Lieut. General Effect

'75 Hawthorne Muchachos... Hands down. ...Nobody else even close. ( but that's just one guy's opinion here, mind you )

'' Star 93 " ?.......Hardly. That Corps finished in 2nd place ( to the Cadets ) that year. Even with the judges. And by no means were they the fans favorite that year.

I like variety in shows and approaches. 3 years ago, at DCA Championships, I watched a Corps from Japan ( the Inspires )whose average age was probably about 22, entertain the DCA crowd with a highly innovative, sophisticated and "quiet show " that simply dazzled everyone in attendance. The crowd was mesmerized by their truly stunning musical and visual show. Within moments, I and others listened to another competing DCA Corps ( San Fran. Renegades ) that literally peeled our ears back. I hadn't heard a wall of sound like that since "95 Madison Scouts. It was incredible. Mouths dropped wide open at their opening chords. The Empire Statesmen exuded showmanship and were very entertaining. I could go on. But the bottom line is... there are very few people who leave a DCA Finals weekend of mini Corps Competition, Alumni Corps Spectacular, IE Competition, and the DCA competing Corps competition, saying they did not enjoy themselves with what they saw and heard.

I agree. Boy, does this poster seem out of the loop regarding DCA. Personally, having attended both DCI and DCA Finals both the last 2 years, I'd say neither is more superior to the other in the overall 3 day entertainment package. If pushed, I might say that DCA was a tad more entertaining as the short season made no Corps a clear favorite and there generally was a real question mark as to who would win. That made it exciting. 3 years ago, a Corps from Japan, the Inspires, shocked the DCA Crowd in attendance. They literally came out of the blue to compete at DCA, and they were clean, polished, sophisticated and musically and visually stunning. They beat a lot of Corps that never anticipated them in the mix at all. That made things very interesting. At DCI, once the Semi winner is announced ,you pretty much have the winner of the Championship. That's because for the last 30+ years, the Corps that wins the DCI Semi's almost always wins the Championship. There are also many more surprise placements between the Semi's and Finals at DCA than DCI most years. ( Inspires beating Hawthorne Cabs ) Plus, the DCA crowds are getting more of a younger audience every year, as more younger people opt for the DCA Corps than in previous years. I like DCI. But DCA is on the right track, as it's member Corps continue to grow, and it's audiences grow in numbers as well.

Everyone is entitled to a contrarian opinion and you've expressed yours. The 2005 Phantom Regiment were, hands down, the crowd favorite from coast to coast this year. No other Corps came close. The applause they got when their score was announced at DCI Finals made the announcer have to stop before he could anounce the next score as he correctly concluded that he would not have been heard over the din had he proceeded. So he waited until the thunderous applause stopped.That said, there were surely a handful of people at DCI like yourself that felt the 2005 Phantom Regiment was " uninteresting " compared to earlier Phantom offerings. It just demonstates that when it comes to personal likes and tastes, not everyone has the same likes nor dislikes. And if they did, how boring that would be.

I'm in. SCVwere a definate crowd favorite at Quarters, Semi's, and most definately on Finals Night in Foxboro, Ma. ( The hand they got completely dwarfed that of the Blue Devils for instance )

I'm a sucker for Crown's " Angel " ballad. It sounds so smooth on audio. It has gone right into my top 10 best Drum Corps ballads of all time.

The year the Bridgemen awesome drum line line played a piece blindfolded with bandanas. That was pretty " cool ". That " groovy " concept was later incorporated into the stage hit " Blast " by that group's shows designers too.

The first time I ever saw the Bridgemen enter the field . That Corps lived and breathed the term " hip ", ..." cool "..." groovy". Nobody took the field for competition like they did.... NOBODY. Prior to them , Corps members marched onto the field to take up their field formations. The Bridgemen ? they had a Completely different entry onto the field. Their entry was a very defined and very unique.....SWAGGER entrance. Right away...instantly....the audience knew that this Corps was definately" different ". Those who were around to see the Bridgemen know exactly what I'm talking about, I'm sure.

ESPN will be able to gauge TV 's that stay tuned to the program, and those where interest waned for one reason or another and the remote was used to switch channels. So we will learn not only the raw numbers, but the internal activitiy as well, as to whether or not a viewer who switched on the DCI telecast stayed with the program, or became bored and switched quickly after initial peaked curiosity. My guess, ESPN will be doing a focus group, or sampling, and will be able to get back to DCI with the good or bad or so so numbers regarding the national audience reation.

Either way, this ESPN telecast will be providing us all with an innovative and fresh look from outsiders as to what they think of DCI brand of Drum Corps. If the ratings are good, it wil tell us all that DCI is on the right track in growing an audience. On the other hand, if the public is confused or disinterested with the shows, then this might be just the impetus that DCI needs to change it's format to become more general audience friendly. Then again, if the ratings are low, and DCI Corps do not change, then we can at least acknowledge that DCI is happy being an activity that has liitle popular appeal, and any future claim that DCI is interested in growing the audience base ( without more general audience appeal as a priority ) is simply hollow rhetoric. So either way, we are going to learn some very interesting things when the ESPN telecast numbers come in after the telecast. I'm not nervous at all. Why should we be ? It's all good as far as I can see. As we will learn some interesting things. And learning some interesting things can hardly be a negative for those of us not involved in the decision making at DCI or the DCI Corps music and visual design at all.

I was in Foxboro in 94. Blue Devils were the crowd favorite. Madison a close second. Madison 95 though was the crowd favorite. 89 Santa Clara's Phantom of the Opera was a classic. Hands down the best in 89.That's why it was voted best show ever by DCI fans last winter. ( I actually thought SCV 88 version was better ) Although 89 Phantom was also a heck of a show, and one of my favorites. I'll also put in a plug for Blue Devils 86. They won that year, and If there was a better crowd favorite than them that year, I forget who that was.

75 Madison, 84 Cadets, 88 Madison, 89 Santa Clara , 94 Blue Devils, are a few that immediately come to mind.

Crown. I've played all the ballards of the top 12 on DCI Pass. Crown's ballard sounds just as good to me as when I heard and saw it live. Their ballard was simply " angelic " this year. One of the best ballards I've ever heard. And I have heard quite a few. Cadets drum line parts ruined what would have been a close 2nd choice for me, despite the fact the brass arrangement and execution was superb. I understand what the snare line was doing in this ballard with it's different tempo from the brass section and that fit in well with the theme. It just gets beat out by Crown's ballard that overall was just more pleasing to this poster's ears in the end. Percussion, battery, and brass line all were better integrated into Crown's ballard to give them my vote. What an incredible mellophone line useage in Crown's ballard too.