April 6, 2002 -- Baltimore, MD . . . The sweet sounds of brass and percussion. Smiling faces everywhere. Why, it must be drum corps season! And what better way to get in the drum corps mood than with the annual Dixie Stinger indoor concert at Dundalk High School in suburban Baltimore, sponsored by the Yankee Rebels Alumni Corps. Joel Leson, the Rebs’ new director, said the concert’s unusual name hails from his corps’ long tradition of Southern-themed music, paying tribute to the land of Dixie. "And a stinger (is) the last note of a bugle piece. Thus, the Dixie Stinger," Leson said.

The classy Audubon Bon-Bons Alumni Chorus from Audubon, NJ, got the evening started by taking the audience on an entertaining musical journey, with stellar vocal renditions of some time-tested tunes. The repertoire featured This Is My Country, Moon River and the Frank Sinatra standard I’ve Got You Under My Skin. Drum Corps Hall of Famer Rip Bernert does a great job as conductor and arranger for the Bon-Bons, one of the best alumni choruses around.

The Archer-Epler Musketeers from Upper Darby, PA, America’s original alumni corps, is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2002, marking the occasion with the most balanced horn line the corps has fielded in recent memory and a percussion section that’s bigger and better than last year’s. Archie’s brass section displayed a nice controlled sound throughout a performance that included Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, the corps’ signature tunes Musketeer March and South Rampart Street Parade and a fine arrangement of God Bless America.

The Lambertville Volunteers from Lambertville, NJ, were up next. Every year, this senior parade and stage corps gets the most out a small group of players, and tonight was no exception with only 13 horns and a handful of percussionists turning in a solid performance. John Arietano, the Volunteers’ brass arranger and instructor, said he’s fortunate to have talented, hard-working players.

"I’ve got guys who I can throw virtually anything at, and they’ll play it," Arietano said. "I might modify a part here and there, but for the most part I write a chart, put it down in front of them, they read it down and a month later it’s ready to be performed." Tonight, the Volunteers breezed through a tough repertoire including San Pedro Revisited, Birdland and Mr. Pinstripe Suit before running out of steam a bit in the finale of Free.

The Reilly Raiders Alumni Corps of Willow Grove, PA, is already on my short list of "most entertaining corps" for the 2002 season. Reilly, sporting new uniforms, stole the show tonight with an overwhelming performance featuring Irish and patriotic melodies. Gone is the Reilly horn line of several years ago that played at two levels: loud and louder. In its place is a brass section that displays a wide range of dynamics, handles tempo changes effortlessly and flat-out performs the heck out of some nice charts from arranger/instructor/conductor Larry Kerchner. The interplay between soloists and the brass ensemble in The Rakes of Mallow and an excellent America The Beautiful/God Bless America medley were major highlights, along with a strong percussion section that cranked out a couple of solos featuring "old-style" rudiments...