July 2018Volume 47, Number 5BO14172 DCW Spread.qxp_Layout 1 6/15/18 10:39 AM Page 1From Camp Randall to Lucas Oil, from the RoseBowl to the Citrus Bowl, it’s no wonder thatYamaha is the most trusted name in the marchingarts activity. Since 1984, drum and bugle corpsusing Yamaha have won an unmatched number ofDCI titles, High Percussion awards and High Brassawards. This season, nearly 50% of all corps havea Yamaha instrument on the field. They know thatif members can rely on their instrument, they onlyneed to focus on the performance. Whether it be a brass or percussion instrument, a drum set orelectronic keyboard, a speaker or mixer, a golf caror generator, more drum and bugle corps dependon Yamaha products than any other brand.Drum Corps Depend on YamahaBO14172 DCW Spread.qxp_Layout 1 6/15/18 10:40 AM Page 2From Camp Randall to Lucas Oil, from the RoseBowl to the Citrus Bowl, it’s no wonder thatYamaha is the most trusted name in the marchingarts activity. Since 1984, drum and bugle corpsusing Yamaha have won an unmatched number ofDCI titles, High Percussion awards and High Brassawards. This season, nearly 50% of all corps havea Yamaha instrument on the field. They know thatif members can rely on their instrument, they onlyneed to focus on the performance. Whether it be a brass or percussion instrument, a drum set orelectronic keyboard, a speaker or mixer, a golf caror generator, more drum and bugle corps dependon Yamaha products than any other brand.Drum Corps Depend on YamahaBO14172 DCW Spread.qxp_Layout 1 6/15/18 10:40 AM Page 2THESE PRODUCTS AND MORE AVAILABLE NOW THROUGH ANY AUTHORIZED DSI RETAILER | VISIT US ONLINE AT DSHOWCASE.COMNEWSELITE RIFLESThe most durable and perfectly balanced rifle in the industry. Elite Rifles are the Official Rifles of WGI.DSI offers the most complete line of products for your color gaurd. 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Long); back cover: Bushwackers, Princeton, NJ (Chris Maher) .In the June 15 issue there was a set of scores from the 1959 American Legion Nationals in Minneapolis, MN . Staff member Ken Mason, who has a wealth of details accompanying his recording collection, wrote that there was a single-round contest and 24 corps in competition on August 22 .Drum Corps WorldAt last, the 2018 season is underway . This issue has coverage of the first week of competition, along with some interesting feature content from our regular staff and others who have contributed articles and images .From all the debut performances for DCI and DCA corps so far, it looks to be an exciting summer full of interesting and unusual looks, as well as a very wide variety of musical selections, as evidenced by the quite varied repertoire listed in this and the last edition .New images have just started to come in from the earliest competitions and I’ll be using examples of every corps that participates in each show and in each show report as the season progresses .I anticipate having a higher percentage of shows covered this summer by current and new staff members, especially on the DCI and DCA schedule .A thank-you to all those directors, designers and staff members who supplied repertoire details to Dave Scott so he could prepare as complete a listing as possible!Steve VickersCopyright 2018 by Sights & Sounds, Inc. in the United States and Canada. The logo for Drum Corps World is a registered trademark and is protected by all applicable laws. Material originally published in Drum Corps World (in print or on-line) may not be reproduced in any other publication or in any electronic medium -- in whole or in part -- without the written permission of the publisher, in advance. Drum Corps World is published on-line monthly, for a total of 12 issues, plus five weekly e-mail blasts during June, July and August, with additional show reviews and photography. This is a complimentary service provided by Sights & Sounds, Inc., a privately-owned Wisconsin corporation, dedicated to the distribution of news, photographs and feature material on the drum and bugle corps activity worldwide through publishing Drum Corps World, as well as graphic design and recorded products and implementation of printed materials. Drum Corps World is provided free through financial support from advertising placed by companies, show sponsors and corps worldwide, and through the sale of history books, CDs and DVDs. Please support our advertisers and thank them for believing in Drum Corps World!Statements or opinions of columnists, correspondents, staff members, advertisers or readers that appear in Drum Corps World do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or owners.Notify of a change of e-mail address at least 10 days prior to the next issue release date by sending an e-mail with old and new address to: publisher@drumcorpsworld.com.Advertising specifications and demographic information will be supplied upon request. Information about advertising can be viewed at www.drumcorpsworld.com -- click on “Advertising” in the menu bar. A proposed advertising program can be provided by the publisher. Published by Sights & Sounds, Inc.Mailing and shipping address:4926 North Sherman Avenue, Unit HMadison, WI 53704-8443Madison office phone:608-241-2292 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM Central time, Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Saturday/SundayProduct order line:608-241-22929:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Monday - Friday9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central time, Saturday/SundayWeb site:www.drumcorpsworld.comMadison staff:Steve VickersPublisher / Editor / Graphic DesignE-mail: publisher@drumcorpsworld.com608-241-2292 (office, Wisconsin) or 608-249-2590 (Steve’s cell, Wisconsin) Advertising sales: Jeff Collins 916-200-8151 (cell, California)E-mail: jcdrumman1@yahoo.com or The next issueThe July 6 edition will be uploaded to the Internet on or before Friday, July 6 .July contents 8 • DCI Tour Premier at Ford Field showcases six well-prepared corps, Gary J. Dickelman 16 • European season opens June 16 in Middelburg, The Netherlands, photos by Arjen Scholl 18 • New looks for 2011 20 • “Live” in a theater near you”, Kevin Gamin 24 • West Coast sees close contest between BD and SCV at 2018 season opener, Michael Carlson 32 • Midwest opener highlighted with great performances from seven talented corps, Lawrence Denman 38 • Long-time Boston Crusaders director, George Bevilacqua, passes 40 • Second DCA weekend presents 5 all-age groups,season kicks into high gear, Larry Eckert 44 • “Drums on the Ohio” led by The Cavaliers in 6-corps DCI competition, Ron Baysinger 48 • DCI recognizes three for annual “Volunteers of the Year” recognition Graham Hopkins, Drum Corps International 50 • Spending a summer with the Bluecoats -- part 2, Landry Kendric 54 • Overflow crowd welcomes six Open, one All-age to Cincinnati, Kevin Gamin 58 • Eastern season opens with the Bluecoats’ “Innovations in Brass”, Kevin Gamin 64 • Madison Scouts launch Suitestakes fund-raiser 66 • It has begun . . ., Russell M. Tanakaya 68 • DCA, Cabs open season with traditional exhibition at historic Wildwood, Bob Fields 72 • Two British circuits open with joint competition featuring 11 groups, Adrian Riley 78 • DCX still seeking memorabilia for “virtual” museum project 80 • Prime Time, Sonus, Northcoast tops at 2018 SDCA opener, William Aldrich-Thorpe 84 • Press releases, also on page 118 86 • DCI stages learning session for all corps about safety, Drum Corps Int’l 88 • One more time . . . Avant Garde marches again, Matthew Durkin 90 • Cardinals Tribute Corps creates Heatwave at 70th reunion, Art Kellerman 94 • Proudly representing country and drum corps movement, Raymond Fudge 96 • What themes and tunes you’ll enjoy during the 2018 season, collected by Dave Scott100 • Arbella Independent helps celebrate St . Mary’s/Beverly Cardinals’ 70th, Lauren Poussard104 • A clarion call from Castleton, Kevin Russell106 • BAC family in Boston send-off, Kevin Russell108 • Units from BYBA, DCUK, Mini-corps and independents gather for I&E, Matt Sewell112 • A conversation with DCI’s first executive director, Don Pesceone -- part 3, Alan Karls120 • The amazing world of drum corps, Brian Tolzmann122 • From our photo archives124 • John Mazarakos, eternal New York Skyliner, “Johnny, we hardly knew ye,” William McGrath, Jr.128 • Sunrisers making strides preparing for 2018 season, David HobartJune 21, 2018 -- Detroit, MI . . . Traveling to the DCI Tour Premier to experience the debut of drum corps shows that have been in the making for about eight months is very exciting, but quite different from traveling to Indianapolis for the World Championships in August. When traveling to the latter, you see so many corps t-shirts, jackets and various bling that fans accumulate throughout DCI seasons to announce their favorites. At the opening show, broadcast to movie theaters across the United States, you may see a few familiar drum corps icons, but not many. Only the obsessed travel the distance rather than visit a local theater that is live-streaming the event or simply wait until there’s a show nearby and when corps have cleaned up those first rough iterations of their show concept. Drum corps programs are continuous works-in-process. In fact, a large number of competitors do not reveal their entire show at the Premier, but satisfy the minimum time requirement, saving the ultimate finale for later, when a bump in General Effect or Analysis might provide a competitive advantage. Flourishes are added here and there to evoke greater emotional responses from the crowds and large sections of visuals are completely revised or replaced as time converges on the season climax. At Tour Premier, things are still a bit dirty and we get to see a significantly more raw -- but down-to-earth -- presentation of design team intents and performer attempts to connect with fans. First impressions of the 2018 programs were quite consistent. These six corps were much more prepared than we typically experience. I recall a Premier some time back when The Cavaliers broke from a formation at about 10 minutes into their show, came forward and formed an arc facing concert side, then played the last song standstill. Last year, Carolina Crown held back almost two minutes of Andy Akiho’s NO one To kNow one at the Premier and introduced it some weeks later, not an unusual scenario for many corps. Surely we will realize that some did the same this year, but the polish and apparent completeness of these shows did not so blatantly telegraph incompleteness as we’ve seen before. Kudos to all competitors!I could not help but notice the persistence of some controversial practices that have fans and foes buzzing, which have fostered rule change proposals regarding amplification. Why drum corps sporting 70+ pieces of brass require amplification is questionable. The most annoying outcome of the practice is hearing a soloist, but not being able to identify where he or she is located on the field. The crowd at Ford Field experienced that scenario at least five times during the performances. People around me -- at the 50-yard line and three-quarters of the way to the top of the stands -- were looking all around and straining necks to see from where the blaring sound emanating from a giant speaker via an expansive audio system originated. I could not find one of the soloists during his or her solo and never discovered where he or she was. Isn’t the point of a solo more than just projecting audio? The profound feeling of brass playing backfield and echoing off opposing structures is part of what makes drum corps great. If that sound is amplified and projected to the concert side, the emotion is lost. In my opinion, making the sound bigger by amplifying has made the activity smaller in several important respects. If you are in the stands, directly in front of speakers, enjoyment is diminished because all you hear is vicarious performance through electronics and not the native sound of the musicians. While I have no objection to enhancing a performance with some electronic effects and balancing the front ensemble with the marching performers, this unintended consequence of losing the field brass and battery to their amplified counterparts is tragic.DCI Tour Premier at Ford Field showcases six well-prepared corps with many different looks and styles to open 2018 season!by Gary J. Dickelman, Drum Corps World staff (gdickelman@epsscentral.net)Generally, Drum Corps International World Class competition has become theater, replete with story, theme, props and costumes, to form what was once articulated as “total shows.” The most recent manifestation of the trend is costumes. Some argue that the 2016 Bluecoats broke the uniform mold and some say it was the influence of WGI. But it has been in the making for a very long time. In the early 1970s, several of the top corps broke from decades-old traditions and began experimenting with thematic continuity via the music of a single Broadway show, adapting a complete storybook line or a specific genre. Some that come to mind are the Chicago Cavaliers’ circus show, Madison Scouts’ “Alice in Wonderland,” Blessed Sacrament’s “The King and I” and Garfield Cadets’ “America the Brave – 1776.” If memory serves me, some of the Cavaliers’ guard were dressed as clowns and tumbled off-the-line, while there was a female Alice in Madison’s ranks and a Yul Brynner look-alike as the King of Siam, in traditional dress, dancing around the field with color guard member Joann Degraaf. That’s right -- costumes graced the field, even back then. And let’s face it, the 1970s-era Bridgemen banana coats were costumes, not uniforms!Further breaks from tradition included relaxing the 128 counts-per-minute cadence requirement, allowing equipment to touch the ground without penalty, introducing props onto the field, allowing horn angles other than parallel to the ground and allowing a growing number of ancillary percussion to be carried and ultimately parked at the sideline. Things have steadily morphed to what we have today. I realize many are saddened and angered by so many breaks with tradition, but that’s how it rolls, not only in DCI, but in most any entertainment genre. Consider, for example, Cirque du Soleil as compared with the now defunct Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey Circus. The purpose of forming DCI in 1972 was, in part, for drum corps to take command of its craft. Like it or not, here we are. I, for one, love it -- while still missing the military connection and patriotic pageantry. At this 2018 DCI Tour Premier, we were reminded in several ways that DCI is not just about nurturing elite, World Class corps. Quite the contrary. We experienced a rather small and inexperienced Les Diplomates in exhibition this evening. This is a DCI SoundSport unit, reminiscent of the formative, pre-DCI era of drum corps where anyone could join without experience, learn to play and perform, becoming the recipient of lifelong excellence, commaraderie and esprit de corps. The Quebec alumni corps consists of 15 horns, six flags, two tenors, three base, eight snares and a pit with a concert bass drum and some cymbals. Further, the Star-Spangled Banner was performed by members of Michigan-based Legends, an Open Class DCI member corps. Nice touches for the 2018 DCI Tour Premier.The first corps to perform was the Blue Stars (below, Robb Quinn), presenting “The Once and Future Carpenter.” It is based on converging themes around the term “carpenter,” including the craft and labor of carpentry, accomplished with “. . . imagery and sounds inspired by the carpenter's traditional tools -- hammers, wood planks, tape measures, saws and more woven into the drum corps idiom.” The props and costumes are those of the carpenter, including overall-style work clothes with tool belts, work benches, punctuated with the sounds of building and machinery. The props are moved around to form patterns that emphasize sub-themes presented through music. The repertoire includes familiar songs by none other than The Carpenters, with additional original music of composer John Alden Carpenter. As I said, there are many “carpenter” elements to the show. Connecting these themes is perhaps a stretch Next >