ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Jubal truck at te Mont Blanc

It's travelling-time for this year... Just got back from a quick trip to Italy after spending all day Saturday in Belgium.

JUBAL is on tour in Italy this week. Unfortunately I had to return to Dordrecht this morning because I have to work the rest of the week, so I'll miss all the fun the corps will have and the free day in Milano. Oh well...Ï've got more trips coming up, so I can't complain....


We participated in the Open international Italian Championships in Busto Arsizio on Sunday. A marchingband and drumcorps event well-organized by the IMSB organization, run my friend Felice Cattaneo and his staff.

The judging panel uses a different manual from the one used by Drum Corps Europe or other corps organizations. The scores therefore were quite high, and a lot different from what we expected. The show we performed at the Pro Patria stadium in Busto Arsizio was not too good. Lots of balance problems. Obviously we also missed quite a few members who couldn't join us on this trip due to work or school.

The corps is housed in a huge gym in Lecco. This is the same place Blue Devils stayed at when they were over in 2005. Perfectly arranged! They even proved beds for us!

The food is excellent. Massive buffet-style dishes with an incredible variety of food! Much better than we usually have on trips abroad.

Yesterday we rehearsed a couple of hours. Rehearsal was interrupted by some serious thunderstorms. Fortunately it dried up later that afternoon, so the performance in downtown Lecco was OK. The local Fabfara Bersaglieri also joined us in the parade. They're great! Dressed in army camouflage outfits, these (mainly ex-soldiers) musicians have a unique repertoire, and an even uniquer style! They run while they play. Most of the repertoire are fast-paced songs. Haven't seen many band do that!

At the evening show in the Lecco sports complex we were on first. The show was much much better than that of the previous night. We were on first. The finale with the three bands on the field together was another experience alright!

It wasn't quite clear in what order the bands were supposed to leave the arena, so when the Bersaglieris tarted playing the rapid music again, we first of all started marching to their tempo, but soon started running off the field the way they do it. This caused a lot of aughter among the crowd and the organizers of the event.

I got a ride back to Milano from Daniele Valeri, band director for the Giuseppi Verdi Marching Band, who put me up at his house for a few hours and then drove me to the Malpensa airport at 5AM.

The flight schedule worked perfectly with my working hours at school. The plane took off at 7:15AM. I didn't even stay awake through take-off and slept most of the flight. Arrival in Amsterdam was 9:15. Had to wait a while for my luggage, took a train to Dordrecht at 9:45. Got there at 10:50. Took a taxi to school, dropped my luggage in the teachers' room and headed to my class and was teaching at 11:15AM. How about cutting it short?

I looked into flying back to Italy to hook up with the corps again this Friday, buit first of all the corps much further south, so quite far away from the airport, and second of all,.. the flight rates range from 150 to 240 euros for a single. I guess that's a NO.

Next trip is back to Paris this upcoming Monday...

Enjoy,

HK