Wandering Where We’ll Be

This post will be a bit of a grab bag of stuff related to preparations for our trip to D.C. to march in the Inaugural Parade.

Our parade uniform will consist of silver baseball jackets — under which I will likely have many layers for warmth, black pants, black shoes, black socks black gloves and blue berets.  I purchased my jacket when I registered online to play with the LGBA.  I have black pants and socks, but am buying black Keens from REI.  They’re being sent to my local store.  I got a deal on them because it seems that REI is discontinuing the style.  I wore a pair of Keens while we were traveling in North America and Europe and loved them, so I know how they fit and what size I needed.  I have a pair of black shoes, but they are not completely black, which was stressed.  Plus, I think the occasion warrants a new pair of shoes, right?  Oh, and gloves, I ordered and just received today a pair of black, leather drummer’s gloves by Zildjian (a cymbal maker).  I don’t think they’ll be very warm if it’s really cold, but they have great grip for holding my drum sticks.  If it IS really cold, I’ll probably bring some mittens to wear while I’m waiting in the lineup for our unit to step off, and then just tuck them into a pocket or into my stick bag.  This was another purchase that I made, and one that I can use for future parades as well.  I currently only have a stick bag for concert playing.  The stick bag I’ve ordered is one that can attach to the lugs of the snare drum I’ll be playing.  That way, if I happen to drop a stick, which I did in a Holidazzle parade once — I can stay in-step and just grab another one from my bag.

I have all five tunes that we’ll be playing memorized, plus the drum cadence.  Now, I just need to run them each day to keep them in my head.  I’ve downloaded the tunes to my MP3 player so I can play along.  I go to the basement, put on a marching snare, put one song on repeat, play through it with the written music, then without the music, then while marching in place — until I am comfortable with it.  Then, I do the same with the next song, etc.  The arrangement of Ode to Joy that we’re playing has two tempo changes — faster each time — and the ending really cooks!  And, I guess it’s a good thing that it’s fast because we’ll be covering the 1.6 miles of the parade route in 25 minutes, so we’ll be moving!  Yes, the parade is timed to the minute!  However, we’ll walk at least 4 miles, start to finish, when you factor in our starting location and where we are allowed to stop after we have entirely completed the route.

Also, Dan and I decided not to make the trips out and back each in one long drive.  I have a five-hour rehearsal on Sunday that I’d rather not do on little sleep.  So, we’ll leave early Saturday, put in a long day’s drive to get us to Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania, where we’ll stay at an inexpensive bed & breakfast.  Then, we’ll drive the last few hours on Sunday morning.  On the way back, we’ll drive most of the day Wednesday, stay over at the Hostelling International Hostel in Madison and finish the trip home on Thursday.

Here’s a YouTube video of the LGBA band, including snippets from the previous inaugural and other performances.  It’s kind of cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNiTsf5E-oY

And, finally, the local band that I’m a member of, the Minnesota Freedom Band, will be presenting it’s annual dance concert in February.  We began rehearsing again on Monday after the holiday break.  The theme of this dance concert will be USO Tour and will feature music selections from the WW II era.  For more information and tickets, check out the band’s website: http://mnfreedomband.org/home/

Tim

This morning I received the link to download the cadence that we’ll be using for the parade.  For those not familiar with marching terms, this is what the drum line plays and what the band marches to between songs.  The cadence is very similar to the one we used in New York City for the Village Parade; drum line coordinators substituted the first four measures with four measures from DC Different Drummers’ cadence.  DCDD is Washington D.C.’s local lesbian and gay band.  So, now I can make sure I have the cadence down and can play it in my sleep!

I continue to work on the other music.  Both Ode to Joy and Hold On… have tricky sections that I’m working through.  And, I’ve started to play along with the sound files provided by LGBA.  I set our laptop on my music stand, plug in some earphones and set one of the songs to repeat over and over.  I play it with the music out and, then, put the music away and try to play it from memory.  I’ve already come a long way, but still have work to do.

Also, here’s a shameless plug for LGBA, the group I’ll be marching with.  While we each paid a registration fee and are paying for our own transportation and accommodations, it certainly doesn’t cover all our expenses.  Read on…

If you plan on donating to LGBA in support of our Inaugural performance, you might want to write that check today.  A check today counts for your 2008 tax deductions, so act now!

We are raising money for a number of things needed for our Inaugural Parade performance:

      

A new banner…$400.

Hand warmers…$200.

Lunch at rehearsal…$1800.

Busses for parade day…$7000.

LGBA is extremely honored to be part of this historic event, and we hope you will consider making a donation, while we make history together.  Donating is easy through paypal at www.gaybands.org .

Thank you for helping us march into history!

Judy Ames

LGBA Inaugural Event Co-chair

Thanks,

Tim

Well, Dan and I will be traveling again in January.  No, we won't be gone for five months again (although, that sounds like fun).  We'll actually only be gone for about five days.  But, the event I'll be participating in ... [Continue reading this entry]