Drum Corps in the Heat...

This past weekend was the hottest of the year, by far. Of course, rehearsing on a parking lot doesn't really help that...but what are you going to do. As Joe Exley said over and over, "Yes, it's hot...but at least you don't have Chlamydia." (no offense to anyone out there who does).

In a perfect world, we would have a week off after the first show to refine and solidify our production. Oh...yeah...we did. That was the theme of last weekend. While half of DCA was all the way in Rochester performing, we opted to stay in New Jersey to fit in a few new people and rehearse. While it was ridiculously hot in New Jersey, I can't say that I was upset that we didn't drive all the way to Rochester to compete. We have a lot of work to do, and by staying home we got to rehearse for about 10 hours on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. The show is in much better shape (darn near unrecognizable compared to what it was just two Saturdays ago in Bridgeport), and the corps is really starting to pull together.

Every season the drum corps has a new personality. There are always underlying themes that go along with the identity of the corps...we still act, play, rehearse, hang out like Bushwackers...but there are different characteristics that begin to come to the forefront as the corps begins to mesh, gel, and assimilate into one performing body. There are a lot of comparisons going on right now by the members and the staff...comparing this year's corps to last year's corps and 2005's corps. From time to time someone busts out a comparison to the 2000 corps. These can be both positive and negative comparisons, depending on how you look at it.

I personally believe that any year over year comparisons are bogus and a waste of time and energy. This is a new year, a new corps, and a very different show. We had a decent amount of membership turn-over after last season for many reasons...and now we have a large group of first year members who bring different things to the table than last year's group. While you can try to hold the 2007 Bushwackers to the benchmarks that the 2006 Bushwackers hit, I still think that's not fair, and that you have to alter your approach with each year and each influx of new blood...especially in DCA where attrition and turn-over are so prevalent as people move on to get married, have kids, sit on the beach, etc.

This year's drum corps is still developing it's personality. The corps has shown flashes of being a fighter...pushing through adversity and coming out better on the other side. There's a certain tenacity with this group. Most of them seem to see the issues, put their head down, and charge ahead knowing it may hurt and it may suck for a while, but that if they push and fight they will become stronger. Now, not everyone is like that...but as the season goes on those people are really starting to stick out. Of course this frustrates the members who are putting their nose to the grindstone. There are several things that can happen in this sort of situation:

For the people who ARE fighting:

1. They go from frustrated to angry to downright hostile.
2. They go from frustrated to helpful, yet stern.

For the people who are NOT fighting:

1. They realize that they are being "that guy" and conform, knowing that it will help us achieve our eventual goal
2. They don't care and get dragged along.

There are lots of other things that can happen, but these examples illustrate the decisions being made by our membership, and probably the membership of many drum corps out there this summer. I think it's great that people are starting to stick out for NOT giving it their all and pushing. It just means that the majority of the drum corps comes to rehearsals prepared and excited to fight through the weather, the long drives, and all the other BS involved with being a Bushwacker. Drum corps is SO not about the 11 minute show. Here's some more fun with math:

11 minutes x 9 performances = 1 hour 39 minutes of performing for the ENTIRE SUMMER.

For the sake of argument, let's say that we average 7 hours of rehearsal for two days per weekend during the competition season (it's more than that, but you'll get the picture):

7 hours x about 20 rehearsal days during the season = 140 hours of rehearsal.

So...

140 hours of rehearsal vs.. 1 hour 39 minutes of performance.

What do you think drum corps is about? What do you think defines a drum corps season? This doesn't even take into account the shared experiences of dining together during lunch, the occasional excursion, parades, long bus rides, car pooling, Friday night rehearsals, practicing at home, etc, etc, etc.

We do this for the love of that 1 hour and 39 minutes of intense performance under the lights, but we as a drum corps MUST max out the 140+ hours that we are together OUT of uniform.

The Bushwackers are becoming the Bushwackers and figuring that out. This hot, sticky, disgusting weekend was a huge step in that direction. The corps is getting STRONG very fast. If anyone counts us out now, they had better be prepared to feel dumb very soon.

...of course we're counted out every year. The predictions and reviews are like broken records...and not good records. We're not talking about Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall" album which was AWESOME...we're talking about David Hasselhoff's "Looking for the Best" here.

So, go ahead and count us out. Maybe we won't win. Maybe we'll do what so many want us to do and just fade away. Maybe we'll stop beating your favorite team who gives you the same thing year after year.

Then again...

None of this has been about being a drum major. These are just my observations. I'm doing my best to continue my transformation into a positive leader...I've always been positive and caring and all of that...I'm just bringing it out so that others can see it. Hopefully I'm being the kind of leader that the corps needs this year. Like I said before, this is a different year...a different group with a different personality. For me to deal with them the way that I dealt with any other corps from 1996-2006 would be wrong and lazy leadership. I need to assess their needs, and lead in a way that will be effective in helping us to achieve our goals in 2007.

I'm am looking forward to our show on Saturday night in Clifton, NJ. The crowd will be packed with Caballero fans, which is fine...it is their home show after all, but there should be a fair amount of Bushwacker alumni. I hope more alumni start coming out to shows. We could really use the support and encouragement. Besides...we're good. :) You'll like it.

If you're reading this and will be at the show, please say hi if you see me walking around. Emily (the other DM) and I usually walk around the stadium after our performance. Hope to see you!