Mike_Bonfig Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 I used to work for a guy who had a quite a few years in drum corps, both with a small corps from Iowa and a major corps from Rockford/Loves Park, IL. B) He and I used to sit around for hours some nights after work and talk about corps and things we had done and seen. His stories were great - it always sounded like there was a lot of social time to being in corps back then. Anyhow, a couple of the stories he told me really left me wanting to say BS. They were two stories of "rumbles" he observed in corps. I was wondering if anyone could substatiate these stories, throw their own input into them or share stories of their own. Story 1: One day a bunch of bikers were hanging out harassing a large corps for the typical "band" stuff. The corps members told them to show up at the show site that night and they'd settle their hash. So the show is over, and the bikers show up looking for trouble. The snare line of the corps they had been harassing lined up in front of a group of the guys in the corps and started a slow "open stroke roll" and built it up to a frenzy, then started taking long slow strides toward the bikers. The bikers kept coming forward, and then all of a sudden from the side, the snareline of another corps did the same thing and doubled the size of the corps members about to take on the bikers. Pretty soon other corps added and it became aparent that it was going to turn out badly for the bikers, and they bailed out of there before any fighting ensued. Story 2: At some show in the midwest, there were two east cost corps who were in deep competiton. Also at the show were Madison and Cavis, and several smaller corps. Aparently at the announcement of the scores during grand finale, the lower scoring east cost corps blew a gasket and decided to have a physical altercation on the field. Long story short, I heard that ranks were broken of Madion & Cavis, involving them in the fight as well, and all of the small corps bailed out. These stories were entertaining at least...but I just wondered if there was any truth to them. Now through the miracle of the internet, I was wondering if we've got anyone on here who was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Milano Posted January 20, 2004 Share Posted January 20, 2004 Fights between corps and/or between corps and "locals" were not common in the old days (50's, 60's and 70's), but they definitely happened. My rookie year in the Cavaliers (1970) we had two pretty significant fights, and one smaller one. The first was with the locals in South Milwaukee. They did the band taunting thing when they saw several of our drummers walking the streets during free time one night after the show. Our small group of guys was greatly out-numbered. Our drum sargeant was beaten up quite badly. When he returned to the gym we were at, a larger pack of us went roaming the streets looking for anyone to smash (I'm not saying this is proper, just what we felt like doing as teenagers back then!). About 50 of us wandered around for about an hour until we let our steam off, harrassed a few punks, but ultimately didn't kill anyone! The next day, at a show in McHenry, IL, we were sharing a gym with the Norwood Park Imperials. Bad decision on the housing coordinator's part . . . Norwood's game of indoor football eventually caused one of our guys to get shoe polish spilled on him. We chose not to return their football when asked. Name-calling began. The two drum majors met in the middle of the gym, with most corps members from both sides surrounding them. As soon as our drum major opened his mouth, the Norwood drum major smashed him with a fist right in the face, knocking out both front teeth. Chaos ensued immediately! Fists, big silver Cavie buckles, horns, you name it, they were flying everywhere and being used as weapons. Guys who had friends in each other's corps were seen pummeling each other, even though they had been chatting and visiting moments before. Since we were all-male, we had a sizeable advantage on poor Norwood - until . . . On of the Imperials had run to another part of the school to fetch the DesPlaines Vanguard guys. As they came running into the gym - with "real" weapons (no kidding on this one, DesPlaines was NOT to be messed with!), we were very relieved to see the arrival of managers and directors from all three corps. The fight ended right before it could have become a true tragedy. The police were called in, charges pressed, etc. Not a good day for drum corps. Later that year, while touring on the east coast, we almost got into a fight with Boston. One of our other rookies accidentally spilled some Coke on the sleeve of a Crusader in uniform. We all heard the yell "Cavaliers - fight!!" and came running. Since the scene was far too public for a fight right then and there, nothing more than a bunch of stares and wisecracks took place. We left town without incident. Of course, nothing can top the actual rumble that took place in 1957 when the Cavaliers became the first non-east coast corps to win a national championship. They say that flag poles were seen hurtling through the air - with the sharply pointed finial pieces still attached. Guys were on each other's corps busses just swinging away. Cavies were about to be turned into mince-meat had it not been for the Archer Epler and Caballeros senior corps guys. They pulled off the guys from Vinnies (the major combatants) and then formed a "wedge" for the Cavie guys to collect their belongings and get back on their busses. They then blocked the path of the Vinnies guys and busses until Cavies were safely out of harm's way. There was forever more a very tight bond between Cavies and Cabs. We still considered them our big brothers even when I was marching 15 years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 At a show in Dallas in 1987 i was on the Cooking staff for BD. Our biggest bass drummer had passed out from the heat. Lloyd Peterson went running to find a phone to call for help. he broke ranks right through the Cavalier Drumline. They all jumped him. ######!!! Another time in 87 a few days later we were in Pinson Valley Alabama and some joker started doing donuts in the parking lot where we had all our trucks etc. The head driver tossed a crowbar and broke the guy's windshield and he sped away. He never came back either! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancerLegend Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 Early 1970's Boston Crusaders and 27th Lancers would enjoy a arm twisting or two. Heated rivalries that fueled their competitive juices on and off the field. In 1973, I marched 27th. We were having practice in March. Next door was a motel and a traveling hockey team decided to give our flag/sabre line some verbal abuse and cat calls, whistling, etc. Our drill instructor, a gentleman not know for giving us breaks, called the corps in and told us quietly to take a break. Being a rookie - I was clueless until our drum major yelled "let's get them." It was mayhem - fist fights, etc. The hockey team learned quickly to never give us crap again. When it was over, we went back to rehearsal like nothing ever happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vintage rifle Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 The first story sounds too much like a drum movie (Which one could it be???) to be real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malibu Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 The first story sounds too much like a drum movie (Which one could it be???) to be real. Yeah, it's like all of a sudden, these "other" drumlines appeared out of no where! I think the first story is just a "tall tale." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Paul, I hoped as soon as I read the title of this thread that you'd share some of your Cavies stories. I always loved the stories about the belt buckles... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Milano Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Paul,I hoped as soon as I read the title of this thread that you'd share some of your Cavies stories. I always loved the stories about the belt buckles... Hey Jim, Yep, those big silver belt buckles we wore on the "old" uniform (pre-1976) were truly "deadly weapons." We used to be "trained" by the vets how to quickly remove our uniform belt, slip the buckle through the belt in just the right manner, immediately wrap the other end of the belt through our hand a certain way and BAM! - instant, whirling, sharp-edged, heavy-duty weapon. Seeing 100 guys coming at you with those belts with buckles at one end, being swung in fast circles above our heads - definitely "change of underwear time" for the upcoming victim. The sight of that alone was enough that we virtually never had to actually use buckle. Well . . . maybe a few times. B) Funny sidenote - at the 2002 Cavaliers banquet, I was honored to be able to present my personal belt buckle ,from my marching years, to an age-out snare (Max Mullinax), whom I had gotten to know over the previous year. Before presenting it to him at the podium, I took a minute to demonstrate to all the current marching members in the audience how we used to turn the belt and buckle into a weapon. They were all applauding, but the management was cringing a bit as all the parents in the room looked at me horrified. Oh well, we old phartes have to show 'em we still got a little life in us! ^0^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bd5times Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 (edited) We've had a few altercations during my years in corps. We never got into fights with corps, more with local idiots. Although, there were instances of agreesion between PR and BD. 1981 Midwest Finals Retreat We were lined up next to Two Seven when two drunks tried to break ranks in front of a female sop. It didn't happen. They pushed her. The horn line circled them up. They eventually ended up on the ground. Two Seven laughed when one of our east coasters proclaimed in his thick east coaster accent, "Must be midwest geeks". 1982 Lynn Mass Retreat I think this was the site of the Phantom Regiment vs Blue Devils chaperone argument. 1983 Bosier City, LA Red necks come by to harrase us during rehearsal. Horn line was given a break to deal with the locals. They left. 1984 Pt. Huron Mich. Show cancelled due to rain, so we lost an oppurtunity to beat Garfield. We met them at the border, and we fed them our food. We still lost 1985 Cheyenne Wy. We shared a site with Phantom......we shared our food, they shared theirs.....nobody lost :P Edited January 23, 2004 by bd5times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splooie88 Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 At a show in Dallas in 1987 i was on the Cooking staff for BD.Our biggest bass drummer had passed out from the heat. Lloyd Peterson went running to find a phone to call for help. he broke ranks right through the Cavalier Drumline. They all jumped him. ######!!! Well, maybe if your bass drummer wasn't such a candy ###, Lloyd wouldn't have gotten beat... b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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