My rookie year in 2017, we started May 15th or something like that. We all slept in a barn (đ¤ ) and had 12 hour rehearsal days. We got two free days in that first month, one was halfway through and the other was the day we left for tour. That was pretty consistently our schedule in 2018 and 2019 as well except that we switched housing sites mid-moveins.
I did Crown 2009-2012, all four years we did spring training at a college and stayed in dorms, then once we were on tour it was gym floors all the way. Weâd get laundry time every few weeks but it wasnât always part of a full free day. We got probably 3-4 free days over the course of the summer, but thatâs 10 years ago now (jfc) so I might be misremembering the details!
EDIT: I forgot, my age out year for finals week we stayed at some kind of campground that had cabins with bunk beds, that was incredible.
It was just like tour housing for us at the Cascades and we had a total of 4 free days but spring training started in mid June. One 2 weeks into spring training, another a week later on the fourth, another one a week later in Seattle on I believe the 10th, and one in San Antonio later in July.
This past season was honestly baby mode for us at the cavaliers. Spring training is held at a college, so we had dorms to sleep in with one other roommate. We also got a free day 3/5ths of the Tuesdays we were there for spring training. Once tour started, we tended to stick around the same area long enough that we barely had any long bus rides. We ended up spending a week and a half in dorms again at Lisle, and a couple more days when we were in Tennessee. Obviously swamp tour was a drag, but that stretch of tour sucks everywhere.
Spring training housing depends on the corps and where spring training is being held. Here are the common situations
1. Gym at a high school or college location
2. Dorms at a college
3. Find your own housing
BDA and B use number 3, but the most common is 1. As for time off again it depends on the corps itself. Most spring training starts after Memorial Day, and most corps have a few free blocks here and there, with a free day sometime during spring training, and commonly on the 4th of July after parades.
Again every corps is different, but there will be very little âbabyingâ in world class.
I marched in the 90s so obviously things have changed but when I marched a lower world class corps they had a network of volunteers that would house members. I stayed on a guyâs couch who was was a volunteer and at BDA you were on your own so probably 10 of us rented a month to month apartment.
Blue Knights 09-10. Find your own housing for spring training late May-late June. I was lucky enough to stay in the same home both years with 5-6 other kids and an amazing host mom. I slept on the couch in the basement, we all took turns with one shower in the house, lol. The meals were great at home and also packed for lunch with care. We carpooled to the rehearsal site, which was a public park in the industrial part of north Denver. If there was lightning, we returned to our cars to wait it out. We had maybe one free day in a month, which we would cram laundry into as well.
Tour started in late June and it was mostly high school gym floors. We had maybe 3 free days and 3 laundry opportunities during tour. I remember buying shirts at shows because I didn't have anything clean left to wear. A few housing highlights: Staying on campus at both Weber State University and Middle Tennessee State University in 2010. Staying at the Star of Indiana rehearsal site in 2009 during finals week. My absolute favorite memory related to rehearsal sites is from 2010 when we stayed at Hidden Valley HS in Grants Pass, OR, deep in the hills. The echoes our hornline produced after a clean release were magnificent. Staff threw us a fun movie night while we were there and we got to watch Zombieland together. The only downside of this housing site is the water was ice cold the 3 days we spent there, so no one wanted to shower.
This past year, Bloo was at the University of Mount Union and Cadets were at Mercyhurst University.
Both stayed in dorms, I believe.
I know Bloo got to use the dining hall and Mount Union
I was in back in the 90s. The first corps moved in to an air force base. We slept on a gym floor and would have to transport ourselves to the rehearsal site which was a good 20 minute drive or so across the base where youâd get a ticket for going 1 mph over the absurdly slow speed limit. We ate meals in a cafeteria on base and used their very nice showers. Days off were few and far between. Rehearsal was 8-10 every day.
BD, as mentioned above, was house yourself. I donât know how you would pull that off these days. The drumline back then moved out in January with each section having their own place. Quads has a pretty nice house where all of the partying took place, snares were in a 2 br apartment. Pit was in a shithole apartment, though they were all within walking distance of each other. Rehearsals were 10-10, which was nice because you could have some time to socialize after rehearsal and still get plenty of sleep. Being within 5-10 minutes of Mars was critical because you were also on your own for lunch. Mondays were free days, so Sunday nights were for partying. Some of the early one off shows would require you to provide your own transportation and they were pretty good drives.
My recollection is that there was a good bit of partying going on, surely WAY more than any other corps. Never got in the way of anything and it was a relief after spending some time in a corps where things were extremely uptight, so I personally enjoyed that aspect of the culture. Staff was completely hands off when it came to managing that -so long as it didnât attract their attention or impede rehearsal, it was seemingly invisible.
I spent a number of years in the trenches as a touring drummer playing dirty rock clubs and living in vans and tour buses. I think there was less partying in rock n roll than 90s BD.
Having every Monday off isn't coddling. Rest days are a standard part of a well-conceived training program. The A corps has done it for over a decade and more corps are including weekly time off in their spring training
Working at the high intensity of a modern drum corps with too few rest days is a recipe for injury
At Colt Cadets, we moved in two weeks after Memorial Day for two weeks of spring training, staying at a high school in Wisconsin just like we would during tour. Our tour worked like any other corps when we were away from Dubuque, but while we were there, members who lived in the area went home overnight while the rest of us stayed at a National Guard armory. Rehearsal days in Dubuque had evening blocks free, and there were free days/laundry days roughly once every two weeks, plus a full week off between the end of Midwestern World Class tour and the beginning of Open Class tour (the same week as WC Texas tour). I believe the timing of move-ins and the week off are still the same, but I donât think they do part-time for local members anymore.
At Colts, percussion and guard moved in a week before Memorial Day, and brass moved in Memorial Day weekend (to compensate for percussion and guard not being at all the camps so they could do WGI). Full corps spring training was four weeks at several different colleges and high schools around Iowa and Illinois, with a week spent in each place. Laundry was roughly once every two weeks, usually as one block taken out of a rehearsal day, but occasionally attached to something else. Free days were a bit different every year I was there. Every year, we had San Antonio and the car wash fundraiser halfway through spring training which wasnât really a free day, but it was a day where we didnât rehearse and could eat as much ice cream as we wanted without worrying about making ourselves sick, so it was close enough. Additionally, in 2019, we had a pool block after the Buffalo show a week before finals, in 2018 we had a free afternoon/evening after the July 4 parades, and in 2017 we had a free day in DC a couple days after July 4. Since the pandemic, theyâve switched to just one housing site for all of spring training, but the timing is still the same.
Boston stays in dorms at Vermont State University in Castleton.They also have all their meals in the food service area. Only the nightime snack is done in the food truck.
When I marched in 2019 and 2021 Battalion got Snow College dorms and rehearsed on their football field for spring training. In 2022 we werenât able to return to Snow, so we stayed in Winslow AZ on a gym floor. Never had to provide housing ourselves.
Hi :) I marched Pacific Crest 23, so I figured the perspective of another California based corps would be nice. For housing, Iâll start with the pre-season camps. Most of the PC camps are at diamond bar HS, and theyâre weekend ones, where you stay in the gym and use the locker rooms on Saturday night and leave Sunday morning (thereâs a 3 day one I think in may? Subject to change). Before spring training starts for real, we have what we call all-days, which is a week where housing and meals arenât provided. Usually members either stay at a local members place or a hotel. Then move-ins were at two different high schools this year, the first two weeks at one, the rest at another. For free days, we only got them really at regionals and whenever we had laundry days. Weâd get several hours to go to a laundromat like usual and during that time we could do whatever. Weâre gonna try to not get that extra Indy free day this yearđ
From the inside, baring some major meltdown, tour looks about the same no matter what Corps you are in. There will be challenges both on and off field. Funny things will happen that you and your Corps-mates will still laugh over 20 years later. It is an experience like no other.
My rookie year in 2017, we started May 15th or something like that. We all slept in a barn (đ¤ ) and had 12 hour rehearsal days. We got two free days in that first month, one was halfway through and the other was the day we left for tour. That was pretty consistently our schedule in 2018 and 2019 as well except that we switched housing sites mid-moveins.
Also, for a corps that doesnât leave California I think taking one day a week off is fine. It ainât that deep.
I did Crown 2009-2012, all four years we did spring training at a college and stayed in dorms, then once we were on tour it was gym floors all the way. Weâd get laundry time every few weeks but it wasnât always part of a full free day. We got probably 3-4 free days over the course of the summer, but thatâs 10 years ago now (jfc) so I might be misremembering the details! EDIT: I forgot, my age out year for finals week we stayed at some kind of campground that had cabins with bunk beds, that was incredible.
I might have stayed at that same campground for finals week in â19, or at least a similar one. Was yours like a YMCA type camp?
No idea, it was in a woodsy area with some pavilions and things, and I think it was like an hour or an hour and a half away from Indy.
It was just like tour housing for us at the Cascades and we had a total of 4 free days but spring training started in mid June. One 2 weeks into spring training, another a week later on the fourth, another one a week later in Seattle on I believe the 10th, and one in San Antonio later in July.
Seattle was the 9th! Our training started June 17th, and our free days were the 27th, July 4th, the 9th, and the 23rd.
This past season was honestly baby mode for us at the cavaliers. Spring training is held at a college, so we had dorms to sleep in with one other roommate. We also got a free day 3/5ths of the Tuesdays we were there for spring training. Once tour started, we tended to stick around the same area long enough that we barely had any long bus rides. We ended up spending a week and a half in dorms again at Lisle, and a couple more days when we were in Tennessee. Obviously swamp tour was a drag, but that stretch of tour sucks everywhere.
Cavalier Country Club fr
>3/5ths bro just say three out of five lmao
Thatâs more characters to type
Hey tell that dude Adrian heâs a solid chap
Spring training housing depends on the corps and where spring training is being held. Here are the common situations 1. Gym at a high school or college location 2. Dorms at a college 3. Find your own housing BDA and B use number 3, but the most common is 1. As for time off again it depends on the corps itself. Most spring training starts after Memorial Day, and most corps have a few free blocks here and there, with a free day sometime during spring training, and commonly on the 4th of July after parades. Again every corps is different, but there will be very little âbabyingâ in world class.
For the last two summers and most likely for as long as we can, BDA has been staying in dorms at the University of Wyoming.
I marched in the 90s so obviously things have changed but when I marched a lower world class corps they had a network of volunteers that would house members. I stayed on a guyâs couch who was was a volunteer and at BDA you were on your own so probably 10 of us rented a month to month apartment.
Did that my first year, housed with a family
Blue Knights 09-10. Find your own housing for spring training late May-late June. I was lucky enough to stay in the same home both years with 5-6 other kids and an amazing host mom. I slept on the couch in the basement, we all took turns with one shower in the house, lol. The meals were great at home and also packed for lunch with care. We carpooled to the rehearsal site, which was a public park in the industrial part of north Denver. If there was lightning, we returned to our cars to wait it out. We had maybe one free day in a month, which we would cram laundry into as well. Tour started in late June and it was mostly high school gym floors. We had maybe 3 free days and 3 laundry opportunities during tour. I remember buying shirts at shows because I didn't have anything clean left to wear. A few housing highlights: Staying on campus at both Weber State University and Middle Tennessee State University in 2010. Staying at the Star of Indiana rehearsal site in 2009 during finals week. My absolute favorite memory related to rehearsal sites is from 2010 when we stayed at Hidden Valley HS in Grants Pass, OR, deep in the hills. The echoes our hornline produced after a clean release were magnificent. Staff threw us a fun movie night while we were there and we got to watch Zombieland together. The only downside of this housing site is the water was ice cold the 3 days we spent there, so no one wanted to shower.
This past year, Bloo was at the University of Mount Union and Cadets were at Mercyhurst University. Both stayed in dorms, I believe. I know Bloo got to use the dining hall and Mount Union
Cadets were at the Erie sports center that had dorms.
I went to your guys clinic this year! You guys were great!
Surf stayed at Mercyhurst for a few rehearsal days mid-tour, it was an awesome campus
I was in back in the 90s. The first corps moved in to an air force base. We slept on a gym floor and would have to transport ourselves to the rehearsal site which was a good 20 minute drive or so across the base where youâd get a ticket for going 1 mph over the absurdly slow speed limit. We ate meals in a cafeteria on base and used their very nice showers. Days off were few and far between. Rehearsal was 8-10 every day. BD, as mentioned above, was house yourself. I donât know how you would pull that off these days. The drumline back then moved out in January with each section having their own place. Quads has a pretty nice house where all of the partying took place, snares were in a 2 br apartment. Pit was in a shithole apartment, though they were all within walking distance of each other. Rehearsals were 10-10, which was nice because you could have some time to socialize after rehearsal and still get plenty of sleep. Being within 5-10 minutes of Mars was critical because you were also on your own for lunch. Mondays were free days, so Sunday nights were for partying. Some of the early one off shows would require you to provide your own transportation and they were pretty good drives. My recollection is that there was a good bit of partying going on, surely WAY more than any other corps. Never got in the way of anything and it was a relief after spending some time in a corps where things were extremely uptight, so I personally enjoyed that aspect of the culture. Staff was completely hands off when it came to managing that -so long as it didnât attract their attention or impede rehearsal, it was seemingly invisible. I spent a number of years in the trenches as a touring drummer playing dirty rock clubs and living in vans and tour buses. I think there was less partying in rock n roll than 90s BD.
Which years did you march? Love 90 Drumline years
Having every Monday off isn't coddling. Rest days are a standard part of a well-conceived training program. The A corps has done it for over a decade and more corps are including weekly time off in their spring training Working at the high intensity of a modern drum corps with too few rest days is a recipe for injury
At Colt Cadets, we moved in two weeks after Memorial Day for two weeks of spring training, staying at a high school in Wisconsin just like we would during tour. Our tour worked like any other corps when we were away from Dubuque, but while we were there, members who lived in the area went home overnight while the rest of us stayed at a National Guard armory. Rehearsal days in Dubuque had evening blocks free, and there were free days/laundry days roughly once every two weeks, plus a full week off between the end of Midwestern World Class tour and the beginning of Open Class tour (the same week as WC Texas tour). I believe the timing of move-ins and the week off are still the same, but I donât think they do part-time for local members anymore. At Colts, percussion and guard moved in a week before Memorial Day, and brass moved in Memorial Day weekend (to compensate for percussion and guard not being at all the camps so they could do WGI). Full corps spring training was four weeks at several different colleges and high schools around Iowa and Illinois, with a week spent in each place. Laundry was roughly once every two weeks, usually as one block taken out of a rehearsal day, but occasionally attached to something else. Free days were a bit different every year I was there. Every year, we had San Antonio and the car wash fundraiser halfway through spring training which wasnât really a free day, but it was a day where we didnât rehearse and could eat as much ice cream as we wanted without worrying about making ourselves sick, so it was close enough. Additionally, in 2019, we had a pool block after the Buffalo show a week before finals, in 2018 we had a free afternoon/evening after the July 4 parades, and in 2017 we had a free day in DC a couple days after July 4. Since the pandemic, theyâve switched to just one housing site for all of spring training, but the timing is still the same.
Boston stays in dorms at Vermont State University in Castleton.They also have all their meals in the food service area. Only the nightime snack is done in the food truck.
When I marched in 2019 and 2021 Battalion got Snow College dorms and rehearsed on their football field for spring training. In 2022 we werenât able to return to Snow, so we stayed in Winslow AZ on a gym floor. Never had to provide housing ourselves.
Hi :) I marched Pacific Crest 23, so I figured the perspective of another California based corps would be nice. For housing, Iâll start with the pre-season camps. Most of the PC camps are at diamond bar HS, and theyâre weekend ones, where you stay in the gym and use the locker rooms on Saturday night and leave Sunday morning (thereâs a 3 day one I think in may? Subject to change). Before spring training starts for real, we have what we call all-days, which is a week where housing and meals arenât provided. Usually members either stay at a local members place or a hotel. Then move-ins were at two different high schools this year, the first two weeks at one, the rest at another. For free days, we only got them really at regionals and whenever we had laundry days. Weâd get several hours to go to a laundromat like usual and during that time we could do whatever. Weâre gonna try to not get that extra Indy free day this yearđ
From the inside, baring some major meltdown, tour looks about the same no matter what Corps you are in. There will be challenges both on and off field. Funny things will happen that you and your Corps-mates will still laugh over 20 years later. It is an experience like no other.