The Other Mike Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Based on current events, I would say it was the 1980 Bridgemen... You may drink from my cooler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Flores Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Heck, I like anything Bridgemen...its in my super, duper favorites DCI list on my iPOD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rifuarian Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 the obvious choice to me is Star 93, and I'm sure some people will agree that it is at least ONE of the most influential shows to make it to the field. Star '93 has never struck as being truly influential. I think its a legendary show, for good reason. But there are two types of legendary drum corps shows: Those that become typecasts for future shows and future corps, and those that are inimitable, one-of-a-kind productions. Star 93 is the latter, and I think BD 10 may be as well. People talk a lot about about the body movement . . . but that was something that was seeping into drum corps well before 1993. People talk about the cerebral, intellectual, esoteric, or "artsy-fartsy" nature of the show. But unlike today's so-called "artsy" shows it was un-themed. There was no 10,000 word pseudo-intellectual explanation of what the show was trying to do or to (shudder) "say". Star simply took some music and presented alongside a thoughtfully designed visual program. That's what it was . . . thoughtful. Not intellectual. Vanguard is the only of today's corps that really does this, and they do it very well. The various themed and "story" shows in DCI and WGI in the 80s and 90s were more important to the "intellectual" aspect of drum corps than Star 93. Star 93 was also a very patient, slow-developing show. You wait, and you wait, and you wait the entire show, and get one spectacular pay-off at the end. Which IMO is totally brilliant, but many find it frustrating. Thing is, almost no corps since then have followed this approach (Vanguard the last few years, that's about it). Instead they've gone the opposite way. Shows are much faster paced, with less development, and have lots of impact points. The arranging style pioneered by BD in the mid-90s and the break-neck visual programs of Cadets and Cavies are what's really influential here. Um . . . didn't mean to write that much. So, in summary: Bridgemen '77(-'83)= Legendary, Influential Star '93: Legendary, Unique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Flores Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Darn you...now I am on a 77-83 Bridgemen listening string...on 80 now, this is good stuff very entertaining. As Drum corps should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Flores Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 So would you add Some VK in there too? Some unforgettable and entertaining shows like 88, 92, 91 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BRASSO Posted August 9, 2011 Popular Post Share Posted August 9, 2011 (edited) In my opinion, the most influential Drum Corps " show " in the history of Junior Drum Corps was the show of the Immaculate Conception Reveries, of Revere, Mass. in the year 1966. Without this show it is highly doubtful that the Bayonne Bridgemen style would have been allowed to take hold, nor would DCI have begun a few years after the I.C.Reveries performance at the VFW National Championship Finals in Jersey City, New Jersey. No other single show performance so altered the Junior Corps activity to any larger degree in my opinion as this show performance ireversibly altered the activity like none before,.. nor none since, imo. For context, at this time, Corps participated in rigid sets of rules dictated by the VFW ( or AL ). At the 1966 VFW Nationals Championships Prelims in New Jersey the 14th finishing Reveries were afforded penalties, as was the 13th finishing Corps, Racine Scouts ( terrific Corps at the time ). However for reasons unexplained, the Racine Scouts penalties were purged, and they were told they would be in the Finals on Finals Night ( Top 12 ) The Reveries similar penalties however were not purged, and they were not given a satisfactory reason why ( according to them anyway ). This made the Reveries furious. On the night of the Finals, the Reveries showed up outside the gate in uniform with full intentions to march and compete. St. Joe's Batavia, NY, a qualifyer for Finals, saw them, were informed by the Reveries of their intentions and St. Joe's graciously allowed the Reveries Corps to go by them, and the Reveries proceeded to the starting line ahead of the Racine Scouts who were unsure of what was taking place. Once on the starting line, the VFW saw the Reveries there. They were stunned and demanded the I.C. Reveies leave the field. The Corps refused, and instead orchestrated a " sit in ". The entire corps then sat in the lotus position on the ground in starting position and refused to leave until allowed to perform their show and compete. The VFW Sponsors then huddled in a quick meeting while 15-20 minutes went by. Reveries not moving, still in the lotus position. The VFW show sponsors even called the police as a precaution. The Crowd received word in the stands about the penalty dispute, and became sympathetic to their plight, and began to chant " Let them compete... let them compete ". Finally, the VFW announced to the Corps and the audience that the IC Reveries could do their show, but would not be scored. The Reveries performed their show, but were not scored. Keep in mind that this was a protest, "sit in"..., in 1966 at a VFW Convention. "Sit ins " were taking place in areas around the country as a form of civil disobedience and revolt in that time period in the US. The LAST group of folks that would be supportive of protest sit ins in the 60's were the tradition based VFW and AL... and this was now happening at their Drum Corps National Championships, no less. The reason this Reveries show performance was so influential in 1966 is because from that moment on, the VFW, AL and the Drum Corps community would begin to go their separate ways. The Reveries Management left after that year's " show ", and the Corps Director ( George Bonfiglio who later formed the 27th Lancers from the same community of Revere the next year after the " sit in " ) met with other like minded Corps Directors, and shortly thereafter, they formed DCI... and leaving the Veteran organizations. Once DCI was formed, Corps would be provided MUCH greater lattitude and liberties in show design, styles, etc, and the judging would be developed along new lines as well.... it would be inconceivable for example to witness a Corps with a freestyle like the Bridgemen compete at a VFW or AL with that style of uniform and show. The St. Andrews Bridgemen, yes... but not the Bayonne Bridgemen that would evolve from that Corps a few years later in DCI. So without the I.C. Reveries making a statement in 1966 with their show performance at the VFW Nationals, it is questionable to say the least as to whether or not we'd see the styles of shows we saw the following decade regarding music, show designs, etc. So in my opinion, I'll make the case that the single most influential show perfomance that altered and influenced the activity the most, was not '93 Star, not '77 Bridgemen, nor '83 Cadets, nor the others that had influential shows. It was the show performance of the I.C. Reveries at the Finals of the recognized National Championships in 1966 that had the most influence... by far... on the direction of the Drum Corps movement. That'd be my choice for " most influential show performance " anyway. Edited August 9, 2011 by BRASSO 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoyWonder1911 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 ....Wow....a lot of history right there that I never knew about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrnguy500 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 ....Wow....a lot of history right there that I never knew about! Yeah, that was cool. Learn something every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlamMan Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 1976 Blue Devils. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Hi Brasso... I wanted to give you a thumbs up... But i have used my daily allowance already... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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