Immaculate Conception Reveries
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The Immaculate Conception Reveries were a junior drum corps based in Revere, Massachusetts.
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[edit] History
The IC Reveries were founded in 1957 as a Class C drum corps with the Immaculate Conception parish of Revere, Massachusetts under then paster Father Lawrence Sullivan and corps director John Brown. After winning their first show and the division that year, the corps ascended to Class B in 1958 winning that division as well. In 1959 the corps jumped to Class A where they would continue to compete throughout the 1960's. Their first appearance at the VFW Nationals was in Detroit and the year was 1960. A junior or feeder corps was also founded about this time.
Sporting cadet-style uniforms, the instructional staff was made up of Ted Mcnaught on marching and maneuvering, his brother Joe Mcnaught on brass and Cliff Fisher headed up the percussion staff. The corps competed in both the Eastern Mass. and CYO circuits against the other drum corps "heavies" on the Massachusetts scene including the Boston Crusaders, St. Kevins Emerald Kinghts, and St. Mary's Cardinals. Director John Brown retired in 1964 and handed over the reigns to George Bonfiglio and the staff was also replaced as Jim Wedge took over on brass, Paul Dibasio on drums, and Wally Curtis on marching and maneuvering. John Shea also assisted Bonfiglio sharing the directors duties. Father Sullivan also retired in 1964, and after a number of short term pastors, Father Gallagher took over and remained in the position through the Senior corps final year in 1967. At the conclusion of the 1965 season, the Reveries were a respectable local corps but lacked the size to have a significant impact upon the National scene. It was at that time that the Malden Cavaliers disbanded and many of their members joined up with the Reveries and the corps almost doubled in size heading into the 1966 season. It was during that season that the fate of the drum corps would be irreversibly altered forever.
The Reveries achieved some of their greatest success during the 1966 season and as they headed into the VFW Nationals competition in Jersey City, New Jersey, they were coming off a week of victories over their Massachusetts rivals the Crusaders, Cardinls, and St. Kevins including a third place finish at the World Open, elevating them to the top spot in the state at that time. As Reverie baritone player Jerry Foley remembers, "We didn't do our best job in the prelims at VFW but it should have been good enough to make finals." The corps placed 14th in the prelims, two positions out of the finals and right behind the Racine Scouts. Both corps had received many tenths in penalties which had kept them out of the finals. But this was pre-Drum Corps International, and politics still played a large role in final results. As the drama unfolded, apparently someone from the Scouts was in tight with one of the show's sponrors and their penalties were overlooked. When members of the Reveries staff protested that if the Scouts penalties were going to be overlooked, so should the Reveries, their protests were dismissed and ignored. The corps was infuriated. George Bonfiglio and John Shea, along with other members of the support staff decided they were not going to take this lying down. Against the protests of people like horn instructor Jim Wedge who cautioned against any rash behavior fearing long term consequences, the directors instructed drum major Richard "Guss" Provist and color guard captain Sandy Mcleevey to march the entire corps up to the metal gate where the corps would enter for finals. In doing so, the Reveries had to get past St. Joe's of Batavia, New York, a finalist corps with a fierce reputation at the time. When St. Joe's drum major Joe Eduardo discovered why the Reveries were pursuing this course of action, he decided to offer the services of his corps and not stand in their way. As the corps reached the large metal entrance gate to the stadium, a voice from inside asked who they were, and when Provist answered "St. Kevin's", a corps that had made finals, the gate went up and the corps marched onto the field and into the drum corps history books. The entire corps sat down on the starting line and refused to leave until they were allowed to perform. As the story goes, Reveries quartermaster Frank Grayson was credited with holding up the gate for the corps to enter and wouldn't allow anyone to close it. After a tense fifteen minute standoff during which police were called to the scene, the show sponsors reluctantly allowed the corps to go on but they would not be judged and they would not be counted in the final results. The crowd, which initially seemed hostile began to swing to the corps side after word began to circulate through the stands that the corps was not treated fairly by the shows' sponsor.
To our knowledge, no such incident has ever been witnessed in the drum corps activity. It was an incident that would be talked about for years and as Wedge and others feared, the brazen act, though justified in the minds of many, would come back to haunt them in a big way. Upon their return to Massachusetts for the Eastern Mass. and CYO circuit championships, the Reveries' scores dropped significantly and they were all of a sudden scoring well behind competitors they had beaten soundly just two weeks earlier. Father Gallagher, the Immaculate Conception parish pastor was not pleased with the action either and tension between himself and the corps directors began to mount. The Reveries suffered through a disappointing 1967 season which saw them "blackballed" by many corps sponsors. And it was clearly apparent that the infamous "sit down strike" would be their undoing. At the end of the 1967 season, Father Gallagher informed the Senior corps they would no longer receive the support of the parish and the Senior Reveries were summarily cast adrift by the parish. There were reasons other than the "sit-down strike". The corps had begun accepting members from outside the parish and the pastor did not approve of the image the corps was now adopting.
By a strange act of fate, the parish had basically driven the final nails into the coffin of the Senior Reveries, but had unknowingly set the stage for the birth of a new corps that would go on to become one of the most successful in Drum Corps International history...the 27th Lancers. Bonfiglio would not accept the parish's decision to disband the corps so he approached the remaining members with the idea of starting a new independent unit with a whole new identity and new uniform. And they would take their name and image from the famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". The members liked the idea and on Columbus day in October of 1967, the 27th Lancers exploded on the drum corps scene. The dark cloud that followed the 1966 Jersey City incident would continue to hang over them until 1969 when the Lancers became too darn good for anyone to deny any longer. As the 27th Lancers, the corps would enjoy huge success until 1986, when the corps faded into drum corps history due to failing membership and financial concerns.
The story of the Reveries continued after the Senior Reveries were disbanded and the formation of the 27th Lancers. The Junior Reveries continued after 1967 and became a championship class C corps in the local Eastern Mass and CYO circuits for the 1968 season winning the "Triple Crown", Eastern Mass Finals, CYO Circuit Champions and the CYO Music Festival. The corps moved up to class B for 1969 where they took 3rd in the World Open Class B finals and won local championships. In 1970 the corps took 5th in the World Open Class B finals and won the "Triple Crown" again.
The Reveries, now under the management of Al "Slushy" Solombrino, decided to adopt a nautical theme for 1971, thus the red, black, and white sailor uniforms fashioned after those worn aboard the U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned fighting ship, the U.S.S. Constitution berthed in nearby Charlestown. Under the leadership of instructors such as Larry Kirchner, Rick Connor, John Powers, and Frank Annetti on brass, Joe Lyons, Frank Grelle and Al "Cisco" Collameano on percussion, and Arthur Reilly, Dick Burke, Frank Raffa, Franny Haines, and Karen Kelly on Marching and manuvering, the corps had risen through the ranks of class C and class B with remarkable speed, winning numerous local titles along the way. They made it to the big leagues in 1971 when they tasted their first Open Class or Class A competition and won. They had quickly matured to the level where they were now competing head to head with their former senior corps, now the Lancers. The closest they would come to beating their cross town rivals was at the 1974 World Open in Lynn's Manning Bowl when 27th outscored them 75 to 69. To their credit, the Reveries beat 2-7 across the board in execution but lost out in all three general effect captions. 1974 was also the year the corps lost much of it's assets in a devastating fire at the church hall. The corps was able to continue only because most of the uniforms and equipment was safe either at home with the members or in the equipment truck. The corps was in a deep financial crises as a result.
At the conclusion of the 1974 season,a devestating split in corps ranks saw half the unit defect to the Lancers, leaving the remaining half little choice but to merge, which they did with the Blue Angels of Danvers to form the Blue Angel/Reveries or Blueveries. They met with moderate success in 1975 winning a local circuit championship. For 1976, this new corps merged again with the Beverly Cardinals and became the North Star Drum Corps from the North Shore of Massachusetts. Under a "Dream Team" management group made up of Jim and Linda O'Brien, Bob Mulvanity, Bill Dunne, and Al Solombrino, North Star went on to finish in Drum Corps International's elite top twelve three years in a row, from 1978-1980. This successful run included numerous victories over local rivals such as the Lancers and Boston Crusaders, as well as national powers such as the Madison Scouts, Bayonne Bridgeman, Garfield Cadets, and Crossmen. The crowd pleasing approach to their program design paid huge dividends as the corps established a reputation of being one of the most entertaining units in the country.
Over the years this corps spawned 2 powerhouse DCI corps (27th Lancers and North Star) and many of it's former members went on to judge and teach many corps including a number of DCI champions. Many of these same people also taught several high school and college bands as well.
Contributed by Steve Solombrino with help from Jerry Foley and Mike Merrett.
[edit] Traditions
[edit] Trivia
[edit] See Also
[edit] External Links
I.C. Reveries site Alumni web site [1] photo site
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