Drum Corps International :: Marching Music's Major League™

Drum Corps International :: Marching Music's Major League™

Arizona Drum Corps

This was a great week for Arizona marching music fans.In cinemas nationwide on Monday,Drum Corps International presented a contest consisting of the top eight finishers from last year`s World Championships,taped the night before,at Round Rock,Texas.El Con and Park Place malls were two of the locations showing the event.This is the first time DCI has brought this many elite corps together to kick off the season.Usually the corps start with a thirty day regional tour climaxing with a major event where they finally see several other elite groups.This year these top corps are going to meet five times in addition to the usual premiere regional events.They are calling these shows the Tour of Champions. After Round Rock four of the top eight went west to Albuquerque and then on to Phoenix(Mesa).Wednesday,June 22,The Cadets from Allentown,PA.,The Blue Devils from Concord,CA.,The Phantom Regiment from Rockford Il. and The Santa Clara Vanguard from Santa Clara,CA.,were joined by The Revolution from San Antonio,TX.and The Blue Knights from Denver,CO. at a sold out Dobson High School in Mesa,Arizona,to compete in a show hosted by The Academy from Tempe,AZ. The only time there has been a show of this magnitude in Arizona,was when the World Championship was held in Pasadena,CA.,and the final tuneup was at Sun Devil Stadium featuring half of the top corps.Although,even that year,The Cadets,The Blue Devils and The Vanguard were at the Stanford tuneup.The Vanguard visit the Phoenix area almost on a yearly basis and have developed quite a fan base.The Blue Devils rarely come to Phoenix.In the last ten years,Phantom Regiment and The Cadets have been to Arizona the same number of times as The BD. The first corps to perform was The Revolution,competing in the Open Class Division(for smaller corps).They are still in the embryonic stage similar to The Academy six or seven years ago. It didn`t take The Blue Knights long to provide the thunder of a World Class Corps.Their show featuring English Folk Music was like a day at a Renaissance Festival.A powerful low brass and crisp show design should take this corps to one of its most successful seasons. Phantom Regiment provided the first goose bumps of the evening.Dressed in all-white uniforms,they lined the perimeter of the field.Their show entitled,"Juliet" featured a rich,powerful,symphonic sound that is a Phantom trademark.The hornline delivers a crecsendo during the classic love theme that is spine-tingling! The Santa Clara Vanguard closed the first half of the show.It is hard to explain this corps to someone who has never seen them.This group has never taken the easy way,they are like a fine cognac,an acquired taste.Their show entitled,"The Devil`s Staircase," in typical Vanguard fashion,they appear to be in over their heads. Their drill and brass program is so demanding that their hornline lacks the power of the elite corps.They will be in the rearview mirror of the top corps most of the summer,but they will creep up on those corps,and chances are that they will be a factor on August 13th,when the World Championship is awarded.This summer The Vanguard are playing music by three composers that have never been performed by anyone in the activity.This organization is not loved by everyone,but they are respected by everyone. After intermission The Drum Corps Heavyweights went back to back,The Cadets and Blue Devils have more titles than Prince William.The Cadets took the field after the break with their show,"Angels and Demons." This was the corps version of civil war.The Demons wore maroon and The Angels of course were in white.It was an exercise in contrasts,chaos versus order,a lot of attack and response.As usual this group provided a lot of eye-candy accented by a hornline that really brings it. The BD have dominated the activity the last two years,going undefeated in both 2009 and 2010.They have done it with unprecedented,cutting-edge,innovation,combined with their usual commitment to excellence.Of course they applied their trademark high brass sizzle to the music of Burt Bacharach.It is amazing how these top corps reinvent themselves every year.An accessible,pop-rock show by The BD is the ultimate antithesis of the avant-garde shows of the last two years. At this point in the evening the crowd had already witnessed an historically great show by Phoenix standards.The Academy now had the daunting task of following the two greatest corps in the history of the activity.They took the field in their very impressive,new,all-black uniforms and a brass section that let the crowd know immediately that it wasn`t just a fashion statement. They turned the event into a true ten-year birthday celebration.This year The Academy has by far their best hornline and are a serious threat to break into the top twelve. Ten years ago four people around a kitchen table had a dream,now they are about to battle the big boys at the World Championships.Every person who has passed through their ranks should be very proud.They are a testimonial to what can be accomplished by a group of dedicated young people when they pull together.Congratulations to The Academy,you are truly a monument of civic pride. Now,why not Tucson?

Drum Corps Event

Drum Corps At The Movies;2011 DCI Tour Premiere will be shown on Monday, June 20th at 6:30pm at Park Place and El Con Mall Cinemas.It will feature the top eight corps from last summer`s championship finals.It will be recorded on 6/19/2011,from Round Rock,Texas,and shown nationwide the following night. The eight corps involved are:Blue Stars,Santa Clara Vanguard,Phantom Regiment,The Cadets,Carolina Crown,Bluecoats,The Cavaliers and Blue Devils. This is the first time DCI has used this type of format for one of their cinema events.It sounds like a winner if you are a corps freak.If you want to recruit new fans I highly recommend a live event,such as 6/22/2011 at Dobson High School,in Mesa.The full details on that event can be found by clicking,"Older Post."

Another Believer

A common theme to this blog is the essential nature of marching band to college football.When my sister read me this passage out of her Michigan Alumnus/Spring,2011 edition,I had to reprint it here to show that I`m not the only one.

A Band Fan

When Brady Hoke runs out of the tunnel onto the field of Michigan Stadium this fall as head coach,he will break a personal tradition he established during his previous tenure at U-M."It will literally be the first time because I`ve never run out of that tunnel.I always came out early because I wanted to see the band come out of the tunnel.I was down on the field."He admits he`s going to miss that tradition."I`m serious.There`s nothing like it;there`s nothing like it.And then when that team comes out,and the crowd,how it goes from a buzz to a roar-unbelievable."

That`s the part of college football that ESPN doesn`t show the home audience.