Geneva

Beautifully written, Frank. It makes me wish I could have known the man.

I could definitely do without the syntesizers though. My sentiments as well. I used to feel that the depth and balance of the acoustic sound was a good gauge of how accomplished the brass section was. The synths homogenize everything and you can't tell anymore.

Mike, I had a similar experience with my corps (Appleknockers) in 1969 at little Hobart College in Geneva, NY. I was sitting out the exhibition at the half-time of the Army vs. Hobart lacrosse game. Hobart at the time had a very active "Students For a Democratic Society" chapter which was actually later infiltrated by a government agent known as "Tommy the Traveler" seeking subversive activity (made national news on the CBS nightly broadcast). Anyhow, I found myself sitting in a hostile crowd of students jeering the appearance of the corps fronted by its Honor Guard as "emissaries of the War mongering American Legion". They viewed the corps members as brain washed into making this militaristic/patriotic display. You are right about the Vietnam era of drum corps being an uncomfortable time for our activity with drum corps being an isolated niche. Sure, it is still a niche only now one which is more exclusive and without community ties...but a wonderful niche it is!

I believe he has passed away. In 1994 I wrote him an irate fan letter because of my frustration the the top four corps in prelims that year never performed in exhibition after the show was suspended due to rain. I had traveled a long way to Boston and it was my only chance to see drum corps that year. He was conscientious enough to send me a personal letter of explanation regarding the decision.

I think Paul hit the nail on the head about the shrinking demographic. Of course the other half of the equation is the loss of a source of new young members as the community basis for drum corps has vanished. I consider myself lucky to live in metro Boston where the sheer size of the activity that once existed here is enough to sustain two fine alumni units (and not so long ago three with North Star currently working on a come back as well). This is now my 16th season of alumni drum corps and the inevitable march of time will result in us fading to black in the absence of active community drum corps. So I am enjoying the opportunity to recreate that which meant so much to us as kids and I am grateful to be able to do it with and for those who remember and appreciate what once was...while it lasts.

Late 60's Blue Rock

Just to complete my story of April 5, 2005 http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/index.php/topic/62667-some-old-corps-photos/?view=findpost&p=1029118 here is the long lost photo of the Appleknockers junior corps taken at Marion, Ohio at the U.S.Open just after our prelim performance which placed us 11th and in the finals of a national competition the only time. The best of memories! (I am the soprano just above the third contra player)

The Kingsmen did beat St. Joe's once in 1967 prior to State Legion at Buffalo. This certainly added drama to the match up at Buffalo and MSJ seemed on edge that AM as they rehearsed on the next field over from my corps. Joe's prevailed in the championships, however. I do not recall there being prelims and finals, just one show. Something strange happened on the Fleetwood recording. It was almost like someone turned the microphone level down on the Kingsmen as if to justify Joe's victory for posterity. I was there in person and what I heard was nothing like the recording. I still have sweet memories of the impact from the Kingsmen's euphoniums as they turned into the stands during the triplets in Maleguena. It was like being pelted in the face!

I do not imagine they took getting beaten by another NYS corps (Brassmen) lightly. That is something I almost never saw happen in the six seasons that I competed against them.

How so?

Art, I am looking forward to being a part of an event for a worthy cause and the opportunity to reminisce about the old days. Did you know that Chris Ferrara who heads up the SDCA was a soprano soloist in the day with the Chicago Royal Airs? I heard them live once at a show in NYC in 1966. As a 14 year old newbie to drum corps, I was mightily impressed by the style and technical ability of their soloists. He will be there Saturday. I am looking forward to meeting him.

Let me add my two cents even if it is five years late. I competed there with the Geneva Appleknockers 1970-1973. My fondest memories are 1970 and 1971. In 1970 we missed finals placing placing 13th (they took 10), but I made good use of the resulting free afternoon following our prelim performance to seek out a rehearsing finalist. Since I had driven to Marion, I was able to drive to the rehearsal site of the corps of my choice. For me that was the Argonne Rebels. I had never had the opportunity to see the corps live, but had heard the high praises their horn line was receiving. When I arrived, I found them in a 50 horn semicircle. I was surprised at the number of young ladies in the line which was unusual for the era. What I beheld from the horn line was spine tingling! "Barnum and Bailey's Favorites" being played with power and a depth of sound which I had never heard from a corps before. All the harmonies and moving lines shimmered and soared. This was obviously a line where everybody "got it"! That night at finals I was also blown away by another corps which I had never seen, The St. Paul Scouts. Their drill was fast moving and bold with "big picture" maneuvers. Great memories, indeed! 1971 were some of my best drum corps memories as we made finals. After six years of marching with the corps which introduced me to the world of drum corps, we had arrived at long last. It was our first and destined to be our last appearance in a national competition finals. 1972 and 1973 would see our fortunes fade in the stadium where you could stand at the top and feel like you could see for miles across the plains of the Midwest.

From an articulation difficulty standpoint, it is tough to top this year's Crown. Just to really go over the top, they had 80 trumpets at one point nailing a wide open sixteenth note figure ! Jump in your time machine and check out 1971 Boston Crusaders lead soprano book which spent a dizzying amount of time in the upper register.

Another good source of information is Steve Vickers' "A History of Drum Corps". Check the Drum Corps World site for further information.

I always felt that year's show was the culmination of Boston's old school insanely difficult lead soprano books. An interesting comparison to 27th in 1971 who played a middle register book which gave them this blockbuster consistent sound. Boston's lead books were exciting and daring, but very difficult to be consistent on.

I guess I should have read this before the end of the season. It may have made the Crusaders' show more interesting to me. Then again, maybe not. I don't think a drum corps show should require a primer to appreciate. I prefer symbolism on a more emotional level as with the Blue Knights show.

Jwillis, great review. I always enjoy your commentary.

Well, another year of junior drum corps is done. I was there with a friend who played in the Watkins Glen Squires to witness it from the 50 of the oil can as drum corps fans have dubbed the reverberation chamber known as Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Certainly not the type of venue or programs which we grew up with, but which I found almost uniformly enjoyable and often awesome. We had the pleasant opportunity to connect with Steve Rondinaro for lunch and were treated to some inside stories of DCI today. I also had the pleasure of meeting Dennis DeLucia for the first time and sharing memories of the Muchachos and Bridgemen. I have not posted on DCP in sometime, but I enjoyed the show so much that I felt compelled to share my viewpoints. I welcome your responses both pro and con. By way of introduction, this is my 50th season either participating or following the activity. Forty years ago I had the wonderful experience of playing in DCI finals with New York State's only finalist, the Auburn Purple Lancers. But enough about me, on to the show... 12th place- 86.225 Crossmen- they played gypsy inspired music complete with very authentic costuming of the guard. I found their performance stirring and full of mystery. They are very strong musically with great solo work. This is the strongest which I have heard the corps since their move to Texas...seriously good! 11th place- 87.575 Madison- their book was one of my favorites, a jazz oriented show complete with the intricate rhythms of the late, great Don Ellis. It was old time screaming Scouts (at least in the second half of their show) with a trio of amplified trumpeters worthy of any big band lead trumpet section soaring above the roar of the synth bass. I understand that they offered scholarships to attract the kind of players they needed for the pyrotechnics...it worked! You have to hear the finale of their show to believe it, a solitary trumpeter playing tasty licks leaping to a sweet double G as the crowd roared its approval. No pressure there! 😳 well done young man! This was the eleventh place corps. Hard to believe! 10th place- 88.950 Boston Crusaders- this was a bitter pill for me to swallow. I saw them several times throughout the season yet the show remained an enigma to me. It was based on the political satire, "Animal Farm". Very dark with the guard's faces hidden behind animal masks and a lot of emulation of animal behavior while the horn line was locked in a minor key the entire show. The fact that they beat two very good corps is testament to the strength of their performance with a book which was very difficult to sell. The one highlight for me was when the corps created a G7 formation near the climax of their show. This was a clever wink at drum corps own brand of politics referring to the so called group of 7. This is the George Hopkins led break away group comprised of the top seven corps in DCI which have begun to sponsor their own shows and are agitating the status quo of DCI. I am sure that Boston had hoped to break into this group, but not with this years show! 9th Place- 89.600 Blue Stars- this show grew on me over the 3 days of championships. Initially I felt the whole homey theme complete with a house blueprint laid out on the field was overdone and not particularly interesting. However, the great sound of the hornline and the joy which they communicated eventually softened me up. 8th Place- 91.150 Blue Knights- the surprise corps of the season moving past Boston and Madison. For a show based on narration, I was surprised how well I liked it. The narration was minimalist and served to set up the flow of the music well. It was a pre-recorded female voice which was both pleasant and compelling. Entitled That One Second, it was a tone poem about your whole life flashing in front of your eyes. The narration would make a thought provoking statement about life then back away and let the corps paint the picture with the music. They are a great sounding corps and communicated the changing moods well. 7th Place- 91.425 Phantom Regiment- Show was entitled Swan Lake and was based on the old Good vs. Evil fairy tale with a prince trying to save a cursed swan queen. Phantom is usually one of my favorites, but not the past couple years. I did not find that the beautiful musical performance communicated the high drama that I am accustomed to from this corps. 6th Place- 93.675 The Cavaliers- Wow! Now this is the kind of high drama that I expected from Phantom. Entitled Immortal this show was a superb performance of dark vampirish selections. In fact the guard was costumed as ghouls and one of the members disappears into a coffin at the finale! This easily could have been a very cheesy show, but the strength of the musical performance and the clever visuals prevented that. The wild dance with a skeleton by a guard member in La Danse Macabre had to be seen to be fully appreciated. A big step up this year by Cavies. The fact that they could not break the top five is telling of how strong the corps were this year! 5th Place- 95.675 Carolina Crown- Entitled Out of This World, a superior brass performance was unable to overcome a show which was out there. Nobody articulates the way that Crown does! At one point all the baritones and tubas picked up trumpets to create a massively articulating soprano voice which was breathtaking and unbelievable in its precision. The ballad is an achingly long crescendo which was very satisfying and demanding in a different way. I believe they would have won in many years, but this year there were four more corps to best them. 4th Place- 96.075 Santa Clara Vanguard- Entitled Scheherazade this show was a visual feast with beautiful costuming, an elaborate temple-like backdrop, an amazing flowing pattern drill, and a wonderfully performed lush Rimsky-Korsakov melody. At the finale, it virtually vanishes as the whole corps disappears beneath a giant colorfully patterned tarp and Scheherazade emerges through an opening in it center. Super job, Vanguard! 3rd Place- 96.875 The Cadets- Entitled Promise-An American Portrait this show left me a little flat despite a very crisp performance led by the #2 visual program of the night. It was heavily based on narration and replete with many historic quotes from our past presidents. At the risk of sounding like a pinko commie cynic, I found the show theme trite and lacking in originality. I agree with The assessment of many that they are in need of some new ideas. ###### if you do and ###### if you dont for this corps which until recently was scorned for its iconoclastic themes. 2nd Place- 97.175 Bluecoats- I was delighted to see them upset The Cadets. Their show was entitled Tilt and I thought that along with Blue Devils was the most imaginative and original of this season. Personally, this was my favorite show of the year. They stage this on a field whose boundaries they re-mark in a tilted fashion. The music is very contemporary and unfamiliar yet very interesting with a great sense of directionality. The ballad of Hymn of Axciom is one of my favorite tunes now. The sheer competence of the musical performance is second to no one. The final strains of the show with pitch bending and a member launching himself into the air from one of their tilting ramps was thrilling. (see the pictures I posted in our photo files.) 1st Place- 99.650 Blue Devils- Not to be denied this year, the corps returned to their accustomed position at the top of DCI after one year as the runner up. What was refreshing this year is that I actually found their music enjoyable. Entitled Fellini, it was based on the work of the iconic Italian film director. They completed an undefeated season in record setting fashion with the highest score in DCI history. They were great although I think it is arguable that they were almost 2.5 points above Bluecoats. The corps is at the top of its game in all captions and particularly strong in programming with a lot of acting done to communicate the mood of the music. The guard was outstanding as usual in taking the caption award. I loved the opening 40 trumpet double tongued fanfarewhat a sound!! So there you have it. The kids are better than ever and as different as it is from my day, the kids do a hell of a job performing their hearts out! Geoff

Good question, Andy, and I do not have the answer. I was not a drum corps fan in 1958, but my information came from a primary source, Jack Bullock, who I quoted in my history of the Appleknockers which is in Steve Vickers' "A History of Drum and Bugle Corps" vol. two.

That was my feeling as well. This show seems like it will be a tougher sell compared with last year. I did not feel the storyline or get as much emotional satisfaction as last year. Obviously, it is very early and this corps is loaded with the talent and brains to take this far. Best of luck on the journey.

Andy, you are probably aware of this, the first contra bass register instrument was designed by Whaley Royce for the Geneva Appleknockers in 1958. You can actually hear this voice on the Appleknockers' OTL in the recording of American Legion nationals at Chicago. They were out front carry unlike the early 60's redesign by Getzen where the shoulder carry first appeared.

Well, sure it is very early so things certainly may change. At this point, the show does not have the emotional resonance of last year's show and I think that it will be harder to build that kind of vibe with this program. No doubt that the technical mastery is amazing.

Great review Brasso! I am a member of the senior corps and had the opportunity to see them in the park and at the Fling. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessments. From my perspective, this year's musical ensemble is stronger than any in recent memory. They seem to have all the right elements to move up. I think a lot will depend on how this program is presented in the visual show and, of course, the strength of the competition. The kids really seem to get it and are performing as a unit very well. Their deportment is wonderful. They are exuding the confidence and self control they will need to succeed in the higher echelons of DCI. Thank you for your favorable comments on the senior corps. It was great to be a part of this event and treated by the kids like Rock stars! It is so special to me to be a small part of this organization's 74 year history. I think that Boston will make drum corps fans across the country smile this year.

Andy, thanks for posting the video! It is the first time this old Appleknocker junior corps member has ever seen the senior corps in action 😄.

For the record, not that I feel that my opinion matters much anymore, I think this decision by the DCI board members is a bad one which makes little sense for a number of reasons. I think it will definitely evolve into an expensive novelty variation on the core mission of what drum corps does best and will contribute only marginally to the musical production as today's pit does as well. From a visual standpoint it can only obfuscate the uniformity and clarity of the image. Sousaphones have always seemed like a musically inferior solution to the need for a marching bass presence that the shoulder carried contras and tubas were a much better answer for. Hand muted french horns will definitely require amplification to be appreciated and are just plain clumsy to march with as are trombones. The drum corps brand obviously is not that important to today's leaders of the activity who seem to be pursuing a goal which now seems quite foreign to me. I never felt like a dinosaur and thought I had a liberal view of the activity even though I have been involved since 1965. However, these proposed changes could alter the form of the activity such that it no longer exists in my mind...and that makes me sad.