiudes. One could make a case that's outright discrimination, but of course that will never be considered, will it? I had a great relationship there with HHS Asian students. I was one of the few teachers invited to their Tet party because they knew I tried hard to respect them and made the effort- unlike Poteat- to properly pronounce their names and treat them like every student deserves to be treated. It was disgusting when there was an award ceremony to listen to Poteat try and read out the names of the SE Asian kids so badly. Kids would laugh, many were so embarassed and offended they wouldn't go up to accept the recognition. I'm still offended by the way he was with those kids if you can't tell. What is more offensive to me is the obvious attempt by some circles to make things like they were at HHS then that way again after a lot of effort to fix things and get that school out of the mess it's been in for nearly 40 years. The kids there deserve far better than they get from their school board and their mayor. How we got from Dave to this, I'm unsure. But yeah, I went through sheer hell for a year at HHS for the glorious base pay of 14k a year and the privledge of teaching.

I remember those pentatom things at Carlisle. I remember we were prepping for some gig with the corps and Carlisle's drumline was breaking them out and playing them. They seemed back then to be a classic case of something that was "all show and no go" from the way they played and were using them.

Agreed. The problem that they have is that no one from Central State, Florida A and M, or places like that will apply nor are they smart enough to recruit them. In my case, NO Minorities applied for the position. Poteat washed his hands of the opening and proceeded to undermine whomever it was when they weren't from a TBC. I was accused of doing "racist music" when I programmed Patti Page's "Tennesee Waltz". The Superintendent at the time, Don Carroll, ran interference in that case and told everyone to shut up and back off. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have went to Carroll and quit. The issue is- education still needs to take place. Not teaching by rote, not sluffing by and winging it with poor preparation and no quality whatsoever, which was pretty much how people were doing everything when I got there. Literally, no one higher up really cared if the students in the HS band program could actually read mmusic nor grow as young musicians throughout their HS experience. We had some fine musicians in spite of that. The problem was a lack of any attitude and the belief that everyone owed them everything anyhow in many student's cases. Nothing had to be EARNED. It was just to be GIVEN. I coulkd care less WHAT style a band uses on the field. Perform with QUALITY and EXCELLENCE! Ohio State's Marching band does JUST that in the traditional genre and earns my respect and the respect of others. Supposedly, Grambling and Southern have a high level of performance quality, but I havent seen or heard it on TV the last several years. Do they play in tune and with balance and some type of musicality? It wasn't always that way at HHS. They got a guy from Morgan State that faked it and really wasn't that capable nor talented that changed the program in the late 70's/early 80's. The guy had to be let go because he couldn't be bothered to get the 12 credits for his permenant teaching certificate. Otherwise they'd have kept him and he'd still be there. His son was a problem in the school, too, a real mess like his Dad. Everyone made a big deal over "how hard he worked". He'd stay up writing drill for hours every night at their band camp then teach it. "Hard work" would have been having the drill properly written when you GET to camp and having it ready, especially since the drill they use in that style is VERY simple. Also, the Band Director of a program is supposed to DIRECT. I clearly remember Mel Stratton in the WCU Director's clinic state this. If they are to be ultimately responible for all of them blame that the program will get- they should be allowed to DIRECT it- not basically be told to sit back and watch incompetency take place in front of their faces, shut up, and then get blamed for it. In Ben's case, At least Sam directed-- for good or bad. The fact is, the band won the Harrisburg Holiday Parade and the St. Patrick's Day Parade when I ran it. They haven't won it since. Coincidence? I don't think so. Of course, to morons like Poteat, hard results and facts didn't matter. Intimidate and throw culture in your opponent's face and bully them like he tried to do to Jeff at the kiosk. My guess is that the program is getting invites from various local contests, Jeff. The problem is literally that they think they're too good to go to those contests and no one "gets it". Also- they're really... not very good and don't want to hear that. Not even very good by Festival level of evals. Another case of people living delusionally on reputation and happy to live that way and get away with it.

At HHS, the Band parents had been shut down to to fiscal incompetence and irresponsibility. H. Major Poteat had a lot to do with the problems there, and not just the band. That's all I need to say for to anyone familiar with the problems with the Harrisburg City Schools over the past 25 or so years.

All I know is that we beat Middletown 5 of the six years I worked at LD. The last year we were there- a very lackluster Senior Class with a bad attitude didn't help, and we lost to them by .3 at Chapters with the weakest talent we had over those 6 years. I still remember their parents freaking out and hugging one another, etc. at the MHS concession stand. Irritated me to give them that kind of satisfaction. I know some of the kids on that Senior Class still remember getting faced because of their uncaring attitude. All I know is that things went from unreal to awful in one short season, and it was very tough to deal with, and I learned a lot from it. I do know I felt that MHS had FAR more talent and basic musical knowledge and training than the average kid at LD had but never had a better vehicle nor the ability to grow the vehicle they did have. Simply out, Jeff, in the years we beat them- and beat them easily- we out worked and outsmarted them. On paper, they should have axe-murdered us given their talent and potential. I will say that my application of what Dave taught me at Westshore enabled LD to make things happen and to get where it got while I was there and have some solid success. BTW, Bob Everett is who you refer to, Jeff. He did the MHS visual package for many years. I knew him from WCU, who he also dallied with off and on for many years as well. Nice guy, wrote decent enough drill, had some success in the early 80's IIRC with a couple of the big CoB units at that time, his WCU drill was okay enough but I know he caught a lot of guff from some of the kids in the band for some of the goofiness at times, and the complaints were fair. He has one heck of a nice handlebar moustache. I certainly couldn't grow one of those!

I've heard the story about the giant Raven in ther middle of I-80. That's a "Time to pull over and get a nap moment".

I don't remember the fellow's name. IIRC, fresh out of college, not a local person. Long story how I know what I know there. Kids just didn't really take to the guy. To say he had a tough act to follow was an understatement. I do hope the guy went on and found something somewhere. It's not the first time that someone got into an impossible situation like that where they were effectively set up for failure from the get-go. Being one of six HS Directors in five years at Harrisburg HS, I know the situation and the feeling. It also explains my disdain for a lot of school administrators. I know there are some quite good ones out there, I've just not had the pleasure of working for any of them. There are a fair share of them out there that are deathly afraid to do anything to risk affecting their 6 figure salaries in any way, shape, or form. Running schools defensively and in a reactionary way instead of proactively is why people complain so much about the situations that are out there now. Add to that some school boards, or Mayors like they have in Harrisburg ATM, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Dave may have had resistance, but he also had allies there as well. Of all the crazy things, one of my old neighbors down the hill from me where I grew up moved there, and their sons were playing for Carlisle, and I ran into them at the Carlisle show in the 81-83 era, and I know they really were very supportive of Dave in the band parents. What's also something to think about that I never realized until I did a paper on the subject about 6 years ago was that guys Ben and my age were basically guinea pigs for the HS competition scene that was taking place. ToB was only formed in 1972 with I believe around 6 bands at the initial meeting, and Cavalcade is not a whole lot older. I know I've seen guys gripe here in DCP about "the smart college guys who ruined the activity"... but I don't think they realize many of them were people they were marching with or against! Guys like Cabs soprano soloist Don Angelica, who became a NJ School suprintendent. Guys from the mid to late 60's Pittsburgh Rockets who want on and got Norwin a BoA Grand National Championship. Those guys and others like them took what they learned from Corps and began to apply it to the schools they taught at along with what they had learned from their college training. Let's be honest here. Corps wanted to be more competitive and to do better. Of course they're not going to turn down a music major who can read music and play the horn straight out of the case when they show up. Of course of they can get someone who understands how to clean and teach performance, they're not gonna throw them out. It was a natural part of the evolutionary proccess of the activity whether they choose to accept it or not. It also explains a lot of why things were like they were at CHS. Excuse me while I get on a soapbox for a bit here- Nowadays, educators are being called on the carpet to demonstrate clear results with their students. Instrumental Music people really have a very nebulous set of standars that are applied to them. usually, the big question is- bodies. If you have a lot of kids in your program and they are happy, everyone thinks the program is great! The question is, dare I ask, and this question really causes a lot of people to recoil and to make really bad excuses- Is education taking place!? To many programs and to the people in the district they serve, hey, the band has a lot of kids and they're loud at the football games, education takes place, of course. Do they have the guts to put their band into a situation where they are evaluated by a set of demanding and thorough rubrics by their professional peers to see if education is taking place and if the kids really understand how to play well and perform? For many directors, the answer is clearly, NO. Better to play things close to the vest, keep the kids happy, not challenge them so that the numbers remain large enough to justify the program's existence and therefore, their 40 to 60+k a year jobs. I can excuse this attitude 35 to 40 years ago when it was still the wild and wooly competition frontier and the level of evaluation and consistency wasn't as strong. That's what led to MBA(later BoA), and the growth of the various associations. All I know is that I respect people who have the courage to put their programs under a professional review and use it to demonstrate and build success for their kids. There's more I can discuss in that aspect, but time to get off the soapbox. To get back to Dave- his decency and honesty as a person served and serve him well in that situation at CHS, and also, obviously, his talent. I'll get back to this more, but the conversation takes tangents that are intellectually stimulating for me, and that is a real good thing. Things we take for granted now and expect were simply not there BITD.

Ben's comments about Carlisle need some clarification. He's close to the mark but not quite about the situation. Man, were his comments are REAL blast from the past. Let me explain, and well, it will take a bit to explain all of this. I even found some stuff online to clean up my research and memory. First let's start with Clyde Barr. He's still around running the North American Music Festivals. Clyde was old school, and a pretty big deal, BITD. Was even a PMEA president while he ran Carlisle High's band. He retired from that gig in 1977. I personally met him at the 1980 PMEA convention as a Senior at All-State and his wife, Lyn, when he started to run the one "Go to Europe in the summer with a crackerjack concert band" gig. I can tell you this- Clyde was/is VERY personable, a nice guy, and very charismatic. If I'd have had the dough, I'd have done it. Clyde is the kind of guy who could convince an Eskimo to buy a fan- but he'd even figure a way the Eskimo could use the thing to boot because he really IS a nice person. He also knew what he was doing with the band, no slouch. IIRC, he pretty much created the Galaxies and gave them a good rep as a very good HS Jazz Band. I know I saw them early on when Dave took over and they were kickin' then, and I would assume still kickin' good. The big thing about the Clyde Barr era was the Carlisle HS win at the World Music Festival Marching Band contest at Kerkerade, Holland in 1970. I know of two HS bands that have won at Kerkerade, and it seemed to have done weird things to both organizations, less weird to Carlisle. Let me explain. Think about it- your band wins the "World Marching Band Championship". A big title, hmm? What more can you get? To the average goober on the street- sounds impressive. To the average doofus school administrator, pretty big sounding. To guys like us who know the scene, it means you had the dough and had the planning to send your band to Holland for the once every four years festival and were fortunate to come out on top of those who went there. Not a bad coup or an opportunity if you can pull it off. And now you've established yourself as a "World Champion". Why risk competing when you have that kind of reputation and cache for your program in Cavalcade, or for that time that ToB upstart? Little reward, really, and a lot of risk to your programs and your personal rep. That's a serious reality for many HS programs. Public perception is powerful. Why blow it when you have it all? I'm quite serious here. So, Clyde was a good guy with a huge and carefully crafted and well earned reputation when he retired from Carlisle. He runs good, honest music businesses and makes all of that happen with a very good rep. A gutsy move to leave a steady teaching gig and pretty much run two businesses. They hired some young guy- not Dave, repeat, not Dave to replace him. From what I saw, this poor, unfortunate SOB's main flaw was that he wasn't Clyde Barr. Saw the band compete at a ToB show around 1980ish(At East Pennsboro maybe!?) when he had the program and they weren't baaad, just a bit big, and well, a bit sloppy as compared to Williamsport HS, which was running wild at that time all over everyone in the region. And of course, the PR thing they read while the band was marching on was filled with all the achievements that happened during Clyde's tenure and took about as long as the actual show took. So, when Dave came there, he'd done rather well at East Pennsboro, quietly taking a lot of scalps along the way from bands that were a lot bigger than his- and well, Carlisle had burned the guy after Clyde at the stake pretty much, so they were ready for the right person like Dave to come in and take the program over and make it happen. I just wanted to clarify the situation at Carlisle pre-Dave. Clyde was very different- a very good director in his own way and style, very different from Dave in terms of how one created their brand and image, but both successful. I'm still thinking a lot about how to describe and discuss how Dave really changed the hornline culture in a really powerful way, and to be honest, using a laptop for me to type with my lousy bifocals means I'll get back to this later after my eyes get a rest. Frank and Dave really were game-changing, indeed.