All time favorite "Drum Corps Moment".

[gak27]

Great thread!

As a fan: '74 prelims and finals. So many corps were on fire, esp. in finals...Muchachos bringing down the house (crowd was so loud we thought they were done and my dad turned off the recorder; luckily he quickly restarted it)...Madison guard member going down shortly after kickoff...Anaheim 'Mambo' and 'Firebird'...

As a member: Looking at the concert side crowd for finals in Philadelphia in 75 and thinking "Holy Cr@p!"...In '82 the first time I put on my 2-7 uniform...finals in '82 during retreat -- for some reason that I don't recall we weren't allowed to play ourselves off so some of the corps were leaving out of turn. We wound up on the field w/ BD, SCV (not sure if anyone else) and our drum major comes runnning back saying that we were allowed to play ourselves off. Needless to say we made the most of it as we trooped in front of BD and SCV...

As a fan again: Erie, PA in 92 -- SCV's glorious "Fiddler" revival...standing up and yelling (at the proper times ) during the initial notes of "Conquest", seeing I was the only one doing so, and not giving a ####...

[gigiandjim]

1. Seeing PR and the Bridgemen in the World Open prelims at Manning Bowl in '78. My first experience with Top 12 corps.

2. 2am 1979 waking up in our corps directors living room, seeing the World Open Class B championship flag hanging from the doorway and realizing that we had just finished an undefeated season.

3. 1999 Allentown - returning to the activity after not having any contact at all for over 10 years. I sat in the stands a cried like a baby the whole time. Capped off by BD, my favorite corps playing Legend, my favorite chart, for their victory concert. My wife was with me and so moved at seeing me back where I belonged cried the whole time too.

I remember you guys from thaty year

We played the same shows you Kicked @##

[Madrid]

I may be taking the OT in a slightly different direction, but these are my favorite drum corps moments.

As I am a bit younger, I realize that this stuff is after 1989, but I thought I'd still share.

- I remember sitting on my floor in Denver in 1994 (Freshmen in HS), flipping through the channels on Thanksgiving and suddenly seeing what looked like a "marching band" (I know, I know) on PBS?!?! I was FLOORED!! I had heard of drum corps but had never seen one. I left it on that channel and was completely blown away!! Madison Scouts drum line was pretty sweet that year and I just couldn't fathom the amount of notes that snare break had. Vanguard was bad ###. Cadets and Phantom were AMAZING! And then, well, then there were the Blue Devils. I don't know why, but sitting there in my living room, mind blown, I was weeping during the BD ballad. It was sooooo pretty. (Years later I would hear the story of that soprano soloist...WOW!!). It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen and heard. Also, that 27th alumni corps snare line was the craziest thing I had seen. HUGE!!!! That long roll in Danny Boy!!! (Longest roll in history if I am correct??) WOW!!!!! Needless to say I went to my first live show the very next summer.

- Borrowing EVERY DCI VHS tape that I could get my hands on and bugging the #### out of my parents for the entire next year. Man, watching those old 80's corps. 85 CBC was Amazing! Jeremiah Symphony! AWESOME. 87 CBC - That closer was off the charts. SCV any year was great!! Watching "The Best of the Best" Drum lines VHS tape that had the top 5 lines from every year up to 91!!! Bridgemen and 27th were great!!! That was awesome as a kid!! Man, I miss those days of watching tapes and just being so overly excited for drum corps and everything that I thought it encompassed. Ah, the innocent days.....

- Driving up to Greeley, CO to watch the Colts rehearse in 05, (closest corps to my house), getting there late and watching them load buses. For some reason, that was still an amazing sight. They were so big. We followed their buses to the show. First caravan!! HAHA!! (funny, I eventually worked with the Colts organization...)

- Madison Scouts 1995! Live!!! Drums Along the Rockies!!! HOLY ####!!! I could not believe a single thing that I was watching. They were so effing loud. Cavies were good, too. They did that Casey Claw during the perc. solo which was cool...but...man, Scouts were "very impressive".

- Watching the Blue Devils drum line at rehearsal in 1996 in Denver. The rack was a hype in that show. And talk about an intro, to a show!!! The Q-5 were jammin' that year. I remember watching their drums shake as they played. Talk about playing hard. I went home that night and drummed until my hands couldn't even open up to let go of the stick. I did the same thing for countless nights after that night, too.

- The first time I put on "The Dots" uniform my rookie year at BK in 1997 was completely amazing. It was nothing special, just getting ready for a standstill performance in downtown in the middle of 'all-days'. But, I remember walking off by myself, not too far and standing there. Feeling that surge of electricity run through my veins and that connection to all of those other folks who I had watched the past few years was incredible. I remember thinking, "I did it!! I have arrived!!" I was doing that awesome thing that I had been watching these last 3 years! I was in drum corps!!!

- The next few tours, there are countless "WOW" moments I got from watching other corps. I never understood how people could have angst towards ANY corps. They were/are all great and I loved watching them. Even the ones we beat. (Hell, my wife was in one of those corps that we beat!) I never want to loose that "Fan" type appreciation of the activity. Ever.

- Walking off the Finals field in Orlando after retreat in 98 and having Ralph Hardimon walking directly behind me, big ### finger pointing at me while he looked at the crowd and kept saying, "This guy right here is BAD ###!!!" - that was cool!!!

ohh, drum corps.

Thanks for letting me walk down memory lane this morning!

Edited July 20, 2010 by Madrid

[jwscv87]

It is the small things that make the best moments to me. A few that I will never forget.

1. Walking into my first rehearsal with the Black Watch (WA). My band director was an instructor and begged us to go for weeks. I finally went to a winter practice. I brought my trombone (I had no idea). Someone laughed at me and said I would not be needing that and shoved a piston/roter bari in my hands. I was hooked for life from that moment on.

2. In 1984 on tour with the Marauders in Sacramento... We got to spend an hour in the horn arc with the Freelancers practicing. We intermingled the two hornlines in one big arc. I was a lead bari standing next to and playing with the lead baris of the Freelancers. THE FREELANCERS. That was unbelievable to me. They were god-like. I had known since June of 1981 that I wanted to march SCV some day but as of the summer of 1984 that was still just a dream. Standing with the Freelancers made me feel like I had an idea what it would be like to stand in the arc of a truly outstanding drum corps.

3. Beating the Blue Devils at DCI Texas in 1985 and realizing I was marching in a drum corps that just beat the Blue Devils. THE BLUE DEVILS!!

4. Walking off the practice field for the last time in McFarland Wisconsin (Madison) before finals in 1987. It was a bittersweet emotional rush. Unbelievable sadness knowing this was it for me, terrific excitement for what the evening would bring, and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment after 7 years doing something I loved. I did not want to walk off the field that day.

Edited July 20, 2010 by jwscv87

[Madrid]

It is the small things that make the best moments to me. A few that I will never forget.

1. Walking into my first rehearsal with the Black Watch (WA). My band director was an instructor and begged us to go for weeks. I finally went to a winter practice. I brought my trombone (I had no idea). Someone laughed at me and said I would not be needing that and shoved a piston/roter bari in my hands. I was hooked for life from that moment on.

2. In 1984 on tour with the Marauders in Sacramento... We got to spend an hour in the horn arc with the Freelancers practicing. We intermingled the two hornlines in one big arc. I was a lead bari standing next to and playing with the lead baris of the Freelancers. THE FREELANCERS. That was unbelievable to me. They were god-like. I had known since June of 1981 that I wanted to march SCV some day but as of the summer of 1984 that was still just a dream. Standing with the Freelancers made me feel like I had an idea what it would be like to stand in the arc of a truly outstanding drum corps.

3. Beating the Blue Devils at DCI Texas in 1985 and realizing I was marching in a drum corps that just beat the Blue Devils. THE BLUE DEVILS!!

4. Walking off the practice field for the last time in McFarland Wisconsin (Madison) before finals in 1987. It was a bittersweet emotional rush. Unbelievable sadness knowing this was it for me, terrific excitement for what the evening would bring, and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment after 7 years doing something I loved.

Black Watch!!!

The parents of one of pals, Shawn Anderson, were the directors of that corps!!

Cool!!!

Also, did you happen to ever know any of the snare guys during your Vanguard years? Dean Sagier in 86 and James Travers in 87?

[jwscv87]

Black Watch!!!

The parents of one of pals, Shawn Anderson, were the directors of that corps!!

Cool!!!

Also, did you happen to ever know any of the snare guys during your Vanguard years? Dean Sagier in 86 and James Travers in 87?

Yep - I knew Shawn's parents (and Shawn too when he was very young). I met him as an adult in Hillsboro last year.

I knew everyone to some extent, but tended to hang more with the hornline. The names are familiar but that is about it at this point. It has been 23 years!

[TrainWreck]

3. Beating the Blue Devils at DCI Texas in 1985 and realizing I was marching in a drum corps that just beat the Blue Devils. THE BLUE DEVILS!!

That's funny you mention that Jon. I have a vivid memory that night watching your performance. I was sitting in the stadium with two rookies. They both grew up in the BD organization (C - B corps) and were all about the A corps. They were 15 years old on their first tour.

Anyway, we were sitting together and these guys made a comment akin to "SCV sucked". You didn't at all that year. Just the competitive blinders they were wearing that day.

I have this vivid memory of looking at them and saying "think about that statement and how it applies to us. Vanguard just won the show".

Sure enough. You guys won the show that night and deservedly so.

[jwscv87]

That's funny you mention that Jon. I have a vivid memory that night watching your performance. I was sitting in the stadium with two rookies. They both grew up in the BD organization (C - B corps) and were all about the A corps. They were 15 years old on their first tour.

Anyway, we were sitting together and these guys made a comment akin to "SCV sucked". You didn't at all that year. Just the competitive blinders they were wearing that day.

I have this vivid memory of looking at them and saying "think about that statement and how it applies to us. Vanguard just won the show".

Sure enough. You guys won the show that night and deservedly so.

Thanks, that was a fun and very competitive year. Sounds like you were in BDA at that time? We were getting spanked by BD handily in California, so once we got to Austin and won that show it was pretty exciting. There were a few of us rookies from the northwest that year and we were all extremely hyped after the show. Some of the vets rolled their eyes at us. "Dumb rookies you are supposed to expect this kind of thing...." kind of look, but from our perspective they were the ones that did not get it. We spent 4 years in small drum corps touring the west with the big boys and idolizing all of them (BD, SCV, Freelancers, VK). We may have been all about SCV, but for a kid with that kind of history beating BD was a pretty awesome feeling. The rooks that never marched anywhere but SCV did not have nearly the same feeling. I guess it is just a matter of perspective.

[byline]

As a member, I suppose my favorite memory is a bit bittersweet. It's from Mile High Stadium in Denver, the night of finals in '78. A good friend of mine who marched Cavaliers, Mike Kilburn (who, sadly, passed away in December 1990) spotted me coming up with Oakland into the stands to watch. As we were hugging, he said, "Well, neither of us made finals." It was a miserable feeling, yet also nice to be able to share that moment with him. And, conversely, it was incredible to sit there and experience my first DCI finals, live and in-person. I loved all the corps, but when I watch Santa Clara on the DCI telecast video, somehow it doesn't come even remotely close to what I remember seeing as I watched them live.

As a spectator, my favorite moment is, without a doubt, seeing -- and hearing -- Blue Devils at the 1982 "Drums on the Ohio" contest in Evansville, Indiana. I have that one on tape, as I was writing for "Drum Corps World" at the time . . . and my reaction to that sound (so eloquently described earlier in this thread) was a little embarrassing. Let's just say tweens at a Miley Cyrus concert have nothing on me, LOL! But it wasn't just the horn line; that guard was phenomenal! The "equipment work fully integrated with body work" program was something they began finessing in '81, but then they really perfected it in this '82 show. As for the drums: Had Tom Float started teaching BD's drum line by this point? As I recall, they were nothing to sneeze at, either. And the drill was nicely done, too. The whole '82 package was just unbelievable, and getting to see that live remains my all-time favorite drum corps experience!

Edited July 21, 2010 by byline

[TrainWreck]

Thanks, that was a fun and very competitive year. Sounds like you were in BDA at that time?

Yeap. Two of my roommates from college were in the SCV hornline that year (Jamie Godwin, Tim Browning).

Yeap, you guys took away any thought of an undefeated season. I think the next time you beat us was at DATR and then after that SC owned BD the rest of the season except for the hiccup in Rockford.