bd5times

I remember that show in Bayonne. As I remember it, we got a standing O coming onto the field from the Bayonne home town crowd. The ovation afterwards was simply amazing. I don't recall why we were angry but I do recall several inspiring speeches from our new M&M instructor. The soprano line was simply amazing that year as was the rest of the horn line. I still think of the 82 season as the "Dream" season. It seemed so simple to just go out and "win". I think the 84 corps was everybit as talented with that same burning desire the 82 corps had, maybe even more talented. Although, the season was not so "simple". The 84 corps had to fight and demonstrate reckless abandonment in its performances. There was absolutely no fear of making mistakes in that corps, it was always put it on the line if we wanted to hear "...and in 1st place". Regardless, being able to experience that level of performance is simply incredible. Hopefully many in other corps get to experience that "high" of having those performances where when you are done you just think how lucky you are to be abe to experience something like that....knowing the corps as a whole "nailed" the show and to stand on the field at the end and listen to the crowd going nuts.

Nice post, Russell. I think I recall that we unloaded by Suncoast, but that memory is vague. I don't recall that you guys were nipping at our heels, but that could be due to our tunnel vision we had on Garfield that year. One thing that I've found is funny is I've read many times how corps noticed we were milling around in front of them and corps got nervous or timid or perhaps over hyped just by our presence. We never considered that we were effecting other corps. We were just another group of kids, from across the country, and a drum corps was warming up by us. In retrospect, I think we loosened up and relaxed even more than our normal nature when corps would watch us warm-up. Once that mouth-piece touched our chops we were dialed in. We certainly were well aware of the killer horn line that Suncoast was sporting. We first became fans in 1983 at DCI Midwest when we first saw the Suncoast Sound. I can remember hearing about what a hornline Suncoast had and many of us from Blue Devils were sitting in the stands to check the corps out. We were hooked after the first minute of that opener in 83...WOW! With respect to the 84 DCI Finals warm-up. I have a recording of our warm up, so I get to relive it every so often. We were so focused on doing the best we could and we were primed to lay it all out there at Finals. The 84 Blue Devils was different from any other year that I marched. We wanted to win, but we weren't driven by that lust as in past years. We got hammered by Garfield so much that the win/loss thing wasn't on our minds. We "got it" that we had to be on top of our game if we wanted to beat Garfield. The 84 Blue Devils were so aggresive with their performances that I don't recall a bad performance once we left on Big Tour. We knew the horn line, drum line, color guard, and M&M program were all going to have to click in order to overcome Garfield. We never got down with a loss, just noting what was lacking and constantly pushing to be the best we could be. We also had a lot of fun that summer. 1984 was an incredible year for drum corps....top to bottom.

Wow! Nice picture, Kelly. I made this one. I'm the short 17 year old on the far right. Look at the elbow contact down the line. That's the opening of the show. Horn line toeing the front sideline at elbow contact for that sonic BLAST to the stands. I can remember feeling that if my elbows came in the horn line on both sides would crash in on me. We used to apply so much pressue on those elbows so as not to break contact. Rob

Extremely busy and doing well here on the left coast. Hope all is well on your end of the country!

Hey OP!

I've given up on who does what better, who's got the hardest show, and who has the shiniest buses. I go to a show to be blown away, no evaulation, I just want to see killer drum corps performances. Cavies are one of the corps I love to see because of their performances and the coolness of their drill. I love watching Blue Devils because that's where I marched and I love that I can still hear incredible horn lines form them....and I love their shows. Who's better? Frankly, for me, I don't care. Those two corps as well as others are simply fun to watch and hear.....

Thanks for the note. I pretty much go to the shows to watch the corps and hopefully be amazed. This year I was amazed. As far as the negatives? I look at it this way. There is no corps on the field that's perfect. None. I gave up the critical eye a long time ago. It seemed to get in my way of fully enjoying the corps performances and believe me, after marching 5 years in BD, I was pretty critical watching other other corps. So, I don't rank and rate. I may disagree with the outcome in some instances (i.e. Pacific Crest vs Mandarins), but the outcome didn't effect my impression of their shows. Besides....I saw my name on the field with one of the corps props and was blown away with that. Took me a while to figure out who did that.

First off, it's late, so I'm likely to bungle and forget things as I write down my thoughts regarding todays show. Each year I look forward to the Blue Devils Home Show, Precision West. For myself and many other alumni (BD and SCV), it's not the typical show, it's home. A lot of us grew up watching corps here, grew up performing here, and continue to be amazed at the success of the Blue Devils as well witnessing great performances of other competing corps. It's also a place where we take our families to see the excitement of drum corps and what it is that had such an impact on our lives. So, on to the day. This review won't cover the who did what songs, what's good and what not, just some simple thoughts of each corps. My family and I showed up at DVC to attend the Blue Devils Amigos BBQ. This is a great event that my kids love attending. We got there just as the A corps was wrapping things up. We heard the strains of the "God Father" as we were looking for a table. After dinner we're off to the stadium. Short Snippets and Impressions of Corps. In general, I was really excited by what I saw and heard this evening. The thing that came across from corps to corps was thundering percussion, particularly the Mandarins. Tradition You want to know what tradition is? Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets. That's tradition! SCVC is big, sounds great, looks like Vanguard, sounds like Vanguard, performs like Vanguard, instructed by guys/gals that marched Vanguard. SCVC is the epitomy of tradition! SCVC Snare Drummer The SCVC drumline is big, sounds great, and performs like the big guys. One of SCVC's snares lost a drum stick during the show and that kid did not miss a beat. If you didn't know it, you would've never realized he was playing with only one drum stick. He kept his poise and concentration. When a judge picked up the stick and found the drummer, the snare drummer grabbed the stick, twirled the stick in his fingers, while marching at a high rate of speed, and kept on going like it was all part of the show. These kids obviously have great instruction and that instruction starts with George Brown. Kudos to the snare drummer......true professionalism expected from the SCV organization. The biggest surprise to me was the Blue Devils B Corps. WOW! The best Blue Devils B Corps that has been put on the field. Period. Words can't describe it. The corps is simply incredible. From the corps uniforms, to the show, to the brass, to the massive drum line (and it is massive), to the guard uniforms, to the over all show. It's just incredible what this corps is doing. The uniforms themselves attract and reflect light like no other drum corps on the field. It's random flashes of brightness throughout the field, continuing throughout the corps performance. Oh...the performance. It's off the chart. I don't know what place they will take on their trek to DCI...and frankly I don't care. They are the best Blue Devils B Corps that has hit the field and they are achieving the standards of the Blue Devils and setting new standards for the Blue Devils B Corps as well as making the Blue Devils organization proud. There is no placement that is going to take away that huge accomplishment. Second Biggest Surprise......Tombstones.... Tombstones....Blue Devils C corps tombstones. I had read they had Dave Gibbs on a tombstone that was one of the Blue Devils C corps field props. NOBODY TOLD ME MY NAME WAS ON THERE! I'm in the stands while the corps is setting up on the field. John Donovan from DCP points out "hey Rob, is that you", then a friend that I marched with walks up the isle..."Hey Rob...you're out there", then another person points it out. Cool Beans! I now am on a mission to get out to a BDC rehearsal to get a picture taken of me with my tombstone and some C corps kids! The C corps itself is huge. Did Blue Devils hire a Recruiting Manager? The C and B corps have grown up. The C corps is still the crowd highlight of the evening. They're oosing with talent, are having fun, and continue to be one of the many highlights of the Blue Devils organization. GHOSTBUSTERS! Classiest Move By Any Drum Corps The Blue Devils B corps performed prior to the Blue Devils C corps. The B corps, after finishing their show immediately lined up outside the 0 yard line, extending from the front to back sideline. They stood there during the entire time the Blue Devils C corps was on the field, cheering them on throughout their performance. The B corps may not realize this, but the entire stadium took note of the B corps cheering on the C corps. That was total class and highlights what it's like to be a part of the Blue Devils family. First Huge Sound Of The Night If you want loud low brass, the loudest of the night, Pacific Crest is the corps for you. The show is fun and Pacific Crest was my son's favorite non-Blue Devils corps (how's that for a statement). I really liked this show and was surprised it didn't top Mandarins. The corps sounds fantastic and the guard was extremely well integrated into the show. If you get a chance to see this corps...do it! It's a fun show and has tunes that you'll go away humming, particularly if you're a fan of the 92 Scouts. One of the corps I always look forward too I always look forward to seeing the Seattle Cascades. This is the corps that opened my eyes to what a Div II corps can do and ever since then they've just gotten better. I think this years corps is ahead of last years corps and they've got, again, a huge sound. The fans sitting around me loved the opening sequence. It reminded me of 99 SCV. You won't be humming the music, but the show was very well performed. Clean up the feet and this show will be sky-rocketing. Must see show for percussionists If you're a percussionist, Mandarins show is the show to see. The Mandarins beginning is a show off section of a variety of drummers and it was awesome! The hornline is lined up across the field with drummers and guard spread out across the field. The left side of perhaps 10 horns and a couple of drummers opens up to a box and the drummers just bang. Then the next section, and so on. The drumline is fun and exciting, the horn line is big, but doesn't have that big sound. Seattle and Pacific Crest, I thought, out shown the Mandarins. Mandarins need to unleash that hornline and once they do, they'll be climbing up the ladder. Most ambitious drill.....and all out jaw dropping show Blue Knights take the cake when it comes to flat out ambition. The show concept is actually pretty cool. Plenty of body movement, which we expect from BK. What wasn't expected was the sheer velocty of this drill. Holy Smokes! This corps is moving. They had the most falls within the show, perhaps attributed to slippery shoes on the astro-turf. Some of the falls didn't make sense unless the shoes were slick. They have one portion of the show where the guard is in a circle and the horn line is in a big arc around the guard. The guard rotates their circle, similar to what you would see from a hurricane satelite video and soon the horn line gets sucked into this thing and they're running.....really cool. Slanted snares, great big sound from the horn line....look for this corps to be in finals. It' a fun show and is a visual treat! Explosion and Big Drill The only way I can describe the Santa Clara Vanguards opener is it's an Explosion of Sight and Sound. That's it....simply an explosion. For about 45 seconds....the opener is just an explosion of motion. I love it! The rest of the show is just as incredible. The drill for SCV is HUGE! I don't think I've ever seen SCV do just big drill for so long in the show. They cover the entire field. The horn line sounds like it's back in business and the drums are cooking. The only comment from my family was the guys guard unis look like they're in boxers. Home Town Corps So many others have already written about the Blue Devils show, so I won't go into it other than I think it's simply incredible. The things that you don't always hear about..... THE DRUMS AND UNIFORM LOOK GREAT! The drunms, under the lights have this surreal look about them. I know the reason for the white stripes on the uniform and yeap.....it works. The hornline is yet again another carrying on the tradition of Blue Devil hornlines before it. The drumline is smoking and the guard looks killer! A Huge Thank You I'd like to thank the Blue Devils A corps for playing Pegasus. You have no idea what it's like for myself and alumni of the 80 and 82 Blue Devils to sit in the stands and suddenly hear the contras start off the tune. We're not sitting there evaluating the performance, but reliving a tune that we spent hours upon hours performing. We're sitting there wondering if that's what we sounded like. There are others in the stands who grew up hearing the 80 and 82 Blue Devils performing Pegasus, reliving the moments of what excited them watching Blue Devils performances. To the alto line.....you nailed it! I was sitting in the stands, with my DCI Ring on my finger, the ring I won playing Pegasus. Thank You! That tune was the talk of the town!!!

I have video of the 82 Blue Devils during Pegasus where the soloist had problems on a similar scale. Just something you take a chance with when you've got that kind of exposure. Most of the time, those solos are nailed and the guy is a hero. Every once in a long while, the solo gets chewed up and others realize just how much guts it takes for those guys to stand there and give it there all.

I think most of the wings were going out with drummers. Could be my sister, who was a wing, came out and kissed me. I don't remember that though.

:) The soloist would be Jay Long...an incredible soprano player. Go here to see a bit of the victory concert and other neat stuff

That's Spirit in 81 / 82 time frame.

My dad couldn't get me into drum corps fast enough. He was all for the discipline and such and anything to have me not hanging out around the house watching TV. I was in another local band that was on the downward slide, so after many years of prodding and shoving by my dad I finally decided to join. My younger sister had already been in Blue Devils B corps and Drum & Bell Corps about 4 years before I started, so I knew what to expect and knew that I would be "Laura's brother". I had to deal with being a rookie as well as learning how to play a horn my first year in the B corps. It was fun and a challenge. I kept my sights on being in the A corps and worked my butt off all season to improve. Unforunately, I have this dreadful problem of hating when I can't play an instrument and not being first chair or lead. So I really worked hard. I made the A corps my first try, 10 months after learning how to play the horn. I was a 3rd soprano in the B corps when I made the A corps. I remember calling my dad from the corps hall to tell him "Dad...I made it". He was thrilled that I made the A corps as well as my sister making the A guard that same year ( I was 16, she was 14). He was really into the fact we were in the Blue Devils. We've got tons of pictures, recordings, and videos that my dad made during my years marching. The problem then was I was one of 4 brass members in the A corps hornline that was 16. We were in a line with an average age of close to 20. We were exposed to some incredible brass players on all instruments. I was back in the situation of being the low person on the totem poll again and worked my tail off to improve. I didn't want to have to be the "leaker" in the section. I guess in short, my problem was I didn't want to join the Blue Devils and had to deal with my dad wanting me to be in it. Once I joined, they couldn't get me out.

John and Crew.... Very nice job!!! Looks professional and refreshing. Rob

Hey Tony! I yanked the pictures for space for some other stuff. I'll work on getting the pictures up on the Blue Devils site in the Through the Years section. In the mean time, I'll try and dig up what it was I posted and get you some links. Maybe I'll have them reappear here. We need a an old time video thread....I've got some killer stuff.