Awkward Moments

[BD2Rings]

I don't know if this is what I would call awkward, or if it really belongs in a thread of 'What happens on the bus, stays on the bus'.

Toledo Ohio, 1974 for Key to the Sea. My rookie year in drum corps. Rehearsal gets a break when a very sudden downpour soaks us all. I pull some dry clothes out and head for the locker room for a shower and change.

Several minutes later there are four baritone players standing outside the showers drying off when the locker room door opens with a BANG! Many of the drum line are 'escorting' a young lady from the color guard (J.M.) into to ranks of the 'Towel Brigade'. The young lady is pretending not to look, but is obviously enjoying her adventure.

Seeing as the drum line has made their deposit and completed their intended task, releasing her from captivity, I choose to drop my towel and escort our guest into the showers. This young lady was even wetter than anything the downpour did to her earlier. She ran out of the locker room quickly, pretending to be upset, but it was obvious then, as well as later, that she had a good time.

But the fun was not over. There was some degree of competition between the horn line and drum line, and I can only imagine the drum line felt the horns had the better fun with that event. As I walked out of the locker room, clean and dry, I'm jumped by at least 6-8 of the drum line and carried outside into the rain once again. In addition, being held by the hands and feet, I'm repeatedly dragged thru a mud puddle.

Back to the showers once again. This time there was no visitor from the guard. How unfortunate.

[Michael Boo]

Anybody who marched in the Bluecoats 1998-2002 knows Oswald. Oswald lives in Texas. So one day we were practicing somewhere in Texas near his home town. We were waiting in line at the chuck truck for dinner and as per usual I was cussing like a sailor. Seriously, the filth that was coming out of my mouth was enough to make Andrew Dice Clay blush. So then I turned around and Oswald says to me, "Evan, I'd like you to meet my mother."

There is a condition known as "tour tongue." One has to be careful that they leave it on tour. I have heard a few examples of how tour tongue has made it into polite society right after tour ends, with results ranging in levels of embarrassment.

I had it almost happen to me the week I got back from tour and went immediately into my first teaching job. Some kid was misbehaving and I started to say something we said in the corps when someone was being a dork. I caught myself halfway through the sentence and didn't finish it. There's no way I would have gone that far, but I had started down the road. And when I caught myself, I had nothing off the top of my head to finish it.

[bluecoats88]

There is a condition known as "tour tongue." One has to be careful that they leave it on tour. I have heard a few examples of how tour tongue has made it into polite society right after tour ends, with results ranging in levels of embarrassment.

I had it almost happen to me the week I got back from tour and went immediately into my first teaching job. Some kid was misbehaving and I started to say something we said in the corps when someone was being a dork. I caught myself halfway through the sentence and didn't finish it. There's no way I would have gone that far, but I had started down the road. And when I caught myself, I had nothing off the top of my head to finish it.

I had that happen to me after a long winter camp. I was at home the evening after camp having dinner with my folks and they asked me how things went, I said everything was good but the water tasted f-ing ######.

You could hear a pin drop after that.

[Meaghatron]

In the summer of 2006, me and another alumnus from my HS marching band went with some members of the band to the Atlanta Regional so we could see the asst. band director; he was currently marching with The Cavaliers. After hearing the scores announced, we went out to the buses to talk to the guy and catch up for a little while. While out there, we hear cheers and a couple of us start cheering, too. We assumed it was because they had won....

Well, it wasn't. I think 3 or 4 of the guys were doing their naked victory run that they couldn't do the night before in Murfreesboro. Needless to say, our group included 2 HS girls, 2 female recent graduates (myself and the other), and the band director's wife (of only 1 month at the time). It was hilarious. They went around once, and we thought they were done. But they came around a second time. I believe the band director had his hand over his wife's eyes and hers were over mine. All our Cavalier-friend could say was, "Sorry, I forgot." And laughed.

It was a funny event that we still joke about to this day. It definitely made our trip much more interesting.

Edit: We all went to a Christian high school, so this was definitely nothing we had seen before. Haha.

Edited April 9, 2008 by i_play_percussion

[Notorious T-U-B-A]

Story time on the Guard Bus

Rookie Talent Night

Dance Party on the Guard bus

That is all.

[va9590jm]

Not necessarily awkward, but weird... when you march onto the field for encore with Cadets... the feet, oh the feet.

I second that. And its even worse if the Cadet in front of you gets out of...sorry, IN... step from following the person in front of them.

Edited April 9, 2008 by va9590jm

[idontwan2know]

Uh, let's see...

- Discovering(entirely unintentionally) that the one drummer no one can stand shaves his legs.

- Running into a guy coming out of a dark room late at night at the housing site and wondering what he was doing...then the other guy comes out grinning sheepishly.

- When a member quits in June, then shows up the week before championships...and starts practicing a solo.

- When your rookie talent goes horribly, horribly awry and nearly causes someone serious injury.

[corpsnewbie]

Standing on the field with Blue Devils during encore at the Alamodome in '06.

I thought I had finally made friends in that corps...'til the scores were announced.

Haha this actually made me think of a similarly related encore event in Centerville, Ohio this past summer. We were just relaxing, chatting, and goofing around with The Cavaliers (both our corps are extremely talkative in the arc for some reason, it works out well lol) in the encore arc while scores started being announced.

Of course that night, the placements ended up being pretty shocking, and after 3rd place was announced there was one of the most awkward and longest silences I've ever experienced in my life, conversation literally stopped mid sentence on the field (and in the crowd im sure).

The awkwardness didn't last too long though, right after playing they congratulated us on beating Blue Devils

Honorable mention on the topic of encore awkwardness is pretty much anytime the contras are walking onto the field. Believe me, we try really hard not to run into and clang each other's horns, but when it does inevitably happen, everyone always looks and you just end up feeling like an idiot

[silvertrombone]

OK, regarding 'rookie talent night,' we didn't have anything like that...probably because both corps I marched the rookies were more numerous and more talented than the vets...not even close.

Think of how gross it was to the REST of the corps...esp those who marched near you.

Mike, I just got a REALLY great laugh at that one--thanks!

I never understood how the rippling hornlines did that. Do you just bring your horn up as soon as you see the person next to you do it, or is it on a specific count?

We could tell you but then we would have to kill you.

On other notes...I notice that no PR vets have mentioned "the event." Shame, all the best stories are kept in-house.

March Phantom...you'll understand.

[NeutralNovice]

(announcing the Cadets score at some show somewhere (don't remember when))

"In ?nd place, with a score of ??.??.....THE COLT-..!...Cadets....sorry..." (yes, he actually murmured sorry)

Also, for some reason I remember in '05 standing next to cadets in encore I think. Hearing them get boo'd after the scores were announced = Very Awkward moment.

Seeing Boston almost get DQ'd for throwing elbows at us as they exited the encore arc...another awkward moment.

Half of the encore arc still not knowing where the conductor is in the stands (sometimes that sucker is hard to find), and missing the horns up gesture...awkward.

Encore is full of awkward moments! Of course, retreat was full of fun awkward moments...but they got rid of that. Most of them consisted of overly-serious horn guards and line guards, and weird attempts to 'out-vibe' us with mean looks and lowered shakos/helmets. I loved at the retreat parade hearing horns clank together from a collisions caused by multi-tasking 'vibe' attempts with staying in step - not paying attention to the people stopped in front of them. Priceless...

They threw elbows at you? Da[r]n...