© Ron Wyatt
August 3, 2025 – Downingtown, Pennsylvania
We declared Victory before the show.
I am sitting at the bar at Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, with my drum corps tourmates, Boston Crusaders alumni, John, Marcia, and Chuck. We have been caravaning since leaving the Boston area back on Friday morning, which seems like quite a while ago, given the miles traveled so far, the people that we have met, and the shows that we have experienced. The two-day DCI mecca, Allentown, is in our rear-view mirror. We are in the final week of the regular DCI season with two more outdoor shows before the finals. Tonight is Big Sound in Motion, a new favorite tour venue in Pennsylvania that combines top Junior DCI and All-age corps. We attended this show last year with a contingent of fellow drum corps fanatics. I asked Siri to find us a nearby brewery, and boom, we found ourselves here. This being my second visit to Victory Brewing, a new favorite pit stop, I have looked forward to this cool taproom to catch up with you and enjoy a dinner and a Juicy Monkey Imperial IPA, which, in my humble opinion, has taken the New England IPA to a higher level. Reminder to self: pick up a four-pack to go.
Allentown Saturday Night
Bus Alley.
Allentown Saturday 2025 went off without a hitch. Ten more formidable youth ensembles made the pilgrimage from States across the country to wow the appreciative audience in Allentown, including Texas: Genesis and Crossmen; Arizona: The Academy; Georgia: Spirit of Atlanta; Wisconsin: Madison Scouts; California: Santa Clara Vanguard and Mandarins; Illinois: The Cavaliers; South Carolina: Carolina Crown; and Massachusetts: Boston Crusaders. Once again, I experienced the magic that Cedar Creek Park and the J. Birney Crum Stadium have on the thousands of performers as they take their turns to show their stuff. I had another good walk along the creek and through a string of parks and gardens. Sights and sounds mingle as phalanxes of members assemble and parade to a location to form ensembles and warm up. Pit members have pushed, pulled, tugged, and carried their musical regalia all over America to arrive at this mecca in the park. Good stuff, indeed, happens here in this open-air natural environment. Watch out for goose poop. Maybe it’s good luck to leave a little on the field at J. Birney Crum.
Spirit of Atlanta lifts off.
Saturday in the Park.
I don’t have the time to describe each performance. However, Spirit of Atlanta deserves special mention for stepping up early in the evening and setting a high standard for performers that followed. Their program, Rocket, is indicative of the corps’ upward trajectory since its successful reentry in 2023. The sweet spot, mid-summer evening, was perfect for the corps that followed in rapid-fire fashion. These adult-like kids from the far reaches of the country stepped up their game in the Allentown air, fresh and cool after the long slog in the south. Those of us well-seasoned fans in the stands were witnesses to another great expression of creativity, athleticism, and talent from the best of American youth.
Madison Scouts reveal the code in Nature of Being.
On the way here to Downingtown this afternoon, we stopped to watch a rehearsal by the Boston Crusaders at Lehigh High School. I was sitting in the epicenter of the high school stadium, experiencing the magic of Gino, Colin, Aaron, and others working the members methodically through the book. For some odd reason, tears began to flow. These events happen spontaneously when a feeling of gratefulness washes over me. It happens a lot while on tour and as I age. Two incredible nights of very stimulating drum crops are partly to blame. The positive vibes from this morning’s Friends of the Number Nine Schoolhouse conference call significantly contributed to this overwhelming emotion. Reaching for the hanky to clear the salties from my eyes, I was amazed at what I was seeing in the hot sun. Compared to the first time, way back in Vermont at Spring training, this was leagues ahead in clarity and precision. Coming off a win at Allentown, the tension is still high as BAC finished with a score just one-tenth of one percent off that of the Bluecoats the previous night. This rehearsal was serious.
Wardrobe on wheels.
Chuck warns that it is time to stop monkeying around and clam up this computer. It’s time to head to the Stadium early for Big Sound in Motion. The plan is to follow BAC through their warm-up in the lot and head to our seats during intermission. There will most certainly be a patio party at the hotel after the show, so I’ll try to catch up with you tomorrow while on the road as we continue our tour to Canton. It will be a long slog along the hilly and winding Pennsylvania Turnpike, busy with the commerce of America on a Monday. Thankfully, my co-pilot, who has become a highly skilled road warrior. Has agreed to do the driving.
Peace out for now.
Carolina Crown goes beyond the Rubicon.
BAC Particles and Nuclei 1.
BAC Particles and Nuclei 2.
The BAC Cyclotron.
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 – Delphos, Ohio
Chuck and I are at a ubiquitous Scottish-named restaurant somewhere along the flat landscape of Western Ohio for a pit stop, fast food, air conditioning, and power to get some work done, and WIFI to upload this post. We are heading west toward Indianapolis for the DCI World Championships, which begin on Thursday. On this Tuesday, there are more miles and music ahead. Chuck is on a call with a client, and I am finally catching up with you on our tour of DCI shows. Travel, music, and social merriment have kept me from my posts, so it is time to catch up with you on the past two days and two awesome drum corps shows.
Carolina Crown brings down the town.
Big Sound In Motion
Big Sound in Motion on Sunday in Downingtown was another great show. Before going into the stadium, we visited the lot, where we followed the BAC brass to an off-campus location for a warm-up. Eighty brass horns playing in a semi-circle make an impressive sound that reaches deep inside and riles up emotions that start cerebrally and manifest physically as chills, tears, and body rushes. This is BAC’s most impressive horn line since I began following them in 2017. Seeing them ranked number one in DCI is very rewarding, knowing the staff who have worked so hard over the past eight years to earn this ranking. Mahler’s Second Symphonycapped off a great warm-up led by Wes Booker, BAC’s award-winning Drum Major. The BAC musical bond, tighter than the bond between a nucleus and its particles, was exemplified in that lot. These traveling students, and those thousands of others who are on their way to Inday, are the impressive ones, though. Toiling from lot to lot, gymnasium to gymnasium, and field to field, their cohesiveness has been enriched.
The Colts are blowing away for effect.
Presented by the Reading Buccaneers, the Big Sound in Motion lineup included performances from four All-age corps: Sunrisers, White Sabers, and Connecticut Hurricanes. Once again, I was very impressed with the corps and enjoyed each show, though seeing them for the first time this season. Following them were the DCI Junior World Class corps: Colts, Carolina Crown, and the BAC. The shifting, graphically stimulating show In Restless Dreams, by the Colts, continues to tap into the consciousness with sounds of big and silent. Carolina Crown paints an exquisite tapestry and pushes the adrenaline to the end, launching those around me who are following them to Indy. But wait for the countdown. BAC had another successful above-ground test based on my detection at the epicenter. BOOM’s jazzy fun turns apocalyptic, then punches us in the face with the Interstellar theme. That night, there was PennsylMania for BAC.
BAC shaping matter in Downingtown.
BAC in the Lot 1.
BAC in the Lot 2.
BAC in the Lot 3.
Gino is now fully radioactive.
My thirty minutes are up. We are making progress across Ohio into Indiana. Our next stop is Fort Wayne, Indiana, for a visit to my favorite music store – Sweetwater before we head to Marion, IN, for the DCI Open Class Championships later this evening. Last night was the last outdoor show of the season in Canton, Innovation in Brass hosted by the Bluecoats. It was a rare head-to-head match-up between BAC and Bluecoats. I will fill you in on that in the next post. Peace out for now.
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