G_Bass Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 (edited) I guess I'll chime in a bit. Being a 20-something year old college student, living in a city filled with DCI buffs, I'm so happy to be marching with a good group who still believe in traditional drum corps. I'm watching all the big name schools here in the area, and they are looking a lot like the top DCIs (Or are the top DCIs are looking like our top bands?). I don't know, but DCI is looking "bandy" (uniforms and instrumentation). What I like are those corps that hold to where they came from. Renegades coming out every year in all black with trenchcoats and sunglasses, melting our faces off, and Cabs always out in their Spanish-wear (whatever its called, its cool) and making us all remember what we love to do. Yes, we've had one uniform change, but I'm glad I'm not wearing a chef's coat out in the heat. Only did that once for a parade before we got the new unis. Keep it real! Edited May 11, 2008 by G_Bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ywpkm0 Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 ..................OH YEAH!!!!! ..............STEEL CITY:DCA WEST!!! We even had a flag stating that and we flew it on top of the scaffolding. We probably should have played cowboy songs but no one knew any.........LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnZ Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 We even had a flag stating that and we flew it on top of the scaffolding. We probably should have played cowboy songs but no one knew any.........LOL IIRC that flag was proudly included in the honor guard at competitions including finals, much to the entertainment of most and irritation of some. it still exists and is in the possession of, I believe, the creator. while there were others - MBI, Chicago, MBF - we arguably were the first to mount a serious 'outside' challenge to the elite of DCA at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 not that it matters but DCA was around long before DCI. i just find it hard to bekieve that people didn't know about DCA. i guess that you never heard of cabs, sky, bus or cru before 2005 eh? Well, seven years or so, anyway. j/k: I think EVERYONE who marched drum corps know what a bus is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Bari Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 As Anders Hagen pointed out, it's merely a marketing slogan. Similarly, when DCI started to bill itself as the "Summer Music Games," it was a marketing tool. Sadly, that's what DCI has become, for the most part -- a summer activity. Yes, they hold rehearsal camps all winter, but rarely do you see a DCI corps perform later than DCI finals or after September. Drum corps was once a year-round activity, and you'd routinely see corps make appearances all year. Nowadays, it's often only the Alumni corps you'll get to see during the DCI (and now even DCA) 'off-season.' I was leafing through some old Drum Corps World issues I have (shameless plug: they're for sale - see the Marketplace forum for details) and an article about the Harrisburg Serenade in Brass for 1988 or 1989 showed that Crossmen had performed there. How many DCA corps have performed at SIB the last few years? Outside of Caballeros? And forget DCI corps! Heck, in early to mid-80's editions of DCW, one could read about DCA competitions going on Memorial Day weekend! Now the season doesn't really get underway until it's almost July. (Thank goodness for Wildwood!) While DCI/DCA productions have become more "professional" in the last decade, their ubiquity has declined. I share the above poster's sentiment that only the Alumni corps seem to provide a vast majority of drum corps' "presence" outside of the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) I was leafing through some old Drum Corps World issues I have (shameless plug: they're for sale - see the Marketplace forum for details) and an article about the Harrisburg Serenade in Brass for 1988 or 1989 showed that Crossmen had performed there. How many DCA corps have performed at SIB the last few years? Outside of Caballeros? And forget DCI corps! Gee would I know anything about early SIB shows. I was in the first few Dale and saw them all until the mid 80s or so. Actually Westshore, Crossmen and Buccs had an agreement in the late 70s to attend each others concert shows. Buccs were at the old Rajah theater and Crossmen were at (I think) a school. Other competing corps at SIB off the top of my head were Bluecoats, Steel City, Hershey Chocolatiers, Yankee Rebels (when still competing) and Skyliners (ditto). Service Academy corps were Naval, Air Force and Coast Guard. No Alumni or Mini corps back then, all competing or Service Academy. And this used to be held a month earlier in March. Some corps used music stands and some didn't. My wife and I had a talk about the way it used to be after we went to the last SIB. My only guess for the change is more Seniors... oops All Agers have more long distance members and can't get the music down until later in the season. And yeah, Senior season was Memorial Day to Labor Day in the 70s. For my area, Memorial Day was exhibition Saturday night at Mount Carmel or Danville, PA. Full field show by likes of Cabs, RI Matadors, Westshore, Buccs, etc.... Edited May 13, 2008 by JimF-3rdBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabalumnidrummer Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Dale Bari said: "Heck, in early to mid-80's editions of DCW, one could read about DCA competitions going on Memorial Day weekend! Now the season doesn't really get underway until it's almost July. (Thank goodness for Wildwood!) While DCI/DCA productions have become more "professional" in the last decade, their ubiquity has declined. I share the above poster's sentiment that only the Alumni corps seem to provide a vast majority of drum corps' "presence" outside of the summer." I remember when Memorial Day Weekend used to be the 'target' date for having the drill finished. The famous "Preview of Champions" in Roosevelt Stadium was held around that weekend. This was the start of the season, and was usually a combined Junior/Senior show, like the Dream. Every weekend in June was already a contest: Hamden, Stratford, Toronto, and Rochester, before we even hit July! Remember when corps kept a song more than one season? Routinely we'd replace only two or three songs each year. Also, if you were keeping your OTL, you could start your drill even earlier, perhaps even retaining the same drill, if it was a good one. This practice of changing the entire show every year for the sake of a 'theme' certainly impedes a corps' ability to finish all music and drill as early as we once did. It may be progress in one way, but it seems it causes regression in others. We were always done with the drill for the Mt. Carmel "Festival of Stars." What great memories of that show! All exhibitions, and you got to size up the other corps before having to compete against them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairbear Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 We even had a flag stating that and we flew it on top of the scaffolding. We probably should have played cowboy songs but no one knew any.........LOL well i could have ripped off a respectable "happy trails" if given the chance!! (at least the bass line) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairbear Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 IIRC that flag was proudly included in the honor guard at competitions including finals, much to the entertainment of most and irritation of some. it still exists and is in the possession of, I believe, the creator.while there were others - MBI, Chicago, MBF - we arguably were the first to mount a serious 'outside' challenge to the elite of DCA at the time. ........we ("the brothers") just did a gig with steel city alumni,at the reading spring preview. complete with the ceremonial singing of "my country tis of thee,homewood east liberty" on the bus,before departure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnZ Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 ........we ("the brothers") just did a gig with steel city alumni,at the reading spring preview. complete with the ceremonial singing of "my country tis of thee,homewood east liberty" on the bus,before departure! Man, that brings back some great memories..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.