I recently visited The Real School of Music in Burlington, MA to speak to their students about how bands get gigs. The Real School has a week long summer music camp for Middle School and High School kids that groups them into bands and teaches them how to rock. They also spend some time learning about the business side of being in a band which is where I came in.

I talked about what a press kit was, walked them through a Sonicbids EPK and finally had the kids build an EPK for a few of the student bands. You can check them out here:

http://www.sonicbids.com/TheDragonsReal

http://www.sonicbids.com/CCBlackTrain

I learned a few things myself by talking to these young musicians:

• They have no memory of life without the internet.
• When I asked about the social networks they use a few were on MySpace, about half were on Facebook and no one was on Twitter (they said it was for stalkers).
• They told me I was an adult.

Any of these music students that decide to eventually make music their career to will be entering a music industry that’s completely different from any generation that’s come before. Where no one mails physical press kits, album sales are driven by YouTube videos instead of radio airplay and upcoming bands don’t need an insider booking agent to get great gigs opening for major artists at amphitheaters and stadiums.

One more thing, if you’re a stalker you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SonicbidsLou.

There are a few things you should never bring up on a first date:

1. You have a moving truck on reserve for Sunday morning in case this date goes well.
2. You need to call it a night since your cat’s performance of Les Miserables is at 7am.
3. You spent last weekend at a marching band competition.

Since you and I are not on a first date right now (although the way you look at me makes me wonder your intentions), I feel OK telling you that I spent last weekend at a marching band comepetion.

And it. Was. AWESOME.

Last weekend, the Boston Crusaders hosted a small Drum Corps show in Lawrence, Mass. Drum Corps (for those unfamiliar with toe-roll and pops-to-the-box) is like major league marching band, but without the steroids, gold chains or fantasy leagues.*

My Very Pretty Girlfriend™, being from a music family, is not a music person. Being a field hockey player, she understands competition but not how a bunch of dudes wearing doofy hats walking around in unison on a football field can be competitive (or fun to watch).

So I brought her along to experience my little guilty pleasure.

Being that this-here blog is read by music people, I think it’s safe to assume that most of the people reading this blog were probably in their high school band. And if you were in your school’s marching band, you understand the time and effort that it takes to put together a 10-minute show throughout the fall.** Multiply the hours and heat by 10 and now you’re starting to understand what it’s like to march in a drum corps. It’s hardcore. (Hard corps? eh?)

The show started off with an exhibition performance by a senior corps – made up of members who are too old to compete with their corps and lead normal lives otherwise. They didn’t move and were (understandably) not as polished as a World Class corps. At the risk of hurting a few feelings (send complaints here), the exhibition was pretty boring. This was MVPG™’s first show at a drum corps competition and her comment to me during their performance has been redacted by the Sonicbids management. It wasn’t what you would consider a “positive” remark.

But then something incredible happened. And that something incredible was The Crossmen*** from San Antonio, TX. Their show started out with a loud, fast hit that gave me goosebumps immediately. Their ballad was slow and awesome. Their finale brought everyone to their feet. MVPG™ ate it up and from then on, compared every other corps to The Crossmen.

Corps after corps performed and she would go on about how x and y were great, but they weren’t better than The Crossmen. She would hold her breathe when the guard’s rifles went in the air and clap for a great soloist. We made plans to travel to the 2010 Allentown, PA show before the fourth corps had even stepped off. She was finally understanding why I had been so excited for this one night.

Unfortunately, The Crossmen didn’t win that night (MVPG™ says they were robbed). But in addition to seeing some great performances by Phantom Regiment, Madison Scounts, Boston Crusaders, Colts, Jersey Surf and Spirit, I feel like I can finally watch a random corp’s peformance on my laptop without feeling her silently judging me from the other end of the couch.

If MVPG™ can get pumped about a drum corps show, you can too. The 2009 season ended with the DCI World Championships on Saturday night, but next summer there will be more than 200 corps performing all around the country that would love for you to give them a chance at giving you goosebumps.

* Business idea. I called it first.
** And the effort it takes to not punch someone when they say how much they loved that “Drumline” movie.
*** I didn’t know there was a drum corps wiki either!