Feel the Heat!

Wow...what a scorcher this last weekend was! It was the first ridiculously hot weekend of the summer, and we made it through...barely.

Saturday was a great day. The corps got to spend the day in Wildwood, NJ so we could perform in the annual Elks Convention parade. We marched for the Penns Grove lodge, and they really seemed to dig us. The weather was hot, but we were so close to the ocean that it kept the temperature down to a reasonable level. I got BURNT to a crisp because I'm a moron.

The parade was good and the crowd seemed appreciative of us, so that was nice. Afterwards the Elks fed us back at the hotel, and we warmed up and performed a standstill concert of our 2008 production of "MOMENTUM" for them...to much hooting and hollering. They want us back, so I guess we must have been pretty good. The members and the staff weren't overly impressed...but hey...sometimes you have to take into account what the drum corps novice's opinion is. After all, many of the folks we'll be playing to all summer haven't ever marched.

The corps got to spend some time on the boardwalk in the afternoon just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. I, and much of the rest of the staff present, went to Kelly's...a bar that is well known as a drum corps hang out at events such as this. It was a good time, I got to bond with some of the staff and members, and I have an even better feeling about the summer and my place in my new corps.

Sunday was brutal. We rehearse on black top, which has its benefits for sure...but keeping you cool on a REALLY hot day sure isn't one of them. We lost a bass drummer almost immediately, and several people throughout the day had to take some time to regain their composure and re-hydrate. I refused to push them too hard, but didn't want to call rehearsal early. We do have to learn how to practice and achieve great things in all weather, but to me it didn't make any sense to mercilessly beat them because it was the first hot day, they wouldn't retain anything, and we're two weeks out from our first show. I didn't want to chance losing anybody.

That being said, taking steps back is never an option...so we learned more drill for the closer, we had sectionals for about 2 hours, and we did a full ensemble rehearsal to put music and drill together in Ride. It was about half way through ensemble that we really started having issues with health, so eventually I told them to get a drink and come back to ensemble arcs so we could just put music together and get some reps. We went right up until quitting time, and while we weren't in the greatest shape afterwards, I think we learned something about ourselves and what kind of preparation we need to do during the week AND during the weekend to be able to perform and practice at a high level.

As I said to the corps, it's not going to get much cooler. It's a summer activity and we have to condition ourselves to be able to perform in it. Weather is never an excuse.

I hope it's cooler this weekend, needless to say. We have a one day rehearsal this weekend (just Saturday), and then the following weekend is the first show...back in Wildwood! It's crunch time, and the show isn't quite ready for prime time yet. We won't be performing the closer in Wildwood, so this coming Saturday we won't be touching that at all. The whole day will be devoted to solidifying Kinetic, Fractal, and Gift so that we can put our best foot forward on the 21st and perform a solid, albeit incomplete show. After the first show we'll have 3 rehearsals to put as much closer in there as possible for Manassas, VA. I don't know if we'll rock out the whole thing...but we'll do a lot of it.

To me, Clifton is the big deal. I want the entire show done and cooking by Clifton. I think that's reasonable if the members do what they have to do. By and large I'm really happy with the staff and the way they have prepared the members to this point. The members work hard, and I'm constantly impressed with their heart. Right now we, as a whole, need to improve on the Monday to Friday aspect of drum corps. We have Saturday and Sunday down pretty damn good. M-F needs some work.

And there it is...this Saturday is the LAST pre-season rehearsal. By the end of Saturday we'll know exactly who and what we're putting on the field on the 21st! I'm excited to see my first drum corps show ever under the lights, and I'm even more excited to watch the members throw down. Everything has turned out much better than I ever expected. I could have never anticipated this quick of a turn around. This was supposed to be a transition year...a building year. Now, here we are...a big class A corps (bigger than some open class corps) with a killer show and we're DOING it. They get it. I'm very impressed and excited.

Hope to see you readers out there (if there are any of you left! I have no idea if anyone actually reads this thing) at a show this summer. Hopefully it cools off a bit! 82 all summer sounds good to me!