dusti Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 Hope l didnt upset to many with my last posting, but tradionalist here. gues those days are gone recruiting by grabbing a kid and bringing him to rehearsal and giving him a horn and teaching him. I couldnt believe how some corp was it Blue Devils or Blue Coats that ruined the retreat at this years finals with blowing all the wrong notes on their sops oppsssss, im sorry Trumpets.. see got carried away again. Back in our day that would never happen. To much respect for other corps even though we didnt say it. No matter how we felt about the score, woudl come to attention and stand taller then any others. I do wish some corp or corps would have the balls to do a retro show and not care bout what DCI thinks or the scores.. do it for them and the fans... Glad l was born when l was so l got to enjoy marching from 67-79. Dusty BAC 1979 age out yeah l am old school and old :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Hope l didnt upset to many with my last posting, but tradionalist here. gues those days are gone recruiting by grabbing a kid and bringing him to rehearsal and giving him a horn and teaching him. I couldnt believe how some corp was it Blue Devils or Blue Coats that ruined the retreat at this years finals with blowing all the wrong notes on their sops oppsssss, im sorry Trumpets.. see got carried away again. Back in our day that would never happen. To much respect for other corps even though we didnt say it. No matter how we felt about the score, woudl come to attention and stand taller then any others. I do wish some corp or corps would have the balls to do a retro show and not care bout what DCI thinks or the scores.. do it for them and the fans... Glad l was born when l was so l got to enjoy marching from 67-79. Dusty BAC 1979 age out yeah l am old school and old :) Hmm - old school. I first marched against the vaunted Boston Crusaders when they were winning the World Open year after year - the first year for me was 1968 in a St. Joseph Patron Cadet Cadet-Style uniform. The fact they have held to that tradition is worth volumes to me. We saw them again in '69 & '70 as St. Rita's Brassmen at the World Open (did you know there were 38 corps in the prelims of that show!!!?) and at the CYO Nationals in 1970 where we tied Anaheim and came within .400 and were just edged out by 27 then in '72 again - the aforementioned I.C. Reveries were at that show, too. It is important to note that all east coast horn lines at that time were on the small side and all represented very well (thank you very much) in the decibel department although the very good lines (like Boston) believed in dynamic range as well and they still do that, too. Bravo. All in all yes, they have changed some. But have kept the backbone they always had. Otherwise they wouldn't be in the top 12. If you had asked if I liked them while I was in uniform, you would have received one of the two standard responses reserved for all other corps" a) Ahh, they suck. b) Ahh, they must be sleeping with the judges. But along with Anaheim and the Madison Scouts, I always had a great affection for the Crusaders. And if you scratch any of the old members of either St. Joseph Patron or St. Rita, we all have a deep, abiding respect for the tradition that was and a somewhat begrudging tolerance for what Drum Corps has become. I BTW aged out '71 so I'm really old! Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVotre Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 This is a great posting. I marched in the 70s into the 80s. I admired Boston so much I marched with them in 1980 even thought they had a small horn line and clearly were not a mainstrean DCI corps. I was able to go almost anywhere that year,but Boston just was special. I would love to see just one more time a real Boston show. Maybe like 1977 or even like 1979 when Boston had just an awsome small hornline. That being said there are many reasons to be proud of where Boston is today. Drum Corps has changed. Some for the good and some for the bad. Yes it is a lot less traditional drum corps. Yes, they do play trumpets. It may also be the reason there is still a drum corps activity. Kids just don't do what they did 30 years ago. I know my kids could never with their schedules dedicate themselves to drum corps the way we did. There are just so many more activities for kids today that At I find that my kids are less dedicated to any one activity. I live in Connecticut. We used to have a number of small drum corps. We used to always have a few truly competitive corps. Now I think we have only one active junior corps. ( afew alumni corps though). What Boston does have is an amazing group of alumni that really supports the corps. They also seem to have current members who truly respect the alumni for what they did to keep the corps alive. All you have to do is attend one Spring Fling to see that Boston is still there. The music is a little different. SOme of the instruments have changed. But, it still seems to me anyway to be the Boston Crusaders. Its just the current members' time to make their mark on the corps. For better or worse, however, that mark has to be made within DCI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I couldn't agree more. I also marched in the 1980 corps, complete with its 26 member hornline, a 25 year old bread truck "Waldo" for equipment, and very little food on tour. I have been fortunate enough to be able to teach the corps in the early 90's and be around the corps simply as a supporter during the last 7 or 8 years and have had the great priviledge to get to know many of these kids. The corps is larger, better funded, and probably much more talented in many ways. What has not changed is the dedication of the members. The heart and soul they put into being a Boston Crusader, and the tears they shed when singing GIANT are every bit as intense in 2008 as they were 20, 30, and 40 years ago. Yes, Boston has changed over the years. It has adapted and overcome time and time again. When I marched, there were FIVE World Class drum corps hailing from the Boston area. Now there is one. Has the corps had to broaden its membership (a process that began in the 1950's, btw)? Has it had to acquire a business plan and then contuinualyy refine it? Has it had to modernize its programming and equipment and organizational structure over time? The answers to all these question is absolutely. But the biggest question of all......are the Boston Crusaders still alive as we enter the 2009 season, and still providing life changing educational experiences for over 140 young people? That answer says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayH Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I don't think they're as 'tough-looking' as they were in the 60's, but IMO, their best show is 2000. RED.......love the snippette of Conquest, just enough to make the crowd want more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunguard Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 It would just be nice to see that they were actually from Boston again and not the Orlando, Florida Crusaders or should I say the now to be known, Tampa Bay Crusaders!!! IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossop Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 It would just be nice to see that they were actually from Boston again and not the Orlando, Florida Crusaders or should I say the now to be known, Tampa Bay Crusaders!!! IMO Like most DCI corps, the Crusaders recruiting base is pretty wide. At last years' Spring Fling, I asked the kids how many brass players lived in the Boston area, and I was surprised to find only one, and she was from Wellesley, not exactly the inner city. This isn't a criticism, just a fact of life. You've got to recruit where the talent is, and for the Crusaders, Florida is fruitful because of staff connections there. By the way, my Crusaders Senior Corps of Boston has played all of the before mentioned arrangements, and you might think that we are loaded with recent age outs for the Boston Crusaders DCI corps. Not true. We have only 2 former Crusaders under the age of thirty. Of our 42 horn players, only 5 were in the Crusaders junior corps. We'd love to get some age outs, but most don't live anywhere near us, and todays' drum corps musicians have many other musical outlets besides drum corps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craiga Posted December 2, 2008 Share Posted December 2, 2008 This is true. But, in conversations I've had with Tom Spataro, BAC's corps director (who lives within walking distance of the orginal parish in Boston, btw) it is clear to me that he is intent on broadening the base of the corps membership. Hence, the auditions this past month in Massachusetts, Texas, New York, and Florida. At the end of the day, however, you've got to put the best possible 150 kids out there on the field, regardless of their home address. I marched in the corps nearly 30 years ago......I was a soprano player from Maine, and I had a Dot boy (Dorchester, Mass)on one side of me and a kid from Holland on the other. It seems to me that BAC has always done what it needed to to survive. Being a "Boston Crusader" has much more to do with a mindset than a home zip code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAC oboist Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 1991 - We had a laundry day in Arkansas. A local came up and asked "Where ya'll from?" I replied we were based in Boston. He replied, "Boston! I could tell by the accent." He said this to me (from western MA), Jim (Tennessee), Chad (Rhode Island border), and Anja (The Netherlands). BAC - I know the attitude, but not the ZIP code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A27Lancer Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 yes, and I can't believe you allowed the system to show you as having 9 x 3 posts!! I remember seeing BAC doing jumping jacks when we were housed close by: "25 - 26 - AAAARGHH! - 28 - 29" They don't still do that, do they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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