2000Cadet Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 I was just wondering what everyone's first experience with DCI was, or the first time they heard of it. I don't remember the exact date, but it was the summer of 2000, and I would be entering high school that fall as a freshmen. Band was the only thing I was good at I might add. But one morning my band director called my house and asked if I wanted to go to a "professional" marching band show? It would be $20, and would be in Tulsa. Mom said it was fine so i said sure. The only reason I was asked was my house was on the way to the school. About 10 students went. We got there and there was the Cadets having their practice on the field and afterward the audience was allowed to ask questions. I was still so new to marching I can only remember three things. A guy asked why trombones were not allowed, I remember that because that's what I played. Why the Cadets had two moves when bringing their horns up or down: I remember this because we copied the movement for our last song in our marching band show that fall. And the question from the instructor if we were Blue Devils' fans, to which a few people clapped and the corps on the field booed.....That night....it was like a life changing experience......I was hooked. Little did I know that the Cadets would win/tie for first place at the world finals the next month. Holy crap I remember this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFZFAN Posted April 1, 2013 Share Posted April 1, 2013 My first exposure to drum corps was when my high school director put on tapes of the 1977 DCI championships in our brand new band room. I was impressed but had no real idea how powerful those corps were until I went to my first DCI contest in Denver, July 11, 1979. I was overwhelmed by the stadium, the hornlines, the incredible precision of the color guards, but most of all the bad ### drumlines I saw that night! Here are the corps in attendance that night: 1. Spirit of Atlanta 2. Santa Clara Vanguard 3. Madison Scouts 4. Crossmen 5. North Star 6. Blue Stars 7. Sky Ryders 8. Florida Vanguard 9. Velvet Knights What a way to experience my first DCI show. Hearing those Spirit and Madison hornlines. Watching those North Star and Vanguard drumlines. Gaping at those Blue Stars hot pants!! I was hooked. I've been a fan ever since. I'll never forget that night. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gak27 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 the line up for the first show I ever saw live... 1 Seneca Optimists 81.950 2 Crossmen 81.900 3 Squires 78.900 4 Oakland Crusaders 77.900 5 Royal Crusaders 74.400 6 Avant Garde 73.050 7 Northstars 70.350 8 Royal Brigade 70.150 9 Edison Saints 70.100 10 Offensive Lions 69.700 11 Holy Family Defenders 68.400 12 Vagabonds 65.550 13 Marion Cadets 64.300 14 Cleveland Caballeros 63.750 15 Fulton Gauchos 63.150 16 Golden Knights 57.850 17 Belvederes 56.850 18 PAL Cadets 46.550 pretty good reason to get hooked on drum corps....U.S. Open...1977. I remember being/marching there... My first drum corps experience: I was 4 or so when my dad took me to a DCA show... My first DCI experience was probably the '72 or '73 U.S. Open... '73 for sure since that year it POURED POURED POURED on Finals night... First Finals experience: '74 in Ithaca. As was mentioned previously, both prelims and finals were exceptional shows - the crowd kept getting more and more energized as the night went on... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus67 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I had seen the PBS broadcast of finals in '83, but that was on a dinky B/W tv with bad reception so that doesn't in my mind. What does count is when I attended drum major camp in the summer of '84. It was a week-long camp and, in the middle of it, we got to see the Cadets rehearse during the day (George Parks ran the camp and wanted us to see the effort/dedication). I remember distinctly them running around in a particularly challenging section of the show, stopping, and the caption head ripping them a new one. That was impressive enough to a bunch of impressionable high-schoolers, but then he yelled "Take it back to Letter J" and the corps sprinted back to their spots. This was around mid-afternoon, summer, and they looked baked but they still did it and did it quickly. Once they were done with that section we had to leave and George called us to attention and we saluted the Cadets and they cheered for us. Pretty cool, but still not why I got hooked. That happened later that night when we went to the show. The Crossmen were there and they were neat, along with a couple other corps I don't recall, then the Cadets came on. As the opening notes for Maria started I remembered the night had cooled off from the daytime highs. Right then the hornline popped with a crescendo in the music and this warm wave of air came up from the corps and into the stands. Goosebumps and I was hooked from that point on. As a side note, one of the guys we were hanging out with at the DM camp ended up finishing the tour with the Cadets that year. They interrupted class one day to ask if anyone played trombone/baritone and would be interested in marching the rest of the summer (apparently a marcher had broken a leg). Our buddy volunteered and was on the sideline during the show. That was pretty cool too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 1991 Columbus, OH (actually, I think it was technically Dublin, OH, a suburb of C-bus). I had seen drum corps videos in 1990, my freshman year of high school and had a small understanding of what the activity was. I loved marching band so I naturally was interested in drum corps. Students at my high school had marched in the local Columbus corps (Limited Edition), and others were marching other corps. A bunch of us went to the local show to support our friends, and I was blown away by SCV. What that percussion section did for that show was incredible, and I still think it is one of the most influential & cutting-edge percussion arrangements of the "modern" era. In 1992 I went to Preview of Champions & Finals for the first time, and I've been a drum corps lifer ever since! SCV 91 sparked my interest and "sucked me in," so to speak and I've been a huge fan of SCV ever since. Drum corps has been a substantial part of my life since: I marched two years of drum corps, taught drum corps, met my wife teaching drum corps. The best man & maid of honor in our wedding were drum corps alumni (the maid of honor was my former vis Caption Head), the majority of my friends marched drum corps, and my son has been watching drum corps before he could talk (he's now 11). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollywoodNeoCon Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 1980 DCI Midwest, Warhawk Stadium, Whitewater, Wisconsin All I could see was the haze, cigarette smoke and bugs, but I sure as **** heard the crowd. And Brandt Crocker. My first brogasm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Rott Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 I discovered Drum Corps in the summer of 1974...via record (LP) only...purchased 1972 and 1973 finals records...and subsequently 1974 records...listened to them incessantly...and loud...Subscribed to Drum Corps news,and marched in a Drum Corps style competitive high school marching band..Still never saw a corps live...Fell in love with Muchachos and 27th Lancers via records. Then in 1975...after much deliberation (pronounced arguing) with my parents, I joined the Philadephia Police Cadets. Our first competition was in New England (at least the first I remember). It was there I experienced the likes of Watkins Glen Squires, Blue Rock, Woodbridge Edison Saints, St. Francis Sancians, New London Surfers, Crossmen (after the merger), Bridgemen (before the bananas), Audobon Bon Bons (I can still picture that tall red headed girl playing contra), Garfield, and yes...27th Lancers and Muchachos...all of them for the first time live and in person. It was a classic drum corp memory that has been seared into my brain....and the feeling of being there live..after only hearing them on records...there was nothing like it then or after... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgerbob Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) First experience not-live was my band director putting on '05 finals (ESPN) on the TV in the band room. Only corps I remember (or saw? not sure) was Cadets '05. Blew my 15 year old mind. Especially the baritone solo. The only thing I remember thinking was "how do they hold those horns up for so long?" After that, I finally auditioned and made Troopers (long story) and did not see a show until after I had performed in one. 2008 Boston was my first live experience, and it's a special show to me to this day. Oh- and I forgot. Fast forward two years. Who is my new baritone tech but the the same baritone soloist in 2005 Cadets? Edited April 3, 2013 by burgerbob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 1989 - The drummers in my HS kept talking about a "Phantom Regiment." I bugged them to find out what they were going on about. Finally, a fellow drummer loaned me a copy of the VHS recording he made of the PBS broadcast. I probably watched that tape 50 times. First live show was in Killeen, TX in '96 - I was so excited I got there at around 4pm for a 7:00 show. The souvie people kept telling me to come back later - they hadn't opened yet... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbngaa Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 I watched Finals on PBS for several years before attending my first live show - 1988 DCI South in Birmingham, AL. Didn't have the best seats, but was still amazed by the sound! Bought my first (and favorite) corps shirt - SCV Phantom shirt - black, with Phantom mask and rose on the front, tour dates on the back. Went back several more times, and finally got to go to Finals when it was held in my back yard in Jackson, MS. That was a great run of live shows I got to attend. Haven't been to one since, but I think that will change this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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