Chapter 2

Getting there is half the battle

Monday, May 30, 1994, Denver, Colorado

DAY 3: It feels like I only closed my eyes for a second when the alarm goes off. I get up, take a shower, and go upstairs for toast and pancakes. I'm still half asleep as I strain to wipe the cobwebs from my eyes. I sit with Dave, Randy, Don, and someone I thought was Don's sister until she gave him a big kiss on the lips! Man, I didn't know he and his sister were so close. I thought there were laws against that kind of thing. Boy, am I tired. We have to be at rehearsal at 9:30 a.m., so we decide to get there early. The only problem is the Volkswagon microbus won't start. Don quickly fills the engine with motor oil and tries to start his VW again. This time it starts, but his steering column begins to smoke on the way to practice. We have our water bottles ready in case flames break out.

We arrive at rehearsal just in time and in one piece with two minutes to spare. We do horn ensemble rehearsal for a few hours. This is where we warm up for about an hour and play through some music on our horns. My playing chops -- lip muscles to create the buzz to play a brass instrument -- go "dead" again during the warmups, but doing this will make for a stronger player. Well, that's what Greg Hall, Brass Caption Head, says. However, I can't play much when my chops decide to take a nap.

Our rehearsal is interrupted for a potluck lunch with the drum corps parents and alumni. I meet Don's girlfriend Christina, she's a long-haired brunette in the color guard. She seems to be really happy and smiles a lot. Ah, she's the one who kissed Don earlier in the morning during breakfast -- it wasn't his sister! I'm glad we got that cleared up. Lots of food, but unfortunately, we only have 45 minutes to scarf it down. Waiting in line for more than 30 minutes and finding a place to sit and eat in less than 10 minutes is apparently the norm here!

We play in horn arc for a more few hours. I'm late to practice so Falzarano tells me that I get the pleasure of running two laps after practice. No problem. I'll just quickly run two laps and be done with it.

We finish our ensemble rehearsal block and get a 15-minute break. We get some water and Mark Arnold says a few things to the parents while we form up again. We go through an actual show sequence where the announcer calls out the next corps to perform. Greg acts as the show announcer for today's exhibition.

"On the field from Denver, Colorado ... The Blue Knights!"

Staff and parents cheer loudly.

"Drum Major Markie Dubois is your corps ready?"

Markie turns around and commands us to attention. He then faces the audience and salutes smartly.

"Blue Knights, you may now take the field in exhibition performance!"

On the drum major's cue, we stand and play -- also known as park and blow -- the opener “Trittico: Varition I,” and half of the ballad “Trittico: Variation II.” It probably isn't the best-sounding run through, but it sure was one of the loudest. The parents must have seen something behind us, because they take a few steps back when we begin playing. I'm too busy to see if the jolly Green Giant came to stand behind us or maybe we're just playing really, really loud!

We finally break for dinner. Jason Guidry (baritone player) invites Dave and me to his house for dinner. We watch him perform on video at his high school's spring concert. This kid is amazing! He plays a variety of solos and features during the concert. Dave says he is a child prodigy like Doogie Howser, M.D. Guidry is pretty cool, funny, and smart, too. I'm glad I met him. After we get something to eat, Guidry drives Dave and I back to rehearsal for more drill and music practice on the field. We get the ballad pretty much finished up as far as learning where to go on the field.

Practice is over so I run my two laps around the football field for being late today, and it's probably the toughest two laps I have ever had to run. I'm still not used to the altitude yet. Mark Arnold talks about how we are improving by leaps and bounds. He says today the temperature hit a record high of 92 degrees Fahrenheit. We have 20 percent humidity and it is just ninety-two degrees? That's it? It's hot, but it didn't feel that hot. I guess coming from Florida this is nothing compared to nearly ninety percent humidity. He also mentions there are three more spots in the baritone section and one in the soprano section available and if we know anyone who would be interested in joining to be sure and let him know. He says that members don't need to be brass players (or percussion or color guard) to join. In fact, we have several members in nearly section that perform on a woodwind or other type of percussion instrument at their school. Right now, the only people I know are already members, so not much help on the recruiting effort. Afterward, I talk to Mark Arnold about trying for the mellophone solo and he gives me the music to learn.

We're sitting in Don's bus waiting for him. We've been waiting about 30 minutes talking about today's rehearsal. Dave and Randy compare notes on Star of Indiana and the Cadets of Bergan County drum & bugle corps. Randy suggests Don is probably with his girlfriend under the bleachers.

Being bored (and dorks), we decide to work on some basic marching techniques just for the hell of it since we are still getting yelled at in practice for doing it wrong...

DAY 29: Saturday, June 25, 1994
West Coast Tour

We arrive at Concord, California around 9 a.m. I get up to paint the field with the crew. Today's problem is that we have lost the keys to the equipment truck, which is holding our paint hostage. Now we have to look for someone else with keys or find another way into the truck.

The corps gets up at 10:30 a.m., and begins eating. In our haste to make up the lost time searching for keys to the truck, we rush to get the field painted. Unfortunately, we don't do a very good job. This is the first time we mess the field up. We paint the yard lines at wrong angles and then try to fix them by painting them with green and blue paint. Now the field has about a hundred blue, green and white lines all over the ground. It looks like a bunch of first graders painted the field for a school project!

After having some oatmeal and a PB&J sandwich we head out to the field for stretching. Jennifer Oxelson lets us stretch on our own today. She says it will help us grow together as a team. I think she is just lazy today and doesn't want to stretch us.

We set up in a horn arc and Greg Hall, Brass Caption Head, fills us in on last night's results. He proudly announces that we beat the Santa Clara Vanguard in the music category last night, which is pretty darn good. But, the Madison Scouts and the Troopers topped our music score. That's not so good.

We go into drill and music block. Rehearsal is going very well for us so far. We crank out a really good run of the opening and Greg gets excited and nearly falls off the scaffolding tower the staff sits on. It stands about 30 feet high and gives the staff a virtual stadium seat perspective.

"Yes! And that's how you play to beat Santa Clara Vanguard!"

As soon as Greg said this, the hair on my neck stood up. Everyone gives a holler and we do one more run-through. We finish early today, which is a rare occurrence.

Shower and dinner. I take a picture of the gym wall, Home of the Warriors (not the CMCC Warriors, though). I wear my CMCC Warriors shirt in honor of the school mascot. My customized shirt still gets laughs. I notice that my suitcase is about to burst open again. The roll of duct tape I used to tape it shut is starting to deteriorate. I hope it holds together until we get back to Denver. When I get there, maybe I could get a new suitcase and a new pair of glasses, too.

We leave for the show site at Diablo College. On the drive over, a group of kids standing outside see out buses and welcome us to California by flipping us off. Nice people here in California. I think we just made a wrong turn into gangland!

We arrive at the show site. Amazingly, there's no graffiti on the bus. We prepare ourselves for the show. The staff doesn't give us a very big hype speech tonight. In fact, they don't say anything at all. I wonder why. Falzarano says we need to do it ourselves.

Overall we have a very good show. The crowd, 5,000 strong, is our largest audience yet but they give us a somewhat lax response after the opener. We are conditioned to an ovation of some sort at that point, but not tonight. Oh well, I wonder who the crowd really wants to see. The Blue Devils, maybe?

Reprinted from "On the field, from Denver, Colorado...The Blue Knights!" One member's experience of the 1994 summer national tour by permission of iUniverse.com, Inc. Copyright © 2004 by Gregory M. Kuzma. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced without permission.