August 7, 2024 – Indianapolis, Indiana
I have comfortably settled into my new home away from home for the next few nights. It is a hotel across Missouri Avenue from Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the DCI World Championships, which start with preliminary finals on Thursday. The long and not-so-winding road across Central Ohio into Central Indiana was adventurous. Not having a plan can bring unexpected rewards. Once again, I was in the open, flat landscape of the Midwest, zipping along the checkerboard pattern of the one-square-mile grid of fields and farms. Wanting to avoid the copious amount of trucks on the interstates, we chose to take the B route, which provided a constant cruise across the pastoral countryside, intermittently interrupted by the occasional cities and towns. Eschewing the interstates and avoiding the constant convoy of trucks was welcome. The Silver Bullet purred along with no issues, enjoying the peace and serenity we did, not having to change lanes and constantly adjust the adaptive cruise control speed.
One such city that we discovered along the way, Bucyrus, Ohio, provided an unexpected reward. My fascination with the Lincoln Highway, the original paved road across the US, was the magnet. Feeling hunger pangs, I said, “Hey Siri, search for diners nearby.” The Lincoln Diner, just off US 30 on the old route of the Lincoln Highway outside of Bucyrus, popped up. Bingo! We set the destination. I often find diners to be a great source of local intel. The cook and waitress were eager to promote a visit downtown to see The Great American Crossroads Mural, painted by muralist Eric Grohe and commissioned by the city. Backtracking is always a concern, but it was well worth the experience to view the large-scale realism in the center of town, which depicts the streetscape of the past. Another, just down the street, featured Lady Liberty under an arch structure with columns that had faint images of the faces of all of the fallen soldiers in foreign wars from the city. A kiosk with a roster of names with identifying numbers is present, as the painter used photos of the faces to render them realistically and accurately. Cool and impressive.
Back on the road, we cruised across the countryside on the old Lincoln Highway for a stretch before getting back on the 4-lane Route 30 that replaced it. With no particular plan yet, we headed toward Marion, Indiana, to meet up with fellow drum corps travelers who were at the DCI Open Championships at Indiana Wesleyan University. Why not? There is no such thing as too much drum corps. Not having a ticket for the show allowed me to roam the lot and hang out beyond the fence at the back of the stadium for a rare view from the backfield. What I noticed immediately was the sound that was bouncing off a high brick wall at the bottom of the stadium directly in front of the corps’ speakers and ensemble, causing a cacophony of sound to echo back at the field. Occasional rain showers and the dreaded wind, the bane of the color guard, made for an unusually cool mid-summer evening. These factors must have made it difficult for the marchers.
I have to say that I was very impressed by the Open Class Corps. Everyone in all of the corps performed under not-so-nice conditions, with the spirit and elan equal to the World Class. The Spartans from Nashua, New Hampshire, took the show’s top honors. This is the third championship in four years for this solid drum corps, which leads me to believe that they will eventually elevate to World-Class. Blue Devils B took the field with a vengeance. Their show was also world-class-worthy, but they scored in second place. The venerable Blue Devils organization is well-primed to have many more championships in the coming years. Gold Drum and Bugle Corps from San Diego, California, took the bronze. These final summer performances bring out the best of each. What a great experience they all must have had this summer, ready to go back to middle and high school and share their stories with friends. Many of these kids will move on to a World Class Corps next year.
Spontaneity and serendipity are often at play in my life while on my drum corps tours. Once again, I found myself at the right place and time to meet another soul of significance, Robin Orr. He is a retired music teacher on a mission. Founder of Ram Pad, his mission is the art of percussion through practice, inventing some really cool practice pads. Robin takes his prototype pads to shows mounted on his roving bicycle cart for drummers to try out, creating a place for them to converge and share their cool stuff with each other. It also gives Robin feedback on future designs. Kudos to Robin for his passion for music education.
Attending this event was a bonus and a fitting end to our pilgrimage to Indy, driving the remaining miles to our comfortable home away from home here at this hotel. Tonight, there will be a DCI party at the Crown Plaza Conference Center downtown to honor the Hall of Fame inductees and to network. This is also the home of that lovely Kawai piano on Track 10 that I have had the privilege of playing over the past years while here in Indy. I hope to hit the keys again. Meanwhile, it is time to head out to enjoy an afternoon rehearsal and catch up with some friends. Then, I will take a nice urban walk in a city where I have logged many miles over the past seven years since running away with the drum corps in 2017. The final summer music games begin on Thursday. I will keep you posted throughout the week.
