Tour Secretes

[Jared_mello]

Be a real (wo)man, and leave mattresses and sleeping bags at home- shed the bulk, take a warm blanket and a pillow, and do not sleep on your shoulder.

im going to have to vehemently disagree with this statement here, sorry.

[gjdavistuba]

I would have to agree with Jared on this one. Never go without a sleeping bag.....horrible idea.

[ScottPREuph]

Having worked in a lot of rookies and been one twice myself, I'll offer the following:

Just when you think you've reached your limits, the staff will demand more from you. Push yourself a little farther every day. At the end of the season see how much your definition of "hard work" has changed. This takes a lot of trust in your vets and staff, but they've been there and soon you will be there too.

Learn to enjoy the pain. You're getting better! (unless it's an injury of course)

Nobody cares that your high school band is the best in western Oklahoma or that you were 1st chair alternate at state. All that matters is what you bring to the field each and every day.

Drink more water.

Never be late.

[Jared_mello]

Nobody cares that your high school band is the best in western Oklahoma or that you were 1st chair alternate at state. All that matters is what you bring to the field each and every day.

agreed. it only makes you look worse if some aspect of your performance is lacking and you were previously overheard bragging about anything relating to the activity (or other related activities).

oh, and for those people that try and casually show off when theyre with their horn and have some time to mess around on it, stop. especially if its when youre not supposed to be playing at all. one of my top 5 random "things that i strangely find reeeeally annoy me in a drum corps context" has to be walking somewhere (between fields, after blocks, etc.) and hearing a baritone player quietly playing on their own, playing dumb solo pieces, high school band stuff, playing lip trills......i promise, people arent as impressed as you think. especially if youre one of those people who dont give 100% all the time. i think there are people like this in every corps; while not completely dedicating themselves during the course of a season, they still take little brief moments to try and nonchalantly prove to others around them that theyre a solid instrumentalist. if no one else is playing, its obvious to everyone around that you KNOW youre the only person playing their horn at that time.

seriously, if youre a rookie, "be humble and willing to learn/push yourself" is among the best advice you can get. oh, and also, be yourself....its almost a waste of a summer if youre completely passive and visibly frightened to socialize. drum corps is fun (sometimes), make the most of it. youre going to meet some great people in this activity.

Edited April 6, 2007 by Jared_mello

[beckylynn44]

Someone said it before... baby wipes! I wouldn't say they are an "instant shower" but for you colorguarders who have to wear alot of make-up for shows, you won't be able to wash it off in a sink after the show. Unless you want to sleep on the bus with it on (which I thought was gross), baby wipes work WONDERS! I also had some special eye make-up remover too.... but anyhow.

You'll find your own routine but I always used my pillowcase (with the pillow still IN it) to carry whatever junk that I wanted off the bus.

When you pack up all your junk for tour, put it all together and see if you can carry it all in ONE trip. At 4 in the morning, the last thing you are gonna wanna do is make 2 or more trips to the bus. People trying to get IN the doors to the gym won't like you either when you are trying to get OUT again.

[silvertrombone]

- Go to Bill Miller's BBQ in San Antonio, TX

- Texas is not as bad as people make it out to be

1.) Amen!

2.) Best high school stadiums in the world--many colleges wish they had CH Collins, Standridge, or even Clark Stadium--and those are small!

3.) (sorry, I deleted it!) Many parts of New York, Ohio, and Illinois suck--and I haven't seen any D1's moving there lately!

Dang, Michelle--you must have marched like a million years--great commentary!

Four-letter word: Cotton. No cotton clothing. Soaks up sweat. Get like 4 pairs of shorts and wash them in the shower. Pack as little as humanly possible. Trust me, you won't need 90% of the crap you try to pack.

And sleep comes pretty naturally after a long bus ride following a performance following a day of rehearsal--that's why you don't hear people complaining much about sleeping on the gym floor--that's heaven by the time floor time comes along! Get a great air mattress--man, I wish we'd had those!

Electric strips--oh, how the times have changed!

Gatorade--goes without saying. And Texas water is fabulous compared to that steel runoff in Ohio and Michigan you guys call water!

[Michelle]

I've only marched two years (going on my third)... I have a few more years to go before I'll know what the heck I'm doing. Somehow, I ended up doing a very similar tour with two different corps. Thus, I knew my way around more the second time to the same places.

[no_itsnotadash]

A thing I have done my past 2 summers are taking a swimsuit and cutting the lining out. it allows for good support for the guys (if cut right), breathable, and easily washable, drys quickly.

Bring extra money... always a problem for me (I'm generally a broke guy anyways)

Sleeping bags aren't so bad.... I was tired on tour I never noticed I was on one. Besides, sometimes the hard floor helps the back, specially for baritone/euphs because sometimes your upper body gets a little tense after a while.

With sleeping bags, get a camping egg shell mat with your sleeping bag. Roll it up with the sleeping bag and if your like me, your in your bag in under 5 seconds.... it was an art.

Gatorade mix. Water will run through you pretty quickly so adding a little bit of Gatorade mix (I usually did half of the suggested to conserve mix) helps out. Believe me it does. AND if the school by some act of God has ice... you will be the envy of the drum corps world that day. Only problem with this is that you have to KEEP THE WATER BOTTLE CLEAN and sometimes it isn't great idea... specially with ants..... eh.

Clean water bottle as often as possible... Everydays I tried to clean mine every 2-3 days, and on tour every 5-7 days for good measure.

For bari/euphs.... start counting. My brother and I keep our mind off of the horn by counting things... my brother can tell you the exact number of tiles in the Arlington auditorium and trust me... there are in fact 495 seats there.

Free days, cokes are OK. A good rule of thumb though is to drink twice as much water as what you drink. For instance, you get a 8oz Mountain Dew, 16oz of water.

Carry a camera.... trust me... you will wish you had.

thats all I can think of right now

Edited April 6, 2007 by no_itsnotadash

[Disco Pete]

I see some folks saying to bring a watch, others saying leave them. You should bring a watch on tour; you can lose track of time on free days, and you don't want your group to be the last ones to the busses, trust me. However, don't wear it out on the field. It cheezes off the staff if they catch you checking it every few minutes, especially right before dinner. I put mine on my water bottle handle.

Don't bring too many expensive electronics. They are thief-bait. Remember that you will be in a different school every day, and some schools are more secure than others. You never know when some local might come in looking for quick cash. I brought a camera (one that used *gasp* FILM!), and a tape player. Updated for the times, a digital camera and CD player (I wouldn't bring an iPod). Leave the laptop at home. And the cell phone, you'll be spending your set-up-the-bed time looking for an outlet. An electric razor is nice to have, but keep some foam/gel and a razor in case you can't find a plug to recharge.

It's been said, but shower with your horn! Every day! All day long you're sweating on the thing, and your body oils will turn it black.

Choose your free day chow with care. After spending weeks eating quality cook wagon chow, eating a McGreaseball will make you ill. I speak from personal experience.

It goes without saying, but Don't be a moron. I remember a guy smuggled beer on the bus. NOT COOL. Stealing, whether from your Corpsmates or the schools that host you: NOT COOL.

As a Kitchen Krew guy, pleasepleasePLEASE let the cooks know if you've got food allergies, religious restrictions, if you're vegetarian or vegan, or if you're lactose intolerant. Not in June, at the next camp. You might've filled out a medical sheet with all your allergies, but these forms often don't make it to the cooks. When I was with the Cascades we'd make a special meal for people who couldn't eat the main meal, but we couldn't make a special meal if we didn't know someone needed it.

Pack enough medication for the whole summer; you might not be able to get to a pharmacy for refills. Also, keep some in your under-bus bag, and some in your carry-on. You also might be able to give some to the cook or whoever's in charge of first aid, just in case (some corps have a nurse). A copy of your doctor's prescription is also nice to have.

Make sure you know your stuff. If you don't, learn it. If you need help, ask for it.

During the summer, you will go in many stadiums; whether they be high school fields, echoing domes, or giant bowls. One bowl you will probably NOT go in is in the back of the bus. Use your rest stops appropriately.

Be aware of your surroundings, not just on the field. There's a lot of trucks and busses in Drumcorpsland, and they have HUEG blindspots. Don't walk behind a vehicle while it's backing up!

Do laundry in groups. Get some buddies and go for the large washer. This saves time.

Also: Make Buddies.

Every so often, when there's time, STOP. Then, turn around slowly. You've never been here before. There's a good chance you'll never be here again. Soak that in. Then walk over to the aforementioned Buddies and ask them what they want to do on free day. Scores mean nothing. Placement means nothing. Years down the road, your time with your Buddies will be a larger part of your memories than your scores.

GOOD LUCK!

(p.s. Gold Bond FTW)

[Jared_mello]

for people who havent marched, seriously, if youre smart about your possessions, its extremely unlikely that anything will happen to them. ive brought a digital camera on tour for years, and an ipod last year. i wouldnt consider doing otherwise.

im considering taking my cheap cd player on tour like i did at the end of last year (parents brought it to the atlanta show) for the sake of having the opportunity to listen to new music that i buy on tour.

It goes without saying, but Don't be a moron. I remember a guy smuggled beer on the bus. NOT COOL. Stealing, whether from your Corpsmates or the schools that host you: NOT COOL.

by "smuggled," did someone take it across the border or something?