BariBrian Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 (edited) When I first joined DCP, I had a terrible time tracking down members of my corp Avant Garde. I have been away from DCP for a long time but just recently, I visited and I have noticed that some of you are out there. Tell me, what have you been doing after all these years? Do you have any AG Pics that you'd like to share? Any Favorite Memories? Edited December 28, 2009 by BariBrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Sorry, but you'll have to refresh my memory a bit. Wasn't the Avant Garde the result of a merger between the then Emerald Knights and a corps who's name escapes me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BariBrian Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 Sorry, but you'll have to refresh my memory a bit. Wasn't the Avant Garde the result of a merger between the then Emerald Knights and a corps who's name escapes me? The Speigleaires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 I believe there were a few from Western NY area. Linda Cooper (Lynn Carrier) is on Facebook. I think there was another who marched Blazers and then Renegades, he may have played timp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BariBrian Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 I believe there were a few from Western NY area. Linda Cooper (Lynn Carrier) is on Facebook. I think there was another who marched Blazers and then Renegades, he may have played timp. Thanks Keith. I also think AG's Drum Major (Jerry Kaiser) is on here now. I believe he lives in Florida. Hopefully we can connect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cru2u Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Tsk,tsk, Keith! They were from Saratoga Springs which is near the Utica/Albany area!!! Mr Jeff Perkins was a big part of them, along with the Keck Brothers.......the nucleus of Greece Cadets and firebirds actually attended several wijter rehearsals with big numbers before disbanding! too bad, politics and pride got in the way with the management teams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 When I first joined DCP, I had a terrible time tracking down members of my corp Avant Garde. I have been away from DCP for a long time but just recently, I visited and I have noticed that some of you are out there. Tell me, what have you been doing after all these years? Do you have any AG Pics that you'd like to share? Any Favorite Memories? Hey Brian, Yup, I'm a very infrequent contributor to DCP. Spending more time reading the Historical Jr. Stuff. Reading the All Ages stuff makes me crazy... well, actually crazier. FYI: to all DCP readers. Brian was one of those little known, amazing soloist's that this forum often talks about. He was one of the most naturally gifted Baritone player's / soloist's I have ever heard. Just never got enough "pub". I'm not quite sure that politics was the downfall of the corps. The Avant Garde, like many NY state corps, had to fight every year to make budget. Monetarily and membership wise. We were not alone. It's just the way it was. Heck,in our first year of competition, there were enough NY corps to have prelims and finals for the American Legion Championship. Flash forward 10 years and there was maybe 1 or 2 competitive Jr corps in NY. Oh well. Great to hear from you Brian. jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BariBrian Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hey Brian, Yup, I'm a very infrequent contributor to DCP. Spending more time reading the Historical Jr. Stuff. Reading the All Ages stuff makes me crazy... well, actually crazier. FYI: to all DCP readers. Brian was one of those little known, amazing soloist's that this forum often talks about. He was one of the most naturally gifted Baritone player's / soloist's I have ever heard. Just never got enough "pub". I'm not quite sure that politics was the downfall of the corps. The Avant Garde, like many NY state corps, had to fight every year to make budget. Monetarily and membership wise. We were not alone. It's just the way it was. Heck,in our first year of competition, there were enough NY corps to have prelims and finals for the American Legion Championship. Flash forward 10 years and there was maybe 1 or 2 competitive Jr corps in NY. Oh well. Great to hear from you Brian. jerry Hey Jer, Thanks for the Props my friend, and great to hear from you. I agree with you about politics & AG. It wasn't the issue. We struggled every year to make budget and the writing was on the wall years before we folded. The need to stay competitive in a DCI world made it difficult for corps with marginal sources of money to survive. So Many very fine corps that we competed against, fell in the same way. DCI is great but they have a "survival of the fittest" mentality that has helped to eliminate many many fine Corps. At any rate, the Avant Garde were pretty much done when Jeff retired, NOT because of "Politics" as mentioned earlier by someone. I remember our friends from the Gouchos coming and joing after they had folded, but I must have been gone when the Greece Cadets became a big part of AG as previously mentioned, but it wouldn't surprise me. They were another fine corp in NY that struggled for funds to stay competitive, along with the Purple Lancers, The Squires, and just about every other corps in NY. the Historical area is where dinosaurs like us belong my friend Glad to chat with you Jerry, hope to hear more from you and the rest of the gang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I remember their first year. They were finalists at the NT Open and they went to "parade rest" by stomping their left foot, slamming their horns against their chest and letting out "HUH" real loud. Later on they were always a top 25 Open corps. NY was dying drum corps-wise after 1976 and in the end it was the Patriots that were the last corps standing. When you think about NY drum corps in the 1970's...those were the days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BariBrian Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 (edited) I remember their first year. They were finalists at the NT Open and they went to "parade rest" by stomping their left foot, slamming their horns against their chest and letting out "HUH" real loud. Later on they were always a top 25 Open corps. NY was dying drum corps-wise after 1976 and in the end it was the Patriots that were the last corps standing. When you think about NY drum corps in the 1970's...those were the days! Yup. Sadly you're right Keith. And the way the economy is , and given the extreme budgets required to be competitive, I would say that it will be many MANY years before we have a contender from NY if ever. We did that Parade rest move in 76 and boy did that dent the sides of our horns LOL. We made the top 25 the very first year tied for 25th with another fine corps from Conn. the Emerald Cadets. Jerry Kasier was right when he said "That first year for us,,, there were so many competitive corps in NY State, that the State Championships had a prelims and finals Edited December 29, 2009 by BariBrian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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