History of BDPA

The Blue Devils formed when in 1957, Bill Martin resigned as manager of the The Martinettes—an all boy drum corps and girl drill team. Ann and Tony Odello and the Concord branch of the V.F.W. acquired the unit and founded the Blue Devils—named "Blue" for the V.F.W. color and "Devils" after Concord's local land mark, Mt. Diablo. Starting with fewer than 50 young members, the inaugural edition of Blue Devils took the form of an all-boy "Drum Corps" unit with only percussion instruments and a separate all-girl marching team.

In 1958, the Blue Devils added glockenspiels (bells) to their percussion line thus becoming a Drum and Bell Corps. Concurrently, the Majorettes baton twirling unit was set up as an independent unit of the organization though The Blue Devils Drum and Bell Corps continued to provide the Majorettes with musical accompaniment during parades and shows. Both units achieved early success in competitive field show events and city parades.

In 1961, The Blue Devils added color guard to the unit and competed against other ensembles in the California in the state junior division. The Blue Devils Junior Drum and Bell Corps—a mix of boys and girls—achieved remarkable success; going undefeated in the California State Championships from 1957 to 1970.

Mr. Tony Odello resigned as manager of The Blue Devils Drum and Bell Corps in 1964 and Jerry Seawright assumed the managers duties with Erlene Shaffer as manager of the majorettes. In 1965 the Twirlers fielded a group of twelve members to compete in field shows and parades.

In 1968, a third unit was added to the Blue Devils when the original Junior Drum and Bell Corps elected to compete as a Senior unit and a new Junior Corps was established. All of these units did so well that in the late 1960's, the Senior Drum and Bell Corps decided to make the transition to a full Drum and Bugle Corps.

In 1970, the Blue Devils recruited 10 brass players to join the talented percussion line and Color Guard from the Bell Corps. On February 14, 1971, the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps attended their first "standstill" competition in Downey, California. By the spring of 1972 The Blue Devils had grown in size to more than 70 members and traveled on their first summer tour to compete with groups in the Pacific Northwest. The Corps did very well and changed their category from B to A status that same year.

The Blue Devils "first toured on a national level in 1973, competing with hundreds of other organizations across the nation in Whitewater, Wisconsin. By placing a very respectable 23rd in the Whitewater National competition, the Blue Devils “A” Corps gained associate membership in prestigious Drum Corps International association (a status given to only the top 25 national groups.) Also during 1973, the Junior Drum and Bell Corps was converted to a B Bugle Corps, and an even younger-aged C Bugle Corps was established.

In 1974, the Blue Devils A Corps earned a full DCI membership by their 9th place finish at the DCI Championships in Ithaca, New York. Concurrently, the Twirling Corps continued to grow and attended their first U.S. Twirling Association (USTA) National Championships in San Francisco. The Twirlers were 40 members strong at the time and were accompanied at this competition by Blue Devils B Drum and Bugle Corps.

The Twirling Corps continued to grow after their first trip to the National Championship in 1974. They won their first National Championship in 1977 and went on to win six National Corps titles and twelve National Team titles, the most recent one in 1997. The Twirlers were gold medalists at the U.S. Trials in '82, '83, '84 and '86. They went on to compete in the World Championships in those years, and in 1983 and 1984 won two back-to-back World titles.

In 1975 the A Corps made a tremendous jump to 3rd place at the DCI Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1976, the A Corps won their first Drum Corps International Championship, sweeping all categories.

Since 1975 the Blue Devils have never finished out of the top five and have won the DCI World Championship title in 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023. The Blue Devils' record of 21 DCI championships stands as an envied accomplishment in the drum corps activity. Adding to their impressive record setting DCI world championships, the Blue Devils in 2005 won the prestigious World Music Contest in Kerkrade, Holland.

One Music One World - BDPA International Commitment

In 1983 the Blue Devil A corps attended the “21st Century Celebration” in Osaka, Japan. Additionally, “Devil's Advocate,” the Senior Twirling team of the Blue Devils participated in numerous World Competition twirling performances including Tokyo, Japan in 1982, Milan, Italy in 1983 (gold medal team winners), Calgary, Canada in 1984 (gold medal team winners), Turin, Italy in 1986 and Lyon, France in 1998.

In 1988, the Blue Devil percussion section was featured as the centerpiece of a week-long schedule of performances at Japan’s Mitsui Greenland, and in the spring of that year, the Blue Devils Winter Guard traveled to the Netherlands.

In 1992, the corps traveled to Nice, France, for “Carnaval”, and to the Netherlands for clinics and performances. The corps returned to Japan in the fall of 1996 for a ten-day tour of field shows, parades, theatre performances, and clinics.

The Blue Devils B Corps participated in the 1998 World Marching Festival in Kanagawa, Japan. The corps competed against other drum corps and marching bands from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia and won first prize at the festival.

Millennium year 2000 saw the Blue Devils’ thrilling return to Europe with a 3-week tour appearing in Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France. Also in the summer of 2000, the BD Winds completed a fourteen day Australian tour with performances in major Australian schools including the Newcastle and Queensland Conservatories of Music.

In 2002, a 38-member ensemble was the guest of the city of Okayama, Japan, providing a series of performances and clinics for Japanese elementary, intermediate, and high school students as part of the “Marching in Okayama” music festival. In the summer of 2003, the BD Winds embarked on a 18-day Scandinavian tour with concerts in Goteborg, Kristianstad and Stockholm, Sweden as well as the world famous Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. A 58-member ensemble of the Blue Devils returned to Japan in the fall of 2003 for an encore tour.

The Blue Devils returned to Europe in the summer of 2005, where the toured for 3 weeks culminating with a World Championship at the “World Music Contest” in Kerkrade, Holland. In October 2005, 14 members of the Blue Devils percussion section traveled to Seoul, South Korea to participate in three performances at the Seoul Drum Festival hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and organized by the Sejong Cultural Center. In October 2007, a select ensemble of the Blue Devils consisting of 24 brass players, 12 percussionists and 1 Drum Major returned to the Marching In Okayama Festival in Japan for the third time to participate in the 20th Annual Marching in Okayama Festival.

In December 2011, 30 Blue Devil members and staff participated as featured clinicians in the International Band Camp in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In September of 2012, 93 Blue Devil members and staff traveled to Guatemala City to perform a concert to close out the Guatemala Marching Band Championships. In December of 2013, 25 Blue Devil alumni and staff traveled to Taoyuan County, Taiwan to have a clinic and perform a concert as featured performers of the Taoyuan Band Festival.

2015 saw the beginning of BD International, a group made up of recent performers of the world champion Blue Devils as well as eight other world class corps throughout the United States. The first BD International tour travelled to The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland.

On Stage Series

With an opportunity to entertain and perform in an intimate theater environment, the Blue Devils created in 1997 a stage production, "Exhaltation". Created with wit and humor, "Exhaltation" told the story of a lost explorer in a dangerous land in search of the long-lost elusive "Contra Bass". While introducing the different sections of the corps to the theater environment, "Exhaltation" combined the intimacy of the theater with the power and exhiliration of the field performances. 1998 saw an expansion of performance opportunities and "Exubero" was created. Utilizing the story line from 1997 and introducing completely new musical and dance productions, "Exubero" was performed in Denver, San Antonio, and Ypsilanti to sold out theaters and in Orlando to a full capacity audience at Disney's EPCOT American Amphitheater. In 1999 audiences in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Denver, San Antonio and Madison were treated to the exciting "{Jazz} Man in the Moon", utilizing the talents of all sections to create a study of the ever present mystery of the effects of the moon on the cycles of Life. The 2000 On-Stage production thrilled fans throughout Europe and was the centerpiece of the European tour.

Off The Field

The Blue Devils have provided unique opportunities to their fans and members by offering performances and clinics with great artists in the musical world. The Blue Devils have been featured in concert with Maynard Ferguson, Bobby Shew and Chuck Mangione, as well as the late Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich. Clinics sponsored by the Blue Devils have featured Ralph Humphrey, Dave Weckl, Steve Houghton, Peter Erskine, Bob Montgomery, David Garibaldi and many others. Musical selections from these great bands and artists have been highlights of Blue Devils' repertoires over the years.