Traditions
- At the Bluecoats first appearance at DCI Finals in 1987, their over-the-top arrangement of the Joseph Kosma-Johnny Mercer song Autumn Leaves, with a fifteen member snare drum line brought forth the spontaneous long shouts from the audience of, "BLOO-OO-OO BLOO-OO-OO BLOO-OO-OO..." This has since come to be the audience's traditional greeting as the corps enters the field and response as they finish their show, which has become perhaps the most recognizable act of audience participation in the drum corps activity. Newcomers to drum corps are often shocked by this reaction, until it is explained that, “They’re not booing; they’re blooing.” (See and hear that 1987 DCI performance at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-aDgFbzpQ )
- The Bluecoats' corps song is, as might be expected, Autumn Leaves. The song has remained a part of the corps’ repertoire since 1987, and has reappeared in their 1988 and 1998 shows. It can also frequently be heard being performed during impromptu parking lot concerts after competitions.
- Although there have been departures over the years, the Bluecoats are widely known for performing big band jazz arrangements of their musical programs.
- Like most drum corps, the Bluecoats hold an annual “home show” near their hometown. It has become a local tradition that the Bluecoats’ home show is a part of the induction festivities for Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is also located in Canton.
- The Bluecoats have a tradition of giving each member a blue necklace with silver-plated pennies attached with a link from the chin strap of a Bluecoats helmet. Each member gets a penny for each year that they march in the corps; fifth year members also receive a nickle.
Read more about this topic: Bluecoats Drum And Bugle Corps
Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“But generally speaking philistinism presupposes a certain advanced state of civilization where throughout the ages certain traditions have accumulated in a heap and have started to stink.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)
“I think a Person who is thus terrifyed [sic] with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)