gak27

SCV Living in Akron --> going to 1st show of the year

Ithaca, 1974 (I was 11): - the overall excitement level, right from the beginning of the night - how good our seats were - my first time (second if you count prelims) seeing most of the 'biggies' - the Muchachos absolutely freaking the crowd out and raising the emotional response for every corps after them - Anaheim - the gasp from the crowd when the Madison guard member fainted right after they started their show - SCV: I was hooked during prelims, but by the push in "Send in the Clowns" I KNEW that they would ALWAYS be my favorite - that the tapes my Dad made (shhh, don't tell) are still listenable

75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 82 Finals in 75 and 82

Keith, Just to be clear, are you talking about 1) Finals, or 2) Championship week?

So approximately 1 minute per piece, average? Huh...

SCV 27th done!

Try '82 -- we were straight on that year ('94 was also )

SCV - "Don't Cry for me Argentina" hit after the solo...and the cutoff...

The first year with a full tour schedule through the South -- Royal Crusaders and Blue Stars (I forget who else) did several shows together on that tour... Phantom drum major playing the rifle/flag "pipe organ" during Toccata and Fugue in concert... The Bridgemen...

I joined midseason, along with several former Royal Crusaders, to help with the "recruiting challenges". There was also a significant rewrite (drill-wise, mostly, I believe) of the 2nd half of the show, so when we arrived in Revere almost all of our practice time was spent on this part of the show. I also bounced between a couple of spots before settling into the mellophone line so I didn't actually practice the OTL until runthroughs the night before my first show. I remember a parking lot, sunburn and hoping we'd do enough runs to give me at least a chance of learning the drill.

- the confusion during retreat that allowed us to play ourselves off. Some of the details might not be exact but...I seem to remember there being a time deadline/noise ordinance that the show was under. As a result, we were supposed to just leave the field under a cadence after the scores were announced. Several corps did so, to the understandable dismay of fans and corps members alike. Also, we somehow managed to wind up next to SCV on the field for retreat - I think it had to do with the order they had us in the Olympic-style retreat and how the filled the spots on the field - so we were kind of 'trapped' as some of the other corps 'just left' under cadence. At some point during all of this, the playing restriction must have been lifted b/c our drum majors came back to us saying "We're playing! We're playing!" I believe we were the first corps allowed to do so; as the first notes of "Danny Boy" started the crowd went bonkers!

TWO SEVEN!!!

I'll throw in a split vote, one from each coast: 2-7 and these ladies (couldn't find a comparable 2-7 one at the moment):

Drum major was Jeff Jackson... Actually, I believe the member who won the baritone I&E title was Dave Teachout...

I LOVE the back-to-back Bottle Dance clips! I also really like how one of the first music "hits" occurs just as the two Bridgemen dancers clasp hands...

Add 1980 to this... And if "Processions" are fair game, better include Elsa...

Does "Elks Parade" count?

In (I believe) '76, during our first tour, I made the obligatory call home to let my parents know how things were going (yes I still have money, yes I'm eating, etc.). My younger brother was on the extension chirping in from time to time, being the typical annoying brother. At one point he says, in a singsong voice, "Soooo, do you have a girlfriend yet???" My kneejerk reply: "Shut the #### up!" (I was all of 13 at the time) The line was rather quiet for a few seconds, but my parents recovered quite well (my dad marched in the 50s so...) My brother never made another peep.

"Music of the (Starry) Night" -- I like what they did here...

Time for a trip a bit further back -- love the chord "waterfall"! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMmy2zuBZJU

Willy, Thanks SO MUCH for the US Open pic! I vividly remember seeing your corps there that year and loving the unis... A lot of rain that year

I went to a varsity/alumni meet at my alma mater last year and had my first experience w/ the timing change (I fenced in the early/mid 80s) and I 100% agree -- I made my living playing the parry-riposte game in my matches (I rarely made it past the center of the strip) -- and the first time I fenced one of the current members I was thinking "wait a minute, I got that touch!"

Daffy Duck's "Dodge, parry, thrust!" as Robin Hood took on a whole new meaning when I joined the fencing team in college. I loved every minute of it and I like to think that my conditioning from years of marching (esp. my legs) served me well during my collegiate career (left-handed foilist, only 5 fingers, though ) ----------------- Regarding Phantom quoting other corps' music in their show: Wasn't that the year they did "Carnival of the Animals" by Saint-Saens? I seem to remember reading somewhere that Saint-Saens interspersed themes from other composers throughout that piece as a tribute to them and Phantom did likewise...

1956 St. Vinnie's (my dad is in the back left, looking at the camera, courtesy of osmondpostcadets.com St. Vinnies page [spelled his last name wrong, though ]):