"San Francisco Renegades Drum & Bugle Corps"

the other side

sooo everyone knows about the glory side of drum corps and to a lesser extent the other side-fundraising. it's something that is said over and over to us by staff and board of directors. let's face it, fundraising is a key ingredient to a successful drum corps. the work can be tough, greasy, messy and long but it's worth it. being a Renegade we have to do 5 fundraisers throughout the year as part of our membership. i look at these 5 fundraisers as opportunities. a chance for me to make money for the corps, fulfuill my part of the membership bargain and hang out with some really cool people outside of rehersal and shows.

i just got done working two Giants games this weekend. i can't say how proud i am of all the people who worked the games. being memorial day weekend, it was hard to get people to work, so we were a little short handed. chaos always follows us, even during fundraisers! everything seemed to flow between us and we worked our butts off. special shout out to Lisa D for giving up her sunday plans to help with the game. i have memories that i can share with these guys for the rest of the season. the six of us who worked today got to be part of baseball history when barry bonds passed babe ruth on the all time homer list-cool memory. i'm tired and i don't want to see another hot dog for a verryy long time, but i'm happy cause i had a great weekend working with some great folks and raised some money for the corps.

the next time you have a chance to fundraise do it. you never know, you might witness a piece of history!

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Attention Earth.
The Renegades Need Snare Drummers.

Def Con 1. Read all about it on Blog 7.

Rain Rain Go Away!

I remember someone telling me that it only rains in California from January through mid April. Wow, was that wrong!!

This past weekend was a tough one for the guard but great at the same time. I still say this is the most talented guard I’ve ever spun with and I love it. We learned so so so much work and then learned drill. Spinning wet flags/rifles and turning soggy drill charts just isn't something that I enjoy doing that often! It was great to fix some of the drill issues this early in the season. Change isn’t a bad thing and change in May is way better than in August. The uniform measurements were taken which is awesome because it means that show time is just around the corner!!! The uniform measuring was ironically at the same time as we celebrated our beloved Spike’s birthday by eating birthday cheesecake. . .

So even with the rain and the wind this weekend on top of our scrambled overloaded brains, it was definitely a successful weekend for the colorguard and I can't wait till June!!

A Stairway Story

I went to high school in a small town in Northern Michigan called Ironwood.
The local AM radio station played local events and polkas. Except for 8pm - 10pm, when they would play Top 20 (Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Oliva Newton John).

I moved to Cupertino in June of 75 and as one of my first jobs, I contracted with my dads boss to clear all the weeds off his property. With rake and hoe and little AM radio, I started clearing weeds. Over the 3 days it took me to finish the job, I kept hearing this song on the radio (KFRC btw). This song was amazing. I had heard nothing like it. It starts out slow and pretty and then WHAM, theres this great rocken LOUD part. I was blown away.

So I kept listening to the radio to find out what the song was but could never catch it.

A couple of days after I finished the weed job, I was hanging out at a friends house listening to LPs and etc....

He puts this album on and it starts playing and Im like, very nice. Then THE SONG comes on !!!
I jump up and grab my friend and start yelling, "Who is this?!? Whats the name of this song ?!?!"

And he goes "Oh this is Led Zepplin and they are playing Stairway to Heaven".

PS - Led Zeppelin IV was released in Nov. of 1971

What will Thu be playing this weekend?

So she was playing a snare one weekend... something another... Mellophone LMS practice.. whats next???

well... come join us and find out this weekend!

in between recollections

so it's been a wild and crazy ride so far for me this season. i started out on bass 5 in december and now as of last camp i'm on bass 1..crazy no?? well, if there's one thing i've learned in drum corps it is to expect change...CONSTANT change. it can be challenging at times but if you have the right attitude it can also be fun. and with the Renegades, it's not just change it's chaos. you've heard us talk about or mention it. we thrive on it, i don't know why, maybe because we had to fight for everything when we first started. so, the next time you have sudden changes in your life or in drum corps just look at it as a little bit of chaos and maybe it'll bring a smile to your face.

May Camp #1 Big Success

Woo hoo! Another successful camp behind us! Some random notes:

- After seeing the "Stairway to Heaven" drill on the field for the first time, the phrase-of-the-day... "Jay Muphy is a genius."
- This year's corps learns drill REALLY FAST!
- This will be the best Renegades guard ever. Period.
- Having Joe, one of the original 7 Renegades, back in the baritone section is a major hype (where is Stomper?).
- Having R2, 2004 I&E Contra Champion, back in the contra section is a major hype (where is Tats?).
- Seeing Jake, legendary bass drummer, back in the bass drum line is a major hype.
- Backing up the pit trailer is a LOT harder than it looks.
- When it's warm out, Treasure Island is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

All in all, a very successful camp! Good job, everyone.

See you on the 50,

- Greg

Renegades Camp, May 6-7

Treasure Island, CA.

Join us in putting the most Evil and intense show in Renegades' history onto the field.

More info at http://www.renegades.org

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