Joe Flynn Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 How many drum corps participants would tolerate touring with out being priovided meals? I cannot recall ever receiving food provided by the corps: we fended for ourselves, paid for our own meals at rest area food courts, ate home-prepared sammiches, paid for own meals at restaurants, etc. Same here ... but, then again, we didn't have to pay a couple / three thousand dollars a year to march back then either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 McDonald's and Burger King made a mint off of drum corps in the 70's. Along came this idea to provide food for the corps and have parents cook all three meals. What is with THAT??? In my day we ate hamburgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we LOVED it!!! Darn kids don't know what drum corps is all about! Now they have nutritionist, professional chef, trainer, exercise guru, psychologist...what has happened to our activity??? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hydrate??? Sprite, Coke, Pepsi or Root Beer...that's how we hydrated!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRISP Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hydrate??? Sprite, Coke, Pepsi or Root Beer...that's how we hydrated!!! BUG JUICE!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadasmoothie Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 How about this one? On tour in '81, I think. Staying at a church hall in South Philly. The place was a total convection oven inside, so about a quarter of us slept IN THE TREES! Yes, about fifteen of us climbed into the oak trees with our pillows! Good times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozarkbugler Posted April 21, 2012 Share Posted April 21, 2012 How about this one? On tour in '81, I think. Staying at a church hall in South Philly. The place was a total convection oven inside, so about a quarter of us slept IN THE TREES! Yes, about fifteen of us climbed into the oak trees with our pillows! Good times Hope none of you walked in your sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindap Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Hope none of you walked in your sleep. We have 'walked in your sleep stories' too lol. While on tour 78 we stayed at a high school gym full of crickets which we tried to put up with, chaperones with brooms, showered with boots, some of us slept on picnic benches that night and it felt good :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Had this stuff called "White Foam" for my white bucks....while in Illinois in 1975, I put some on the hand of a snare drummer (known at Seneca Optimist as Buffalo Bill) and tickled underneath his nose. Yep, you guessed it! A few minutes later he woke up, went to the bathroom and then a yell, "What the ______? When he came back he was asking who did this and we all pretended to sleep. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 (edited) Had this stuff called "White Foam" for my white bucks....while in Illinois in 1975, I put some on the hand of a snare drummer (known at Seneca Optimist as Buffalo Bill) and tickled underneath his nose. Yep, you guessed it! A few minutes later he woke up, went to the bathroom and then a yell, "What the ______? When he came back he was asking who did this and we all pretended to sleep. LOL The real old dinos recall inspections. If you were lucky, the temperature was under 85 and no bugs when these starting line inspections took place before you performed in competition. If not, you'd be in uniform on a starting line where an inspection judge would slowly go up the line and look at each marcher to check for such things as threads on the uniform, feet not at a 45 degree angle, bugle not positioned straight at attention, bugle not spotlessly clean, white bucks not shiny and polished, shako not on straight, fingers on bugle not properly aligned,drum not on properly, rifle or flag issues, and dozens of other requirements. A tenth would be deducted for each infraction, and it was not unusual for Corps to have anywhere between 2 tenths to 2 points taken off for infractions before one performed and this could mean placement difference in competition. The worst was when it was hot and humid out. Standing on a starting line often would have 2 Corps in front of you. You stood at attention or parade rest until it was your time to approach the inspection line. The process of waiting in the straight long parallel line in the pre inspection area, and then the inspection line inspection itself could take a half hour to 45 minutes or more in the hot blazing sun. Routinely, Corps would have marchers faint right on the inspection line, or during performance itself afterwards. Fainting was quite common in day shows. The old timers remember all the fainting that used to take place in pre DCI days.. The Corps all came in on non AC buses to begin with. (Nobody had AC in their homes either.) Drinking water was not always available, so marchers were hot and dyhydrated when they got off the hot busses. Early evening shows under the stadium lights could be awful as mosquitos would sense dinner and would come and eat marchers alive under the lights as the marchers sweat on the inspection line in their heavy duty uniforms. Movement to swat a mosquito while at attention during inspection led to a tenth infraction deduction.So basically you sucked it up and didn't move as the mosquitos essentially sucked it up with you. Fortunately, at least half the shows were later night shows where it tended to be more tolerable regarding humidity and mosquitos weren't a problem until late summer, and at early evening shows for the most part. Despite these challenges in doing Corps, it was overall still a blast doing Drum Corps, and everybody we knew seemed to love the overall experience. Edited May 14, 2012 by BRASSO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Fainting? Saw alot of that....We were in a show in PA. I only remember Cleveland Cabs there. It was very hot that day and even at night it was 90 degrees. People were fainting all over the place. Retreat saw corps half full. We were put up in a Salvation Army that was air conditioned. I saw half of DeLasalle Oaklands go down at finals in Butler, PA after the last note was held forever. Yea alot had to do with not eating properly, not hydrating with water, etc. Those were the days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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