Imperial

I loved their 1978 show even more. I also think they were technically more sound that year. Loved that concert piece they did with the bari solos and duets. Don't recall the name if it though.

How about best 9th place corps ever?! 1979 North Star!

I'm from Boston and never heard that. Bay Area means SanFrancisco. We say Bay State area. BAC really means Boston Area Crusaders. It was others who started refering to them as the Bad Azz Crusaders. Actually, members, alums and staff just call it "the Corps". (Emphasis on "Corps", not "The", so as not to sound pompous.

Um ya, well, if drum corps performers were getting really attractive salaries, I think that would be the case too. I can say, after working many seasons with Boston in the 80's and 90's that many out of staters fell in love with the Boston area and moved and settled there.

Wow, talk about geographically challenged, LOL. We are 18 miles south of Boston and on the T! What are we known for? Look at any list of Massachusetts towns and see which one is first on the list :)

Um Ah, Jay Murphy, Originally from Beverly, MA.

I think it no longer makes sense in DCI, but it makes sense for other drum corps genres. DCI has gone showbiz and the key there is to assemble the best acts. This means assembling groups where people come from all over and the groups are run logistically at the most appropriate facilities and locales in order to best to achieve their goals. Ed Sullivan didn't announce: "From Liverpool, The Beatles!" No, he just said "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles". DCI has become way too complex and all about the product to focus too much on the location. Plus, the corps all look and sound the same now. It's very homogenized. When I meet the wonderful members of the Boston Crusaders, I do notice that not a one of them has a Boston accent, or knows too much about the place which is their namesake. That's fine though. It's what DCI has evolved into. I have no problem with it because, over there on a grass roots level, in the other drum corps world, drum corps seems to be re-inventing itself. There are more alumni corps, DCA competition corps and community -all age- corps than ever. It's all good. Actually, because DCI has gone bigtime, and is more of an elite club, I see it as my mission to do my part and recreate a community based drum corps. These corps, and most DCA corps should definitelty retain their sense of place. There is much heritage in these corps still. In the information age, the digital age, drum corps is having a renaissance. We can communicate in so many ways now to keep the drum corps fires buring during the offseason. We may look back at these years and point to the time where the activity was saved from extinction by the internet. But I digress.... location, mention is not too important to a DCI Corps. http://www.pembrokeimperials.org

Ok, We picked up our last drummer last weekend and the DL is set for HOV. Had a great practice last Sunday. Now, we could use one able bodied midrange horn player to round out our Mini Corps. We are playing two pieces for HOV: Minimally Speaking, by Richard Saucedo and a latin piece called Estancia!

Drums had a very productive weekend this past weekend!

Hello, The Imperials are still looking for an experienced bass drummer and an experienced mellophone player for the above mentioned show. Please PM me if you are interested. Sincerely, John S. Director - Imperials http://www.pembrokeimperials.org

More power to you but I bet at 50 I could still march circles around you! I play in a soccer league too! Becuase of that I have more wind than I did as a kid LOL.

1975, and that was quite late for me. I was 15. I never knew what drum corps was until I was 12. :(

I was rearrainging by basement last night and found the 1973 VFW National Champion trophy. Anyone want it? Ha! Just kidding! I'll guard it with my life!!

We are looking forward to performing in the Boston show. It's nice to appear close to home. Then maybe afterwards some merriment maybe not too much merriment; the Abington St. Pat's Parade is the next morning! Yowee!!!

Hello, Drum Corps Friends. We are looking for a couple more people to fill out the mini corps we are preparing for the Bugler's HOV on March 20th in Boston. A bass drummer and one more midrange horn. If you play something else but are still interested, please contact us, maybe we can work something out. Also, you may be a member of another corps, so long as you agree to learn the musical selections we are doing and be proficient at them. Sincerely, John Stark, Director.

Agreed... My analogy is: You turn on a lawn mower and let it run for 11 minutes. It putters along at a constant din for 11 minutes without any rise or fall. Devoid of contrast or texture. Then you shut it off. That's what we have now.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I'd just like to add though that I also believe the apparatchiks are to blame too. We have an insular, somewhat clubby judging community that all all follow a set of unwritten style rules and reward or deny groups credit based on that. It fosters slavishness thus homogeneity. The carousel of the same old instructors and creative people cross-pollinating the corps homogenizes too. We have backed ourselves into a corner, a niche. This corner is far away from mainstream tastes. That's fine, I guess, as long as you aren't interested in attracting the mainstream. Maybe the only way to escape this is having corps like the Cadets take the leadership role and not be afraid to disregard the unwritten rules and break out of this funk. I believe they have done this in the past too. Or, we promote a different product of non competitive entertainment based corps who aren't afraid to take a chance. The problem with that is young people always seem to need the carrot of competition. Maybe they had it right years ago with the non judged portion of the program!

In addition, we are looking for a couple more people to fill out the mini corps we are preparing for the Bugler's HOV on March 20th in Boston. A bass drummer and one more midrange horn. If you play something else but are still interested, please contact us, maybe we can work something out. Also, you may be a member of another corps, so long as you agree to learn the musical selections we are doing and be proficient at them. Sincerely, John Stark, Director.

Drumline rehearsal Sunday, 1/10/10, 11am 1pm. Corps Hall.... Abington Center. Hornline rehearsal this weekend too. Time TBA by the end of week. http://www.pembrokeimperials.org

I can speak first hand to that one and totally agree. We are doing it however. The hard part is actually forming something. Then it's intense nurturing. Still in the nurturing stage LOL . http://www.pembrokeimperials.org

Have fun everyone. We'll be thinking of you, our equipment truck sitting idle, right up the road yet uninvited. http://www.pembrokeimperials.org

Mike, The Imperials definitely want in! What do we have to do?!

Well, we contacted the parade committee about inclusion in just the parade. We even would make an exception in our rule that we only appear for money, waiving the fee just to be in the parade. But, it seems they still will not have us. The explanation to us was we "don't have at least 35 horns." I am dissapointed. We are the closest Drum Corps to the Parade, other than Rockland and were spawned in Pembroke, very close to Plymouth. Some of our original members came from Plymouth. Also, I realize other reasons might be they feel we are not good enough. Well if that were true, it no longer is. We have improved immensely in the last year. We are also growing. Maybe someone can shed some more light on some other reasons why we are not to be included. We really wanted to be. Sincerely, John Stark - Director, Imperials http://www.pembrokeimperials.org

From Flushing, NY, The Toileteers From West Bend, The Percolators From Intercourse, PA, Immaculate Conception From Yellow Knife, NWT, The Butterspreads From Pidgeon Forge, TN, The French Fry Eaters From Walpole, MA, The Lalleys From Sandwich, MA, The Submarines From Casper Wyoming, THe Friendly Ghost Riders Yuk yuk yuk, I could go on and on but you would all find me and kill me PS: I have a friend, who is the Band director of a very accomplished HS band in MA, who always said that if he would ever start a corps, it would be called: Massachusetts Madness. I believe entirely that if he ever did it, it would be incredible, judging by how good his band and his music program is.

Or, how about this analogy: The Boston Red Sox. How many New Englanders? 2 I think right now. Baldelli and Delcarmen. Where do they train in the Winter? Florida. Where are there offices? Boston. Were to they perform? Boston and other venues around the counrty. Case closed.