SCVAlumTofRGuy

Very quickly, PR was the only corps to garner a huge standing O in Irvine, CA. The was my first corps show all summer, and my wish of seeing Spartacus again after a 26 year wait (yeah, I'm that old) finally came true. That classic footage of PR's '82 opener sure took me back! I hope the PR conductor's comments come true: "I only have to take the spear two more times...well; hopefully three..."

Dang, 13 pages and no one has mentioned Carl Allison, the ultra-dynamic DM & bari soloist for the Freelancers '81-'83? ACK! Pull out those LPs and check out Malaga. Carl made a return appearance with the Kingsmen Alumni Corps this year as the bari player in the duet in Mambo. A personal favorite of mine is the baritone section playing "The Promise of Living" backfield while building into the company front in SCV's '84 version of Tenderland. '82 SCV-- the four lead baritones that were on the goal lines in Gianni having to come out of nowhere with their stacatto "answer" / exclamation point on high C while the rest of the hornline just got louder. Also, an honorable mention to '07 SCV's baritones at SCV's stand up performance at the Dean Lescher Center BEFORE they watered down their music. :(

Plain and simple, the mojo. The "take-no-prisoners" mojo. Bill T (vanguard87) knows what I'm talking about....

They also used the footage of us for the "'04 replay" promos and promos for the '05 parade. I was on the right edge/camera side of the block with spectators not 2-3 feet away; when we did the horn snap & slide for the big hit in Henry VIIIth all I saw were spectators with eyes as big as dinner plates (Audience: "OMG, they're gonna...!!" (KA-WHOMP!!)) We were "good 'n loud", too... :P

Having marched the TORP with SCV in '04, it was a great experience but my whole upper (not lower) body was sore for a week!!

We had a dancer who doubled as a baton twirler that capped the pants change visual with a big toss in '85 SCV; there's a closeup of her on the Legacy DVD. "All that (the pants change) and the kitchen sink, too (the baton twirler)!!"

Dennis-- was that Michelle that I met at DCI West before our alumni/A-corps performance? :( And, congratulations on your acheivement!

Leo, The baritone soloist was Carl Allison, who marched with the Freelancers from 1977-1983. You might remember him as the very dynamic drum major who also doubled as their baritone soloist in '82 & '83 on Malaga. On a personal note, my wife (who played French Horn last night) and I would like to thank all the age outs from the various corps. I will never forget the group from The Cadets and BD (who sat near one another on the Side 2 goal line) spontaneously standing up, turning around and waving their arms to the crowd behind them ("stand up for the old guys!!"). During the push in Firebird the crowd was so loud all I could hear was myself and the sop next to me blowing near my left ear. And, the sight of the PR age outs going bonkers just made me play that much louder. ALSO: Thanks to all who yelled "MAMBO!"; it was LOUD from where I stood (Side 2, 20 yard line, just up from the sideline). Trivia Fact: 6 of our 10 lead baritones all absolutely nailed double G's on the last note of the "El Cid Fanfare" (the tight box formation right before we played backfield in the color presentation) -- that was fun! b**bs Erron, I didn't hook up with you up during our BD/SCV alumni gig at Stanford but rest assured it was represented...I wore my SCV/BD alumni pin on my right shoulder tab!

I also aged out in 1985, and if I had to do it over again I would not have marched my last year. Whenever I'm asked about my years in SCV, I focus more on our accomplishments in '84 (youngest corps SCV had fielded at that time, the tie for High Brass, Slammin' Pants, etc.) than the next year. Sure, '85 had the Car Wash Tunnel and all of that, but I wasn't too excited about our attempt to recapture the magic of '84's Tenderland, the unimaginative drill in the '85 Tenderland push (rotating box with the "V"), or the (IMO) weak drill added later in the season for the Red Pony reentry (we needed way more pass throughs and so on for the GE). Also, I didn't appreciate the treatment a number of us received from one of our marching instructors during Finals Week in '85, when he began making completely unecessary and absolutely vicious personal attacks on individuals from the box during ensemble rehearsals in an effort to "motivate" them. In that regard, he jumped way over the line from educator to downright bully and I lost all respect for the man. I pitied him. Being 21, I didn't have to take it; none of us did. On the afternoon of Finals he was (unfortunately) in "top" form, and I became so angry at him I very nearly walked out on the corps about 6 hours before we were to go on. Frankly, I didn't really care about whether we won or lost. GR took me aside afterward and in a private talk he got me to reconsider, and in the end I just put myself on autopilot and did a K.A. finals show in "Mr. Roboto" mode a few hours later. The end of my drum corps career, whoop-dee-doo. If there is a bright side to all this, that instructor's behavior did not go unnoticed and GR took action very soon thereafter; he was gone the following season and in fact disappeared from the SCV scene altogether.

That is very, very cool. Hopefully she will march with SCV someday!

Acad Dad, Thanks again for your comments. We are very fortunate that a large portion of our guard are "True Blue" Kmen alums who live locally, and they have a rigourous sectional schedule. We also have a contingent of SCV alum ladies from up north that come down religiously, and to see this vast talent level at work is amazing. A number of the guard marched both Kingsmen and SCV or BD or other major corps of the era back in the day, so it is like a "supergroup" of experience. They rehearse in their boots, will kick your a** with class, take your name and do it again just in case you didn't get the message the first time. It's almost surreal to watch a cadre of late 40 & 50-something moms & wives pick up heavy equipment, step onto the field and transform before your eyes into one of the most bada** groups you'll ever see.

Thank you for all the positive comments and review. Yes, we are working very hard and last night's show was to work out "first show jitters" and other logistical issues such as ideal drum major placement, etc. Some of the folks in the line haven't performed on the field in over 30 or 40 years, so this was an opportunity for all of us to shake (blast?) the cobwebs out in a full-on performance venue. Because of our camp scheduling (this weekend which just concluded, next weekend, and our August camp) we have a number of "out-of-staters" who are waiting in the wings to round out our ranks come August.

One of the aspects of KAC and other alumni corps that I think is overlooked is what it can do for our health. Since we began this undertaking in early '06 we have had a number of KAC folks undergo significant weight loss, many who feel better, one who no longer needs his mobility chair, and just general improved overall conditioning. We're eating better to stay fit for this. My spouse (a VK alum who is in her early 40s and plays French Horn in KAC) is down to 105 now and looks years younger. I recently had to buy a bunch of new pants because my waist size has dropped to a 30. We can actually keep up with and wear out our very active 7-year old now (Me: "C'mon son, let's go for another 8 mile bike ride today, it'll build character!" My kid: "Oh no-- Daaaad!") <--- true story

One of KAC's members put together a list of all the drum corps (including cadet, junior and senior corps) our members marched at one time or another; at last count it was over 108, with a number of those names being corps long since gone and forgotten. Of the Top 12 junior corps or former finalists most folks normally think of, with the exception of a few most are represented such as BD, SCV, Cavies, PR, 27th, VK, BK, Crossmen, Freelancers, Colts, etc. For example, I noticed that Star was on the list but Garfield was not even though we have a slew of East Coasters in the ranks. To think this huge breadth of experience is uniting for this common goal is simply amazing.

Mike-- where were you on Saturday and Sunday? Off the top of my head at least two of your fellow '89 compadres (Raphael and Phillip) were in the SCV/BD AC line. It was great to watch Jim play the solo from Music of the Night during the combined A-/alumni corps performance on Sunday and judging from the crowd reaction both nights I think we did really well. The kids from both A-corps were stoked to be able to play with us; I can't wait for August when we do the big one!

A hoot to watch for the fans, and an even bigger hoot to march, especially since I was the last guy in & out of the tunnel and had a great view of the uniform carnage taking place inside B) . The downside was having to rehearse that stuff in the Midwest summer heat! :P

Having marched with Jon Wagoner in '85 (my age out year), I still have difficulty watching both SCV and GC back-to-back on DVD, as after viewing both I still can't believe the result. Granted, their opening move was very cool--- we even tried it once during Finals week, moving into our opening set--- to sort of get our competitive juices flowing, as it were. However, I stood on the left edge of the retreat block (or right edge, if you were in the stands), and when we turned to play to them I was struck by how many of their members couldn't (or wouldn't) look us in the eye and just looked at the ground, including one low brass player just a few feet from me. To me, that was very telling. One of their members even apologized to me personally out in the parking lot after their encore performance. Fast forward to DCI Denver '04...I was walking out to my rental car after the show when suddenly a guy I didn't know reached out and grabbed me by my member jacket sleeve....he had a Boston accent...."OMG...you marched '85...thank you so much for that wonderful show...!!" He then took my hand in both of his and shook it, and told us what he thought of the end result. My wife (who marched BK and VK during the same era) just stood there in amazement and said to me later, "Incredible....I can't believe people still remember you after all this time...." Well, people do. PS: If you watch the DVD, you will see THE very last horn player (a skinny baritone player) sort of "boojh" down and wrap into the tunnel during the percussion feature...one of my personal "hype" moments was being that aforementioned very last horn player into and out of the tunnel (or "Car Wash", as BD called it), as the crowd would go absolutely ape when I popped out right at the big brass reentry. It was as if the crowd was saying as One, "The last guy made it through...the whole pants gag worked!! WAAAAHHHH!!!!" Very cool indeed.

Visually captivating, yes...to a point. However, I did not agree with the "treatment" afforded Simple Gifts in the dissolving company front...to me, Simple Gifts represented power...majesty...a coming together...a proclomation of love for each other....something that SCV captured so beautifully in '83....the lushness of the hornline, the down/soft ending, and no visual overload. Just the overwhelming, stunning simplicity of it all, which we tried to duplicate the following year with the Promise of Giving. We used to sing Simple Gifts as we marched to the stadium, and it was almost eerie. I'm sorry, for me GC '87 will never match the Simple Gifts statement SCV made in '83.

I know this is probably a bit hard core, but one of the things we used to do in SCV was mark time high for 101 counts with the horns up and if anyone missed the halt, we'd have to do it all over again. After camps (I was an import) I'd head back home and work out at the gym...one of the exercises I came up with involved standing in front of a large mirror and marking time high for 101 counts, beginning with a 10 lb. dumbell held in front of me in a playing position. After a short rest, I'd do the same exercise with a 15 lb. dumbell. This sequence was repeated working upward in 5 lb. increments, with the last sequence done using a 30 lb dumbell. Following that I'd strap on some anti-grav boots (the type with the large hooks that allowed you to hang from a pull up bar; they were pretty popular in the 80's) onto my ankles, and do some free weight exercises while hanging upside down. Admittedly this is pretty extreme, but it made holding those ancient poorly balanced 2-valve Degs a little easier. B)

I like some of the esoteric suggestions I've read, but I'd put it more simply: "...stuff that everyone in the stands can recognize." "Foreplay-Long Time" by Boston, for example, with a boatload of cymbal players.

Corey-- just a quick note that I like your screen name and avatar; I race a Buick (the 4 wheeled kind) in my spare time. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

History check--- '83, '84 SCV as well

Have to give props to both the '79 Troopers and '79 Guardsmen; both their Finals shows had outstanding endings. The crowd reaction to Troopers' soprano valve trill and low brass "answer" at the end of their show is out of this world. Guardsmen is classic all out DC. As far as muscical tags, I've always loved SCV's signature drum lick (there are two versions); for our younger readers, listen to the end of SCV's show in '81 or the end of their opener in '85, and you'll hear them loud and clear. Happy 4th of July!

Zeke, Thanks for the props...my wife was up front in the French horn section and she couldn't believe the crowd response. If you look close, many of the folks in the line are playing vintage piston/rotor French horns/altos/sops/baris, and the sound they generate is really incredible. If any members of the current competing corps happen to read this, thank you for your applause as we exited the field into the staging area; that was huge. Many of the KMAC members either marched with or have roots in your organizations, and the respect you showed us following our debut performance was overwhelming.

I got chills listening to the crowd spell out "S-C-V" as we were entering the stadium in '85. The idea of hearing a big ol' yell somewhere during opener (probably after one of the pants changes) does sound pretty neat, though. My wife and I sat in the SCV block at Finals in '04 and we all got caught up in the yell on that one; the members seemed to feed off it.