drum corps

[Katecab99]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 3:29pm

on the main board there were a few mentions of drum corps and people who had been involved in the activity. anyone else ever march or follow it?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 3:55pm

I followed it for years and I believe I have from 1985 to 1995 on VHS. The last regional I attended was 1999, I think. I miss it so much. It's very difficult to attend regionals if you live in Chicago and don't own a car. I'm really pissed that PBS doesn't broadcast the finals any more. My all-time favorite corps is the Cavaliers (they leave the Rockettes in the dust when it comes to precision), but I also LOVED the Velvet Knights in the 80s. Though musically, it's tough to beat Phantom Regiment or the Madison Scouts. I like the Blue Devils, but their jazz programs were never really my thing.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 4:04pm

not exactly the same, but I was in high school marching band, and both the San Jose State Marching Band and the University of Oregon Marching Band.......loved it.
I won't tell you what I played, you'd laugh.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 5:17pm

I love this thread! Some many wonderful memories!

Some of my favorite shows:

Phantom Regiment - 1812 Overture, Swan Lake
Santa Clara Vanguard - Pictures at an Exhibition, Phantom of the Opera
Madison Scouts - Malagueña
Velvet Knights - Malagueña
Sky Riders - West Side Story
Cadets - Pines of Rome
Cavaliers - The Planets, Firebird
Drum Corps International

[Katecab99]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 7:41pm

This is so fun!!

I never marched junior corps (marched senior corps with the hawthorne caballeros for 5 years), but followed it and loved it forever! i was a color guard girl, but i just love drum corps overall!

by far my favorite show of all time is phantom 1996. that show gives me chills everytime.

[Therese]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 9:28pm

I used to watch every year on PBS, but I've lost track in recent years - it seems I never know when it's on till it's over, or they run it at some odd hour after the fact, or something. I remember Santa Clara Vanguard's "Phantom" show, though - didn't the Phantom disappear through his "magic" chair? Two favorites by Phantom Regiment from probably around the same time: A program where they did "Nutcracker" and the drumline did a fantastic riff on the Trepak (sp?)/Russian Dance. And a program, maybe the next year, that ended with Saint-Saens' Bacchanale from "Samson and Delilah" (which is like Ultimate Arabian Harem Dancer music) and they just roared on that thing, it was great! Man, those were the days...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 12:42pm

This definitely deserves a bump...

It's been a while since I've seen DCI, but I was impressed to see that the Cavalier guard was still as incredible as they were in the 80s. Has any guard topped them?

On a similar note, I was dismayed to see some comments on this board a while back regarding Blast. I couldn't understand how such an amazing feat of musicianship and choreography could be described as "boring". Either they just can't appreciate artistic talent or they had absolutely no idea what they were going to see (and deserved to lose their money).

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 12:45pm

I watched the DCI a few months ago...woo hooo! The Cavaliers won, yet again :) I know a guy that marches with the Blue Devils. If he only lived in Texas...

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 12:46pm

You played the tuba, didn't you, Elphaba? *grin*

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 12:51pm

Hey, that's better than male piccolo players. Even guys in color guard made fun of them.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 12:54pm

*scowls as he attempts to hide his picc behind his back* Erm, yeah, male piccolo players...ha ha ha. Those losers. What a bunch of, um, homos.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:00pm

HAHAHAHAHA !!! I noticed the flute in the pic, but didn't know if that was you or not.

But you have to admit, it is true! Nothing against male piccolo players mind you, but in high school, it's like a death sentence.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:01pm

The flute was one instrument I could never play.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:16pm

it is indeed me, and you're right, it was hard to walk into the bandroom with a piccolo... (Actually, I sort of flounced into the bandroom with a piccolo. It was my newest toy, and I was dying to rub it in the principal piccolo player's face that I had a violetwood Powell with gold keys and she had a plastic...thing, and I wasn't even in the flute section of the band. I was such a bitch.)

The teasing stopped when I played the Rondo from the Mercadante Flute Concerto in e minor on it, though.

Sometimes you just need to be really obnoxious to make them leave you alone :)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 4:43pm

I couldn't play any of the wind instruments. I didn't start percussion until 9th grade and I didn't know what the hell they were talking about most of the time. I was a cellist and pianist for years before I got involved in band. My brother was on the drumline in high school and that was what got me interested. I ended up being the top marimba player in the state. LOL! Marimba is still my favorite instrument. Damn things are too expensive, though.

[JailyardGuy]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 4:49pm

how funny...the cello was how I got into music as well. When I was 9, I started viola and cello within 2 months of each other and didn't play anything else for a few years. The cello is an *amazing* instrument...

Trust me, it could be worse, pricewise...I know Pearl's top concert model 5 octave Artist marimba runs just south of $15,000. Expensive, yes, but there are those of us who have it worse :P The flute in my photo was $17,500...AND IT"S A FREAKING FLUTE. I mean, you can stick the damn thing in your backpack and it's as expensive as a 2002 BMW 3-series.

Musicians are frickin' insane.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 5:30pm

In 1988, the Bergerault 5-octave rosewood concert marimba I played in high school was $30,000. The director allowed me to take it home every summer to practice. I played the hell out of that thing.

I enjoyed playing the cello in orchestras and chamber groups, but I hated playing solo. It just didn't excite me at all. My favorites were Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture, the fourth movement of the Sibelius 2nd Symphony and Brandenburg No. 3. And if you ever find the Gianninni Concerto Grosso, give it a listen. The first movement is fantastic. My high school cello was about $10,000, but it was owned by the high school. I've thought about buying one used recently, but I know it will absolutely kill my fingers. The callouses are long gone.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 7:41pm

I love DBC and especially "Blast!" Great stuff.

Go Star of Indiana!

[musicgal04]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 9:43pm

I was going to be in the Bluecoats two years ago but got cast in a show and had to make a choice between the two. I was a mellophone player. Marching band and just band in general took over my life throughout high school. I was drum major and wanted to be a band director. Sadly I don't see that happening anymore. Anyway, DCI is amazing. I remember going to contests and wishing that the Caveliers would let girls in.

[KMF_NYC]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 11:26pm

spent many years of my teenage live in the Bridgeman! DCI days are a great part of my memories and great experiances!

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 3:31am

Matt, a friend of mine used to be in the Madison Scouts. Well maybe he still is (who knows with him), but he is out in California marching with someone out there. He is living in a studio apartment with about 8 other people last I heard. Craziness!!! Might be the Blue Devils. I'll have to check up on that. I haven't talked to him since December.

[chealion313]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 7:21pm

Boston Crusaders 87-91
Bushwackers 96-99
Syracuse Brigadiers 2000
plus a small corps in NJ back in 1982

What a surprise to see this thread here!!!