Wearing "THAT" uniform...

[silvertrombone]

You know which uniform I'm talking about. It doesn't matter if it was green, blue, maroon, white or another color. It doesn't matter if it was Boy Scout-ish in origin, military-inspired or of other inspiration. Which uniform was "THAT" uniform for you? And what was it like if you had the honor and privilege of marching out of the tunnel to the roar of the crowd who loved you?

I have to go back to a little bit before I even knew that drum corps existed to provide the proper background of why my experience was so magical. Feel free to do the same for yours.

My freshman year in high school we wore those old hideous "cue-tip" hats in marching band. It was the last year of our old uniforms and we were to get fitted for new ones second semester. This was 1988-89 at about the time when bands began using tuxedo uni's in concert season. We did not. We had uniforms that had capes and cords for marching season, remove them for concert season, but same uniform for concerts. Thankfully, we never wore the "cut-tip" uni's during concert season since we debuted our new red, white and blue uni's for concert season--that was cool! And the show my sophomore season was patriotic in nature, which REALLY went over well with our new uni's!

But, GAWD, those "cue-tips"!! Talk about "BAND-O"!!

I was really into marching band. Thank goodness I had not discovered DCI yet otherwise I would have been a complete malcontent for four years. We weren't terribly spectacular, especially when you consider the standard in Texas bands these days. We didn't have a band director who was a jerk or who wanted to win, win, win. We had fun, we played good music, he had good junior high's and JH directors who stuck around for many, many years. And we had a good private lesson program. But Richland, Duncanville or Berkner we were not.

So when I finally discovered DCI I was absolutely HOOKED! And "THAT" uniform played a HUGE part of that experience and that reaction.

As if inspired by God Himself, Finals were in Dallas in August 1991, just as my senior year of marching band was beginning. Now, you have to understand, we didn't perform classical music in high school marching band. At least my junior year I had a decent solo and won outstanding soloist on trombone at one marching competition.

We literally did MICKEY MOUSE my senior year. Yes, I remain bitter about that to this day! I mean, unleash us and let us do some Beattles, for crying out loud. Mickey Mouse? Epic fail. We deserved that second rating we got for the first time in, like, 10 years just for that program. Done. Absolutely DONE from the second my best friend said we were doing "Mickey Mouse." His exact words.

Enter the Phantom Regiment. Our HS CG instructor was an alum of PR 88 and 90 (talk about picking a rotten year to skip!), so we knew about the public rehearsal at Plano's Clark Field after PR's quarterfinals performance. Several friends of mine and I decided to attend, and even the threat of rain could not deter all of us invincible young-un's! Off to Plano we trekked!

Of course, PR only put on one of the greatest shows EVER as far as getting the fans off of their butts and eliciting the love. That was nice. And while the uni's were just DIVINE...

...THEY WERE REHEARSING IN THE FRIGGIN' RAIN, MAN!!

Here we are huddled under umbrellas in the stands with the admonition to keep quiet during rehearsal. And the corps is rehearsing in their tanned, toned, "It's August, this is drum corps and we don't even ACKNOWLEDGE that it is raining" gloriousness! I wanted to jump out on the field right there and join in. Talk about wow.

Now, the corps didn't have on their full uni's, obviously, nor did they have on the "chickens." But I was in love. Those helmets were simply the coolest thing I had ever seen. Done. Changed my life forever. I would have offered my left arm to march in "THAT" corps.

Then, along came Finals. Side note: I thought I was cool b/c we got seats down low near the field. 20-yard line-ish, 10 rows up. Cool to be able to yell for our buddy, George, in the SkyRyders' pit, but not terribly good to get the full effect of the shows.

Well, Sky led off, and I knew several members of that corps being that I started my drum corps journey there just 3 months later at auditions. I saw a whole bunch of other corps whose names and histories meant nothing to this then-"Band-O's" "Band-O." Pretty similar uniforms, too. Shako's. Colors. So forth.

Blue Devils came and went, perhaps the greatest drum corps in history. It took me many years to shake the bias that their 5th place finish that year created in my mind. I simply had no appreciation for what that corps entailed simply because of their recaps. Dunce that I was.

SCV put on one of the great shows in DCI history, quite frankly, in Miss Saigon. VERY creative production. Did not get the respect it deserved in the recaps b/c it was kind of slow to evolve. Complex material. I had no conceptualization of the austerity and class entailed in those uni's, either. Class of the activity in so many ways.

Then..."THEY" marched onto the field in "THAT" uniform. And they didn't even have on their customary BLACK trim--it was SILVER! And ALL-WHITE unis--how cool was that?!? Talk about painting a picture on a blank canvas, that was the coolest thing I have ever seen to this day! "THAT" uniform had an amazing contrasting compilation of facets. Quoting Michael Cesario later, that corps embodied "POWER and PASSION." The helmets alone accomplished this...the POWER of the militaristic helmet...the PASSION of the plume...aka...the CHICKENS!! Again, how cool? It was not until I first put one of those on that I realized...holy smokes, there's no chin strap! How do you keep from it falling off?!? Answer: Very, very carefully.

The end of that show remains one of the most spectacular single moments in DCI history. Pretty much the entire Bachanale. An ORGY on a football field?!? As a 17-year old at the time, I was positively RUINED for life! All that work my parents had put in...right out the door!

And I LUSTED to put on "THAT" uniform and march in "THAT" corps!

Now, I have said often that my experience IN Phantom Regiment was not even as good as my year in SkyRyders. Simply put, this activity does not favor a good experience for rookies, and Phantom Regiment, in my experience, makes a particularly strident effort at making their rookies...even those of us who were not rookies to DCI..."welcome" in their own special way. I still am not allowed to speak of certain "activities" that occur during one's rookie year. My friendships from SkyRyders far outnumber those from Rockford to this day. And given the opportunity to hang with any particular PR vet or any particular Sky vet, I will take my fellow SkyRyders any day of the week...and twice on Sunday. Better experience overall.

But my HEART was pierced the night of that rehearsal in Plano, Texas and I have bled Phantom Re(d)giment ever since. "THAT" uniform is forever intertwined with my spirit to the day I die. Heck...I may just have to have "THAT" helmet...complete with chicken!...atop my casket.

On a side note, I have been quite critical at times of various aspects of "THAT" corps' operational decision-making, etc. As the saying goes, "We criticize the ones we love." It is because we love "THEM" and because we want the best for "THEM" always. I hope this tale gives a little bit of background into why I do not remain silent at times other Phans would like for me to do so.

It is also beause of my experiences in this activity from 1991 to 1994 that I joined the Board of OYAA/Forte. The effect of that rehearsal in the rain continues to be felt in a positive way. I hope that you will all share with us the stories of "THAT" uniform on your corps experience. And if you have not yet taken "THAT" next step, whatever it may look like for you, may I exhort you to do so? Our beloved activity needs you, your passionate involvement and your service. We who so benefited from it so many years ago have much to pass on to others who still have no idea drum corps exists.

I look forward to hearing "THAT" story from you, too.

[Medeabrass]

Silver, did you go to one of the Plano high schools? I have some connection there.

[DrillmanSop06]

I'll keep it quick...

I was a Phantom Regiment fan from the moment I learned who they were, what they played, and how they played it. I was a freshman in my high school's marching band in 2002 and our sister school, Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort, IL, hosted a drum corps show. At the time, the Cavaliers were far and wide the love of the band world and so I was a Cavaliers fan. But then I saw Phantom Regiment. I knew that my dream was to march drum corps someday and I was so sure I wanted to be a part of that organization. I auditioned for the experience in 2006 as a senior in high school and went for a serious run in 2007 where I was called back for a second camp. I remember unloading the uniforms from the truck and thinking how amazing it was that I was actually holding a Regiment helmet. Anyway, I was cut. I didn't have the chops or the experience. So much for my dream of marching THAT corps - the one I had dreamed of marching. I was dejected and disappointed but I decided to tag along with a few friends who were auditioning for some crappy non-finalist corps that kept sending me mailings each year.

Fast forward...

Jeremy Hunt was our drill designer in 2007. I distinctly remember him telling us the story of how he had always seen DCI marchers as larger than life, truly amazing people that were so clearly a cut above the rest. He told us that one day, he realized that HE was one of those people. At that moment, I looked down. I was wearing that red fade jacket with silver slashes, a bold new look for an old corps. I was holding a DCI shako with the largest plume on the field that season (by the way, if you're wondering who started the huge plume trend...sorry!) I was wearing THAT uniform. And to some high school kid in the stands, I was THAT guy.

I could not have asked for a more amazing experience that summer. The things I learned and the audiences we brought to their feet...all of it was incredible. We came out of the gate with something to prove and the crowd responded. Moreover, I realized that we had totally 100% earned it. Drum corps is a tough crowd - heck, ALLENTOWN drum corps is a tough crowd - when you aren't wearing the colors of the home team or the successful team, every butt out of their seats you fight tooth and nail for. Having to dig in and earn that standing O without that amazing reputation some other corps have taught me so much and I don't think that lesson could have ever hit me if I wasn't in THAT uniform during THAT season.

I thought I lost a dream but I ended up living it more fully than I could ever have imagined. So every time someone asks for audition advice, the only thing I can ever say is that it doesn't matter where you march, only that you march. I never would've guessed I'd find a home somewhere in Iowa. My heart belonged to Rockford. But if you give something new or unfamiliar a chance, it may just change the course of your entire life.

Thank you, Colts, for giving me a chance to don THAT uniform and become a part of that THAT legacy.

Edited September 9, 2010 by DrillmanSop06

[ouooga]

I was wearing that red fade jacket with silver slashes, a bold new look for an old corps.

Not really the point, but the slashes on the Colts jacket are silver? I've thought they were white this whole time.

[DrillmanSop06]

Not really the point, but the slashes on the Colts jacket are silver? I've thought they were white this whole time.

They're kind of shimmery light silverish!

[tomgolf8]

My first show with the Geneseo Knights. Once you put on the cape, you are transformed forever. I only got to wear that uniform for 1 year as we changed the next year. My mother sent my brother and I to (wait for it) Olan Mills to get portraits done in those uniforms. Those pictures still hang in my office to this day because:

1. It's THAT uniform.

2. I had a lot more hair

3. MUCH more aerodynamic

Great thread

[supersop]

This really is one of the best threads I've seen on this board since its inception. I hope the thread catches on and gets alot more play than it has thus far.

So ...... THAT uniform. Hmmmmmmmmmm

It's almost impossible for me to answer with just one, because there were so many "Classic" uniforms during my era of marching. Let's take a look at what I was seeing.

1. SCV - Classic Red Jacket with the Gold Sash and at times and all White sash and cumberbund .. but the White Pants with the Red Stripe and the Aussie from hell .... totally tasty!

2. Troopers - Cmon the uniform they were wearing up through the 80's was the bee's knee's. It embodied "America's Corps" and was vintage nonetheless.

3. Garfield - Classic West Point with a color pallet that was striking from any distance. I'm very happy the corps still wears this uniform to this day.

4. Madison - Had just switched to a new jacket in 1988 and man was it SEXY! That red sash with silver sequins caught the light like none other. White pants with the Green Stripe showed off one of the greatest, cleanest marching performances I had ever seen (and still haven't seen anything that clean) in Semi's of 88.

5. Devils - Tuxedo Ruffles and patent leather shoes ... really popped when they went to BLack and Grey in 88. The perfect look from up top.

6. Cavies with that massive white stripe down the side and the perfect GE Uniform from up top ... I really miss this look.

7. Canadian Knights with the helmet from hell!!!!!! So ######!!!

8. Crossmen donned a new look in 1990 what was excellent from up top ... the bibbers bugged me a bit, but man they looked sharp.

I had the honor of wearing 2 of the above uniforms. I would liked to have worn more than 2 of them .... but I will say this. I made them both look sexy! I think it really hit me when Shorty told us the story of the Ghosts at Cadets in 90. It was after our first show of the season and he said, "You're all vets now. For all the Ghosts who have come before you, and worn the uniform you now wear ... welcome to Holy Name." .... yeah that did it for me.

[adub]

For the longest time in 08' they wouldn't for the world tell us what the uniforms were going to look like. But once we were shown the sketch for our tuxedo inspired super man suit I was extremely excited. I can't even describe the feeling of pure ecstasy I felt at that first show in Rockford (no matter how exhausted we all were afterwards). I felt like our 08' Scouts unis were awesome.

[27thAvantCadets]

"That" uniform for me...

Your first uniform is always special. Especially true for me. I watched with anticipation from the sideline in the Pyramid mall parking lot for a whole year before I got to participate...it was a special day it was when we suited up for the first show.

Then I was honored to travel to Revere and march 2-7. Unfortunately, part of the strategy for '86 was to change the uniforms. Still an honor!

But, it was always about the Maroon and Gold for me. The first time I put on the uniform it was like a rite of passage. They were old, and heavy, and after one show in the hot summer...yes, they stunk. But, it was a good stink...if you kow what I mean.

FHNSAB.

[supersop]

"That" uniform for me...

Your first uniform is always special. Especially true for me. I watched with anticipation from the sideline in the Pyramid mall parking lot for a whole year before I got to participate...it was a special day it was when we suited up for the first show.

Then I was honored to travel to Revere and march 2-7. Unfortunately, part of the strategy for '86 was to change the uniforms. Still an honor!

But, it was always about the Maroon and Gold for me. The first time I put on the uniform it was like a rite of passage. They were old, and heavy, and after one show in the hot summer...yes, they stunk. But, it was a good stink...if you kow what I mean.

FHNSAB.

Best stink on Earth!!!!!