CRasin

Des Plaines was pretty bad, but that show's been moved to the western burbs for a long time. We moved from Maine West (Des Plaines) to the western suburbs at least 10 years ago. We first took the Cavalcade of Brass to Naperville (North Central College) and now to Lisle (Benedictine Universiry). I was happy that the weather allowed the Show of Shows to go on. The Cavaliers had another delay Friday night due to lightening and storms in the Lisle area. Never fun when you plan and work so hard for these shows. Craig Rasin Co chair, Cavalcade of Brass / Pageant of Drums

Glad to help out. I have been in your shoes before.

The Cavaliers will honor last night's ticket holders of the Merriville, IN contest FREE entrance to the backfield bleachers at Ames Field in Michigan City, IN tomorrow night. Just bring your ticket stub to the back gate, get a new wristband and pick a seat on the back bleachers. This will not allow you access to the front side stands, but at least you will be in the house. The Cavaliers have had to deal with rainouts before at our own home shows in Naperville. IL and we know the disappointment it is for fans and corps members. We will still be selling tickets to the front side that night for $20 if you so desire. We hope to see you Saturday, show starts at 7PM, gates open at 5PM. Lineup is The Cavaliers, Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, Blue Stars, Troopers, Glassmen, Spirit of Atlanta, Pioneer and Colt Cadets. You will need to show your ticket stub from Merriville, IN to get your FREE wristband. Craig Rasin Co chairman, Pageant of Drums

Just got home from Naperville and it did not rain. Thank you to all who came out, around 2500. Thanks to Chris Lugo for doing all the Cavaliers techy stuff with facebook, twitter, uverse, etc. Thanks to Mike Boo for giving DCP a heads up. See you all in Indy. Best of luck to everyone's own favorite corps. It should be fun. Craig Rasin Cavalcade of Brass Co-chairman

The Cavaliers will return on Monday, August 9th to Naperville, IL at North Cental College. The corps will do a performance of MAD WORLD as a "WE OWE YOU" rain check to the Cavalcade of Brass show that was partially rained out from July 11th. This is a totally FREE event and we hope to have many of our past ticket buyers in attendance. The invite is open to anyone and many high school band campers are making the trip. After the show we travel down to Indy for what promises to be an exciting DCI week.

Let's just hope it does not rain on August 9th. There is no Plan C. The corps has to get to Indy. This event is open to anyone, not just past ticket buyers, and is completely FREE. Of course we could not recreate the Cavalcade of Brass with the other competing corps, so we are doing the next best thing. Come out and enjoy Mad World. Monday, August 9th at 8 PM. North Central College in downtown Naperville, IL.

Tonight is the wrap up of the Texas tour here in Denton. The Cavaliers and Ryan HS Band sponsor this show at a great venue in C H Collins stadium. If ticket presales are any indication, we look for a large crowd but there is plenty of room at this facility for a big walk up gate. If you have not been here before do yourself a favor and check it out. Plus the fight at the top with the Cavaliers, Cadets and Crown will make for some great drama. Add on Madison, Blue Stars, Crossmen and the Open Class of Velvet Knights, Forte, Revolution, Music City and Vigilante and that is a very strong line up. Plenty of great seats remain and we hope to see ya"ll tonight. Call 630 362 2703 for tickets or www.cavaliers.org.

I forgot about the "electronics factor'. I was also the guy that had to unplug the extension cords on the wet track. Not too wild about that. And if you tried to flip flop the order of the corps, the contest director and the other corps directors would have a fit. Plus when the pit equipment is still loaded on the truck that is parked a a half mile away, you can't tell the corps "You're on in 15 minutes". The behind the scenes of a drum corps show has a lot of moving parts as most of you know.

I thought this might be a timely subject given last night's Omaha rainout and Sunday's rainout in Naperville. I help run the Cavalier home shows (Naperville, IL, Michigan City, IN and Denton, TX) and have had to deal with this issue two years in a row at the same show in Naperville. This year we were able to have some of the corps do a standstill concert in the newly built fieldhouse but no such option was available last year. Since the show sponsor's still have a contract cost with DCI, stadium rental costs and school housing costs, ticket refunds are not possible. Fans will also ask for a rain check or a make up date. Of course we all know that there is no make up date as the DCI tour moves on that night. But many local people think they can just come back next week. And the severe weather plays havoc with the corps more than anyone as they try to protect their equipment, uniforms and themselves. So safety always comes first and what was suppose to be a fun night of drum corps ends on a sad note. So please give those volunteer workers a break as they try to handle a bad situation. And let's hope we have sunny skies the rest of the season.