1996 is a tough year for me from a drum corps standpoint. For my age out season with the Glassmen, we went from our best season to date and an 8th place finish to seeing us drop down to 13th place and my junior corps career ending one day early at Semifinals. Ironically, I had started my drum corps career in 1992 by also finishing 13th, so it was an interesting bookend for my five years on the DCI field. I also was blessed to meet to great friends who were marching in the Bluecoats in 1996, Dave Edgar and Elle Lignoski, and, with our two corps spending a decent amount of time together on tour, I got to see them quite a few times. I even have a great photo of Elle and I in our respective corps uniforms at Semifinals night, my last photo in a Glassmen uniform and a great memory from an otherwise weird season.
Unlike the Glassmen and I, the Bluecoats repeated their best finish to date, finishing in 7th with their show American Celebrations. The show was also the second straight year the corps performed a show with a patriotic focus after their Homefront: 1945 show. American Celebrations looked at various holidays which Americans celebrate. The show opened with a countdown into the new year and the corps playing Auld Lang Syne as an intro before going into the return of My Funny Valentine, last performed in 1989. Where as the 89 version was straight up ballad, this version was full of energy and drive. Memorial Day came next, with the sounds of Taps and a lone guard member holding a tri-folded American flag, in a sense a memorial of the previous season.
Bloo went full patriotic for the next holiday, the 4th of July, featuring Yankee Doodle Dandy after a brief intro from Strike Up The Band, and then went industrial for Labor Day, with metallic sounds from the pit and, in what may be the most interesting use of sanitation equipment outside of Stomp, guard members playing garbage can lids like they were marching cymbals.
Then came the section of the show which puts the ’96 Bluecoats on this list, a celebration of Christmas. The front ensemble led off with a brief quote of Christmas Time Is Here from A Charlie Brown Christmas before the horns began playing Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. This was another true Bluecoats ballad in a long tradition of them, complete with a gorgeous soprano solo in the middle of the song, leading into the final impact of the show. The soloist finished the song as the corps ran into a tight circular formation. With the contrabasses providing a great bass line, the corps sang the chorus of Auld Lang Syne, bringing the show full circle and ending the show with the hope that a new year brings to all of us every New Year’s Eve.
