January 22nd Rehearsal Kept Up The Progress!
January 22, 2006

Some of us traveled in early on January 22nd to hook up with friends and comrades to transport the equipment that is the life's blood of a drum & bugle corps. We trekked to St. Andrew's and carried in the tools of the trade: different styles of drums, horns, and guard equipment.

Director George Lavelle brought us together in the gym at 12:00 to give us our marching orders and focus us on the day's priorities. He said “Last practice was AWESOME and we took it to the next level. We're here to work hard and get a lot accomplished while having fun. That's a what being a Bridgemen is all about!!” The drumline went off by themselves to get in on the HYPE that Dennis Delucia channels into every drumline he's brought to prominence. The horns and guard spread out in the gym in formation to stretch out and get ready for some physical labor. George led us through some maneuvers to get our minds accustomed to moving while playing or doing guard work. We moved around in a box and let the Crazy Eights take over our concentration. We worked on The Bridgemen shuffle to improve our trademark visual.

Once we'd had a taste of what drill outdoors will be like, we moved on to our respective sections and let our other talented instructors take over.

Dennis Delucia got his drumline primed with Jim Mallen as his second in command. They are the most disciplined section of the corps as Dennis and Jim maintain a level of intensity and concentration that are instrumental to cleaning up such intricate, complex drum charts. The drumline weaves in an amazing layer of color and texture to our show, a percussive undercurrent that is the driving backbone of our show. To play such difficult parts cleanly is a testament to the determination of our instructors and the dedication of our drummers. Listen for the musicality and amazing rhythms when we take the field. If what we heard in the gym is any indication, people are going to marvel at what the battery brings to the table!

The Color guard brought their usual dedication to bear when choreographer/instructor Matt Hurley got them revved up. Nancy and Claire gave valued assistance to Matt as he reviewed what he had already taught and anchored the routines in our girls' memories. Sometimes subtle movements or accentuated sweeps can project so much, while other times it's more aggressive guard work that will command attention. Matt's color guard brings bright smiles, dance, and colorful banners to our visual program that will entertain the eye. Their boundless enthusiasm was on display Sunday as they worked tirelessly to lock down their routines and move into new territory. Our girls bring a level of playfulness to a corps that's been long missed!

Everyone in the hornline enjoys Matt Krempasky's instruction and it shows. He knows how to speak our language and get across what we need to accomplish in a way that's easy to grasp. We worked on musical phrases in our 2006 repertoire and isolated the sections we needed to work on together and at home. While working on our classic In The Stone, he said “We wanna have the right groove, have the right feel in the music. We need to move beyond the feel of Mr. Beat (bee goo bee goo bee goo!) and make this piece come ALIVE with the wonderful parts Larry wrote.” We even tapped out rhythms (“Imagine for a moment you're drummers”) to get a better feel for what our toungues need to do and to how to play it together. Larry soon arrived to kick things up a notch and push the tempos. We resisted at first, but soon felt the piece's momentum overtake us. Our music suddenly took on a new life up to tempo!

We brought it all together in the gym at 4:30. We worked together as a team and had a taste of what lies ahead. We felt the electricity of how this charges us up and will charge up a stadium of fans. We get pumped over the comraderie we feel here as we piece together what we've learned and see/hear what the other sections have improved upon.

We came down to rehearsal today to push our potential. The more we improve now, the more we can handle later on. We're committed to move this show forward and keep pushing what we can achieve. We know we'll have a memorably entertaining show ready to unleash on the drum corps community in a few months!

John Nadrowski always has great photos to share on his Bridgemen Tribute site . He also has photos from our fundraiser Bowl-A-Thon!

There's one rehearsal left before we close our ranks and write drill for those who have committed. Come to a rehearsal in Bayonne and see what we offer. If you want to hook up with other people traveling in, or just want to ask questions, contact Bridgemencorps@Bridgemen.com to find out more. Don't miss out!


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