(PART 1) How DCI and Star of Indiana changed my life

December 1986. This was the end of my 8th grade year. I tend to look at my school years in terms of my involvement in band. This was a major adjustment for me as I would be going into the high school band. Was I ready? I was certain of it. I was watching television; flipping through channels. Yes, I was actually "flipping" through channels. No remote control for me! In my flipping through the 12 channels we had, I noticed what was unmistakably and "marching band." Marching band?!?! I turned back quickly. Just from the first few seconds, I could tell that this was no average marching band. They were INCREDIBLE! The precision they had, the power of their sound, the energy they exuded was like nothing I had witnessed.

They finished the song to thunderous applause. Why is this marching band being shown on TV so long? I am used to seeing college halftimes for only a few seconds and then the commentators interrupt with their half-cocked analysis of a football game. Now, suddenly it was time for the drums to do a solo feature. Sooo many drummers! They all seemed to be in perfect sync with each other. They are playing as fast as I could only dream of in my 8th grade brain. These guys were blowing my mind! I saw xylophones and timpani and cymbals and percussion instruments i'd never seen before. Who are these guys? What college band is this? At the end of their performance, they announced, "The Blue Devils!!!" Wow! Duke has an amazing band!

Well, of course, I came to find out that the "band" I was watching was The Concord Blue Devils from Concord, California and the show I was witnessing for the first time was the 1986 Drum Corps International World Championships. I watched the rest of the program. I was in love with a new art form. Or, at least new to me. DCI was the gold standard of what I had chosen to be my craft of choice. I had to get more of this. This was, obviously, before YouTube. I had to wait and "check my local listings" for when this event would come on PBS again. Every year since then, I made my grandmother and my aunt (who raised me) sit down and watch the entire broadcast. EVERY year. This was MY Superbowl! Every year, after every show, I would say, "Granny, you are going to see me on TV one day! Doing this! Just you wait."

Summer 1990. The summer after my senior year, my best friend, Russ Russell asked me if I wanted to go to Birmingham, Alabama to go see DCI South. Well, yeah! It would be my first time to see drum corps live! The excitement was killing me! The first corps takes the field. It was Southwind from Montgomery, Alabama. Ummm. This isn't what I saw on TV... They were very small and resembled my high school band. But later on, the big boys took the field. Santa Clara Vanguard from Santa Clara, California. The Cadets of Bergen County, New Jersey. I looked at my program trying to figure out when I could go use the bathroom and get a hot dog. Up next: The Star of Indiana. Blaahhh! I remember them from last year on the TV broadcast. They did the British Show and I HATED IT!!! This was my time to go.

I had found one of my newly made friends, Jim Moore, a drummer from Bay-St. Louis, Mississippi that I'd met at various clinics and really got to know better in the 1990 Mississippi Lions All-State Band. We got into a deep conversation about how what our freshman year at Southern Miss was going to be like. I had completely forgotten about the bathroom and the hot dog break I was supposed to get done during Star of Indiana's forecasted boring performance. We're still talking and I hear the tinkling of church bells seeming to be coming from everywhere. I look up to the mighty bold purple, gold and wine red Roman Soldiers. "Star of Indiana, you make enter the field in competition!" says the announcer. The next 10+ minutes changed me forever. It was THE most edifying marching music experience I had at that moment. The power of the this group and their presence was from another world as far as my young eyes and ears could perceive. This was IT! After this performance, I turned to Jim and said, "You are going to see me in this corps NEXT YEAR!"

Fall 1990. After much consideration, it just looked like Star of Indiana wasn't going to be a possibility. I had no car. I had no money. I had no parents that would fund this activity. So, I had to figure this out. I met a guy in the Pride of Mississippi marching band named Chris Fox from New Orleans. He was in the Phantom Regiment from Rockford, Illinois just that past summer. I convinced him to let me ride with him to the second audition camp in December. Perfect! I could earn enough money to help him with gas to get there. What about the $1,000+ dues it cost to march with the corps? Well, I'd just cross that bridge when I got to it. I really wanted to play snare drum, but I knew that probably wasn't a possibility because I knew Marty Hurley (the percussion caption head at PR and Chris Fox's high school band director at Brother Martin High School in NO) usually had a long line of his students ready to fill spots every year. I was also a REALLY good timpanist. I had inside info that their timpanist had just aged out. (You were not eligible to march after you turn 21, at that time.) I called Marty Hurley and talk with him and he was awaiting my arrival at the next camp. We are a GO!

Fast-forward to 2-weeks before the camp. I went to Chris' dorm room which was one floor level above mine in Bond Hall at USM. "Hey, man. I'm pretty excited about going to Rockford. I have the cash to help out with gas money!" I said excitedly. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I'm flying to this camp." Chris said lifelessly. WHAT?!?! My dreams of being in a drum corps was done. Just like that. I knew I couldn't afford a plane ticket. I'm done! Kaput! I had no response to this. I couldn't be angry at him. I was the mooch in this situation. I was the parasite and the host had moved on.

Not sure what to do now...

(Part 2: Coming Soon...)