Guest The Czech Republic Report post Posted June 23, 2003 If you've never been fortunate enough to make it to a drum corps show during the summer, you should try to make this the summer you get to see it. Think of it as a marching band with just brass, drums, pit, and guard; that play complicated productions on a football field utilizing formation marching and the like. As opposed to playing a set of songs, the musical directors often weave songs together with an underlying theme, or write an original production that best accentuates the talents of the corps. Shows generally run at high schools or college stadiums, and feature seven to nine corps a night. Corps range from the small and struggling to powerhouse groups like the Cavaliers (Rosemont, IL) and the Phantom Regiment (Rockford-Love Park, IL)that can just blow you away. The diversity and musicality of drum corps is unparalleled. Last year, I attended a show that featured Pink Floyd, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Lionel Bart, Aaron Copland, and an all-original production. All shows were very well-played, and the "America The Beautiful/O Canada" dual finale featuring every corps of the night on field brings a strange smile to my face every time the sound sweeps across the field. Drum and bugle corps is a great activity that you should all be supporting this summer if possible. check Drum Corps International's Web site to see if they're anywhere near you. It's an acquired taste, some may say, but it's one worth acquiring. Thanks for reading this, and do give this a look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest mesepher Report post Posted June 23, 2003 I'm all about this if one of these bands breaks into Zappa's "Black Page (the hard version)" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
