The Road Trip of a Lifetime

I had the phenomenal opportunity to be a volunteer driver for The Academy Drum & Bugle Corps,for the entire length of their national tour.The corps provided the vehicle,food,housing and passes to every show they participated in.All I had to do was drive one of their four auxiliary vehicles.The trip was approximately 7000 miles,and included shows in:Odessa,San Antonio and Dallas,Texas,Oklahoma City,Little Rock,Arkansas,Gadsden,Alabama,Atlanta,Georgia,Sevierville,Tennessee,Charleston,West Virginia,Rome,New York,Allentown and Erie,Pennsylvania and Indianapolis,Indiana.We also went through nineteen different states. If you are not familiar with The Drum & Bugle Corps Activity,it is a summer youth activity for 16-21 year olds.World Class Corps have a maximum of 150 members consisting of horns,percussion and color guard.Drum Corps International is the governing body,and they stage something like 90 contests throughout the country,during the two and a half months of summer,culminating in a three day finals.The performance level of the top groups is astonishing! The amount of teamwork necessary to successfully put a corps on tour is mind boggling,but therein lies the beauty of the activity.The main thing that every participant takes from the corps experience is that there is no limit to what people can accomplish when they all pull together.What a great life lesson. The Academy did not exactly achieve its goal of finishing in the top twelve,but they performed at a level beyond what the staff and students thought they were capable of. The foundation is in place and the corps has established a distinctive brand,that is putting Arizona on The Drum & Bugle Corps Map. This is a Tucson marching music blog,so like it or not,the pinnacle of marching music in this community is The University of Arizona Marching Band,but if you want to march in a group committed to excellence,The Academy Drum & Bugle Corps from Tempe is the ticket.So if you want the experience of a lifetime next summer check into The Academy's website,and watch for audition information,it will open up an incredible world for you,and give you a chance to travel with 200 of the coolest people,and an opportunity to push yourself to a performance level you never imagined possible.

Life on tour with a drum corps

On July 20th I embarked on a major adventure driving for The Academy on their national tour.Tomorrow they play in prelims,in Indianapolis.The goal is to crack into the top twelve,and make finals.This month I have observed up close what it takes for a corps to strive toward this goal.It has only enhanced my appreciation for the awesome nature of this activity.The Drum & Bugle Corps activity is the most spectacular youth activity available.The quality of people involved and the life lessons are phenomenal.I fully encourage any parents with kids in high school band programs to check into the activity.A good place to start is dci.org

2011 - The Academy - Opener (Rehearsal)

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?