Wearing "THAT" uniform...

[mgarside83]

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.

Awesome story! Very similar to my experience with Capital Regiment.

[jimott01]

The Blue Devils uniform that was worn from 1994 to 2003. That was my "THAT" uniform. Couldn't believe the first time i put it on. Felt indestructible.

[Big Bad Bari]

I started in High School MB as well.... Very traditional braided uniforms with the HUGE Q-tips on our heads...

My first year in corps I went to a small local corps called the San Jose Raiders and for the 2 years I marched there... We were the Baby Bridgemen... We played Anaheim Kingsmen music and wore Bayonne unis with extra black accents... Oh and our guard unis were really really short... There is a pic on here somewhere! I hated those uniforms... but I saw the Blue Devils in 1979 and 1980... Absolutely fell in love with thye style, the uniforms and the level of class! Oh My God...

So in 1981 just after tour with the Raiders it was announced that we would be going latin... I liked the music but couldn't stand the cheerios on the sleeves of the new uniforms! I ended up calling WD and he said to come to a BD practice and I stayed there and loved it... The first time I put on my Blue Tux I knew I was in the place I should have been all along...

Edited September 10, 2010 by Big Bad Bari

[silvertrombone]

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

Nope. Carrollton R.L. Turner HS. We were in the same athletic district as Richardson and Plano in those days. Which means...we got out BUTTS handed to us real regular-like! Fun memories, though. A buddy of mine from band camp who went to Plano HS is now the director there. That's the only connections I have to the Plano schools. I still have cricket nightmares about Plano's Clark Field. HUGE things. Big enough to carry of a small contrabass! And MILLIONS of them! Well...a whole bunch at least!

1.) 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.

2.) 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.

1.) Thanks! I thought, gee...I'd sure like to hear all your stories about "THAT" uniform and which one it was for you all! If you haven't yet, chime in--lots of great stories out there, me thinks!

2.) That's great--we didn't have that sort of atmosphere in 94 in Rockford. I doubt the considered us vets even after Boston.

Awesome story! Very similar to my experience with Capital Regiment.

Do tell--would LOVE to hear about that experience!

The Blue Devils uniform that was worn from 1994 to 2003. That was my "THAT" uniform. Couldn't believe the first time i put it on. Felt indestructible.

That's because you guys WERE indestructible! I marched PR 94, the first year of the new BD uni's. They were a pretty big deal! I was actually jealous (not really!) because "THAT" uniform of mine was literally about 8 sizes too big...looked like a whale. Whoever wore that thing in 93 must have been one big boy--YIKES!! The newer PR uni's are more custom fitted, but when you're 6'5", it's kind of tough to get ANYTHING to fit right. I was so thankful that my HS MB uni was MY uni! Fitted for it as a freshman, only person to ever wear it when I graduated. Nice.

Even Phantom Regiment couldn't give me a uniform that was made for MY arse!

[BigDale]

[Scerpella]

For me as a member of a lesser corps, one that was past its great days of the 60's, the uniform that made an immediate impression me was Madison in 1973 when they added the Aussies. I was at a show in Milwaukee, the Big V show I think and Madison came by. I had no idea at first who they were because I was used the to boy scout hats. When they went by with those felt Aussies looking somehow both tough and super cool I was so smitten and jealous at the same time with the look and the music they were now playing that the seed was planted for me which took four years to finally sprout.

The 2010 corps wore uniforms very close to that although every guy had long hair in the 70's, one of the few unis that looked good with longer hair.

[Callawyn]

Outstanding post, thanks for the story!

For me, it was the 27th Lancers.

I joined a Class A corps in '82 (Arbella) before I even knew what a drum corps was. Didn't get much of a chance to see any open class corps that summer until finals. Olympic Stadium, Montreal, August '82. I was completely blown away by how the 27th Lancers entered the stadium. Don't even remember who was performing on the field, I was mesmerized by how classy the Lancers were silently marching around backfield, no cadence, perfectly in step, at a VERY slow tempo.

Had an offer to join them in '83 but I was already committed to another corps and couldn't bring myself to jumping ship just before tour (still feel strongly about this: you change corps between seasons if you're going to do it, leaving a corps after going through a winter program hurts that corps, and all of its members).

Finally joined 27th in '85. First performance in uniform was a parade, St Patrick's day, we played Danny Boy, a LOT. I got the whole speach about how there "are 27 parts to your 27th Lancer uniform" and learned the mnemonics that helped us remember just how to peice it together (the garrison belt / citation cord interaction was tricky and easy to get wrong). The change to the red tops didn't come until mid-season.

Being in that uniform, marching with the corps, playing Danny Boy, it really hit home that I was a member of the 27th Lancers, in a powerful way that rehearsing in winter camps did not.

[bccadet09]

I first got to know drum corps in 2003 (yeah, I'm a young fan) and watched a lot of shows from the late 90s. Now "THAT" uniform happened to be The Cadets for me.

I watched many of The Cadets shows from the 2000s before I saw my first live show in 2006. From the front, I was hooked on looking at the uniform. It was powerful, even though it wasn't the traditional Cadets....

....later I watched 1984 Garfield Cadets. My first thought was "hey they look familiar..." until the closeup of Barbara came up and I recognized the uniform. I was like whoa....that same uniform we see today is the same of yesterday.

I watched many of the All-Access episodes from 2006, and I ended up going to an audition camp for 2007. When the word got around that we were going to the traditional Cadets style, I had a heart attack, especially when I saw the picture.

Then a few camps later, I was being measured from head to toe, and then into spring training, I found myself putting on the jacket for the first time. At first I didn't know what to think or how to absorb it....that is, until we wore the uniforms in Memorial Brass 2007. I was standing to myself thinking "I'm in a Cadet uniform???"

The same thing happened during our very first show in Allentown (mid-June). When we put on our shakos, a totally different feeling enveloped me as I realized how huge it was to be a part of history. It's not the same as a high school band uniform.....this was completely different.

There is no other uniform like THAT uniform.....

[contrajedi8]

That uniform:

1999- 2003 SW. The yellow was distinctive, classy, and unique.

[Piper]

I don't know if it really matters all that much. The quality goes in before the uniform goes on.