Another great memory was the Reading winter show before the '83 season. We were on stage with the perc section in the back to start with. Many of you remember we were smokin straight through the winter into the '83 season because most of the drum line returned.
Several Bucaneer drummers poked their heads through the curtains and were listening to us play. When we finished the off the line number - one of them said something like "holy crap, they're July clean in February! They are going to kick everyone's butts!" .............. and we did that year. Undefeated in perc that season.
Another one... the first actual show in '83 somewhere in NJ. The drum line was all tuned up and warming up on a path that all the fans were walking by. Again, we started out that year in top form. Hundreds of people stopped to watch us and could not believe what they were hearing. When we stopped you could hear someone say "is this Santa Clara that came all the way out here? No, it's the Sunrisers!" Their eyes wide open in disbelief. Watching their expressions that said "holy smokes, what a freekin drum line" gave me chills that day. Those are the moments of pure adrenilan that many of us remember and cherish for our lifetimes.
Another in '81 with that huge drumline of 10 snare and 4 North drum triples, etc. It was the Barnum festival. We were setting up in the crowd getting ready to play the street beat to march on. We (snares) were lined up in 2 rows of 5 so many did not see how big we were. There were so many people no one could get them to give us any room just by asking (yelling) so they cranked up the drumline. As the crowd starting parting like the Red Sea, the second row of snares came up and lined up with the other 5. Now 10 snares wide, the Red Sea, now had a path, exactly 10 snares wide. People eyes were bulging and they held their ears as we played our street beat. Playing while watching people's faces as we walked by was such a high!
OK, enough for now.
Joe Boroden, Snare Drum
