Star of Indiana

[Cathie Wiener]

Someone else mentioned that BK had a baritone march and age out in 94. I don't know who that was because I was at Freelancers, but we did have another baritone member from 93 age out in 95 and actually come back and tech a bit in 96. His name was Chris. I'm not sure if this is the same person that was talked about earlier, just in the wrong year.

[A27Lancer]

That pressure has helped shape us into what we have become, but could be very detrimental to a new DCI corps whose youngest members would probably have been born after the original corps left the field. They could and should use our experience and memory as an inspiration, but shouldn't be burdened with it's weight IMHO.

Beautifully stated. SoI was a unique drum corps and it should remain so. Any present day incarnation would be a tremendous pressure on the individuals involved. Start anew. Much respect to the mini-corps for continuing the uniqueness of the style, however, as much respect is given to the changing of the name. Class.

[randomnoise]

For what it is worth, Brass Theater was one of the best things I have ever witnessed.

[glory]

I had blind faith in our leadership at that time and naively allowed myself to believe that the corps would go back to the field after it's 3 year contract with Canadian Brass was up. In some ways, I feel I contributed to the folding of the drum corps by participating in '94. As Casey mentioned already, I had (and continue to have) a hole in my heart that only got bigger with each passing year after '93. Brass Theater was great but it just wasn't drum corps.

Fair enough. Not your fault, though. If you don’t mind a stranger’s advice, better that you should be proud of what you accomplished than regret what you didn’t. I loved Star ’93. I loved Brass Theater (and later Blast) too. No, Brass Theater wasn’t drum corps. It was, however, a bridge to a new set of ears and eyes which might never have experienced Star or any other corps on the field. In that and of itself it was an accomplishment.

I’ve told this story before. It’s so good I don’t mind retelling it. When Brass Theater came to the famous Lincoln Center in New York City most of the audience had no advance knowledge they had bought tickets for the drum corps so familiar to me and only a few others. They bought tickets for the Canadian Brass and were unconcerned about the other portion of the show, Star of Indiana. I know this because I made a point of questioning everyone I could on the way in about why they were there.

If they didn’t know what they were in for going in, they surely knew coming out. The combined Canadian Brass and Star of Indiana finished the first half with Pictures at an Exhibition. The final number, the Great Gate at Kiev, was an initiation for that novice crowd. We know what that wall of brass sounds like. This audience felt that bliss for the first time and responded on its feet. Among the decades of New York City performances I’ve witnessed, among the many Broadway shows and symphony orchestras, jazz bands, ballets and operas, it was the one and only standing ovation I’ve seen given at intermission. At the break, all the talk was about how they’d never heard anything like that. We have.

So whatever your regrets, thanks. Thanks for Star. Thanks for Brass Theater. Thanks for the shivers on my spine and the smile on my face even as I remember that night in Jackson and another in New York.

Best,

HH

[cowtown]

so did Mason buy out cook, how did he get the name? how did he get the interest in MEG?

I saw that brass thing in Madison 94, felt badly for the corps, looked like they were missing dci

were dues paid in 94 or were you paid?

Seeing that blast and brass theatre basically aped some of the top corps productions of all time and cashed in on them – any type of royalties paid, through official or unofficial channels back to DCI?

I know you can’t really copy write those songs and the general presentation, themes but most of that stuff was pre-tested and created by other drum corps so if profits were made...it would follow

Edited September 3, 2008 by cowtown

[Medeabrass]

Fair enough. Not your fault, though. If you don’t mind a stranger’s advice, better that you should be proud of what you accomplished than regret what you didn’t. I loved Star ’93. I loved Brass Theater (and later Blast) too. No, Brass Theater wasn’t drum corps. It was, however, a bridge to a new set of ears and eyes which might never have experienced Star or any other corps on the field. In that and of itself it was an accomplishment.

I’ve told this story before. It’s so good I don’t mind retelling it. When Brass Theater came to the famous Lincoln Center in New York City most of the audience had no advance knowledge they had bought tickets for the drum corps so familiar to me and only a few others. They bought tickets for the Canadian Brass and were unconcerned about the other portion of the show, Star of Indiana. I know this because I made a point of questioning everyone I could on the way in about why they were there.

If they didn’t know what they were in for going in, they surely knew coming out. The combined Canadian Brass and Star of Indiana finished the first half with Pictures at an Exhibition. The final number, the Great Gate at Kiev, was an initiation for that novice crowd. We know what that wall of brass sounds like. This audience felt that bliss for the first time and responded on its feet. Among the decades of New York City performances I’ve witnessed, among the many Broadway shows and symphony orchestras, jazz bands, ballets and operas, it was the one and only standing ovation I’ve seen given at intermission. At the break, all the talk was about how they’d never heard anything like that. We have.

So whatever your regrets, thanks. Thanks for Star. Thanks for Brass Theater. Thanks for the shivers on my spine and the smile on my face even as I remember that night in Jackson and another in New York.

Best,

HH

Thanks Glory. I was beginning to wonder if that pre-intermission standing O was a creation of my worsening memory :). Don't get me wrong, I am very proud of my participation in BT (especially playing in Lincoln Center). I wouldn't have missed the opportunity to march with those people again no matter the context.

[SaraNYC]

so did Mason buy out cook, how did he get the name? how did he get the interest in MEG?

Not quite sure of the details of how Mason got the Star rights, but he must of had a pretty good lawyer.

I think it was right around 2004 that Cook got out of the Blast! business, I assume Jim got other funding for his MEG - probably some Japanese companies, tehy always seem to be touring there and I think a Japanese company put up the funding to lease the old Star Hall so the MEG groups could continue to rehearse there initially.

[contrajedi8]

Simple - yes. Thread over? I hope?

Sorry. If you don't like reading an intellegent discussion (something you have a very hard time with) on maybe the most influential corps ever, then stay the #### out. I, for one, and the rest of us seem to enjoy it. Have a nice day.

[kstein]

1) Not too many people immediately left to go to other corps in '94. I can think of 1 snare drummer to BD (I think he died in a motorcycle accident shortly thereafter) and 2 mellos to Crown. The rest either came back or didn't march anywhere. One of the cool things about '94 is that we slimmed the corps down to about 100-110 members with no age requirements. This meant we were at about 75-80% vets. This made learning a 2 hour show much easier. The drill for Medea was very close order since we were trying to compress a full DC show onto the floor of a basketball arena and in many ways it was more difficult than '93. It was like Vanderkoff had a chance to take a breath and add that little extra umph to the show.

2) I never heard any rumors about us leaving until after the season. Mason alluded to it after our finals performance, but he was so cryptic I had no idea. I heard it first from a Madison friend of mine in the fall of '93. At first I didn't believe it. I was kinda' ###### that that was how I had to find out. I know many people were very upset when they heard about it at our banquet as well. I heard stories of many sitting there in utter disbelief. At the same rate, I was a '93 age-out and went home from finals thinking I would do anything to play Medea again so I was pretty excited for the opportunity after I calmed my arse down from the original shock.

We played many cool venues but not enough shows (16 total I think). The endless and consecutive days of rehearsal got old really quick. I was also frustrated that we could never quite get the entire 2 hour show "finals night" clean. One area would get really clean while another would regress etc etc.

I had blind faith in our leadership at that time and naively allowed myself to believe that the corps would go back to the field after it's 3 year contract with Canadian Brass was up. In some ways, I feel I contributed to the folding of the drum corps by participating in '94. As Casey mentioned already, I had (and continue to have) a hole in my heart that only got bigger with each passing year after '93. Brass Theater was great but it just wasn't drum corps.

I was very proud of what Brass Theater and Blast accomplished, but there's a lingering frustration that we weren't gone because of bad financing but because of one man's blind ambition. He's taken a great non-profit youth organization and turned it into his own personal money maker. Maybe I'm being too hard on the guy, but the least he could've done was divorce himself from the corps and taken Mr. Cook's money and created his own venture from scratch. Then, Star could've at least had a chance to try and make it on it's own as a DC without corporate sponsorship [/whining]. Fortunately, I am really enjoying the opportunity to root for corps that my friends are teaching at. They really are doing things the way I want to see/hear them so that's a pretty darn good consolation....THANK YOU GUYS!!!

3)You may still be able to find the CDs on amazon.com. You might even be able to get some through the star of indiana website but I doubt it. As mentioned already, there are several clips on that site that shan't be named.

****disclaimer****

I apologize in advance for my whining. I put this stuff to bed a long time ago, but this thread just brought it back to the surface without notice. Second, I apologize to any of my Star brothers and sisters if it appears I'm airing dirty laundry. Please PM me if you think I need to edit my post and shut my cake hole...love you guys.

I, for one, thought your post was open, honest, and excellent. It is old news, and long "put to bed" by most of us, but I would still rather have the story told accurately (especially when asked) then let some of the silly, baseless rumors abound.

I think you know that I agree with you wholeheartedly about one man's greed and self-serving interests completely destroying what most of us intended to be a long standing, Bloomington-based, non-profit youth activity. I believe in drum corps as a tremendous outlet/experience for young people, and continue to be pained that the opportunity to participate in drum corps no longer exists in area so rich in high school marching band talent. However, none of this disappointment should reflect on the talented and devoted people who followed the drum corps years and performed in the subsequent incarnations. (And yes, it took me a long time to figure that out.)

Cheers (along with a few tears),

KS

[amberwaves]

so did Mason buy out cook, how did he get the name? how did he get the interest in MEG?

I saw that brass thing in Madison 94, felt badly for the corps, looked like they were missing dci

were dues paid in 94 or were you paid?

Seeing that blast and brass theatre basically aped some of the top corps productions of all time and cashed in on them – any type of royalties paid, through official or unofficial channels back to DCI?

I know you can’t really copy write those songs and the general presentation, themes but most of that stuff was pre-tested and created by other drum corps so if profits were made...it would follow

The story has been told well and accurately by my fab ex-seat partner. I will answer the $100M question though. We were NOT paid in 1994. We actually paid dues. I am not 100% sure when the members started getting paid. Also, if I remember correctly I think we had less than 10 shows that summer.

While experiencing Brass Theater was an important part of my musical path, it was not for me. Being in Madison that year was like torture. I couldn't even bring myself to go to finals. I left early to go home. I had three years left in my drum corps career. I never marched anywhere else. While sad, I'm glad that I had the time I did with a group that was at the top of the game.

I, too, have the hole. It is partially filled by getting to be a part of the greatness that is Star United. Even if it is on the sideline. Who knew typing about this would still be so sad after 15 years. That's it from me although I'm happy to answer questions people have.