Jaminbenb

Well at least Brenda got around more...wait...that didn't come out right?!?! Crossmen....Bucs....Cab's...who else?

Well one has "sort of" made up to me, but still isn't quick on the "friend" scale.... Not sure about the other few. One was in the slew of posted pictures last year.... Just thought it was weird because of a lot of people that flipped back in forth in those daze..but.... That's also "partially" the reason I'm not going to the Black & Blue Ball... (only partially because I have another event scheduled that day in Philly...) But I know of another person not interested in going for the same "hate" reasons...we had a long conversation about it fairly recently (and I'll just leave it at that)

You were part of the main problem.... there was some edict written somewhere that stated I was never permitted to march or play while a Ream was in the corps!

Almost did it one year, but had some run-ins with a few people years back (whom I will not mention in public or private) pretty much told me that my "Buccaneer a$$" wasn't welcome...so that's fine...whatever. I never DID do Alumni....

I think you've all heard me tell of this before, but that New Orleans trip was the reason I WASN'T allowed to join mid-season that year. Randy Barry (who I went to school with) called me up and said that they lost a cymbal player, and Flowers asked if anyone knew anyone that could slide in before the New Orleans trip. So I asked my parents, and they were on board until my father noticed that THAT trip was still on the schedule (had one of the little business cards with the itinerary and repertoire) And he was like "NO! NO WAY! NO WAY IN HELL!!!" so that ended that.... I guess it was good that I didn't go to a few practices, get into the thick of things and have to tell everyone that I couldn't go...

Btw....the reason I stopped in...got the email about the "changes" in staff...jeez...a lot of people stepping down. so how ARE things this year?

Good luck on the new place! 82 Grand Prix?!?! Don't remember that one off the bat... (82 was a "fuzzy" year....) Once you're settled (and Lent's over) (I give up beer)(not wine...I'm not stupid!) We should meet for a beer at some point to catch up...

When I went to DCI out in Indy a few years back, I had low seats (right next to where the staff got to sit) and was able to watch a lot of the pits setting up and tearing down...talk about massive amounts of stuff! It almost seemed like the corps that played before and after the breaks were relieved!

Yeah, I'm sure you need a specialist for it... how could you NOT have someone dedicated to that craziness! I did read something last year, year before maybe about someone trying to suggest that each venue (or DCI) should provide a single dedicated sound system and the corps just come on the field and "plug in"...knowing what that crazy world of indoor went through with that stuff, I could only imagine how much of a cluster**** that would be at this level! And that article pretty much ruled out that in any way, shape, or form! But 84 was a learning experience with that stuff for me... we had a cart that fit Rickie Lee's timpani on (heads down) and stacked the cymbal stands a certain way on the legs. I carried the three North Toms on and off (on a modified roto-tom stand...they were one of the old sets of North "tenors" that they used the two years before similar to the kind Sun used) On the way OFF the field, we flipped the DM podium over, and just pulled the legs up from the cymbal stands, and put them in to get things off quickly. 88 was a whole different thing because pits were a little more complicated. (and the mallet instruments weren't modified for field use at that point) Pushing a full sized Marimba was a challenge, especially on grass, and gravel! But a bigger cart (with a golf cart) was the order of the day!

That's the thing....you just rehearse the whole She-Bang getting it on (and off) the field.. I think they were a little more lax way back... the thing now is that they have things attached to the keyboard "carts" so you might have a marimba with two cymbals and a small table of "toys" attached to it, a lot of the timpani are on carts or have bigger wheels than they did way back...the "percussion" set ups are all on wheels...in 84 and 88 we just used whatever stands we could find, and had 80 people just handing things to us. I wouldn't want to mess with the electronic stuff... THAT would be a frustrating thing to keep clean/dry/and working!

I just think that grounding was a new thing, and for some dumb reason they didn't know how to act that season, and no one wanted to challenge the old sideline rule of 80-billion years of old people running it. Thank GOD it changed because when I was doing the sideline thing in 1984, that would have been a HUGE pain with all the crap we had at that point! (although 88 was probably worse with the volume of equipment THAT year!)

From what I recall...I think you had to bring them on the field from behind the front sideline, (and they couldn't go over) as opposed to just placing them on the front sideline like they started soon after that. (and by the same token, no one could reach over and take them off) That was a pain because for our concert number I had a cymbal on a stand that I had to carry on the field, then go place it at the front once we stopped and started warm ups. (and someone from our guard, I think grabbed the cymbal on the way off) I also seem to remember that your two "sideline" guys, Fran, used to carry a set of bongos, and a cymbal from the endzone, and I think cymbal people (could have been someone else) carried the timapani on and placed them...it was a dumb rule... but I think it was changed for 1981....

Did you go? I was there...great show! Dweezil plays his azz off! The rest of the band played their parts just as well! Went to see Yes (pretty pathetic at this point) and Toto (AMAZING!) last week down in Baltimore! Yes needs to give it up....They've been playing the part of one of those "a few original members/cover bands" kinds of groups for the past few tours, and it wasn't that good of a show...about the only thing I really enjoyed was the version they did of Tempus Fugit (since Geoff Downes played on the album, and he was playing) and their version of Siberian Khatru...Steve Howe still plays a mean guitar! Other than that....give it up already! (Steve Howe should just do solo tours) Toto was off the charts! Always wanted to see them live, and got my wish!

Always was a classic album! Still makes my rotation on a fairly regular basis.. But yeah.... I remember seeing those ladies at DCA and freaking out! They played some serious notes!

I loved their hot all girl tenor line!

IIRC, the Friday night things were mostly music rehearsals anyway. (Wednesday were ensemble, sectional, etc.) When we had those weekend rehearsals they were in the old "stadium". Do you remember the old building that was just over the rise from that field? They tore it down a few years after they built the concert venue and then turned THAT into a football field when they built the original baseball stadium for the Senators. (and had a few concerts back there)

Wasn't there a spot under one of the bridges/tunnels leading into the city that they practiced under?

Ahhh the island! The funniest thing I remember with that whole "counter culture" of it was one Wednesday night (Horn rehearsal, drum cleaning night) seeing a guy that lived a few streets over from me driving the perimeter of the one parking lot, him seeing me and his EYES got big, and he high-tailed it out of there! Dude never looked me in the eye ever since then...kind of funny!

Zappa would be great! Yeah Devils did Echidna's Arf (of you) years back, and that was VERY cool! Some of his stuff from Grand Wazoo and Waka (JaWaka) would make good stuff also! Some of the tunes off of Läther would work also...(and just thinking about it (and playing a few things...The Colts would do a bang up job with Läther seeing how they did the Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz show last year, I really enjoyed that show!) Someone posted a cartoon tune on FB/YouTube last week, and when it was over and the "other" stuff came up, they had the Johnny Quest theme... I always thought THAT would make a good tune for the Devils!

Wow...haven't been here in a while....yeah, the Mad Elf is amazing! I need to get out and get another case before it's gone... I just grabbed a case of Impending Descent which is a stout that they release around this time of year. Great stuff, too! I only got it in my growler last year (needed some for a recipe, drank the rest, went back for a case and they were out...so I just got the growler filled again)

Well thanks! Wasn't here that day....

Was he a tenor player? I kind of remember that name, and him being a friend of Karen Eissler (who I went to the Trinity Prom with) (Karen, not John ) EDIT: I just looked in my 81 Forum program, and he didn't last until then (or came after wards)

I read something about that somewhere else...(or one of my beer snob friends may have mentioned it...most of the guys I dive with are serious beer snobs) I remember when my dad used to drink this when he couldn't find his Stegmeiers. Not to mention some of the oddities that he'd get from my grandparent's "dairy" up in Elmira, NY.... Yeah they sold milk.... but they made their money on beers! Mad Elf is being released shortly (if it isn't out already) Hop Back and Hop Devil are pretty good...Tröegs BEST IPA is Nugget Nectar (IMHO) Never was a HUGE dark beer fan, but I got some of their Impending Descent for a recipe I had, and it's GOOD! Ended up getting a few growler fills while it lasted!

At this point shouldn't they be using "vegetable" oil?

Heck I had the 75 show on 8-track and don't remember any falling apart!