Bad Starts to a Drum Corps Career

[JimF-LowBari]

Bottom line: We stunk up the field every show. Sadly, I have proof; a Ken Kobold recording of the DCI Class A Prelims show. It was really bad.

Forgot to mention our first (half) performance was opening act for our home show in Carlisle. We only knew the first half of the drill so after the concert number (yeah, I'm old) we played the rest in a standstill.

Learned the end of the show about 2 hours before we scored 37.35. Legend is first half of the tic sheets went from light gray to totally black as the show went on.

Still looking for a recording of us in 1974 (the 37.35 year). Finally got my cassette from the next year cleaned up and put to CD. Then a copy of another 1975 show was mailed to me. :P

And PioSop06 - yes, it definitely counts. Hope you make it back next year. And love the avatar as I'm a Unix programmer/system admin and know the feeling. :sshh:

Edited August 4, 2006 by JimF-xWSMBari

[Jd83]

It's just varying levels of awful.

FWIW, I loved our show...I still think it's cool as anything. :P

This is how bad that 17.50 was. On the horn judge's tape, he was suggesting books to our instructors to teach us how to play music. Our best horn player was a contra player and is the only reason the hornline didn't zero out. I've had the Kobold tape of our DCI Class A Prelims performance for over 20 years now and the 1978 Bleu Raeder recording is in great shape. It's digitized now, but I could only handle about two minutes of the show at a time before having to turn it off.

Looking at the body of work with the Raeders, I realized in later years those comments on the judge's tape were aimed at the instructors, not at us. As proof, several members of the corps from that year, including the drum major, joined other corps and ended up as DCI Finalists in 1979 and later, and others were talented enough to make Finalist corps but left the activity instead.

[MikeD]

I started in what was a feeder corps to a decent Garden State Circuit corps in 1964, at age 10 1/2....Livingston NJ Hilltoppers. My dad belonged to the local VFW post that sponsored the corps, and he signed me up as I was taking drum lessons in school.

VFW politics tore the corps apart after the 64 season...the bulk of the field corps left to form another corps in town sponsored by a Catholic Church....the Imperial Guardsmen. The feeder corps became THE Hilltoppers...and just did parades starting in 65.

We tried and tried to make the ciompetitive field but could never quite make it. Most of my firends had moved on the the Imperial Guardsmen by 67, but my dad, being active in the VFW, would not let me follow. Finally after the 67 summer he realized the Hilltoppers were going nowhere and let me join the Guardsmen for the 68 season. So basically I spent three years JUST marching parades...which probably explains my utter dislike of doing them to this day. :)

[Spinner]

First Drum Corps was the Flint Guardsmen in Flint, Michigan, summer 1975. I had never seen a corps before and when they put a bugle in my hand I thought I was so cool. I wrote in my diary: "We have 24 horns and I guess that is alot. We are going to be so good.".

During the season we did about 12 contests and never finnished above next to last. One judges music tape during our concert number, quote " Boring, boring, boring". Man the things they could say back then. We often almost got ticked off the music sheets. But it was still a great first year for me. Out of that corps there are 3 WGI, guard/percussion judges and about 6 other peoople still involved in the activity. Not bad for 40 kids all together.

For the other thread, I didnt' see my first drum corps show, not counting the ones I was in till Michigan City, IN, that summer. I had no idea gropos like Madison, and SCV exhisted. I thought all drum corps were like ours. I was a little ###### that we were't "so good".

[KungFuCharlie]

Tarheel Sun was a wild ride in 2000. Not even a halfway into all days and we were already losing staff caption heads. We started all doing ok, but a revolving door of brass and percussion staffs members really hurt consistency. We had a 58.05 at DCI Atlantic on July 8. For the next three weeks our scores bounced around that level and it wasn't until Murfreesboro on July 29 that we scored above our old high of 61.15. Our Quarterfinals score of 66.85 is the lowest quarters score since '96 and the lowest until the 2000-present judging system. :)

[gotbones3]

i was marching 3rd bass at the crossmen this year but hurt my hip the day of the first show...it ended up being a standstill so i got to play it, but i came home a week later and never marched a show. but i DID get to go through all of spring training :)

but it was still pretty awesome. minus the busting my hip part.

Edited August 4, 2006 by gotbones3

[I play the baritone good]

I've got a really good one.

In 2004 I auditioned at both the Bluecoats and SCV. I was cut from the Bluecoats, but easily made SCV's line. This might not seem like a shocker nowadays, but in '04 it was pretty funny. This is the start of my "interesting" drum corps experience.

Anyway, I attended all the SCV camps and learned the show, things were going great. One day before move-in I graduated high school. I flipped off my assistant principal and was arrested for disorderly conduct. There's a long story leading up to why I did this, but I don't feel like getting into all that here. I was extremely upset. I spent the night in jail and missed my flight to San Jose in the morning. My dad bailed me out and I called Rick V. He was sympathetic towards me and said my spot would still be available if I wanted to catch another flight as soon as I could. Problem was, I didn't know if I was going to have to go to court, be fined, have community service, etc.

So, I wasn't able to march in what turned out to be one of my favorite shows of all time. I hired a lawyer, and around July he told me he met with the judge and she laughed at him and completely dismissed my charge. It was completely wiped from my record. Turns out I could have marched after all, oh well.

Fast forward to 2005. I finally get to march DCI (had been trying since '03), and of course it's in SCV's lowest placing Finals ever. Not that I really cared all that much, I was happy just to be a part of the Vanguard after screwing it up in 2004. I had an absolutely great time, but still, no matter what anyone says about placements... everyone cares deep down. And obviously it was kind of shocking to me after such an incredible '04 season. But I digress.

2 weeks after Finals I join the army and ship off to basic training. With me gone, SCV is back on track. They've got the type of show I've always dreamed about marching (their 97-03 stuff is what really made me want to march there), and they're performing the heck out of it.

Moral of the story? Don't let me march in your drum corps. lol.

DCA, watch out... I'm getting out of the army in 2010. ^0^

Edited August 4, 2006 by I play the baritone good