Spotlight: 1981 Bridgemen

[@Saxcat20]

Wish we saw those crowds now. The best part of watching these are the huge crowd reactions (that and the amazing old school sound the bridgemen had.)

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

Openers don't get much better than this! Everything you could ever want. Thanks for sharing this part of drum corps history.

[@tucker.84]

The Bridgemen were probably the best show-style drum cor DCI has ever had. ( Except for maybe the velvet kights ). BRING THEM BACK !!!

[@luvspaiste]

I love how you can actually hear the bass drums.

[@damianmorkevich7475]

Still can't find the 78 Bridgemen show. Please put that on KZbin. Thank you for 77. The no 1 drum corps of that year, I mean listen and look at that show. Jim Brady blew any soprano player away that year and the HORNLINE. And my snareline we're top's. I never got a tic all year at 14 yrs old. Not bad for a homegrown Bayonne boy . And please put on 1980. Thank you very much, Damian........💛🖤

[@alfiocco8380]

I marched brass in 83 last year the corps made finals in Miami. Miss the whole creww

[@jeffteetz5041]

78 was my favorite ever

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

1:30 Yes!

[@rodneyortiz2477]

Does anyone have the 1980 & 1981 Bridgemen shows?

[@c.p.5167]

This says it's the 1981 show.

[@slotcargene1]

LOL! 🤣

[@ihatenjoi]

Do some '83 Bridgemen please.

[@rodneyortiz2477]

Is there away to get the full show

[@MrMetroMantis]

I don't mean to be rude, but is it just me or do their uniforms look oddly like raincoats?

[@johncruz7923]

They are raincoats.

[@c.p.5167]

It's supposed to be that way. That was (and is) their "thing." They were referred to as "the bananas."

[@tomshea8382]

No they're not. They're a look that Bobby Hoffman co-opted from the African-American community in the 70s, after he saw a dude outside the Apollo in Harlem who was wearing a long Clyde Frazier coat and wide-brimmed hat.

[@tametz]

I thought it was because they rained down fat chords with a thunderous battery. 🤷‍♂️

[@DennisJohnsonDrummer]

Groups played actual melodies back in the day. Now...not so much. It is what it is I guess. Progress? Depends on your perspective and taste in music.

[@hun64597]

I'm sorry.... But Drum Corps now is 100 times better... I don't care if this is "Classic" or whatever... It is honestly very... VERY boring to me. But.. Hey. That's my opinion.

[@c.p.5167]

Rules about shows were much more strict back then, and they were coming out of military style, actual corps-type performances back then. If you could have heard the H U G E sound that came out of The Bridgement back then (I was in H.S.), you would be absolutely blown away.

[@mkepla8357]

C. Panter Do you know what brand of drums they used?

[@tomshea8382]

Ludwig until 1982, when they were the last Slingerland endorsers.

[@PrairieBoy99]

That's maybe because you didn't watch/listen to the Bridgemen's 1980 In The Stone or Big Noise, the Scouts' 1980 Malaguena or the Blue Devils 1982 opener T.O. I just listened to (didn't watch) the last 2017 and 2018 Blue Devils shows and neither had anything remotely memorable or enticing.

[@luvspaiste]

Hunter Johnson x