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"If you can't give 110%, maybe you don't belong here."

Those words were said to me a bit 2 1/2 decades ago by the director of one of DCA's perennial powerhouses. I'd just told him that I'd not be making the next Saturday practice so I could spend my daughter's 3rd birthday with her.

And it wasn't just the director. I'd gotten crap from the rest of the contra line, from the horn line and from the DM. All either put downs for lack of dedication or attempts to put me on a guilt trip.

The director's words were just the last straw. So I told him he was absolutely right, handed him my contra and walked out.

I was angry, but I was also hurt. I'd made the 2 1/2 hour drive to EVERY practice since the weekend after Thanksgiving, and this was mid-May. I'd given up a LOT to be in that corps, especially time with my daughter and family.

Yes, I'd done my time in DCI corps, including the Top 12. So I knew the kind of dedication it took. But while this was a DCA Top 12 corps, it was still a senior corps. We were all adults, with the lives and responsibilities that go along with being an adult.

Sure, some adults can and do manage to make their lives revolve around drum corps. But MOST of us can't. Most of us have jobs, families and other responsibilities which don't allow us to make drum corps our Number One Priority in life. We can put corps fairly high on the list, but it simply can't be Number One, though my experience taught me that DCA corps will accept nothing less.

So, that kind of leaves us 'Vets', those of us with 'drum corps in our blood' just sitting in the stands, watching. Or does it?

The answer is a resounding, "NO, IT DOESN'T!!!"

I found that answer awhile after my DCA fiasco. My answer was: Blessed Sacrament Golden Knights ALUMNI; Bracken Cavaliers ALUMNI; Emerald GrenaDears ALUMNI (now sadly gone): Bridgemen ALUMNI and now, Florida Brass ALUMNI.

A thousand mile move to Florida and seven years after my last practice with Bridgemen, on January 10th, 2016 I walked into my first practice with Florida Brass.

It was like a homecoming during The Holidays after being away for years. No, I of course didn't know the names or faces, but these were drum corps people. Kindred spirits, if you like. The rounds of introductions went on for awhile, with even soprano players being genuinely happy to have another contra player in the corps.

Practice wasn't much different from any corps practice, be it DCI, DCA or Alumni corps. Florida Brass was, and IS, 'real' drum corps. The intensity is there. The 'Feeling' is there. But, the difference here is that our members are not pushing themselves to impress the judges, or set a new record high score or place in the top half of the Top 12. These people are doing it out of a sense of pride, in themselves and in their corps, as well as doing it for the fans and for their pure, simple love of drum corps.

The other difference is that, where competitive corps are focused on winning, Florida Brass is focused on having FUN! We get all the benefits of drum corps, without the pressure and stress. We may not get trophies, medals or Championship Banners, but when we march off the field after a show, we feel the same pride and elation as any member of Devils, Cabs or any World Class Corps.

we get that on a couple practices a month. We get that not by putting people down if they can't make a practice or a show, but by simply asking our members to be there as much as they can be. We get that not by trying to beat another corps, but by trying to beat our own last run through. We get that by striving to make EVERY time we play better than the last time.

And by the way, unlike Bridgemen Alumni or Cabs Alumni, we don't do a field drill. So, no heat stroke in the Florida sun! Sunburn is another matter, though. But after all, what's drum corps without sun burn?

The day that I attended my first practice with Florida Brass, we had 40 horns and about half a dozen drummers.

We NEED more members!

So, if you love drum corps, if you marched drum corps in the past and miss it dearly. if you've wanted to march drum corps but knew you didn't have the time to commit to one of the DCI or DCA corps, then come on out to one of our practices.

There's no auditions. No being told (politely) "Sorry, you're not good enough for us.".

As U said, we don't do a field drill. We do stand stills, parades, concerts and stage shows. Our music is every bit as challenging and as exciting as anything you'll hear at Championships.

Don't settle for sitting in the stands, watching. Come on out to Florida Brass, and BE IN THE SHOW!!!

http://www.floridabrass.org/

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Ok, see you in a year and a half. Probably retiring to Fla. in '17. Save me a 3rd sop spot.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, see you in a year and a half. Probably retiring to Fla. in '17. Save me a 3rd sop spot.

Larry:

You can't go wrong there. Florida Brass are a Great Group of People. Marched there a few years before I moved back North. I think many were pleased to see them in Annapolis. Their first, Out of State trip. Made up of Many Big Name Corps Alumni people from all over the North East and Midwest. Good Luck to You.

Edited by 2B or not 2B
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Hi Larry, sorry for the delay in replying.

A 3rd Sop spot? You got it!!! :)

See you when you get down here (just be sure to pack some good umbrellas!).

***********************

2B or not 2B,

Thank you for the positive post about the corps!!! :)

*HUGS*

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have a few umbrellas. This is Florida not London or Seattle? :cool:

Slight possibility it may be this fall but more likely next fall or possibly June, '17.

See ya,

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