1988 Suncoast Sound
1988 Suncoast Sound performance excerpt.
The piece “This is the Way We…” played off the nursery song, “This is the Way We Go to School,” perhaps better known as “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” Guard members were dressed head-to-toe in fabric as rag doll stick figures, offering a sometimes-dark view of the problems children go through. “Wait ‘Til Your Father Gets Home” continued on the threatening level with belts cracking as the horns formed the outline of a house that was not quite a home. As various guard members took away the ball of the world from the little girl, four huge flags that seem to abstractly represent non-specific nationalities filled the field with a visual threat of dominance on a far greater level. (The movements seem to blend together during much of the show, so it’s difficult to make a clear delineation regarding where some of the visuals representing one movement ended and the next ones began.) However, there was no doubt about where “War” began, with the rifles, wearing full head coverings, became quite militaristic to the drum feature as the little girl donned a helmet and took a rifle in defiant posturing. As if the message wasn’t clear by that point, the horns and drums formed a giant mushroom cloud, a warning of the possible results of nationalistic extremism. The color guard formed a backdrop of the Vietnam memorial wall at the beginning of “For Yesterday’s Child,” a tender ballad in tribute visually restating a powerful moment from the corps’ “Requiem” in its 1984 Vietnam-era show. The guard, now attired in solid white and also presenting a short sign language moment that reflected on the corps’ famous “The Greatest Love of All” in 1983 (and the two years previous before the corps made the Finals), took up solid fluffy white flags to change the mood to contemplation and hope. A fanfare of bravura followed. Then the front ensemble took over with a gentle theme while the horns silently poured to a company front at the front of the field and unleashed three very loud chords out of key. As the ball of the world escaped from the hands of the little girl, it was up to the individual members of the audience to figure out for themselves the meaning of this most unexpected way to end a show. As a production that generated much thought and discussion and even controversy, even today, individuals likely will view the various components of the show differently. My impressions are undoubtedly different than those of others. Perhaps that’s part of what was the goal of this show, and perhaps, just as easily, it’s not. This week only, you can save on 1988 World Championship Audio and Video Performance Downloads on the DCI Fan Network. Buy the 1988 Suncoast Sound Video Performance Download. (Available this week only for $3.99. Regular price: $4.99.) Buy the Audio Performance Download bundle of all 12 Finalists from 1988. (Available this week only for $15.99. Regular price: $19.99.) Offer ends Monday, May 2 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Michael Boo was a member of the Cavaliers from 1975-1977. He has written about the drum corps activity for more than a quarter century and serves as a staff writer for various Drum Corps International projects. Boo has written for numerous other publications and has published an honors-winning book on the history of figure skating. As an accomplished composer, Boo holds a bachelor's degree in music education and a master's degree in music theory and composition. He resides in Chesterton, Ind.
