Tim, Evan, and Bethany drove to Stanford on Saturday for the Drum Corps International (DCI) West Finals. Tim took many pictures, and I've made a slide show of some of them. If you click on the slide show, it will take you to another page that allows you to view the show with larger photos.
This was Tim's first drum corps show to experience in person. He's seen bits and pieces on TV, but he's never shown sufficient interest. Hence, my insistence that he make the trip and discover the magnificence that is a drum corps show. This one was especially important, as my favorite corps, Phantom Regiment, would be performing/competing. Well, there were a couple of other pretty good corps there, too: the Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard.
Tim's reaction: It's like you go to a football game, but you only see one long half-time show. I don't think he's quite gotten it yet, so it will probably take a few times for him to fully appreciate everything. I know it took a few times for me to appreciate it all. Maybe even a few years. You may be wondering how we came to be drum corps fans. Well....
It was either the summer of 1976 or '77 in Norfolk, NE. My brother, Jerry Mark, had been in band since fourth grade. He played the French horn ('cause he had the correct, you know, embouchure). I'm not quite sure how he found out about this, but Norfolk had a drum corps, the Crimson Cadets. At some point, he joined the band. Er, the corps. At the time, he told us he played the French Horn Bugle. Now, I hear that is incorrect. Apparently, this instrument has some other fancy schmancy name that I can't remember.
Rehearsals began in the summer. From early morning until dark they practiced, taking an hour for lunch. Every day. Occasionally, they traveled to different shows - competitions - around the country, mostly the midwest. How lucky for us, as we traveled to see these shows! The Crimson Cadets was a small corps. When they'd finish their show, I'd think, "Hey! That wasn't so bad." And then the bigger corps would march onto the field. A little bit different, when you have all of those people. But, Jerry Mark enjoyed it. I think he was in that corps for two summers, until we moved to Lincoln.
Jerry Mark tried to get me to join, as well. I refused. He suggested I could play the xylophone. It seemed like a nightmare to me. They play those things so fast. And there are only a couple out there - so if you mess up, everybody knows. Then, he suggested I could carry the cymbals. Well, uh, no. Back in the day, the cymbal people were subservient folks, kneeling down before the player person. I was like, "I'm not kneeling down for anybody!" So, he was drum corps, I was Continental Singers.
When he was in college, Jerry Mark joined a big corps. I think it was in Boston. For the life of me, I can't remember the name. I'll have to ask. I also don't have a single photo of him in his uniform. Maybe someone will email one to me.
Don't mistake a drum corps for a regular marching band. Most corps members are probably in some marching band, but they see marching bands as quite a ways down the ladder from them. Snobs, really. Of course, after seeing a bunch of the shows, you do start noticing that marching bands could do a better job, but nobody has that kind of time.
The point system, back in the '70s, was the "tick" system. The corps started out with 100 points. Judges running all around them on the field had clipboards, I think. They ticked off points when they saw errors. I loved it. You received ticks for being out of step, out of line, dropping your flag or rifle, fainting, a hat falling on the ground, and many more things having to do with the drummers, the music...who knows what all else! They eventually changed that system, a mistake, I believe, for some kind of merit system. You know, all PC, don't be negative, I don't know why they did it. I didn't realize, until I researched this topic today, that there is still discussion concerning this matter.
I think my other brother, Timmy, wishes he could have been a drummer in a corps. He didn't get that chance, but he has followed DCI closely, knows everything drum corps, and gets to a number of shows each year.
Timmy and Jerry Mark live and breathe drum corps and plan their lives around them - well, their vacations, anyway. I just hope to not miss the Finals on TV at the end of the summer. When the kids were young, and we were visiting my parents in Cherokee, IA, Phantom Regiment had rehearsals up at the local football field. We enjoyed watching their practice. We saw them later at Rice University in Houston. Evan and I have preferred Phantom Regiment since then (back in the '70s, my favorite corps was the all-boy corps, of course, the Kilts). Evan wishes he, too, could be in a corps (after his one year of playing a band instrument - the tuba). Alas, he is too old. However, his band director at U of H used to be a director of the Cavaliers.
If you should ever see that a drum corps show will be nearby, or even if one is just practicing in your area for a few days, you should go and see the show. They're not just your average marching band. Here's a little sample:
UPDATE: According to DCI's website, the 2008 World Championship Finals (August 9) will not be televised (bummer!!!):
"Drum Corps International (DCI) today announced it will suspend the national television broadcast of its World Championship event on ESPN2, effective with the 2008 season. The DCI World Championship program has aired on the ESPN2 cable sports network for the past three years and was viewed by an audience of more than one million annually..."
On August 7, the DCI World Championship Quarterfinals can be viewed at a number of theaters around the country ("Big, Loud, & Live! 5").
ANOTHER UPDATE: Phantom Regiment, with their "Spartacus" program, won the 2008 DCI World Championship. This pleases me immensely, as Phantom Regiment has been the corps of choice for Evan and me, now, for several years.
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