Our first show of the year: 1971 Wilmington, Delaware under the lights. It was hosted by Blue Rock and the debut of our "Woodstock" show.
We'd already played our Concert number and during the following drum solo a light rain began. The Opening strains of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" hung in the air and the rain came down harder. Remember, no one had an inkling what was to come.
Lightning struck followed almost instantly by a rolling cascade of thunder that coincided exactly with the Contra Bass section running toward the American Flag section and seemingly attacking them.
We'd already played our Concert number and during the following drum solo a light rain began. The Opening strains of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" hung in the air and the rain came down harder. Remember, no one had an inkling what was to come.
Lightning struck followed almost instantly by a rolling cascade of thunder that coincided exactly with the Contra Bass section running toward the American Flag section and seemingly attacking them.
And the rain came down in torrents.
The Rifle Section rushed to the defense of the American Flag. Thunder and lightning crashed above, the rifle section donned gas masks as our Drum Majors threw the orange smoke bombs onto the field below.
The smoke billowed and the rain poured.
The snares snapped repetitive sounds of 'gun fire' and, as the Mellophones began the wail of sirens, the entire corps began running in every direction.
The startled crowd ran out of the stands onto the track and at the last instant realized this was all (except for the thunder and rain) part of our Presentation Piece as we all stopped in the driving rain positioning for the Exit Number: The "West Point" Reprise.
And the rain came down.
The Contra were marched down the sideline behind the now secure American Flag section as we stood stock still for almost half a minute until the Drum Major's order of "Mark Time, March"
And the rain, as if on cue, suddenly stopped.
And the crowd went crazy.
We played the last 2 minutes of our show turned and blew the triple-tongue filled finale drenched and out of our minds with how we executed that first show with so much control knowing we had performed something that no one anywhere had ever seen.
We placed 2nd that night.
And the rain, as if on cue, suddenly stopped.
And the crowd went crazy.
We played the last 2 minutes of our show turned and blew the triple-tongue filled finale drenched and out of our minds with how we executed that first show with so much control knowing we had performed something that no one anywhere had ever seen.
We placed 2nd that night.
The Garfield Cadets placed 1st.
There were, no doubt, 'breaking ranks' and 'illegal equipment' and 'dropped equipment' penalties.
But to hell with that.
That night, that rain, those few minutes were nothing less than a great Steven Spielberg moment. BTW: "We" were St. Rita's Brassmen.
We wore black vulture feather plumes that literally destroyed our uniforms that night.
Because we had gone from being that poor, little St. Joseph Patron Cadets two years before - and even then, we were still pretty damned good - but our new parish and financial model not to mention our approach to the competitive show had changed so drastically from our beginning as The Brassmen in 1969 (who Wes Hobby always announced as "The Cinderella Corps From Brooklyn New York) to 1971 we were able to have new uniforms available very quickly.
Our 1971 show in my mind, pretty much changed everything about Drum Corps.
That, my friends is what makes that show (not the winning - we were never going to get the judges to love us because they hated our staff and we were never going to be a DCI Drum and Bugle Corps because our staff didn't believe in THAT idea) so memorable and important to me.
We wore black vulture feather plumes that literally destroyed our uniforms that night.
Because we had gone from being that poor, little St. Joseph Patron Cadets two years before - and even then, we were still pretty damned good - but our new parish and financial model not to mention our approach to the competitive show had changed so drastically from our beginning as The Brassmen in 1969 (who Wes Hobby always announced as "The Cinderella Corps From Brooklyn New York) to 1971 we were able to have new uniforms available very quickly.
Our 1971 show in my mind, pretty much changed everything about Drum Corps.
That, my friends is what makes that show (not the winning - we were never going to get the judges to love us because they hated our staff and we were never going to be a DCI Drum and Bugle Corps because our staff didn't believe in THAT idea) so memorable and important to me.
I aged out after the '72 season and didn't pick up a horn again until about a year and a half ago.
