What were we thinking? Stuff that didn't quite work

[byline]

Watching the crowd's reaction was one of the funniest memories I have of corps.

Oh, man, this made me laugh just reading about it! Too funny (though I'm glad no one was injured). Thanks for sharing the memory!

[denverjohn]

1973:

THE THING:

1. uniforms

2. aluminum foil for silks?

[ewubrassman1]

I guess I'm just wierd because apparently I'm the only person that liked Phantom's 2009 show.

I LOVED Phantom '09!

[CloudHype]

We will have a white rabbit and the other characters from Alice in Wonderland. Oh and picnic tables!

Wait... we are missing something. I got it, a singer!!

Put that in the very small category that Sully produced something I didn't like.

[Abbevillekid26]

Cadets 2006

Cadets 2007

Cadets 2008

only thing worse would be somebody praying....oh wait

Pioneer 2010

Can't argue with the others but really 2007? Didn't care too much for the mushy parts but it was loud and imo a pretty good show. I wouldn't say a 2nd place finish "didn't quite work". I guess in your opinion it didn't work but competitively it definitely did.

[Musicman1084]

only thing worse would be somebody praying....oh wait

Pioneer 2010

YES.

[mchromik]

I unfortunately never saw the gerbil wheels, but I was informed by the corps staff that they were quickly buried behind the corps' hall, where some day, a very confused excavator will wonder what on earth he just dug up.

I do believe all evidence of the Gerbil Wheels existence has been systematically 'buried' save for a few grainy black & white photos in the 86' yearbook. At some point in the 80s I remember a Zapruder-like video of one of the early shows being shown. Besides gerbil wheels it featured a much more fleshed out Adventures on Earth complete with powerful ET theme statement and the Throne Room music from Star Wars (ep4), all of which were gone by second tour. Personally my most vivid memories of the Gerbil Wheels was experimenting with the hornline carrying them on the field on their sides! Cannot say for sure how much the weighed, but the inability of the members who carried them to use their left arms for some fifteen minutes afterwords ended the experiment with decidedly mixed results. My left shoulder and memories of the state of Iowa have never quite recovered from that day.

[PepsiTwist]

one word -"SHOOP!"

[monoemono]

Bluecoats 92 - "Jazzaphonic" - Beatles

When I first heard that Bluecoats were going to do play Beatles I thought that would be awesome (I've heard some really great jazz versions of some of their songs). First time playing through the show with the corps at rehearsal in early June - it was like - WTF was that?!

Then imagine playing our opener - a seemingly (possibly actually) drug influenced arrangement of Eleanor Rigby for a July 4th parade. I guess no one saw the big FAIL sign on that one.

Yet - as crazy as that show arrangement was - I still enjoy listening to it.

You've got a better memory than me, Bart. Did we actually play that as a parade tune? I wonder what people thought of seeing the corps march a parade in--what was it--four different time signatures?!?!?

And yes, there were a lot of potentially very cool ideas in that show that never fully ended up working. I would love to see a tape of early season that year--what a hellacious mess it must have been! And that's just considering the guard uniforms!

To be fair, the corps had more problems that year than the show design. Lots of new staff, lots of member turnover (5 lead sops from 91, I think, left for other corps), many young and inexperienced members and very few age-outs, the cloud of a very disappointing finish from the year before, etc.

It should also be mentioned that the same guy arranged many very fine shows for the corps after that, including the 93 show, which I still think is one of the coolest Jazz shows ever put on a drum corps field.

[ajedrummer]

And of course, the senior corps was the Westshoremen.

Thank you - I was thinking Westshoremen but was not certain so did not want to guess.