J. Birney Crum Stadium
Two-night ticket packages for the DCI Eastern Classic at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, Pa. are now on sale.
Featuring all of DCI’s World Class corps in their top form just days before they head to Indianapolis for the World Championships, the 2012 Eastern Classic will take place on Friday, Aug. 3 and Saturday, Aug. 4.
Giving you access to great seats to both nights of competition, packages range in price from $60 to $70. They can be ordered online or by phone at 317.275.1212.
1996 Madison Scouts performance excerpt.
Michel Camilo’s “En Fuego” (“On Fire”) seemed to start way too soon for the brass players to give their lips a rest before screaming high notes once again, but a lengthy percussion break was mercifully programmed to do just that. Then the cymbal section and some front ensemble percussionists picked up large red circles and went behind the snare and tenor drummers, revealing the circles to be large drum heads that they employed for fancy, booming stick work.
The color guard members put on toreador jackets for Bob Holman’s take on the Kenton Band of Ernesto Lecuona’s “Malague?±a,” a staple in the corps’ repertoire for which it had visited several times in prior years. Brightly colored Spanish blanket flags filled the front of the field with fire. Then the horns and drums quickly moved into a wedge, moved it to the front and then on a diagonal.
The brass players spun around in the wedge and somehow reached deep into the soul of their scorched lips and found one last bit of sheer screaming intensity to unleash upon the audience, whose ears must have been close to shouting the Spanish term for “no more,” “No mas!” Seriously, you should consider buying the download of this show for that move, if nothing else.
At the end, the corps placed sixth, two positions down from where it had placed the previous year with “Part Uno.” However, it’s likely no one in the stands thought any less of the show for that, as their ears were still ringing from the closing of “Malague?±a.” Surely they didn’t mind what place the corps finished, as long as they finished with a bang.
This week only, you can save on 1996 World Championship Audio and Video Performance Downloads on the DCI Fan Network.
Buy the 1996 Madison Scouts 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 1996.
(Available this week only for $15.99. Regular price: $19.99.)
Offer ends Monday, Oct. 24 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.
