SkyRaider

The Spanish tune the Marines played was (in large part) Quien Sabe/Macarena from Sky Ryders 82-83. I was a rifle in 82 and DM in 83.

So we've basically got a high cam and somebody shooting the pit with his cell phone. I don't think that's really the multi-camera experience we were hoping for. posted from the DrumScorps app

It hasn't really been close between Colts/Troopers and Crossmen/Blue Stars/Boston all summer. It's fluctuated between a 1.5-3 point gap head-to-head.

I didn't even think they should have won that year. They were very good (although I never really liked corps repeating entire shows), but Phantom's "New World" show was fantastic.

I loved the Blue Stars way back when I first started watching drum corps over 30 years ago. I very nearly teared up in the theater on Thursday at the end of their show. It is really great to have them back in Finals, and with a wonderful show. One of my favorites this year. Congrats to the entire Blue Stars family.

To me, that was the biggest travesty from last night. I can see them no lower than 2nd. BD in front of them - maybe - but that's it.

Ok, I laughed so loud at that I woke up my wife. Brilliant. Back to the original post. After hearing Brandt's voice on TV and vinyl albums literally hundreds of times, I can't describe the thrill I had when I was on the field and heard him say, "On the starting line, from Hutchinson Kansas - the Sky Ryders!" No telling how many thousands of young people have felt that excitement. It is a wonderful and vital part of the drum corps experience.

I didn't see tonight's show, but based on what I saw last night the greatest travesty is that Crown's guard finished lower than 2nd. I can live with BD being higher, but that's it.

Last night after hearing George Hopkins' interview after the show, I couldn't help but think that the narration remained in the show out of his sheer stubborness. He recognized that it wasn't working, and it wasn't. It's not just that it wasn't particularly effective - it had nothing to do with what the rest of the corps was doing, which is worse in my book. It was otherwise a perfectly good show that would have been just fine without a stage or an amplified word. I didn't see the show early this season, but I understand the narration underwent significant changes - to the point that apparently a whole different story was being told. Why leave it in? Why not cut your losses and just put on a really good drum corps show? I am convinced that it is possible to effectively use narration, but this particular show is, to me, the poster child for those who hate it.

Is that a rule change from the 80s? It must be, because I would have had another year to march if it were the rules at the time. I think when I marched it was that you aged out if you turned 21 at any time before finals.

'83 was better, in my opinion. Of course, I was the drum major that year, so what do I know?

I believe Quasar winter guard (loosely affiliated with the 27th Lancers) used that in the early 80s. I remember the video, because George Zingali was sanding in the background dancing and cheering the guard on during the performance.

Did anyone else catch Hopkins' pep-talk on TV last night where he told the members something along the lines of "They might not like the artistic direction you have chosen, but they can't deny the quality of your performance"? While I agree The Cadets performed that show extraordinarily well, I found the first part of his statement to be suspect. The marching members don't chose the artistic direction of the show. They perform it. They joined the corps to be part of The Cadets, and who can blame them? It is a great corps. Hopkins and the rest of the staff chose the theme, the repertoire, and they made the decision to use narration to the extent it was used in this show. The marchers took what was given them, and ran with it. By the way, I want the Cadets to be what they were in 2000. That was a great drum corps show.

There's a place for woodwind players in drum corps - the color guard. By the way, that lead trumpet in the MIX video was a beast.

If, in fact, it came as a result of the response to the '93 show, I think the decision by Star's director to drop them from DCI competition was as immature, if not even more immature than the fans' decision to boo them in '93. It was a complete act of vanity. When a director puts together a show to please himself, he should only blame himself when it doesn't connect with the audience or judges. Sometimes a show doesn't work out as well on the field as it did in your head.