as tour went on we made our way down to florida for a day in the park, and a stop near my home in tampa. we had a show at my school, actually. it was good to see some friends, and my parents. we were getting better every day, and absolutely nailing the show every night. the crowds loved us, we were getting floor time every morning, and we were having the time of our lives. after we left tampa, we rolled in to brunswick, georgia. there were more people in the combined corps than in the stands. normally while we are at the gate, the cadets gather around george or april and listen to a few words of inspiration. tonight it was gino. as 128 pairs of ears listened, gino told us that he saw all the tradition that we had, and wished he could share in it. he told us he respected us, and that we had a ' passion for performance' unlike any he had seen. there were some other words, too...[you don't get to know them sorry] we sang, put on the shakos, and performed for those 300 people like it was the last show we would ever do. who says competition is the driving force behind drum corps?we kept right on going. getting better, sleeping, and having fun. after a show at marshall university, george told us to do the closer, complete with gimmicks as part of the encore. the people loved it. this quickly became the highlight of each of our days.
in saint louis, we learned the new ending to the show in a tedious five hour marching block. five hours to learn three sets- you do the math. the new ending was insanely difficult, not to mention dangerous. jeff had to come on to the field three times to modify the drill sets person by person. at the end of the day, we had marched, but not played and marched, the new ending while only ruining one tuba. not bad. finally, in dallas, texas the new ending went in. there is something about the texas tour that makes it seem like the shows are somehow more important than all the rest. at the end of the dallas show, we had all lived, and the crowd was on their feet. success. we made our way toward san antonio.
we pulled into a school in san antonio after a rehearsal day in grosbeck at about midnight. we had to get up at 6:30 in order to be at the doors of the alamodome by 9. that's right. we practiced inside the alamodome all morning. in the afternoon we put on an interactive clinic for 4,000 band kids. this was one of the coolest experiences ever. gino invited the kids to get really close to us, and listen to us play really really loud. of course, all the hs tuba players in the building ran up and sat in front of the tuba section. the funny thing is that five or six of us only played tuba during the summer, so we knew about playing in other idioms about as well as we knew how to spin a sabre. on the field, we were great, however, and we absolutely plastered those kids with rocky point. there were some 'oh my god' s and maybe even a 'holy shit' or two. that made us feel good inside. after the brass portion of the clinic was over, the brass line headed for the endzone where we laid on the turf for the next hour. i felt like i had reached the apex of human existance- i was in the best drum corps in america, we were in the 72 degree alamodome while it was 110 outside, i was laying on the turf staring at the ceiling feeling good, and we would get to shower in the spurs' locker room pretty soon. we ate, showered, warmed up and went on for the show. i can't think of any words to explain it. i was nearly in tears afterward...we had nothing left to give...92.05
the cadets were absolutely on fire. every show was great, rehearsals were fast paced and enjoyable, and we were having fun. we arrived in pittsburgh for our first show with the blue devils. rehearsal that day was intense, but we knew it was needed. we strapped in to our unis, and went to visual warmup with the marching staff. about half way throught the normal routine it started pouring. we were forced to go inside a nearby building and wait for the storm to clear. after an hour we were told to meet in the gym. [all our stuff was there- we were housed at the show site] hop told us the show had been cancelled. i have never seen so many looks of despair in my life. all we wanted to do was go out and nail our show in front of a new drum corps. we would not get this chance tonight, but one week later in new jersey.
there is a little show in hornell, new york every season. we were lucky enough to get to rehearse at the show site all day. the stands were covered, so there was a wicked echo, and people could watch us without getting pelted by the constant rain. for our run through, most of the tampa bay thunder had entered the stands. about half way through it started POURING. this only made us play louder. unfortunately, aungst made us stop before the really dangerous section at the very end. the feeling of performing in the rain was something i wish i could bottle and drink a little of before i go to bed. such energy.