Goin' Camping

[ColtFoutz]

Friday is move-in day for the Cavaliers. And right about now, or soon, corps from around the country will be digging in for those crucial weeks of pre-tour rehearsal.

It’s a time of contrasting luxury and back-breaking work. On the one hand, many corps members will be sleeping in college dorms on the campuses at which they make camp – a nicety soon forgotten when tour kicks off and sleeping bags and gym floors become the norm. On the other hand, these kids are putting in 12-, 14-hour days learning the show and fine-tuning the music, with no evening performance to bring the adrenaline rush to a fine peak.

But despite the work, camp is a time of new friendships, and building excitement. As you bond with your section mates, and get the feeling as the show comes together, “Hey, this might be OUR year.”

So: What are your favorite camp traditions? What do you bring with you that you can’t leave home without? What about camp always got on your nerves? What about camp got the socks going up and down?

I’m guessing, from what I’ve heard and the evidence outside the window today, it was rarely the weather!

I've also started this thread at the interactive Building the Green Machine blog. Fire away here, there... everywhere.

[euphononium]

best part: it's a tie between history night and the last rehearsal block before you hop on the buses for tour.

the way we did it - we lived in dorms for about 2 weeks, then moved to a highschool down the road. about a week later, we were on tour. it was a nice way of being weaned off of "normal" life and into tour life.

worst part: memorial day parade.

[euponitone]

I’m guessing, from what I’ve heard and the evidence outside the window today, it was rarely the weather!

It was always the weather...

My first year marching, we had a 4 week spring training, and it rained at least 2 out of every 3 days...

[JayM]

My first year marching, we had a 4 week spring training, and it rained at least 2 out of every 3 days...

'03 was a bit of a pain in that respect, wasn't it? Not just pre-tour, but the whole season. We barely got in any meaningful rehearsal during finals week that year.

My first two seasons started with 3-week pre-tours, on gym floors. What sucked was sleeping in a gym a few miles from the actual rehearsal site, and only having one bus to get the whole corps over there. Many times, the gym in which we were sleeping was booked in the day-time by someone else, so you had to wake up super-fast, pack up your sleeping area, and then hustle outside in hopes of catching the first bus. It's nice to be able to slowly wake up on days when you can afford it, but there was never really an opportunity with that sort of arrangement.

'05 pre-tour was four weeks long and we had dorms for the first two weeks. That was a pretty sweet deal, but it sucked having that extra week tagged on.

All that annoying stuff aside, I'm still somewhat jealous of everyone who gets to march another seasons of junior corps.

[TerriTroop]

I had two favorite all-days traditions.

1. Sunset breaks at the "tar pits" where we rehearsed in Casper: the pits were a parking lot at the top of a hill. Many evenings after dinner break the sunsets were absolutely spectacular. I'm not lying, I'm talking western-movie-stock-footage spectacular. We'd be called to a halt and ordered to about-face. There we were allowed to give a collective sunset before the about-face call and count-off for the next set. I loved sunset breaks.

2. Dress up night: close to the end of all-days we'd have a dress up night and rehearse in our finest. I learned the hard way, though, that a full skirt, a timpani stool and windy conditions are not good matches. Ruined the dress for good when it got caught in the screw-like rotating post of the stool without me realizing it.

[Eddie]

Our move-in was in Illinois (despite the corps being from California). Just because of lack of time before our first show (one week), that week was pretty much work work work. My first year, we had a tornado watch which kept us from having an evening block rehearsal. I ended staying outside that evening and watching the lightning show from afar. Got a really got picture of the show too.

Aside from that, don't remember much else.

My second year, same as last. I remember getting really ticked at one of our brass staff because he kept giving us wrong numbers on the field during a drill block. We were sharing housing with Bandettes and Mandarins as well. Kind of cool being able to grab a glimpse of the all-girl corps during breaks.

But yeah, no real traditions.... just work work work.

[josh161]

shower time ...

[ColtFoutz]

All good stories.

One of my favorites, that ended up in Building the Green Machine, was of a Cavies rookie who came to pre-tour with a brand-new pair of white sneakers and this bright yellow poncho. So all the mistakes he made, instructors immediately locked on to him. "Bad day to wear a yellow poncho," the director said. And he earned his nickname, Scamper, I believe, by rushing back to his dots.

Ended up being one of the great corps members though, and one of the last with no real background in music, learning on the fly. Classic.

Another story about a rookie had the horn sergeant going around making introductions as camp opened. This kid, a bari or bass horn, said "You can call me Mr. L.B."

"What does that stand for?" the horn sergeant asked.

"Mr. Low Brass."

Without batting an eye, the sergeant shot back, "Nah, you're Bucket of S***." And that was the kid's name for the rest of his tenure.

Who else has got Pre-Tour Rookie Stories? (It's OK if they star YOU. No one is going to question your veteran supremacy now.