MarchTrue

"Here are a couple of Kilts I think in 78. ___________________________ Yes its '78. Somebody just sent this to me. I'm about 4 years late to this post. I marched in this line. Started with experimental "Clusters" and went traditional Snare line/Tenors mid season, rewrote the entire book in a week, held re-tryouts to split into snares and tenors. We held a Mid-season camp where we played about 20 hours/day. It was a nightmare and triumph. Snares had slings under our parade shirts. We got robbed by DCI in '77 but over corrected in '78. New Unis, New gender, New book, New Drill style, new experimental drum configuration (FAIL) and went co-ed all in one year. The entire Kilt family rallied around the battery though, the horns, rifles, guard all had our back, plus 27th and and Santa Clara were rooting for us all tour. (We dated with both) Of course, the scouts and Cavs were hoping we would die. We didn't win any captions,.. we may have lost them all,... but even Judge Rodney gave us a thumbs up late season for pulling off a full book enema and rebuild on the road. I highly recommend against it but it left great memories. Other stuff. 1: I think most of us were thrilled to have women with us on tour. We were pretty "hormonal". 2: Somewhere, somebody should have a 1978 photo of a combined Kiltie/27th Lancer joint kilted Drumline. ____________________________ "I don't think this can be 78. The snares look too perfectly level for slings. Snare carriers were few and far between in 79 and I don't recall anyone having them in 78. Could this be a later pic?"

What's wrong with shows today? 1: I'm old school but I love today's shows for the most part. Instead of asking what's wrong, we should ask how do we grow? Today's shows have extraordinary execution, brilliant marching, performance skill and musicianship. Unfortunately DCI has become a bit too obscure for a non DCI fluent newcomer. It makes it hard to win new fans. WE DESPERATELY NEED NEW FANS AND GROWTH. We need to give the non-dci person something to grab onto. There needs to be a bit more of a "Product". That doesn't imply "sell-out", dumb-down or dimish quality. But it's become too hard for non-musicians or non-march-dance-athletes to enjoy. We need to think of DCI as part of the entertainment and music business. We need casual fans. Sometimes to break an album or new artist, you need to give the people a "hit", a pop single, a sing along, a drum-along. Now I'm not adocating "Drumline" pedantry, but taking a lesson out of drumline wouldn't be bad. We need to find a way to get DCI some accessibility. Give the newby a little something in each show, a "radio" single to hook the consumer. Then we can infect them with 7/8 half time. Think 90/10. with the 10% being an little bit of a "single" 2: We should probably turn of the mics before they goes too far. Yes, It was creative but where does it stop, lead and background vocals, play by play?

Puhleez. You 27 guys stop whining. We (Kilts) were hoping the Lancers could give us a ride in case our busses Blew up (again)

PICTURE REQUEST: Somewhere, somebody should have pictures of a Joint Kilt/27th Lancer '77/'78 drum line all in kilts.

Somebody sent me this photo and said I had to join this board and check it out. Wow! The Great Kiltie 1978 Drumline Section Cluster Experiment: Yep, I was there... Trust me, don't try this at home. You wouldn't imagine doing this today. I had the pleasure of being part of that cluster line with Robby, Rodney, Chioda, "Septo", Watson, "Chobb" and a crew I have not spoken to in decades. We came together under siege. It was a hell of a summer. I think it was DCI Judge Rodney Goodhart(sp?) that just stared and shook his head... " how the hell do I score those things." Thankfully Cammrotta, Kluber and staff yanked the plug after the first tour. We went into a gym somewhere, went underground, locked the doors, physically yanked the clusters apart, remounted the single snares, begged Premiere for some new multis, rewrote the entire book for traditional Snare/Multis, figured out a new marching drill (It was a box... Forward, Back, lowstep, a little to the sides), as a section, swapped our yellow Jackets for our "Blood" red parade shirts and relaunched. I'm sure I have never been happier to put on "just" a snare. It was a long hot summer. Let's see, our historic, champion laden, macho hardcore all-male corps went Co-Ed, our Director bolts pre-finals, cops shadowed us everywhere... DCI felt we were a bit "unpolished". True, we were kind of "hard" but only if provoked. We'd hassle the Scouts and and Cavs, but it was The Crusaders that hated us for some unkown, historical reason. And they were South-Boston tough so we kept our dukes up. We seemed to be a magnetic "Fight Club". My favorite unfounded conspiracy theory is that DCI forced us to go Coed in an effort to dilute our endless and raging pool of Kiltie testosterone. So, even after all that drama, we still managed to claw our way into "the night show",... BARELY,... but it was DCI Finals none the less and we were IN. We all know that Drum Corps is a special, esoteric and unique athletic-performance activity. The 1978 Kilt drumline proved to be one of the finest and more interesting periods one could hope to have in a life. It was the end of marching percussion, a pre-pit era. Last days of the carry-your-own-Xylophones and tymps. Back then, we and the Bridgemen were probably the most diverse Corps in a fairly conservative and homogenous DCI finals. During that same time period, the B'Men got DQ'd for a little "age verification" problem. It felt like a DCI attempt at exorcism. Their "Pimp coats and PimpStep" was way too ahead of the curve and wild for the DCI of that time. Plus, given that their (Bridgemen) GE, execution and musicianship was damm near flawless, it was way too much too soon. Kilts and Bridgemen both made most conservative corps "uncomfortable". Phantom sneered at us Kilts and humorously, The Troopers avoided us like we were trying to steal their "wives, vittles and gold" from their Logbuilt Fort. EVERY female Corps was "Warned" about "Those Kilties". I think they posted outlaw posters on their buses. We did actually have some pretty good friends in SCV, 27th and Garfield (Bergen). (In fact, there should be some interesting joint pics somewhere.) We happily dated SCV and Garfield women and ultimately grew to be quite fond of the Ex-Guardsmen female guard that ultimately joined us on the field (and the bus) in '78. It was bitterseet. A number of our close corps brethren boycotted or quit the "Coed". It was a tough passage and it was equally tough for us to blame them. Change is/was hard. To this day I think, "what the hell were we thinking, and how the hell did we pull it off? It may not have been one of the finest or more dominant Kiltie moments but we pulled off a fairly intense transition in a TRUE Kiltie "WWBD" tradition. Judge Rodney gave us "smart move" nod and wink after our conversion. We Kiltie battled and survived. I'm proud to have been a part of it. PICTURE REQUEST: Somewhere, somebody should have pictures of a Joint Kilt/27th Lancer '77/'78 drum line all in kilts. Anybody Know Mark Watson?