Drum Corps Conspiracy Theories/Obscure Facts?

[JohnZ]

3 hours ago, Orwellian Wiress said:

 

- Spotify. Currently, BD is the only corps to have any music on Spotify. There is an unofficial DCI playlist on Spotify that includes them, and also has dead links with well-known titles like "Felliniesque", "Metamorph", "Babylon" and most interestingly "Babylon- Impact". When you try to play a song from a dead link, nothing happens or a notification pops up saying "Song unavailable". I also heard that the BD artist page is unofficial, but they posted a full album of just drum cadences in 2020.

Can't speak to Spotify but you reminded me that in the 80s USAir used to have a drum corps channel on their in-air entertainment broadcast.

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, fighterkit said:

The bluecoats tried to convince everyone that their 2016 show was title agriculture. 
Same season Cadets tried to convince everyone and fake leak a Lion King Show. 

A lot of this stuff is just fake leaks members do to mess around with members.

Same thing about how a few years ago I told people BAC was playing John Cage's 4'22 in 2020, or someone else I know started the every breath you take rumor for 22. Just bogus stuff that we thought would be funny. 

like so many people saying for 40 years they are doing Pink Floyd the Wall

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, Orwellian Wiress said:

Also, there's a few things I vaguely remember that I want to know if anyone had more info on these.

- Crossmen airplane parent. I made a joke on a thread about parents showing up to BD with signs of their kid, then someone told me that a rich Crossmen mom hired an airplane with a banner that had her kid on it. The plane was specifically made to fly over the stadium when other bands were playing. Is there any footage/evidence of this? Is it mostly "confirmed" to be Crossmen and not just a "substitute the name with x corps" thing?

- Blue Devils Weed Guy. I can't remember where I heard/read about this, but it feels like a niche urban legend. The story goes that a bass drummer from BD got busted with drugs the day before finals, while everyone else was sleeping he snuck into the trailer and got his drum. Finals night he marches the show like nothing happened, and no one notices until BD goes off the field. 

- Spotify. Currently, BD is the only corps to have any music on Spotify. There is an unofficial DCI playlist on Spotify that includes them, and also has dead links with well-known titles like "Felliniesque", "Metamorph", "Babylon" and most interestingly "Babylon- Impact". When you try to play a song from a dead link, nothing happens or a notification pops up saying "Song unavailable". I also heard that the BD artist page is unofficial, but they posted a full album of just drum cadences in 2020.

the airplane happened, dont know the back story. BD 2000 has been covered in many places, including the Aged Out podcast

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, rjohn76 said:

I can confirm this one to be true.  The year was 2000, and finals were in College Park, MD.  Apparently the campus police busted a bunch of members from different corps smoking weed after semifinals.  One of them was a member of Blue Devils.  The guy was bailed out by the corps director and told that he wasn't marching finals night.  Several members of the drum line collaborated to hide this guy's uniform in a place where he could retrieve it while the corps was warming up.  He donned the uniform and somehow managed to get his drum off the equipment truck when nobody was looking.  He was pretty much undetected until ran down the ramp and onto the field just as the corps was starting their on field warm up.  The drum line looked pretty hyped to see him get in there, and nobody made an effort to stop him from a staff perspective.  Given the fact that this was pre-social media times, the vast majority of the audience had no clue what had happened.  Most assumed that the guy had a last minute drum head change or some other technical issue that resulted in him being late.  It wasn't until much later that the story really got out.

ScoJo admitted on the Aged Out podcast i believe he had no idea the kid was on the field til during the show. i'd imagine the basses were thrilled....converting 5 parts into 4 drums on finals day could not have been fun

[Jurassic Lancer]

How about, DCI schedules a stripped down tour in 2022, and then cuts the tour not to the bone, but right into the bone for 2023. Magically, an outside”investor” swoops in to “save” drum corps. That investor? Varsity. Impossible you say? 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Jurassic Lancer

[Orwellian Wiress]

5 hours ago, rjohn76 said:

I can confirm this one to be true.  The year was 2000, and finals were in College Park, MD.  Apparently the campus police busted a bunch of members from different corps smoking weed after semifinals.  One of them was a member of Blue Devils.  The guy was bailed out by the corps director and told that he wasn't marching finals night.  Several members of the drum line collaborated to hide this guy's uniform in a place where he could retrieve it while the corps was warming up.  He donned the uniform and somehow managed to get his drum off the equipment truck when nobody was looking.  He was pretty much undetected until ran down the ramp and onto the field just as the corps was starting their on field warm up.  The drum line looked pretty hyped to see him get in there, and nobody made an effort to stop him from a staff perspective.  Given the fact that this was pre-social media times, the vast majority of the audience had no clue what had happened.  Most assumed that the guy had a last minute drum head change or some other technical issue that resulted in him being late.  It wasn't until much later that the story really got out.

Holy crap. I thought this was just like a "a friend of a friend" story. Thank you so much. Had no idea there were other people involved!

[rjohn76]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

ScoJo admitted on the Aged Out podcast i believe he had no idea the kid was on the field til during the show. i'd imagine the basses were thrilled....converting 5 parts into 4 drums on finals day could not have been fun

I fully believe he had no clue.  Still a little suspect that nobody else on staff knew (or is willing to admit they knew), but I guess it's plausible that all of the staff were hustling to get off the field and into a spot to view the show... and just happened to miss a bass drummer running on the field at the last minute.

[Brian Tuma]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

How about, DCI schedules a stripped down tour in 2022, and then cuts the tour not to the bone, but right into the bone for 2023. Magically, an outside”investor” swoops in to “save” drum corps. That investor? Varsity. Impossible you say? 

Google “Varsity lawsuits”. There’s at least five s.a. lawsuits and there’s also a lawsuit involving price fixing. Somehow even Bain Capital is involved as a defendant. 

 

[traverbanking]

USAir's audio options included Garfields's 1984 West Side Story show. When USAir announced this, they claimed that travelers would get to their assigned seats more quickly if they played Garfield's show over the PA system as people were boarding.

[DAvery]

15 hours ago, fighterkit said:

The bluecoats tried to convince everyone that their 2016 show was title agriculture. 
Same season Cadets tried to convince everyone and fake leak a Lion King Show. 

A lot of this stuff is just fake leaks members do to mess around with members.

Same thing about how a few years ago I told people BAC was playing John Cage's 4'22 in 2020, or someone else I know started the every breath you take rumor for 22. Just bogus stuff that we thought would be funny. 

I did a band transcription of Cage's 4'22" a few years ago. Personally, I don't think it would transcribe well for all brass.