'87 Sky Riders

[84skyrydr]

This show would have been my ageout, but old uncle sam and his delayed entry that I signed up for in 84 took care of that one. Kicking myself.........

[byline]

I really REALLY wish DCI had left some of the post show stuff on the DVDs....you lose a bit of the overall emotion when the camera fades to black right after the last note...

Yup!

[goalieguy]

Correct...86 also, I think....Rivermen before that??

Actually Sam - it was the Railmen..Chad is from Omaha..backyard corps, so to speak..

Pat

[MikeN]

I know it's a bit of ancient history, but what changed for Sky in 89/90? It seems they decided to ditch the theater programs in favor of hardcore classical. Did the staff change for those years?

Mike

[SkyRyder_FMM]

I know it's a bit of ancient history, but what changed for Sky in 89/90? It seems they decided to ditch the theater programs in favor of hardcore classical. Did the staff change for those years?

Mike

Tommy Keenum, the Guard Caption Head and Program Coordinator left after the 87 season. He was the driving force and creative energy behind the Wizard of Oz and West Side Story shows. We attempted to continue the theatrical shows in 88, but it was no where near as successful as 85 to 87. After 88, the staff that was there took things in a new direction.

[SkyRyder_FMM]

Is it true that the only time(s) the members in black, and the members in white were together in the drill was when the Tony and Maria characters were together?

Close. The horn line was segregated into two groups. 32 wore all black (flugals, baritones, and contras), and 32 wore all white (sops and mellos). The two sections intermingled at a few points in the show; however, it was done strategically to follow the story line. For example, in the opener, the white and black sections pass through each other in a few places during Mambo, and the two sections integrate for the last move of the opener. In that last move, half of the white overlaps with half of the black. At this point in the story, the two gangs are intermingling during the dance section, so the drill follows it briefly.

During One Hand One Heart when Tony and Maria get married, again, half of the white and half of the black sections integrate briefly while Tony and Maria kiss, only to separate the moment the Rumble begins.

During the Rumble after Tony kills Bernardo, the white section is in a block,and the black section is in a snake pattern. As the techno call/repeat section of the Rumble unfolds, the black snake works it way through the white block, then as the police siren starts, the black snake pulls out of the white block to form a black block right along side the white block. As the two gangs come together for the climax, the white and black blocks come from each side of the field to the center and mesh together. The two blocks completely mesh as Chino shoots and kills Tony.

At the start of the closer, Somewhere, the block remains in tack, but the members quickly shuffle around to form a white triangle along side a black triangle, which makes up the block. The block unfolds into a heart - one side white, the other black, as Maria mourns the loss of Tony. As the music builds to the climax of Somewhere, the black and white sections mesh together completely to form a black/white/black/white form for the entire horn line. The form splits into two line that form a reverse of the opening set, a city street from the front of the field to the back. However, the closing set is integrated black/white/black/white, whereas, the opening set was white on one side and black on the other. As the closing strains are played, Tony and Maria, dressed in all white and holding white wings come out, embrace, and they run down the city street and out the back of the stadium. As the run down the street, the horn line turns towards each other and embrace - one white embracing one black. A lot of us were balling at this point, and maintaining balance was difficult, but no one fell. The video did capture the best pair at the end, a black sop dressed in all white, embracing a white baritone dressed in all black.

87 Sky is the first part time drum corps to make finals. (part time, because we rarely rehearsed - we had bus troubled of epic proportions and were broken down all the time. We even missed 4 shows that summer, and were perpetually late, taking penalty after penalty).

[SkyRyder_FMM]

Nothing about the show design, but wasn't Chad Sexton from 311 in that snare line in 87' ?

Yes, Chad Sexton marched that show. He marched 84 and 85 Railmen and 86 and 87 Sky Ryders.

[84BDsop]

Close. The horn line was segregated into two groups. 32 wore all black (flugals, baritones, and contras), and 32 wore all white (sops and mellos). The two sections intermingled at a few points in the show; however, it was done strategically to follow the story line. For example, in the opener, the white and black sections pass through each other in a few places during Mambo, and the two sections integrate for the last move of the opener. In that last move, half of the white overlaps with half of the black. At this point in the story, the two gangs are intermingling during the dance section, so the drill follows it briefly.

During One Hand One Heart when Tony and Maria get married, again, half of the white and half of the black sections integrate briefly while Tony and Maria kiss, only to separate the moment the Rumble begins.

During the Rumble after Tony kills Bernardo, the white section is in a block,and the black section is in a snake pattern. As the techno call/repeat section of the Rumble unfolds, the black snake works it way through the white block, then as the police siren starts, the black snake pulls out of the white block to form a black block right along side the white block. As the two gangs come together for the climax, the white and black blocks come from each side of the field to the center and mesh together. The two blocks completely mesh as Chino shoots and kills Tony.

At the start of the closer, Somewhere, the block remains in tack, but the members quickly shuffle around to form a white triangle along side a black triangle, which makes up the block. The block unfolds into a heart - one side white, the other black, as Maria mourns the loss of Tony. As the music builds to the climax of Somewhere, the black and white sections mesh together completely to form a black/white/black/white form for the entire horn line. The form splits into two line that form a reverse of the opening set, a city street from the front of the field to the back. However, the closing set is integrated black/white/black/white, whereas, the opening set was white on one side and black on the other. As the closing strains are played, Tony and Maria, dressed in all white and holding white wings come out, embrace, and they run down the city street and out the back of the stadium. As the run down the street, the horn line turns towards each other and embrace - one white embracing one black. A lot of us were balling at this point, and maintaining balance was difficult, but no one fell. The video did capture the best pair at the end, a black sop dressed in all white, embracing a white baritone dressed in all black.

87 Sky is the first part time drum corps to make finals. (part time, because we rarely rehearsed - we had bus troubled of epic proportions and were broken down all the time. We even missed 4 shows that summer, and were perpetually late, taking penalty after penalty).

Man....I have GOT to find a high camera vid.....

[drumno5]

Tommy Keenum, the Guard Caption Head and Program Coordinator left after the 87 season. He was the driving force and creative energy behind the Wizard of Oz and West Side Story shows. We attempted to continue the theatrical shows in 88, but it was no where near as successful as 85 to 87. After 88, the staff that was there took things in a new direction.

Sky Ryders returned to a movie/theater-related theme in '91. "Camelot" was their last hurrah in finals. Was that the year they moved their base of operations to Texas?

Fred O.

Edited November 24, 2009 by drumno5

[MikeN]

Now that I *can* answer - it was. I was going to go try out that year, but my parents wouldn't drive me up there, so I lost my first and best chance to try out. (DCI was much more of a secret society back then - I couldn't get my parents to really understand what it was. In retrospect, I probably didn't know all that much myself!)

Mike