by George Diorio | Feb, 2021
Drum corps enthusiasts who have followed the competitive activity for decades have witnessed a significant evolution. Gone are the days of the ’starting line,’ playing ‘concert’ at a standstill, inspections (ended in the early ’70s), color presentations, the ‘tick’ system (early ’80s), and uniforms that appear, well…….uniform. What corps play, how they look, and what is allowed on the field is dramatically different now than in DCI’s inaugural season. Changes that have transpired over the past two decades have been especially significant, as the visual and musical landscapes of the activity have morphed away from their traditional roots.
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by Rick Connor | Oct, 2020
Many years ago I became friendly with a lady at Mission Drums whose name was Mildred. She was at the show with her two sisters, Phoebe and Henrietta and her brother, Phineas. I found Mildred to be an astute drum corps fan who fell in love with the Princemen and their legendary drum major, Scotty Chappell in 1946 at the VFW Nationals.
As she was much older than me, I started calling her Aunt Mildred which she got a kick out of and her sisters also became aunts and her brother an uncle. The only problem came when someone referred to me as her nephew. She became very agitated and stated that “Richard, (she never called me Rick), is not my nephew.” It was the only time I ever heard her raise her voice.
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by Chuck Wilson | Apr, 2024
Regular readers of Masters of the Marching Arts are familiar with the fact that the Hanover Lancers Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps holds an annual indoor show that has grown over the years. On Saturday, April 20th, we will hold our 11th annual show.
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by Guest Contributors | Nov, 2023
by Phil Dennesen
America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration happens annually on the weekend before Thanksgiving in the quaint historic town of Plymouth MA. Each year several well-known Senior Alumni Corps will make their much-anticipated pilgrimage to perform in front of thousands of people in the mammoth Thanksgiving parade and the nighttime concert at Memorial Hall. (more…)
by Tad Faccini | Nov, 2023
Recently, a friend asked me why the Cadets are my favorite corps. That decision took 12 minutes and 36 seconds to make as they finished their semifinal performance on August 14, 1985. That was my first live viewing of the Garfield Cadets, and I made it my mission to learn all about them. (more…)
by Legacy Contributors | Sep, 2023
Introduction
by Linda O’Connor
My head’s been spinning this morning. How could it already be Labor Day weekend?
Somehow, life has, once again, stepped in the way of great plans.
I’d hoped to be in Rochester, New York, this weekend for the last DCA show. No, not the last show of the waning 2023 drum corps season, but the last Drum Corps Associates show…ever. (more…)
by Tad Faccini | Sep, 2023
DCI committed another championship to its annals. Per usual, the Internet reacted from all sides of the dodecagon (one side for every finalist). Who let Judge A work Finals? Corps B was CLEARLY better; everybody on Drum Corps Planet SAID so! Park and bark! What are they wearing? Too many props! Not enough props! The Whale lived! Frankly, I’ll read these artistic disagreements over political vitriol any hour of any day of the week. The passions are similar; the venom spewed from drum corps is less harmful.
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by Chuck Wilson | Aug, 2023
Indianapolis – August 10-12, 2023
It is the first intermission of Thursday’s Preliminary show in Indy. I turned to head up the stairs to the food court when I thought I recognized the guy behind me. “Hey, aren’t you The Czar?” I said. “I’ve read some of your columns in the past.”
“Yes sir, I am!”, and we began to discuss the season and after a few minutes, I asked him if he would be willing to be interviewed for a column. He said it is not possible since the interviewer and the interviewee are the same person. (more…)
by Tad Faccini | Jul, 2023
From 1976-1980, DCI fans experienced the first Reign of Terror by the Concord Blue Devils. They won four out of five championships, and despite placing third in 1978, they were a few mere tenths away from winning that one. (more…)
by Tad Faccini | Feb, 2023
Santa Clara Vanguard’s tragic decision not to field a 2023 corps shocked the DCI world. Drum Corps Planet, Twitter, and Facebook exploded with elegies, eulogies, and touching memoirs. One of the common thoughts of the social media: if it happened to SCV, no corps is safe! Perhaps one day, we fans will ask each other, “How did you find out about Vanguard?” I received a DM from a former marcher who doesn’t spread misinformation. I then (privately) went to bigger fish—one of whom confirmed before the official gavel dropped.
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by Linda O'Connor | Oct, 2022
Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers recorded a song together years ago. The name of the song was “You Can’t Make Old Friends.” No, you can’t, but there’s a great way to remember those old friends, honor them, maybe reconnect, or even make new-old friends who share your memories.
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by Chuck Wilson | Sep, 2022
Indianapolis – August 11-13, 2022:
Drum Corps is alive and well. From my seat in Row 1 on about the 48-yard line, I turn around and look up to the top row where it meets the rooftop of Lucas Oil Stadium. I nearly need binoculars to see that far. Fans are packed in from top to bottom, goal line to goal line. When a corps such as the Troopers claws its way back into the top 12 after all the years of being outside looking in, the massive crowd roars in a way that confirms to the corps they have achieved something special. (more…)
