VOReason Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I like to watch..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I like to watch..... I hear ya. Watching parades is better than marching in them!!!! Fran Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 (edited) I hear ya. Watching parades is better than marching in them!!!!Fran Parades??...I wasn't talking about parades, but I guess that would be fun too! Edited March 23, 2008 by VOReason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CozyChopsCom Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Like Kenny Norman always said, you get more exposure on the parade route than you do at on the field. BTW, I have six of those above mentioned parades too!Coming to Harrisburg Cozy? "Mac," I love the performer angle photo of the Bridgemen! Sorry, I won't make it to Harrisburg. I'll still be outa touch down here in the tropics. I've been playing my horn a lot. While I've hated times of hurry up and wait for parades, it has often turned into excellent recruiting possibilities when you entertain the crowd instead of just being bored. So, Kenny is right on! I've enjoyed every corps parade I ever did, whether it was playing or carrying the colors or an M-1. Once, as a reporter, I was asked to carry the U.S. flag at the UC Nippert Stadium in Cincy. What a proud moment. Carrying the flag or M-1 with some of the hilarious guys 'n gals in the CorpsVets in Maryland, Lawrenceville, Atlanta, or Bridgeport parades, decked in Fran Haring duds were all special despite Ace Holleran and his sardonic comments. I wax patriotic. Man, I love to just wail in parades! Bring on "Rio." Bring on "Syne." Bring on "Flintstones." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CozyChopsCom Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I'm with you, Cozy!I've enjoyed just about every parade that I've ever marched in! Macy's was extraordinary, Disney was a lot of fun (with 2-7), and the local parades in Jersey have always been a blast, especially those honoring our veterans!!! Jim, Wow! I spaced out Disney when I mentioned parade sites. Loved Disneyland and Disney World. I enjoyed marching even in a winter presidential inaugural parade, other than the fact it was to honor the second worst prez in my lifetime. In that parade, we marched across the icy Potomac over a steel mesh bridge with a roll-off on the other side...Those of us who held our mouthpieces in our hands = No Problema! Some had cold mouthpieces welded to their chops in the first 8 bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdostie Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 (edited) Parades are... fun. Parades are... not fun. For example: a parade smack dab in the middle of a rehearsal day (i.e. rehearsal before and rehearsal after): not fun. a parade where you can blow your face off playing every part besides the baritone part in cha-cha flamenco, because it's all you have to do: fun a parade with a good drum corps crowd: fun a parade where you hurry up and wait more than usual: not fun a parade where you get to stop plenty and play some short tunes, like the bull call, the closing hit, the opening hit, or some other exciting warm-up tune: fun many parades in a row: not fun. That sounds about right. Right about now, a parade sounds like something fun to do . . . but like I said, back in the junior corps days . . . I think it had to do with a lot of what's said here, and the factor previously mentioned, sometimes we were out of touch, and all of a sudden the bus stops in the middle of tour, and it's time to do a parade. Then, I remember doing a parade in San Francisco, hopping the bus to go back home, stopping it McDonalds in our home town and performing a stand-still I think we got free meals for that??? It's all a blur. And, the music we played was not always best suited for parades. We had a piece for the standstill portion of the show (what was the name we used to use for that, it's driving me nuts - poor memory), I digress, the piece was written in 13/8 time, and kind of awkward to march to - but we got the hang of it. We should have had a couple of tunes 'specially for parades. That would have helped I think. Oh, and don't look at the ground, but don't step in anything . . . What's that smell? edit === Wikipedia has into concert as the standstill portion - that sounds familiar. Do they still use these terms today? Edited March 23, 2008 by jdostie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CozyChopsCom Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Some of the most fun I had in parades was with Empire. The Statesmen would break ranks, sending the brass and sometimes the cg on an improv trek thru and behind the crowd. We'd go on the sidewalks behind them and play while the drum line marched down the street. We squeezed around a bus stop and played; we marched up to crowds on front porches.... The crowds were flabbergasted that the parade had come into their midst, right into their faces...Kinda like a drum corps show. When I tried the same thing later with Mirage, it never had quite the same effect, beginning with the problem, some members didn't get the concept: They not only had permission to "misbehave," cease and desist on the military manner for a bit, but that they were being encouraged to "misbehave" and just let loose, ditch the shako attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Oz Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Parade stories (sorry if you’ve heard them before): A fireman’s parade in Frackville, PA (look it up, there is a Frackville) when a thunderstorm hit. We scattered to the homes lining the street, taking shelter on the front porches. A few beers may have been consumed, courtesy of the home owners. The Halloween parade in Fleetwood, PA. The parade ran the length of town and then you marched back to the assembly area. Along the back street, we always stopped for a concert in front of some guy’s house who would hand twenty-five bucks (a lot of money back then) to the drum major. (The money usually ended up on the bar at the VFW post where we dressed.) We would play almost the full show for his party. One year we approached the house and didn’t see anybody. We fired up the street time and hit the kickoff anyway. He came running out and apologized for almost missing us. He may have had a few too many by that time. The Kutztown Halloween parade, Roy Miller, the DM, is threatened in the center of the street by a kid with a handful of confetti. Roy toughs it out, and takes it in the face. Turns out the kid ran out of confetti and had only the crumpled up bag left to throw. Ouch. And, of course, my favorite parade song, “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii love a parade, the stomp of the feet the s**t in the street, da da da da daaaaah!” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) Parade stories (sorry if you’ve heard them before):A fireman’s parade in Frackville, PA (look it up, there is a Frackville) when a thunderstorm hit. We scattered to the homes lining the street, taking shelter on the front porches. A few beers may have been consumed, courtesy of the home owners. Home of the Frackville Marathon. Think it was a Bi-Centennial parade held at night in the middle of the week. Westshore needs the $$$ bad so we sign up thinking it's a 1-2 mile parade which was the distance from start to finish using the main road. OK, hour or two and go home to bed in time for work. Friggin' parade went thru half the side streets and crossed the main road about a dozen times. Guessed we marched about 4-5 miles and lasted over 2 hours . You could hear the guys in the back b-wording about what time their alarm would go off in the morning. Did a lot of turns which got sloppier and sloppier at the end. Can still hear one guy yelling "No drifting on the turns" with responses of "Who gives a #### anymore?:. OK back to On Topic: Look forward to playing and parades with no turns. LOL, next parade is Winchester, VA where we do a pre-parade concert but bunch of tight turns. But parade route is usually lined 5-8 deep. Edited March 25, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Frackville. Was in 1976 they had a week of parades? One every night for the centennial or bicentennial. The junior corps I was in did that week of parades, but I was, fortunately, in Bucs by then. Funny story. Buccaneer Alumni corps doing a 4th of July parade in Pottstown, PA. We were inching along the set up road to Main St. While we're stopped, Louie, (aka Dennis Maclean), was standing next to me and staring across the street and up a side street. I turned to look at what he was staring at and it was a huge, parade balloon of a pink elephant with bloodshot eyes. "Louie, it's real. It's a balloon. You're not seeing things!" If you know Louie, it was hilarious, because he was in an "altered state". We were all laughing so hard, it was a classic "Louie" moment. If you don't know Louie, he's a heck of a nice guy and a heck of a good horn. You'd like him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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