The Great 1984 Crossmen-Football Riot

7th Most Chaotic Event in DCI History

One of the craziest things I’ve seen in drum corps, was the Great Crossmen-Football Riot, which occurred in Parkersburg, WV.

BACKGROUND – PENNSYLVANIA, 1980s. BAND KID MISERY.

Every year of high school, our band was picked on by the football team, the jocks. The abuse was relentless, it was personal, and they were 24/7 f*cking mean. I think many band kids had that experience, at least in our area. it just wasn’t cool to be in the band, end of story.

EXHIBIT A – ME, HIGH SCHOOL. NERD.

So anyway, after graduation from Crestwood, I went on a national tour with the Crossmen.

Which was awesome.

The corps was good, and we thought we had a good chance of making DCI Finals.

EXHBIT B – CROSSMEN, ON TOUR

Soon thereafter, we had a show in Parkersburg, WV. The crazy incident started with football players making fun of a few Crossmen pit members in a convenience store after the show as they bought food. And the incident blew up, ironically, in front of the convenience store. You see, as the Crossmen bus convoy rolled past the football players, who were hanging out in the convenience store parking lot, we all flipped them off and screamed obscenities out of the bus windows. It was very funny.

It got less funny, when our bus stopped at a red light a short time thereafter.

Suddenly, a football player walked up up to our bus and punched a baritone player right in the fucking face (i.e., the window was open). BAM!!

True story. I think it was Wayne who got hit.

This was followed by 3 seconds of stunned silence on Crossmen Bus 2.

How should a drum corps respond to this?

We were baffled. (remember – cell phones did not exist yet)

And then confusion was followed by primal rage.

INSIDE CROSSMEN BUS 2

DEF CON 2

Suddenly, a bunch of guys jumped off our bus, and the fight was on. There were fistfights going on all around our bus, and the dude who threw the first punch was laying in the street.

The Crossmen officially started a riot. On tour.

Seconds later, Bus 3 unloaded, and 50 screaming berserker Crossmen in red windbreakers ran through traffic and joined the fight.

And the first unofficial Crossmen riot became a war. I kid you not.

THE CROSSMEN EMPIRE GOES TO WAR

And so, the war was on.

The Crossmen Empire vs. A Random Asshole Foootball Team

Punches were thrown, karate kicks were kicked, curses were screamed, and mobs of angry Crossmen chased football players down the street and through the neighborhood. Drummers swung sticks and mallets like medieval weapons, like Vikings pillaging a village, and our color guard screamed out the bus windows. It was drum corps gone berserk, all out total fucking anarchy in the street.

When the last punch was thrown, there were bloody football players all over the place, including one guy who had his shirt ripped into pieces, and another who crashed his car into a light pole, trying to escape from members of the Crossmen drum line.

Next, the Crossmen staff arrived, and they were of course, totally fucking angry. They screamed at corps members to get back on the bus, and threatened to leave us there. Somehow, they got everyone back on the bus, and the Crossmen convoy sped off into the night.

Miraculously, and I mean miraculously — there were no injured Crossmen when the streetfight was over, other than one guy who got punched in the face to kick off the festivities. And he played baritone anyway (drummer joke hehe)

[THEY HAD NOWHERE NEAR AS NICE A CAR AS THIS.]

THE BUS CHASE

At first, we thought we got away. The scene went from scary to funny again. We thought we might have just experience the greatest beginning to a tour ever.

And that illusion was shattered when the first beer bottle hit the bus.

And thus, the debut Crossmen riot turned street fight turned war, was followed by the 2nd annual Crossmen bus chase.

Like a Mad Max movie, combat raged between the 1950’s buses and the muscle cars cars as they sped down the highway. The projectiles thrown back and forth included beer bottles (them), drum sticks (X-men), garbage (both), and at least one Big Gulp cup filled with piss, which was strategically aimed at an open window.

Yeah, I know. It was insane. But war is hell. And the Crossmen were fighting to win.

And yes, this is not the story to tell at the next Crossmen banquet, nor shall this be one of the enduring legends of the Crossmen Empire. But it’s true. It happened. It was crazy.

And in hindsight — not only were we dog-stupid for launching an insurrection against a random WV football team, which could have ended the tour right then and there, complete with jail for the drum line and Thurston having to be defense counsel.

More importantly, and on a serious note — we were lucky someone didn’t get killed, on either side. Guns get pulled out these days for far less than this.

And for the record, I was a band nerd. I have no personal stories of bravery to tell. I did get off the bus, but I threw no punches that night, I have no karate ninja street fighting ability. I was more amazed by the chaos unfolding around me than anything.

DEEP THOUGHT – Good thing I didn’t have an iPhone, DCI might have folded the next day. hehe

Crossmen buses, Allentown. The best of the best. In 1952.

LIFE LESSON LEARNED?

On one crazy night in 1984, at an intersection in West Virginia, some dude threw a punch into a Crossmen bus.

The response by the Crossmen Empire was swift and violent, to the point of near catastrophe.

When the war was over, there were three or four bloody football players, one crashed car, a Crossmen baritone player with a black eye, and at least one local kid who spent the next three months cleaning the pee smell out of his car. In hindsight, he was probably the biggest loser of all.

But look, cats. Violence is never the answer. I do not condone or support violence, especially for a group of kids on a musical tour. It is a shame this happened. We are so lucky something really bad did not happen. Do not try this at home. Errr … on tour.

But having said all of that, I want to say one final thing.

For an 17-year old nerd band kid from Pennsylvania, who used to get picked on — that night in Parkersburg was like watching the best fucking TV show of my life. The “band kids” finally fought back against the football team, and when they did, they kicked the crap out of them. And nobody got seriously hurt (somehow).

As it turned out, this would be the Crossmen’s only riot of the 1984 summer. We were relatively well behaved for the remained of tour, other than said riot and the usual trouble with the 27th Lancers or whatever. And Curtis ate a caterpillar during a snare sectional once, not sure that counts as bad behavior on tour.

Thanks for reading. No offense to anyone, just sharing a fun memory from drum corps days past.

Lee Rudnicki

If you enjoyed this chaotic story, you might also enjoy my novel, My Immortal. It is equally chaotic, and references both the 1984 Crossmen and the CIA (true).

p.s. I have no idea what school the WV football guys were from, or even if they were actually on a football team. They looked like it, and at least a few were wearing team jackets, but nobody filled out a questionnaire. So, who knows.

THE GOLDEN ENDING – DCI FINALS