MANCHESTER – IF YOU PLAY well with others, can march in a straight line while moving sideways and backwards on your toes, enjoy loud music, and live for the roar of the crowd, then the Muchachos drum and bugle corps has an old polyester bell-bottomed uniform with your name on it.

"Everybody always says, 'What would Manchester be without the Muchachos?' Well, this is a good time for people to help us out," said corps director Al Gagne during last night's regional drum corps competition, held at Memorial High School's Clem Lemire Stadium.

Six units, whose members ranged from 12 to 22 years of age, participated in the three-hour event.

Gagne sees the annual "Fiesta de Musica" as a great recruiting venue -- mostly because it works.

He already had a short list of new members, including a local middle-schooler and a 1982 Memorial graduate, when a young couple approached during intermission.

Jessie Cole of Fitchburg, Mass., and Stephanie Bourgeois, of Manchester, had been to the group's Web site, and decided to come to the festival to ask Gagne how to join the color guard.

A few minutes later Claudia Mosher of Gilmanton, who has a historical relationship with unitards, dance moves and marching in formation, wanted to know when and where the next rehearsal was.

She's trying to talk her husband into signing up, too.

"He used to play in the Beverly (Mass.) Crusaders, but so far I can't convince him to join with me," said Mosher.

Then a retired guy from Farmington, who still remembers the drum and buglers heyday of the 1950s and '60s, said he'd love to get back to it -- if only the Muchachos didn't rehearse on Sundays.

"Church isn't negotiable," he said as he walked back to the bleachers.

"Hey, I should have told him one of our members is a priest," said Keith Raiche, who thought of Father Peter Dumont, spiritual leader at St. Paul in Candia and baritone bugler for the Muchachos, too late to entice another horn player to the fold.

Raiche, who blows a mean contra bass for the group, was just a teenager when he became a Muchacho in 1975. He aged out in 1981 when he turned 22, but came back for sentimental reasons when the Muchachos reunited during the city's 150th birthday celebration in 1996.

"The response was so great during the sesquicentennial, the Muchachos decided to get back together," Raiche said.

Because they are a non-competitive band, the Muchachos are able to recruit members as young as 14 with no upper age limit. If you can move to the beat, you're welcome to join, Gagne said.

And even if you have no interest in marching, but would like to make a tax-deductible donation to support the cause, the Muchachos were granted nonprofit status last year by Drum Corps International, Gagne said.

"Currently we have 32 marching members, but we'd like to have 65 to 70. We need bodies," Gagne said. "We have the equipment to handle that many members. What we're working on now is improving the quality of our performance, so that people will say, Hey, I want to be a Muchacho.'"

He said he's sure last night's crowd of about 750 noticed they didn't play their signature tune, "The Lonely Bull," during the opening number.

"We've not been playing it well. So, we're going to learn to do it better, work on our arrangement and get it right," Gagne said.

Although the Muchachos don't have the expenses competition bands do, they still have needs, Gagne said.

"For example, our uniforms are 12 years old. Our cummerbunds ride up because of the shape of many of our bodies," said Gagne, smoothing his shirt in the front for effect. "We'd like to upgrade."

They also are in need of rehearsal space, once summer is over. Their usual spot, the Boys and Girls Club, will be under construction.

Of the six teams competing last night, only the Spartans, of Nashua, were there representing the Granite State.

Eight field judges moved along with the group, listening for precise musicianship while recording missteps and flag fumbles.

Spectators -- particularly those like David Lafond, Muchachos brass instructor, who are normally in the trenches -- watch closely, too.

"See that phasing right there? Phasing means their feet are not quite in synch," said Lafond, critiquing one of the squads on the field. He admits he's picky when it comes to precision.

"I've been doing this for a long time, so I see everything," Lafond said.

Over the years just about everything about the art of drum and bugle corps has changed.

"The hot topic right now is that they are allowing amplification of pit instruments on the world-class level, and some voice for narration. Some think it's progressive, but others think it's over-the-top," Lafond said.

"It makes it more like a theater production and less about the drums and horns. It's a distraction from the kids, which is really what it's all about," he said.

After the scores were tabulated last night, the Citations of Burlington, Mass., prevailed, winning the gold with a score of 72.50 out of a possible 100 points.

Longtime Citation supporters Joe Seiders and his family were satisfied.

"My wife was in the color guard for the Citations years ago," Seiders said. "And my son, Joe, played for them."

His younger son, 10-year-old Tyler, a drummer and aspiring Citation, watched carefully as each group performed. In two years, he plans to be marching backward and twirling his drumsticks with the best of them.

"I'm definitely joining," he said. "I can't wait."

Results of last night's DCI Summer Music Games 2008 Open Class Event:

First place: Citations, Burlington, Mass. 72.50 points;

Second place: Dutch Boy, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, 65.30 points;

Third place: The Spartans, Nashua, 63.20 points;

Fourth place: 7th Regiment, New London, Ct. 63.15 points;

Fifth place: Les Stentors, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, 53.10 points;

Sixth place: Targets, Springfield, Mass., 50.85 points.