J.C.'s Review
The 2010 Season is in Full Swing! - June Report
The Kilties unveiled the 2010 production of “A Night at the Opera” to packed houses in Middleton, WI and Oregon, WI to cap off a very busy June schedule, and if the great ovations that we received are any indication, this season is going to be a real treat for both the Kilties and the fans!
We began our busy month of June with a full corps camp the weekend of June 12th and 13th. Great attitudes allowed us to overcome some not-so-great Saturday weather and make significant strides cleaning the show. Sunday’s rehearsal session was particularly productive and it was highlighted by our first full show run-through of the young season. I left rehearsal camp feeling really good about where the corps was at. Now it’s all about getting the show clean and getting enough reps under our feet so that we can think less about the mechanics of the show and more about performing it.
On Saturday June 19th, the Kilties were off to Libertyville, IL and Elk Grove Village, IL for a full day of parades and rehearsals. Just like last year, Southeastern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois had been pounded Friday night by severe thunder storms and in some cases tornados, but Saturday weather was great… 85 to 90 degrees and sunny. About half the corps opted to take the bus (me included) and we departed from the Wal-Mart parking lot at 7:15 AM. After warm ups, and such, we stepped onto Main Street Libertyville at about 10:30 AM. The Libertyville parade is always well attended and we were greeted by a great reception all the way down the parade route. Thanks you Libertyville for the great support!
Lunch was waiting for us at the end of the parade route. After a little down time, we did some light rehearsing in sections. The mellophones gathered under the shade of a large oak tree and picked the show music apart, concentrating on dynamics and articulations in the show music. It was time well spent. At around 3:30 or 4 PM we boarded the bus and headed toward Elk Grove Village, stopping for dinner at an oasis near O Hare International Airport. We arrived in Elk Grove Village in plenty of time to get ready for the scheduled 6PM parade.
Across the street from the brass warm up arc at the beginning of the parade, a large crowd had gathered to get an up close look at the Stanley Cup that had just been won by the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. It had been 49 years since the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, which is roughly the same amount of time that it took us to finish the Elk Grove Village Parade. We got a lot of “parade rest” practice. But the parade was pretty cool in that the streets aren’t very wide so we were really close to the crowd, sometimes having to dodge people to get down the street. The bus ride home was fun as well. It was our first chance to dust off the pipes of the Kiltie Khoir, introducing some of the new members to a few of the classics. We sounded pretty good, and should be in fine form by the end of the season.
Sunday June 20th found us back at Ameche Field in Kenosha for another great rehearsal session that was capped off by our 2010 dress rehearsal. It was great to see lots of Kiltie alumni and fans gather in the stands throughout the afternoon. I think we rehearse a little better when lots of people are watching. At 4:45, after a long weekend of hard work, we garnered all of our remaining energy and performed a very spirited dress rehearsal. As you might expect, it was a little rough around the edges, but there were no major breaks, and I thought the performance had great energy with good tempos throughout. The crowd really enjoyed it, and it was great to mingle with everyone after the show. I left feeling confident that we were in good shape for the official debut of the show the next weekend.
Saturday June 27th is the date that I have had marked on my calendar for quite some time. It is the date of the Madison Scouts’ “Drums on Parade” DCI show where the Kilties were to make their 2010 competitive debut. The bus-riding contingent boarded our luxury coach at 7AM and made it to our practice facility just in time for 9AM breakfast. Our 4 hour rehearsal was a scorcher thanks to the hot, muggy weather. We touched all parts of the show, but we spent the most time on the beginning and ending of the show. At 2 PM we lined up for a complete run-though of the show. We experienced a little phasing in William Tell Overture that has not been there in the past, but on the whole it was a good run-through and I felt confident that we could perform well that evening.
We loaded up and headed out to the Road Star hotel where we checked into our rooms, cleaned up, relaxed, had dinner and got ready for our performance. On a side note, I was thankful that our hotel rooms were paid for by the Kilties. The more mature members of the corps (such as me) don’t do quite as well on gym floors as we did back in the day.
We were scheduled to be the first corps to perform at the 7PM show so we were able to warm up close to the stadium. Brass warm ups drew quite a crowd. For a time, an entire high school marching band was watching and listening. At 6:45 we met up with the guard and percussion sections and headed to the stadium entrance. My first glimpse of the stands revealed a completely packed, standing room only crowd being entertained by a local dance troupe that led off the show.
Then it was our turn. You could tell that the crowd was behind us by the nice ovation that we garnered after the first big hit in “Ride of the Valkyries”. I breathed a sigh of relief when our little comedy bit before “William Tell Overture” went over well. Until the first time that you try a comedy bit, you’re never quite sure how it will go over.
“William Tell Overture” felt solid. None of the little tempo issues from our afternoon run-through and the crowd rewarded us with a very nice ovation after the piece. “Bohemian Rhapsody” felt good from the field as well. I felt like our closing piece, “Bacchanale”, had good energy, but the second half of the piece was a little more ragged than the rest of the show. The crowd didn’t seem to mind and they leapt out of their seats when we charged the stands and played the closing power chord progressions from the pit area, up close and personal. When the final pose was struck, we all soaked up the wonderful ovation that was being showered on us, reminding us all why we spend so much time working so hard. Thank you Madison for making it all worth it!
The rest of the evening was really fun. I got a chance to eat stadium food, peruse the souvie area, and meet and talk to many, many old friends. I was touched by everyone’s positive comments about our performance. I also got a chance to see a heck of a good drum corps show! I was really blown away by everyone, especially by our hosts, the Madison Scouts. Their 2010 production is one of my new favorites!
Sunday morning brought rain and storms which affected our rehearsal plans. We decided that marching in puddles on asphalt was a better option than marching on a muddy quagmire, so we moved our rehearsal to the parking lots of the Madison Area Technical College. Our scheduled 10AM rehearsal started a little late due to the rain, but the weather and the storms moved out of the area by about 11AM, leaving a hot muggy day in their wake. We spent the morning in sectionals. The guard was busy practicing equipment work, the battery and pit split up for separate sessions, and the brass line worked dynamics in Bohemian Rhapsody and William Tell Overture. The afternoon was spent doing full corps coordination work, concentrating mainly on Valkyries and Bacchanale. I thought that our 5PM final run-through was our finest to date by quite a bit, and I felt we were ready for our scheduled 9:48 PM performance at the MACBDA band show down the road in Oregon, WI
After catching a bite to eat and relaxing for a bit, the drums and guard got back together at 8AM for warm-ups. The brass line assembled at 8:30 for a light warm up and tuning.
At 9:15 we headed to the stadium for our performance. I was pretty excited; remembering back to last year when this great Oregon crowd gave us what was probably our best reception of the year. This year, as our hosts, the Oregon High School Marching Band took the field immediately before us, the front stadium lights extinguished, leaving only the lights at the back of the field in service. But as they say in the business, “The show must go on”, and the Oregon Band never missed a beat, putting on a great performance for the home crowd.
Then it was our turn. It was pretty much impossible to see field markings when you were facing the crowd, but due to the back lighting, you could see the field markings just fine when facing back field. Despite this little inconvenience, I thought we put on a great show, and the Oregon audience gave it up for us once again. We fed off the crowd energy and used it to our advantage. Musically, I thought that the show was better than the night before, with better dynamics and good tempos. Trooping the stands gave me goose-bumps! Thanks again Oregon!
We assembled the troops on the track in the end zone near the gate where Scott congratulated us on our performance and said he thought that we had improved with every run-through of the show the last 2 weeks. That will continue to be the goal throughout the season. Since all of the bands were marching out for the grand finale, we couldn’t play our customary Slow Syne to finish out the weekend, so we sang it, which I thought was pretty cool! It was a great way to end the first big show weekend of the young season and left me ready for more.
Is it the weekend yet?
WWBD,
J.C.
