Hook'emCavies Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 April 1983: Jersey Village High School, Houston, TX My friend J.J. told me something about this "drum corps" he was joining. I didn't understand at all. I was a sophomore, had joined band just a year earlier because I had a crush on a boy, and I thought the "drum corps" was the percussion section of a band. Nevertheless, J.J. convinced me I should go check it out, so I did. Next thing I knew I was handing our director a check and going on tour. I have no idea how I convinced my mom that this was a good idea. I really don't remember. What I do remember is thinking my drum corps was really awesome - all 50 or so of us. I had never worked so hard in my life, and I loved it. And then it happened.... our first big show. And Santa Clara Vanguard was there. That's when I REALLY knew what I had gotten myself into. Because of SCV's performance of "Appalachian Spring" in that show I started buying classical cassette tapes to listen to on tour. Crossmen's "Russian Christmas Music" was the second classical piece that inspired me to buy more music. In fact, I credit my exposure to classical music through drum corps for solidifying my drive to be a music major in college. And then an even more amazing thing happened: Much later in the summer I saw the Cadets (actually, I should say Garfield). Up 'til then I had seen drill and been amazed and inspired. But what I experienced that day was even more than that - it was revolutionary, mesmerizing, and at the end the audience was screaming like nothing I had heard all season long - and I had heard some really awesome crowd responses! I will never forget those first impressions. And I have to say, this 2011 season brought some of those same feelings right back to the surface, and I am so glad for that. Anyway: thank you J.J. for inviting me to that weird "drum corps thing" in 1983. I still owe you one. Hey Jerseyvilliage high school... my mom went there for a year haha... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook'emCavies Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 When I first discovered DCI was when I was a 7th grader in middle school. My older brother was a freshmen in high school, and that was the first time ever sitting through a whole half time show. I remember my mother asking me what I thought, I replied "looks like fun!". About a week after all of that, my mom came into my room and said, "Hey, I found some marching bands on T.V. check'em out!". So, I turned on my T.V. to ESPN and it was 2003 finals. Blue Devils won that year, and of course The Cavaliers got second. I thought it was one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen. Then after the 2004 finals showing, somehow I forgot about DCI... maybe because after that season I entered into high school and started to focus on what I was doing at the time. Then I remember after the best season of my high school life (10th grade) I remember telling myself that there had to be a division beyond high school marching band. So then we entered into the summer of 07, at the end of the season... that's when I rediscovered DCI. I remember going down the list of corps on DCI.org trying to pick which corps gave me the most excitement. When I got to The Cavaliers... they sold it to me! So since then I have been a Cavies fan!! A VERY proud Cavies fan might I add! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) 1973, our band director took us to something called the US Open, in Marion, Ohio, about an hour's drive south of town. The bus ride with my girlfriend was spectacular, but I was completely blown away by what we saw on the field. I was percussion section leader, as a freshman, and suddenly every other type of music besides classical became unimportant to me. We would go to 6 or 8 shows a summer and practice "corps style" in the band room. I played both the concert snare and the marching snare at State I&E, and got "1's" for three years straight. Drum corps became a center of my life and it kept me out of trouble, and our little "drum line" became tight as ticks over the next three years. Been involved in the activity in many different ways ever since, and to this day, 38 years later, there's only two things that can make me cry: The Star Spangled Banner, and a great drum corps show. Drum corps grabbed me hard, and hasn't let go since. Edited August 18, 2011 by garfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) I first really learned what drum corps was when my high school band director invited everyone from my small (~45 members) high school band to a show in Little Rock just before our band camp started. This was August 12, 1991 and the headliner corps was Star of Indiana. Turns out it was (based on what I've heard here) the first show in which Star introduced the Cross to Cross closing move. I don't remember a lot of details from the show other that just being totally overwhelmed at what I was seeing on the field. I didn't know to expect the corps to be ordered by quality, so I just remember seeing each corps and being blown away by the quality, not believing the next corps could possibly be better, and then being blown away all over again with the next performance. I never thought of drum corps as something I would be able to be a part of, and honestly back then it was a lot harder to get information about such things, and so I never tried out, but I did stay in marching band through my sophomore year of college, where drum corps was a big influence on the shows we'd put on the field (we did a circus show, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, La Fiesta, Old Black Magic, etc, etc, etc). One of my college roommates ended up playing mello for the Scouts a couple of years in the late 90s. Even then, I only really saw bits and pieces of drum corps on TV, and didn't start going to shows again until the 2000s, and only in the past few years have I really become an obsessive fan, once my daughter got to be old enough to start enjoying the shows, which gave me an excuse to go to a lot more of them. Now she's talking about doing drum corps when she's old enough. Here's hoping! Edited August 18, 2011 by skywhopper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkingqm Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) Ran across the 81 PBS broadcast... Me too! Or was it a '79 or '80 PBS broadcast? Regardless I guess I didn't realize that I could go to local shows or anything, it was all kind of hit and miss. What got me hooked and in the loop was seeing my first live show in 1985. Santa Clara's "Magic Pants" show. [edited to remove youtube video link] To this day SCV and Madison are my sentimental favs. Edited August 18, 2011 by jkingqm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Ran across the 81 PBS broadcast... Very similarly - ran across the 1979 broadcast, then the 80 - then I was hooked... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastone Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 I was around when it all began, unfortunately, the corps I was a member of didn't participate though we would have made finals in 72 (St Rita's Brassmen). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 It was 1975 or 76, I don't quite remember, but I was channel-surfing one evening (around all 4 of the channels that we had at that time) and ran across the PBS broadcast of DCI finals. I think the first corps that I remember was The Kilties, and I sat and watched the rest of the broadcast. I just remember that it was a little bit like my high school marching band but a whole lot more powerful and precise and that I'd like to see more of it. A couple of years later, I went to my first live show when finals were in Denver. Never marched in a corps myself, but I've been a huge fan and supporter ever since. My son just finished his rookie year with Blue Knights and I couldn't be more proud of the kid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschooldbc Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Ran across the 81 PBS broadcast... I ran across the 1980 broadcast. Too bad that there are no more PBS broadcasts (or ESPN broadcasts.) If it weren't for those broadcasts, I probably never would have become interested in this activity. How many youth today will never find out about drum corps, because there effectively are no broadcasts? So where will the MMs come from? I know that there are VODs from DCI. But if you don't know the first thing about DCI, how will you download a VOD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyboy Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 My older brother and sister were in the marching band. I would love it when the band marched around the neighborhood practicing for parades (school was right up the street). One Thanksgiving weekend circa 83-84 we caught the PBS broadcast and loved it. We tuned in every Thankgiving weekend to watch the big corps. Our school had about 25 musicians, I dreamed of a drumline bigger than 4 people. My first high school band director marched Buccaneers and I went to a camp one Saturday. I auditioned for Robbie Robinson, when he asked me to play Swiss Triplets I thought it was a trick question. The line was set and I didn't have a ride to camps, so that was that. Went to a few shows each summer. Loved it and watched DCI videos everyday in the band room. 86 Devs was my favorite. Fast forward to my Senior year of high school....it was time to join. I was still clueless so I missed Thanksgiving weekend. My band director hooked me up with a Crossmen phone number and a George Hopkins business card. He said "you better join now or you won't get a spot this year". I ended up auditioning for the Crossmen because they were an hour away, Garfeild was too far away (three hours...ha). To answer OP's question: PBS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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