Britbones Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) Started my marching band/ drum corps journey in 1978 with my local band in the UK. I had an amazing band master at the time that could see that this new found hobby of mine was the be all and end all for my very young life. He gave me a recording on tape of Blue Devils, Guardsmen, Madison Scouts, Bridgemen and Crossmen. I became obsessed with listening to this tape every day for months particularly Crossmen. Fast forward to 1986, My local corps merged with another local band and we became The Conquest Alliance. The management decided to invest in some quality writing and got Jon & Doreen Girardi from Skyliners and Eric Kitchermen from Crossmen. The team came over to the UK on many an occasion up until 1990. Eric had asked me a number of times if I was ever interested in coming across the pond to march Crossmen, of course I was but I was too young until 1990 (18). I went to my first choice corps and realise how lucky I was to be in a great corps with great traditions and a 7th place finish. I think back all the time to that young boy listening to my cassette player and realise I achieved one of my dreams to march not only in DCI (A big deal to us Brits) but with the Crossmen. I am thankful to all that help me achieve that dream and look forward to seeing Eric and Doreen in November for the reunion with My british corps the Conquest Alliance. sadly not Jon......... rest in peace my friend. Edited October 2, 2011 by Britbones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noname Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) My first corps was Mandarins, and I marched there for three years. Mandarins is very close to where I live, so for my first year in drum corps (and being 15) I marched Mandarins. I also wanted to march them because they had my favorite show when I saw them in Stockton and Elk Grove (miss that show ) in '06. Same sort of thing happened with my second year. Geography was huge, and I didn't consider marching anywhere else. I auditioned for the Blue Devils for the 2009 season, but didn't make callbacks. Wasn't very disappointed though, I just thought that I'd try it that year. Instead I marched Mandarins, and was in a duet. It was a great show. I again auditioned for Blue Devils for the 2010 season, but was one of the last ones cut. So I decided not to march that year.......... until I heard about a hole at Bluecoats around mid-may. I emailed them, and they had me send them a video. After sending it, I got an email back letting me know that they offered me a spot. So after my weeklong Hawaiian vacation (which was the next day), I headed to Bluecoats. Had a fantastic time there, it's a great corps to march. As for the 2011 season? Well, I took this year off. My knee got noticeably worse in the 2010 season, and I wanted to save it so I could at least march my ageout. I also wanted to watch the activity from a different perspective, so it could really help me enjoy my last two seasons. So this season I instead saved up, bought some filming equipment, and went to several DCI warmups. I posted those videos on YouTube and now have over 2,000 subscribers. While I wish I tried to fill the hole that Cadets had in July, I'm happy with this achievement too. A lot of people I've never met know what that channel is, so that was cool. We'll see how the 2012 and 2013 seasons pan out. Hopefully awesome! Edited October 3, 2011 by Noname 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cron Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I marched 3 years at Crown, 96-98. Following the 97 season, I was offered a "free" spot with the Cavaliers if I could make it to camps, etc. I was excited at the prospect, but could not feasibly make the drive/flight to Chicago for the camps as I was a South Carolina resident. Hence, it never happened. In fact, I was resigned to not marching that season at all due to school/financial constraints. During everydays, I went to check in on my friends and watch some rehearsal. I was told there was a contra hole and some sponsorship money if I wanted to fill it. So... long story short, I quit my summer job the next day, did the last day of everyday rehearsals and learned the show during the first week of tour. This ended up being my last season marching even though I had two more years of eligibility. I'm glad I did it. As for not marching until my age-out, that was a double-edged sword. I'm sure I would've loved my experience had I marched, but I spent the following two summers performing in another capacity and learned a lot about performing in a professional setting. Also an experience I wouldn't trade, though I do sometimes wonder what might have been... especially considering the fact that had I made the Cavaliers thing happen AND marched through my age-out, my age-out show would have been Niagara Falls.... se la vide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Wow - this is almost a scary topic for me. As many know, the cadets and crossmen used to hold auditions together. When I tried out, i was willing to look at both, but after auditions, was told that I would probably have a spot in the cadets if I wanted it. Contrary to popular belief, noone forced me to choose cadets, and to be honest, i was kind of leaning towards crossmen at first. I really like my bari tech from that first weekend (aaron, who was with crossmen), and I liked their show concept better. If it werent for one friend i had in the cadets, i may have wound up marching for the 'other' team. Also, anyone that was at DCI East in 2002 (in Philly) remembers the amazing 'encore to the encore' that the cadets did, and that had something to do with it as well. The scary part is this - I met my wife at a cadets camp in 2005, and she wound up marching in 2006. Had I still been with crossmen, obviously that would not have happenned... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 (edited) The scary part is this - I met my wife at a cadets camp in 2005, and she wound up marching in 2006. Had I still been with crossmen, obviously that would not have happenned... LOL, thanks to Drum Corps I broke up with a girlfriend. She liked the show I took her to and she liked the idea that I was doing it. Then she met some of my corps mates with their wild and wooly late 70s looks.. On the way home she took the bad step of dissing one of the woolier guys who happened to be the nicest and most giving people I know.... (His nickname was "Wolfie", cuz her kinda looked like a werewolf and could howl.) After that I was counting the weeks until we went to different colleges..... Edited October 4, 2011 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I didn't march in a "BIG" corps. In 1977 (May) our corps folded/merged/disbanded. I spent the summer with the corps we "merged" with. It was terrible! I should have went to the Seneca Optimists in '77. The next year (winter) I was rehearsing with Imperial Regiment but when I enlisted in the Army I left. My last year in corps I was going to march with Watkins Glen Squires but was never able to get to rehearsals because of my work schedule in the Army. The corps I really wanted to march with since 1974 was Santa Clara Vanguard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Wow - this is almost a scary topic for me. As many know, the cadets and crossmen used to hold auditions together. When I tried out, i was willing to look at both, but after auditions, was told that I would probably have a spot in the cadets if I wanted it. Contrary to popular belief, noone forced me to choose cadets, and to be honest, i was kind of leaning towards crossmen at first. I really like my bari tech from that first weekend (aaron, who was with crossmen), and I liked their show concept better. If it werent for one friend i had in the cadets, i may have wound up marching for the 'other' team. Also, anyone that was at DCI East in 2002 (in Philly) remembers the amazing 'encore to the encore' that the cadets did, and that had something to do with it as well. The scary part is this - I met my wife at a cadets camp in 2005, and she wound up marching in 2006. Had I still been with crossmen, obviously that would not have happenned... He was a pretty #### good caption head once he got the gig too. It's a shame he had crappy books to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsudrummer Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 When I was first looking to march corps, I was still relatively new to percussion, and felt that I would have little to no chance to earn a spot with a World Class corps, so I decided to join the Racine Scouts. I happened to stumble across Pioneer however, and on a whim decided to take a chance and go to the first camp. I had a good experience, and the corps was very welcoming. Several camps later I recieved a contract to march that season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibexpercussion Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 2 factors for me: 1) Crossmen 1992 was the first "good" show I saw in my life. Yes there were other corps that went on before them that night, but they were the first "good" show. (Still one of my favorite shows ever) 2) Because of where I went to college, and where the corps I wanted to audition for was located, my parents would not let (let alone help financially support) the travel to and from said corps. So, after proving that I could get the grades and get my stuff ready for corps, my parents allowed me to go closer to my school, so I went with my "1st corps love" the Crossmen, and never looked back. The two best summers of my life. *Though I would not erase one memory or friend from this time, I always wonder what would have happened had my parents allowed me to go where I wanted to initially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) man how did I forget this one.... bunch of co-winky-dinkys (co-insidences)... Walked away from watching corps in the early 90s and didn't think much about it for a couple of years. After we got Internet access I was fooling around with newsgroups and among other things I tried "drumcorps". Sure as bleep... there were a couple including that (in)famous RAMD. Later (2002?) on RAMD I see there was to be a exhibition show at Gettysburg, PA with Cadets and Crossmen. Figure what the Hades, I liked Xmen BITD so might as well see if I still cared. Shows were rough but I enjoyed what they put on for that time of year (been around long enough to know what to expect). And there was another corps at the show that did a standstill..... remembered them from when I competed... talked to one of the members about his 3v Bari (first time I saw one)... got an invite "if I ever got the urge again".... months later I did and still there.... Edit: And "Wolfie" from my earlier post. Ran into him watching a corps practice at Hershey in 1984. That's how I got sucked back in 84-85. If I hadn't happened to look at that practice field off the highway.... and if I hadn't gotten out of my car... and if I hadn't happened to be near the same part of the field as him.... *jeesh* Edited October 5, 2011 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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