1985 Suncoast Sound – Florida Suite

As I sit on the deck of the beach house I’m spending my summer vacation at, watching the ocean as the rain gently falls, I find myself thinking about drum corps shows which evoke that summer vacation feeling. One such show is the 1985 Suncoast Sound production of Robert W. Smith’s Florida Suite, a groundbreaking show in a number of ways and a joy to watch and listen to.

Florida Suite is an entirely original composition written by Smith for Suncoast, and, as result, 1985 was the first time a complete show based on original music compositions was performed on the field. While this is lauded today, the reception back in ‘85 was, shall we say, less enthusiastic, especially from the judging community.

From the Michael Boo Spotlight article on ‘85 Suncoast:

Smith had his own concerns about the show being accepted within the judging community, adding, “I remember the words from a DCI judges and instructors meeting that the drum corps activity was defined as the original visual packaging and original visual interpretations to the artful adaption of music from other forms. At our first DCI critique, a judge I love and respect looked at me and asked, ‘Who do you think you are? Are you Stravinsky?’ I told him I didn’t think of myself as Stravinsky, but maybe some day, people would think of me as a composer of repute.”

Boo, Michael. (2015, December 7). Spotlight of the Week: 1985 Suncoast Sound. Dci.org. https://www.dci.org/news/spotlight-of-the-week-1985-suncoast-sound/

‌The originality of the show went beyond Smith’s writing for the brass. Front ensemble arranger Kenny Brooks used various metallic accoutrements, including sheet metal, to recreate the sounds of a Florida storm during the “Cloudburst” percussion feature midway through the show, while percussion arranger Allan Murray had the bass drums and cymbals using techniques years ahead of their time in the closer, “Midnight In Miami”. The snare drums also got into the act, switching to “bong toms” to give a more Miami Latin feel to the music.

The pièce de résistance, however, was the reprise of “Simple Song at Sunrise” from the opening of the show. Initially performed as the title suggests, the song is indeed a hymn to the sun rising at the start of a new day. Tagged onto the end of the show after the party atmosphere of “Midnight in Miami” and performed uptempo with a celebratory nature, the song closes the show indicating the corps has partied through the night, welcoming the sun as it rises again on another day in Florida. Indeed, as I write this last paragraph, the rain is ending and the sun is returning to my vacation sky.