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with all this uproar over eliminated retreats at smaller shows, i'm curious about this "playing off the field" thing all the older vets keep talking about. i wanna know how it was done.... they went one corps at a time? playing what? i've just never seen or heard it before. are there any Legacy DVDs that include that part of retreat?

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with all this uproar over eliminated retreats at smaller shows, i'm curious about this "playing off the field" thing all the older vets keep talking about. i wanna know how it was done.... they went one corps at a time? playing what?

Yes, each corps would exit the field in reverse order of finish. They would typically exit to pass in front of the winning corps and salute the winner. The corps would either play a selection from their show or a signature tune. It was a nice tradition and gave the corps a chance to blow the walls down which the crowds loved.

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Yes, as Pete stated above, but I will add to it, also gave other corps a chance to hear others. Many times corps that go on later don't often get the chance to hear what the other groups are doing.

Sometimes it could be a very emtional moment for a corps, especially when they find out that they have done very well. It was always good to hear, "You'll Never Walk Alone" or "Danny Boy" just to name a few.

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Yes I used to love to hear Madison playing "You'll Never Walk Alone", and loved the tradition of saluting the corps winning with playing the corps song. One year that was the only time I got to play "Danny Boy" except in parades...when we didn't play it our last year in the closer.

wow, I'm surprised that some didn't know the tradition of retreats. Did they not teach them that? :worthy:

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with all this uproar over eliminated retreats at smaller shows, i'm curious about this "playing off the field" thing all the older vets keep talking about. i wanna know how it was done.... they went one corps at a time? playing what? i've just never seen or heard it before. are there any Legacy DVDs that include that part of retreat?

Let me commend you for your curiousity. It's refreshing to see a young member that is interested in the traditions that DCI is choosing to leave behind. We did things differently "back in the day", but what you do today is directly descended from what we did and that makes us all the same.

Before I marched retreat was one of the coolest parts of the show. All of the corps were lined up endzone to endzone. The scores were announced and then each corps played a signature song and passed in front of the champion. It was a last chance for the fans to applaud each corps and a last chance for the members to perform for the crowd.

As a marching member, waiting around for retreat was a pain sometimes, but the chance to let it go one more time was always welcome. Some of my fondest memories are from retreats and playing off the field. Hearing Madison, 27, SkyRiders, Star, Phantom, etc play their signatures was always a good time whether I was on the field or in the stands.

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Also used as a way of showing your "displeasure" of your corps placing. The rule was you had to keep moving when playing out of retreat. If we "disagreed" we would march with a normal sized step until we got in front of the stands. Then we would go to a half step (but still moving) and point our horns into the stands. We usually picked our loudest song to do this. Great stress reliever....

I've been to shows where people stayed for the playing off just to see what would happen. "<name of corps> must be PO'ed about coming in 2nd. Let's stick around to see if they do anything".

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Also used as a way of showing your "displeasure" of your corps placing. The rule was you had to keep moving when playing out of retreat. If we "disagreed" we would march with a normal sized step until we got in front of the stands. Then we would go to a half step (but still moving) and point our horns into the stands. We usually picked our loudest song to do this. Great stress reliever....

I've been to shows where people stayed for the playing off just to see what would happen. "<name of corps> must be PO'ed about coming in 2nd. Let's stick around to see if they do anything".

Yeah, I watched Cavies coming off the field in finals after we beat them....one of their bass drummers kicked the side of their drum in while they were in front of us. :worthy:

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In '78 we were running neck and neck with another corps and lost to them at the Lewisburg (Bucknell) show. We had a bunch of members from the Lewisburg area due to another corps folding so this turned into a "home town" show for us. Also the Bucknell show usually has one of the more emotional crowds in DCA.

We play off the field and as we're going out of the stadium I hear voices RIGHT behind me (I'm in the next to last row). I turned my head and there must have 100-200 people following us out of the stadium (and totally ignoring any corps still on the field). Bunch of them are yelling "you guys got #####", "what a ##### job" and "PLAY SOME MORE". We ended up doing a mini concert in the parking lot for that crowd and anyone else who left to stadium to see what was going on.

Man that felt good. :)

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Also used as a way of showing your "displeasure" of your corps placing. The rule was you had to keep moving when playing out of retreat. If we "disagreed" we would march with a normal sized step until we got in front of the stands. Then we would go to a half step (but still moving) and point our horns into the stands. We usually picked our loudest song to do this. Great stress reliever....

I've been to shows where people stayed for the playing off just to see what would happen. "<name of corps> must be PO'ed about coming in 2nd. Let's stick around to see if they do anything".

84 Finals...we trooped past Garfield playing "Like a Lover" (the closer)....and we did NOT play it well...

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Did anyone mention that each corps you went by would also salute your American Section and if you wanted to be really nice, hold it until the whole corps went by. So each guard was saluting each guard.

I'm not sure when this part stopped, and if everyone had an American Section.

We would actually have to make up a retreat form, then the guard work, etc. It was a thing that had to be worked on....sometime just thrown together, most of the time well thought out.

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