What a weekend. As usual, it was filled with its ups and downs…this one had more “ups”, at least for me.
There are years where I always know what to expect from the corps. They’re predictable in their behavior and in how they’re going to react to certain situations. Then there are years where I have no idea what to expect. This is one of those years.
Just like last week, this show was a bus trip. The corps loaded the buses at 6am and traveled to Harrisburg, PA to participate in the annual Pridefest Parade. Last week’s bus ride show day was less than successful, and resulted in a tired and generally unfocused drum corps. Throw an early morning parade into the mix (which equals less rehearsal time), and who knows what you’re going to get.
I rode up with our visual caption head, as did my fiancé and one of our euphonium players. I got to see my mother who lives in the Harrisburg area. We actually got to spend quite a bit of time together, which was really nice. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see her very often. She wasn’t going to be able to see us in Chambersburg because my sister and my 3 month old nephew were coming to visit (actually, my mother was going to Philly to get them and bring them back)…so she wanted to come see us in the parade and get her annual drum corps fix. I’m a little sad that she didn’t get to see us perform, but I understand. She’s a grandmother now, and that little boy is the most important thing in all of our worlds…especially since the boy’s father is a worthless piece of garbage. He needs all of the love he can get…and he gets lots of it, believe me. I could write all day about that little guy (picture below)…but I won’t. I will tell you this, though…he was all fussy last week and Uncle Chris (me) calmed him down by telling him how he could learn to play trumpet and march with the Vanguard some day…before becoming their drum major, of course. He liked that. So does Uncle Chris. J It’ll make his mother mad. (evil laugh).
There are years where I always know what to expect from the corps. They’re predictable in their behavior and in how they’re going to react to certain situations. Then there are years where I have no idea what to expect. This is one of those years.
Just like last week, this show was a bus trip. The corps loaded the buses at 6am and traveled to Harrisburg, PA to participate in the annual Pridefest Parade. Last week’s bus ride show day was less than successful, and resulted in a tired and generally unfocused drum corps. Throw an early morning parade into the mix (which equals less rehearsal time), and who knows what you’re going to get.
I rode up with our visual caption head, as did my fiancé and one of our euphonium players. I got to see my mother who lives in the Harrisburg area. We actually got to spend quite a bit of time together, which was really nice. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see her very often. She wasn’t going to be able to see us in Chambersburg because my sister and my 3 month old nephew were coming to visit (actually, my mother was going to Philly to get them and bring them back)…so she wanted to come see us in the parade and get her annual drum corps fix. I’m a little sad that she didn’t get to see us perform, but I understand. She’s a grandmother now, and that little boy is the most important thing in all of our worlds…especially since the boy’s father is a worthless piece of garbage. He needs all of the love he can get…and he gets lots of it, believe me. I could write all day about that little guy (picture below)…but I won’t. I will tell you this, though…he was all fussy last week and Uncle Chris (me) calmed him down by telling him how he could learn to play trumpet and march with the Vanguard some day…before becoming their drum major, of course. He liked that. So does Uncle Chris. J It’ll make his mother mad. (evil laugh).
Future Vanguard drum major, Nathan Kilian:
Anyway, it upsets me a little bit that no one in my family will get to see me perform this year. Most people in my family actually have no interest whatsoever in even hearing about drum corps…even though it’s such a huge part of who I am. Then they complain that they don’t know me very well. Hmmm. I’m sure a lot of you who march out there understand where I’m coming from with this. If you have a supportive family…even one who complains about it, but still comes to see you…you’re very lucky. Go give them a hug and thank them for caring, even if they won’t admit that they do.
The parade went fine, except for the fact that one of our guard members took it on the chin…literally. She got whacked with a flag on the chin during the parade, and was bleeding pretty bad. Luckily we were right outside of a hospital. Since a few of us had driven to the parade, we let the buses go and took her to the hospital where she received 4 stitches inside the wound, and about 5 outside. It was pretty nasty, but the doctors were quick and did a good job. Before long we were on the road again heading to Chambersburg where we would meet with the corps.
Rehearsal was already in progress when we arrived, and the guard member with the stitches jumped right in and rehearsed hard all day. Good for her! Unfortunately, we were on the worst rehearsal field we’ve had all year. No grass…lots of dirt. Oh, and painted yard lines don’t stick on dirt so well…so no lines either. I’m not going to go off on too much of a rant here about it, but I think that it’s BS to give any corps a “field” like that…especially when they’ve traveled hours to make money for this show sponsor…and especially when they’re a top 3 DCA corps that is a draw for fans, thus bringing in more money. Boo.
It was probably the most humid day of the year, the members were breathing in dirt, there were no yard lines, we took a bus for hours to get there, and we had already marched in a parade. Tensions were a little high, and people were a little down. It was like trying to push over a brick wall…no matter how hard you push, the thing just ain’t movin’. That’s frustrating, but part of drum corps (and really everything in life) is learning how to effectively deal with frustration and turn it into fuel.
In spite of all that, the run through was solid. Tempo problems we usually have at the end didn’t exist. Maybe it was because I decided to mark time there while conducting. Maybe it was because it’s just locking in now for some reason. Regardless, I’m not going to stop marking time. I’m not taking that risk. Lol
We left and went to the stadium to take the coldest showers ever. Not only was there no hot water, it was as if a pipeline from the Arctic Circle was pumping in freezing water just for us. I saw a penguin. No lie.
We had plenty of down time, which ended up saving us, I believe. We all got showered, relaxed, had some food, and then a nice relaxed warm up. Dena's parents were there and decided that we neede protien after working so hard...so they bought us some Italian hoagies for dinner. THANK YOU! Delicious, and it made me feel much, much better. I couldn’t tell what kind of show we would have. Everyone was pretty loose, which could be good or bad.
I could tell from how loud my voice sounded giving the commands that this was a “live” stadium, and that we were going to be able to fill it with some good sound that night. From the bari/euph duet at the beginning of the show I got goosebumps…the sound was really carrying and you could tell that the members knew it. Instantly, energy built up and we rocked for 10.5 minutes. It was a good show. There were still a few hairy spots, but the tempos locked in for the most part, we performed for the first time as a full corps, and we really pushed to the end. Stamina is coming quickly. People are more comfortable with the show. This doesn’t usually happen until August…
…which is why we have, what we call the AUGUST PUSH. Some people hate talking about it, and that’s fine. You can’t deny, however, that it exists. The Bushwackers are pretty famous for turning it on in August. There have been more than a few years where we’ve had our butts handed to us all year long, just to surge in August and bushwack them all…winning championships that way. Everyone knows it, and it’s just part of who we are. Ideally, we’d like to do our August Push all year long…coming out strong out of the gate and steamrolling through the season. That just doesn’t seem to work for us, though.
There is more demand in our shows than most, if not all of the rest of the circuit. The judges acknowledge that. Our designers know that. We don’t go out there playing easy stuff with 59 sets of drill in our show. We run around, we play a crap load of notes, and it just flat out takes a long time to build the strength and stamina needed to perform these shows at a high level for 10+ minutes. Plus, it takes us a couple months just to plug everyone in and have people comfortable with the show. It’s just the reality of the way we program shows. Is it smart? I don’t know…if we win, the designers look like geniuses. If we lose, they look like morons. But at least they take the risk. If you’re not willing to risk it all, why do it?
It appears, though, that we have reached this level of comfort and stamina a week premature this year. We’re now within 2.1 points of the top ranked team. That’s closer than we’ve been probably in years. We are a contender, regardless of what you may have read on the internet or heard from your drum corps buddies. I keep saying in this blog to not count out the Bushwackers. Why people don’t listen is beyond me. That’s okay, though….count us out. We haven’t counted ourselves out. We’re coming for you and everyone else. We’re cleaning. We’re getting stronger in mind, body, and in our family bond.
We believe.
Belief and a quarter will buy you…um…nothing, but if you want it…if you’re hungry, you have a chance. That’s all we’re asking for…a chance. Give us the show, get us to the stadium, and give us the chance. We’ll take it from there.
This weekend is a camp weekend for the corps. No show. We’re putting in some last minute changes (end of the show, end of part 3). I’m going to have my officers from Archbishop Ryan up there to check things out and clinic with the corps for the day. That will be fun. After that: Kingston, Scranton, West Haven, Prelims, Finals, DONE. We’ll learn a lot about the 2007 Bushwackers in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
The parade went fine, except for the fact that one of our guard members took it on the chin…literally. She got whacked with a flag on the chin during the parade, and was bleeding pretty bad. Luckily we were right outside of a hospital. Since a few of us had driven to the parade, we let the buses go and took her to the hospital where she received 4 stitches inside the wound, and about 5 outside. It was pretty nasty, but the doctors were quick and did a good job. Before long we were on the road again heading to Chambersburg where we would meet with the corps.
Rehearsal was already in progress when we arrived, and the guard member with the stitches jumped right in and rehearsed hard all day. Good for her! Unfortunately, we were on the worst rehearsal field we’ve had all year. No grass…lots of dirt. Oh, and painted yard lines don’t stick on dirt so well…so no lines either. I’m not going to go off on too much of a rant here about it, but I think that it’s BS to give any corps a “field” like that…especially when they’ve traveled hours to make money for this show sponsor…and especially when they’re a top 3 DCA corps that is a draw for fans, thus bringing in more money. Boo.
It was probably the most humid day of the year, the members were breathing in dirt, there were no yard lines, we took a bus for hours to get there, and we had already marched in a parade. Tensions were a little high, and people were a little down. It was like trying to push over a brick wall…no matter how hard you push, the thing just ain’t movin’. That’s frustrating, but part of drum corps (and really everything in life) is learning how to effectively deal with frustration and turn it into fuel.
In spite of all that, the run through was solid. Tempo problems we usually have at the end didn’t exist. Maybe it was because I decided to mark time there while conducting. Maybe it was because it’s just locking in now for some reason. Regardless, I’m not going to stop marking time. I’m not taking that risk. Lol
We left and went to the stadium to take the coldest showers ever. Not only was there no hot water, it was as if a pipeline from the Arctic Circle was pumping in freezing water just for us. I saw a penguin. No lie.
We had plenty of down time, which ended up saving us, I believe. We all got showered, relaxed, had some food, and then a nice relaxed warm up. Dena's parents were there and decided that we neede protien after working so hard...so they bought us some Italian hoagies for dinner. THANK YOU! Delicious, and it made me feel much, much better. I couldn’t tell what kind of show we would have. Everyone was pretty loose, which could be good or bad.
I could tell from how loud my voice sounded giving the commands that this was a “live” stadium, and that we were going to be able to fill it with some good sound that night. From the bari/euph duet at the beginning of the show I got goosebumps…the sound was really carrying and you could tell that the members knew it. Instantly, energy built up and we rocked for 10.5 minutes. It was a good show. There were still a few hairy spots, but the tempos locked in for the most part, we performed for the first time as a full corps, and we really pushed to the end. Stamina is coming quickly. People are more comfortable with the show. This doesn’t usually happen until August…
…which is why we have, what we call the AUGUST PUSH. Some people hate talking about it, and that’s fine. You can’t deny, however, that it exists. The Bushwackers are pretty famous for turning it on in August. There have been more than a few years where we’ve had our butts handed to us all year long, just to surge in August and bushwack them all…winning championships that way. Everyone knows it, and it’s just part of who we are. Ideally, we’d like to do our August Push all year long…coming out strong out of the gate and steamrolling through the season. That just doesn’t seem to work for us, though.
There is more demand in our shows than most, if not all of the rest of the circuit. The judges acknowledge that. Our designers know that. We don’t go out there playing easy stuff with 59 sets of drill in our show. We run around, we play a crap load of notes, and it just flat out takes a long time to build the strength and stamina needed to perform these shows at a high level for 10+ minutes. Plus, it takes us a couple months just to plug everyone in and have people comfortable with the show. It’s just the reality of the way we program shows. Is it smart? I don’t know…if we win, the designers look like geniuses. If we lose, they look like morons. But at least they take the risk. If you’re not willing to risk it all, why do it?
It appears, though, that we have reached this level of comfort and stamina a week premature this year. We’re now within 2.1 points of the top ranked team. That’s closer than we’ve been probably in years. We are a contender, regardless of what you may have read on the internet or heard from your drum corps buddies. I keep saying in this blog to not count out the Bushwackers. Why people don’t listen is beyond me. That’s okay, though….count us out. We haven’t counted ourselves out. We’re coming for you and everyone else. We’re cleaning. We’re getting stronger in mind, body, and in our family bond.
We believe.
Belief and a quarter will buy you…um…nothing, but if you want it…if you’re hungry, you have a chance. That’s all we’re asking for…a chance. Give us the show, get us to the stadium, and give us the chance. We’ll take it from there.
This weekend is a camp weekend for the corps. No show. We’re putting in some last minute changes (end of the show, end of part 3). I’m going to have my officers from Archbishop Ryan up there to check things out and clinic with the corps for the day. That will be fun. After that: Kingston, Scranton, West Haven, Prelims, Finals, DONE. We’ll learn a lot about the 2007 Bushwackers in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
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