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Coming in mid season certainly is a lot different then experiencing all of the growing pains of winter. For the first time in a long time I have not been around to experience the winter months to see how things have developed. With that being said here are some observations I made this weekend while cramming the rest of the show down my throat so that I could get out there…

In typical Brigs fashion the corps was a bit shaky coming back from an off weekend of rehearsing. This is the norm for the corps, but I firmly believe that it will all turn around this weekend. Even in our strongest season we always stumbled a bit that first weekend back getting in to the swing of things. Granted the weather did not cooperate for us one bit this weekend, but every other corps in the show with us was also at the mercy of the weather. I heard that the others had equally as challenging days as us, and was told by members of their staffs that it showed in performance as well.

I was happy to hear that the hornline can still achieve a mature sound despite missing some of the strong folks that have marched these past few seasons. Now that we are at or very near to full I think that we can start to push things a bit and be just as loud as those Bb lines out there. No offense to anyone playing in those Bb lines, but I don’t think the horns have the power of the G horns we are playing on. While Bb is good for overall intonation, I think that trying to push the equipment to its limit severely affects the overall tone quality of the horns. Unfortunately in drum corps we are constantly pushing the limits of our horns, so one day when someone solves this great Bb mystery maybe Bb will be able to have the same power as G.

I was disappointed in how certain things had progressed since I left. So as to not call certain people out I won’t write about it here, but if you are a regular reader of my blog and you think this comment may apply to you then you should know to expect some sort of personal message from me in that regard very soon, once I get all of my thoughts in order.

Somehow, some way I managed to march the entire show this weekend. I played more then I had expected by the end of practice. Because of the lack of time actually on the field I was unable to fully grasp more of the music and the drill. Parts of it I went with what my eyes told me and managed to hold myself together under the pressure of actually being out there in uniform and performing. Kudos to others who tried to do the same. We were dealt a certain hand by the weather and we did all we could do to get as much of it as possible.

Feelings about the show were mixed. Again I was happy to make it all the way through with minimal bumps along the way. Others that I talked to didn’t fare to well, but that is the nature of the beast sometimes. All you can do is move forward into next week and do your best to improve your situation. As for me, I need some time to reinforce everything again, and also to learn more. The more we are capable of doing in a day, the stronger I am going to become on the field.

Well that is in for now. I need a nap!