VKContra96

Allentown -is- Drum Corps to me. Out of the 36 shows we did in my only year of DCI the one I remember best is Allentown. When I close my eyes I can almost smell the mist in the air and hear/feel the drumline warming up behind us as we stand in our arc preparing for the greatest night of the season. We were standing on an island, surrounded by mist, and as we played the opening notes to Concierto de Aranjuez thousands of fireflies started to dance in the vibrations made by our horns and as we neared the final measure we were all shocked to see our caption head wiping tears from his eyes. He gave us the traditional symbol for "Not a word or I'll make you do push-ups 'til you die" then lead us into Danny Boy. At the end of Danny Boy we just stopped and watched the fireflies dance for 10 minutes until it was time to get to the field. It was perfect. After that we marched to the field without a single vocal command, and no pep-talk, and entered the stadium to the first of 11 standing ovations. I have never felt that much energy again. After we entered the first set ( a tiny shoulder-to-shoulder back-to-front block) our captain told us "On the count of three yell 'Hello Allentown!'". We yelled and they responded with an almost perfect "Hello VK!" then we screamed "We're BACK!" for another standing O. Then we started the 1 minute warm-up, but instead of playing our warm-up, we sang BD's warm-up and finished with a wild screaming roar that was drowned out by the third standing O. We then proceeded to play our best show of the entire season (I believe it was the first time we broke 90 but I can't remember because of those dang fireflies). We left the field to a final ovation that lasted until the next corps entered the field, and coiled up into the final formation before we got dismissed for dinner. As we wound up tighter and tighter I started to hear a faint hissing sound, but I didn't figure out what it was until I looked up to see a pillar of steam rising off of our bodies. Our corps director Tom Hixon was standing in the center nodding his head and grinning like a fox in a hen house as the fans continued their final ovation. Tom opened his mouth to say something but we started yelling before I could hear what he said. That night has only been eclipsed 3 times since then. My wedding night, and the days my 2 children were born. This is why Allentown needs to be the home of DCI East. That is all. Ron Edit: Dad Gum It I made myself cry when I read it.

Hi, I never heard of drum corps until fall 1995 when my friend Yosuke Ogura wanted to audition for the Velvet Knights. I drove him over to the VK camp in Anaheim with plans to drop him off for 4 of 5 hours. When we got there he ran off to play with the drummers and I was just wondering around when this HUGE Mexican dude with a fro and a beard walked up to me and asked/bellowed "What instrument do you play?" I said "Tuba." and he facepalmed himself and dragged me into the horn audition room. I was too scared to tell him that I wasn't there to try out. Anyway He gave me a horn (and a mouthpiece which ###### him off) and some sheet music (I now realize that it was Magical Mystery Tour) and told me to play. I was freaked out so I let loose with some of the crappiest sounds ever produced. He asked me if I really play tube, I nodded in terror, he looked at me like I was "a little slow" and asked if I could play a scale or two. I played some scales and some of Jupiter. He said something about how he should go back in time and kill his mother so he would never be born, and told me to go stand with the other "tubas". That was my first (and I thought last) experience with drum corps. Then in March the next year I got a phone call from the same guy (its embarrassing but i can't remember the name of the man who single-handedly made my life a living hell for 5 months) and BAM! I was drafted into the Velvet Knights Drum and Bugle Corps! It was the worst experience of my life; I was exhausted for 4 months straight; by the end of the summer my skin had been burned so many times it couldn’t remember what color it was supposed to be; and it wasn't until I finally got home to my suddenly uncomfortable bed that I realized I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! I don't know what else to say! Glad to be here, Ron