Keith Laubhan

Here's my guess... Clearly no one really knows what to expect. 1. The Cavaliers 2. The Cadets 3. Blue Devils 4. Phantom Regiment 5. Bluecoats 6. Santa Clara Vanguard 7. Madison Scouts 8. Carolina Crown 9. Blue Knights 10. Boston Crusaders 11. Glassmen 12. Colts

That's been part of BK's marching technique for a while. I generally like it in their drum corps shows, but I'm not sure I dig it here. It doesn't seem to fit swing music to me. But I guess with the vast majority of those kids being in the corps, it's a good way to practice the technique in the off-season.

While I agree the Ralph was a big part of the identity of the corps, I think it's also important not to underestimate the departure of Mike Stevens after 2000. While I personally didn't work under him, I've heard nothing but amazing things about how he ran the section from people who did get to learn from him. Mike was apparently very involved with the day-to-day operations of the percussion section while he was there, and a lot of people that I know who marched in the 99-01ish area say that he was as missed as anyone.

Here's my account as a member of the corps. I'm sure there was some stuff behind closed doors that was never passed on to us, but from where I sat, this is how it played out in my memory: Believe it or not, 2001 might have been the most talented membership top to bottom that the corps ever had. The snare line wasn't as good as 2000, but the bassline took a few steps from an already impressive line the year before. The pit was one of the best out there, most of which were vets and/or played together in the indoor ensemble. The colorguard was full of vets and by most accounts were more talented than 2000, and then there's the hornline... wow. For my money, the best BK hornline ever. They had some excellent recruiting, especially in Texas, following the top 6 finish, and the hornline was really stacked, as you could see from the I&E results that year. Problem was, the show wasn't very good, at least in the eyes of the judges. At the beginning of the season, the membership was completely sold on it, and we were performing our hearts out. However, once we started our tour up in the PacNW, we were further behind SCV than we anticpated. Originally, we were re-creating Black Market Juggler for the drum solo, virtually note for note as the Bridgemen in the battery. The pit's parts were augmented from the early 80s stuff, but the fact of the matter was we were playing a 1982 drum solo, albeit a classic drum solo, in 2001. It was killing the pacing of the show, or so we thought/were told, and we were pretty confident that changing that would get us back on track. We spent our 4th of July in Modesto gutting and re-learning the drum solo to make it integrate a little bit better. Apparently something happened with Ralph Hardimon at some point during this time. I've heard about a billion different rumors on what actually happened, so I have no accurate idea on why he bailed, but something caused him to withdraw from the corps, but by most accounts I've heard, it had to do with the re-writing of this part of the show. So, we take our show back out on the road through California, new drum solo in tow, sure that we were going to start bridging the gap between us and the SCVs and BDs of the world. Thing is, the show still wasn't being well received by the judges. The audiences were a mixed bag with their responses. Some loved it, some were pretty lukewarm, but all in all, the judges universally weren't that into it. At that point of the season, it wasn't an execution issue. I truly feel that we were as good as anyone at the time in terms of the technical performance of the show, but morale was slowly taking hits. We spent the rest of the summer tweaking the show in hopes of finding the right stuff to be competitive, but we never quite found it. We had a rewind element in late July that didn't quite connect with the audience (or judges). That got axed. There's dozens of differnet elements that were tried and subsequently removed. The backbreaker was San Antonio. Because the corps finished top 6 the year before, we got an automatic bid into the night show, to face the other 5 from 2000, plus the top 6 from the morning show. I don't remember how the show went, either good or bad, but we took dead last. Morale was at a huge low, and we knew we were in trouble. It was really weird- 95% of the membership picked ourselves up by the bootstraps and plugged forward, knowing full well that we probably wouldn't make finals. Unfortunately, there was a small element that accepted defeat. Rationally, I understand where they were coming from, I guess, but it was quite disappointing. Even though with two or three weeks left in the season we pretty much knew we weren't going to qualify for the big show, it was amazing the effort that the vast majority still put out. Morale improved a little bit, obviously not because of competitive success, but because of pride in ourselves. It was kinda a foxhole mentality. Most of us kept fighting, and I'll tell you what- I'm sure that I made some connections with people that would never have been made had it been smooth sailing all summer. The last show was semi-finals, and unfortunately the recording didn't do the talent of the corps justice. We had an off-night as a group, I think, which is too bad, because I remember quarter-finals being pretty decent. The next summer, the corps had a huge turnover. Almost every talented person that had prioritized competitive success above the organization went to different corps (their perogative, pretty understandable). Blue Devils probably benefitted the most from the 'firesale', but the Cavies and SCV obtained some former Knights as well. The corps had to rebuild for the next couple seasons, but I believe it would have been a worse and longer process had it not been for the vets who didn't jump ship. It was definitely a weird summer, but I wouldn't take it back for the world. Sure it would've been nice to make the video, to have been in finals, to get the medal, to stand at the finale, but sometimes them's the breaks. I learned a lot about myself that summer, more than I think I would have learned had we took 4th or 5th place with no adversity. I also think the recovery is a testament to the organization. A season like that would've killed some groups, i think. They've seemingly recovered, and I hope that the corps never has to go through another '95 or '01.

You all are certainly entitled to your opinions on the activity, and you all are certainly are entitled to your interpretations of my post. I tried hard to clear any ambiguity in my little diatribes, and I think some people, both who agree and disagree with me, got what I was getting at. Some people did a good job of glazing over what I wrote, jumped to assumptions of what I was saying, and took it as offensive. That is unfortunate, but there's nothing I can do to fix that. I want the final thing I post on this board (this time I'm serious :)) to be this: Whether or not you are entertained by the creative product on the field, whether or not you agree with rule changes that have shaped the design of the productions, drum corps at it's heart is still the same thing as it's always been- a bunch of kids working hard and making giant sacrifices to further themselves and be passionate about something larger than the individual. I feel greatful to have done that, and I'm going to continue to do whatever I can to help bring that experience to people that want to march in the future. On that note, I'm out.

When I posted this, it was definitely intended to be my last post. I had no intention of defending my post, I knew it would fire some people up, and I knew that there were going to be agreements/disagreements with it. I was fine with that. When I posted, I had no intention of even reading the responses, because I knew what they would be. It was merely my turn on the soapbox. An opportunity to clear my chest. At the time, though, for whatever reason, I didn't account for people misinterpreting some things that I've said... which is weird, because one should always account for this. Last night, the thought dawned on me that it might be needed for me to hop back on, read the posts, and make sure that I have clearly articulated the points I tried to make. Allow me, if you will, to clear some things up: I don't discount drum corps organizations other than DCI. My post was in reference to DCI and supporters and criticizers of it. I also don't underestimate the importance of the fans as supporters of the activity. I perfectly understand the relationship and the need of their support. I still maintain, as a fan myself, that it's not about us. I firmly believe that a DCI show designer shouldn't wake up, and go "let's get this done for the fans!" I believe they should, and are, designing it to the interest of the kids in the corps. Obviously, every kid in every corps wants to be entertaining, so it's mutually beneficial for the audience, but I believe a show designers most important job is to give the current corps membership an opportunity to perform something they're passionate about. I don't think I'm brainwashed when I say, as a younger person, that I would be far more interested and passionate in performing a cohesive, intellectually-challenging production, then four or five pieces, that while toe-tappin' and extremely accessible, don't relate to each other and don't push the creative boundaries of the activity. Not a knock on what was done in the 60s and 70s, but rather the sentiment that I have, and share with the vast majority of people that have marched in my generation. I never said that corps of yesteryear weren't trained. What I did say, essentially, was that in general, the membership of the corps of 60s and 70s were less trained coming into the activity than they are now. As I said earlier, I have no doubts that the kids who've marched in every decade haven't invested the same amount of personal sacrifice, blood, sweat, and tears into what we do. All I'm saying is, with no disrespect intended, the performers today, in general, have a much more extensive and varied skill set these days. Again, that's not a knock on anyone- it's just the simple truth. I'm not completely uneducated in drum corps past. I know that drum corps existed pre-1996. I have watched countless hours of Legacy DVDs from every decade. I've seen some archival footage of corps from pre-DCI. I have had hours of personal conversations with people that have marched in the activity 5, 10, and 20 years before I did. I continue to have conversations with people who still march. And you know what's interesting? The stories are all the same. There is a cohesiveness between the experiences of my high school marching band instructors who were in the Kingsmen and SCV before I was born to the Phantom trumpet player who I shared a flight home with from Boston that just got done marching his rookie season. That is what drum corps is! The experience. No matter how many cosmetic changes there are to the performances that make the field, 'drum corps: the experience' never changes. That's the ultimate point that I'm trying to make. I get a kick out of people here who assume my opinions on the matter are less than informed or valid because I didn't happen to be born in the 50s or 60s, then go on to call me an elitist. I find it more than a little ironic and hypocritical.

I've been a drum corps fan since 1996 when I was first introduced to it, I marched in 2001, and I continue to work with my old corps to try and help out. Every year I go to my big local show, and almost every year I make the financial sacrifice to go to championships. I evangelize the activity to anyone willing to lend an ear or 10 minutes to watch a show. I beg my drumline students to watch telecasts, classic countdowns, and cinicasts. I buy corps merchandise and DVDs, not only for myself, but to support the corps financially as well. I love the activity. I love the new stuff, I appreciate the old stuff, and I am exactly the kind of fan that DCI needs. That being said, drum corps isn't about me. And that's the way it should be. Did you march in the past, before amps? Before Bb horns? Before asymmetrical drill, grounded pits, and other numerous superficial changes to the activity? Awesome! You paved the way for the activity to continue thriving. Do you hate what drum corps has become? Fair enough, but drum corps isn’t about you either. And that's the way it should be. That's right. Drum corps isn't about the people who support it. It's not about the people who like it, and it's certainly not about the people who used to like it and can't stand any deviation from what they themselves experienced. Quite frankly, we need to get over ourselves and stop expecting the creative and artistic element to cater to us. It's not our place. That may be a weird, confusing, and unexpected thought for you, my fellow drum corps enthusiasts, to chew on. Shouldn't we, as the people who pay the money for tickets and merchandise, spend hours analyzing scores, and stroke countless keys while "armchair-directing" over the internet, expect to be the first priority of the activity? Absolutely not. That's right. We are not the main priority of the activity, and that's the way it should be and always has been. Simply said, drum corps is about the kids that are in it. The activity, in every way, should and does cater to them. This is not the professional theatre, where the performers are paid and the show designers job is to create a product with the sole purpose of entertaining an audience. This is drum corps, where for decades, the performers have been paying, both monetarily and with hard work, for an experience. It is them that that the activity is about, and it angers me when I read posts on this board that have lost sight of that. Why has drum corps changed from the hallowed activity that you enjoyed in your youth? Because music has changed. Because the economic climate has changed. Essentially, drum corps has changed like any other activity has changed over the same period of time. But most importantly, drum corps has changed because the make-up of the performers has changed. Let's be frank- back in the day, there were much more participants of the activity that were untrained musicians. Drum corps was the be-all and end-all of many performers' musical experience. I am not questioning the work ethic, dedication, or desire of these old-schoolers, but can you imagine handing a minimalist Bartok piece out to the kids that chose the police boy's club drum corps over juvie? Can you imagine trying to explain an esoteric and complex show concept to several kids that just started to learn how to play their bugle a couple seasons ago? I can't. But the inverse applies as well. Give a 1960s arrangement of "A Foggy Day in London Town" to a current corps performer, and watch the reaction. As corps have folded to mismanagement or insufficient funding, and the competition to make an elite corps has become more intense, performers have become more trained prior to joining the activity. Most of the kids who do corps now do not consider drum corps to be their only performance avenue. They view it as part of a diverse music education that includes wind ensembles, marching bands, orchestras, jazz bands, etc., more so than their predecessors. Drum corps has evolved to be more interchangeable with other performance opportunities because it needs to. That's what the performers of the day are gravitating to. Bb horns are different than the bugles of way-back-when, granted, but now kids who have spent 8 years of elementary, middle, and high school band come in with more knowledge of their instruments right of the bat. Sure, mics and amps didn't make their way to the football field until recently, but now keyboard players who have aspirations of playing elsewhere in life can use those 12 hour rehearsal days perfecting a proper technique instead of banging the crap out of the bars so that it'll speak over a large hornline. This will be my last post on these boards. Not because it's poorly run, not because there aren't cool people that frequent it. To the contrary, really. The reason that I have no desire to come here and read the posts anymore is, truth be told, that I can't stand the vocal minority of so-called "purists" that can't seem to see the purest element of what we are discussing here. Drum Corps is a youth activity that supports the interests of its participants. It’s downright masturbatory of you if you think it’s about you.

I can't wait to see it! I had a blast watching the Royal Airs alumni corps in Madison in 2002. As much as I love where drum corps has come, I still find it interesting where it came from, and I appreciate the differences in the past and present shows.

I know in Denver last year, you could buy some beer. I'm sure a lot of it at the local shows is whether or not the promoter wants to go through the hassle of hiring the extra stadium personnel. I would think at a big stadium like Gilette with as many people that travel out to see it, they'll have alcohol sales.

I'd like to think I'll at least be open-minded enough to appreciate the corps' desire to innovate and take risks. After all, they're doing it for us. I'm of a firm belief that hit-and-miss nature of creativity is the only way to discover new ideas and keep the activity entertaining to a culture and audiences that are ever changing. There have been amazing and innovative shows from every decade, and none of them would have existed without change. I appreciate the old stuff too, but sorry, I don't think the activity would have survived into 90s if everyone continued to do things in the exact same vain as the '72 Kingsmen.

Academy was great... I felt fortunate to see their last show of the year in Denver. I hope they can start putting together a full tour soon.

All I can say is, when I'm older, I hope that I'm not so attached to the past that I can't appreciate something that's a little different from what I did when I marched. It blows me away that some of you seem to think the definition of drum corps is restricted to what you did two and three decades ago. Pretty unfortunate, in my opinion.

I find it interesting that so many people talk about DCI as if it's a secret counsel consiting of the Queen of England, Colenal Sanders, and George Hopkins, dictating what the activity should be behind a dark curtain in a mysterious Himalayan lair. Simply put, DCI is the corps themselves. When the activity evolves (or changes), it's because the creative staff of the individual staffs push and pull it that way. It's in their best interest to connect to the audience and the judges, and they need to find new and original ways to do that every year or risk becoming stale. Sometimes they miss, sometimes they hit, but all and all, they can't take it further than the crowd or the judges are willing to let it go for more than a season or two without some sort of backlash. Quite frankly, if you're opposed to the direction that the activity is going, stop going to shows, stay home, and pull out your '74 Legacy DVD. The thousands upon thousands of Drum Corps fans (including the new ones that are created every single year) that still enjoy the activity's entertainment value and still appreciate the effort that the marching members put forth will continue to support the activity. I'm not saying you're wrong if you dislike the direction of things, I'm just saying that you're a vocal minority, and if you don't want to patronize the "DCI Agenda", then don't. Myself? I'll still volunteer with my old corps, I'll still buy my Drums Along the Rockies tickets, I'll still buy my videos and merchandise, I'm going to watch the ESPN broadcast, and 30,000 of my closest friends and I are still going to go to Foxboro, Mass and give it up for the corps for the same reason that people have been giving it up for decades.