SpookyKid

Just got 94,568 at the Bill Bell Level of "Air and Bouree!" Beat that! Woot! About to unlock the Chicago Symphony Orchestra level!

If you are looking for a good quote piece, look at PR 90's Carnivale of the Drum Corps Animals.

I noticed that a number of shirts I designed were mentioned and I wanted to throw my two pesos in on the subject. In Phantom Regiment, I designed the Contra section shirt. By the end of tour, I had designed a good number of the section shirts, including the awesome soprano "Underdog" shirt. The corps director asked me to design a few shirts to sell. They included the Bart Simpson shirt, the 1990 Crest, and the "Get Wedged" shirt and button (that one was both me and Joe Exley). This little habit of mine carried over into Lone Star. I designed the "Drumese - You Wouldn't Understand - It's a drum thang" and the "Dick Does Drum Corps" and "Dick Does Band". I'll have to sit down and take pictures of the shirt designs I did. As for Dick...I'm in the process of bringing him back on a more regular basis.

Lone Star - The little corps that could. It was an amazing group and I only wish there was a way to bring them back. Des Plaines Vanguard - There seems to be a lot of alumni in the area that wish something would come back. It would be cool to have another drum corps in my backyard (seeing as Rosemont is 2 minutes from my house) Phantom Legion and Pre-Cadets - It was sad to see these groups go. They really did seem to provide a good music opportunity for the younger kids of the Rockford area.

Everyone calm down a bit... It's been obvious that the powers that be in Phantom have not been happy with their choice of drill writer since Brazale passed away. Now while the visual program was not perfect, they did a pretty good job of improving things throughout the season. Also, it was the new guy's first year. And let's face it - any drill writer of a top 12 DCI corps is going to be under the microscope. That is not quite the most conducive environment to be creative. Writing an effective drill that ties the visual components with the music is a tough job. He should be given the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to establish himself. There is a lot of nice potential there and I think the last thing Regiment wants to do is start up the revolving door again. A successful corps needs consistency as much as it needs talent.

How about a Regiment corps made up of: * The white uniform * The 2006 & 2008 drumlines * The 1989 hornline (marching and playing) * The 1988 & 2008 color guard * Tony Hall Drill NOW THAT'S A'SPICY MEATBALL!

Phantom won. Deal with it.

They should give the inventor of that a medal and then time warp an AeroBed back when I was marching.

It doesn't matter what tunes you play or what kind of drill moves you make. You need to be able to have a show that ties everything in - from music to drill to body movement to color guard equipment, etc. The best shows, whether drum corps or band, do that.

Anyone who knows their history of Phantom Regiment, knows that Jim Wren IS Phantom Regiment. Without Jim Wren, there would be no 1812 Overture, no Spartacus, no New World, no Elsa's Procession. Without him and a handful of others, the corps would have never come back from the fire that devistated the corps during the 60's. Jim Wren is also one of the nicest, modest, down-to-earth people you will ever meet. I considered it an honor to play in a hornline with his music.

And anyone who has been around Hutch knows what a swinging place Yoder can be.

I've always felt that the 93 & 94 shows were Regiment pushing its own boundries. Both years have amazing things happening with all facets. One of the things I've taken from these shows was the concept of using a visual artist to influence color, drill, props, etc. 93 used Matisse and 94 used Piro. It's sad this concept was dropped because I have always thought that Regiment had it right on with this concept.

As many people know, 1989 was a strange and unique year for Regiment. Things were going very well on tour, except for one thing. Our retreat tune was horrible. At that time, we would play National Emblem March. Most of the corps treated playing the piece like a joke. The discrepancy between New World and National Emblem was becoming more obvious to the audience and the increasingly embarassed staff. Finally Dan Farrell, who was brass caption head, decided enough was enough. We had a rehearsal day in Ohio. The hornline was in its warm-up arc. Dan decided to change things a bit. He asked the hornline to play National Emblem. As soon as the last sour note was released, he pointed to one of the 3rd sops. Sure enough, he slopped his way through about half of it before giving up. As anyone who marched in Regiment, you know that Dan never lost temper. He just became...very...intense. At this point, his gaze could cut steel. He takes a deep breath and says "You see that fence?" The fence in question was one that surrounded the school and all the athletic fields. The fence was easily a mile around. The sop player nodded. Dan said, "I want you to run around this fence and THINK about how you will play that piece tomorrow with no mistakes." He starts running. Dan then turns and says to the hornline, "Ladies and gentlemen, I will be checking again tomorrow. For everytime someone cannot play National Emblem, I will double the amount of running done." By the next day, the hornline had National Emblem memorized.

As I was watching, I was wondering why the American Olympic Committee doesn't call up DCI and WGI for this. The United States should be able to go out there.

Wow...that's kinda ###### actually. I've seen my fair share of yelling, and even insults, but that would cross my line. Just sayin... You apparantely never marched Regiment did you? That was Bob on MILD. To add...THE WISDOM OF JOHN BRAZALE (drags a smoke) *echo* *echo* *echo* (drags a smoke) *drags a smoke* ok if everyone wou SHUT UP!!! *drags a smoke* thank yo SHUT UP *drags a smoke* Bob! Bob! You speak idiot! Get over there and tell the contras to get off the #### short bus and march! Folks! That was as musical as a door! Baritones! I don't know which is more realistic - Santa Claus, me stop smoking, or you MARCHING IN STEP!!! Folks! If you fall down then you roll the #### out of my drill. Ladies! It’s SWANS not SCHWANS! I swear to God Contras! If you screw that up one more time, I will go back in time and kill your parents before you were born! GOD#### IT BARITONES! IF YOU COULD SUCK ANYMORE ON THIS DRILL I COULD CLEAN THE GYM FLOOR! I don’t care if a storm is coming! When a tornado hits the 30, then I’ll think of cancelling the rehearsal. Hornline, I’m not a musician, but even I know that sucked. You! Red hat! I - BRAZALE THINKS THE CONTRAS ARE "SPECIAL" Phantom contras are considered the Rodney Dangerfield of the corps - "NO RESPECT!". The attitude even bled into the first part of 89. We were at base camp getting things ready for first tour. We were on break before we did visual rehearsal. One of the snares realized that they had left their drill book in the gym. So he leaps over a fence and nearly stumbles on his face as he runs back. Meanwhile Johnny Sanchez and John Brazale were in the box. They didn't realize that the mic was on. Sanchez (watching the snare drummer) - Who the hell was that? Brazale - (drags a smoke)Oh probably one of those #### ######## contras. Sanchez - (points at mic realizing its on and the entire corps has heard it) Brazale - (drags a smoke) Aw hell! As if on cue, all ten of us contras started walking and talking like we were "special". II THE SHOW CONCEPT Fast forward to 1990. It's Regiment's turn to use the NIU Stadium before DCM and John Brazale is not happy. Bacchanale is flat. He gets on the mic and starts to rant. Brazale - Ok ok ok shut up! (drags a smoke) Thank you. Now...SHUT THE #### UP! (drags a smoke). What the #### is wrong? You people are just going through the motions here! (drags a smoke) This ending is supposed to be getting the audience off their #### feet and you people are playing it flatter than my #### prom date! (drags a smoke) This part of the show is supposed to be the orgy scene from Sampson and Deliah and you people are playing it like a god#### tea party social! (drags a smoke) (drags a smoke) Now can someone tell me what the #### this piece and drill is supposed to be about? Well? (drags a smoke) Give me an answer. Every person in the corps is transfixed in complete fear of Brazale (not a surprise that Brazale's main job was with the IRS) and exhaustion. There is absolute silence, except when I pipe up. Me - Sex? Brazale (throws down smoke and laughs) - THANK YOU! (to Johnny Sanchez) At least one person in this sea of virgins gets it!