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Most Inspired/Improved Finals Performances


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This is undoubtedly self-serving, but probably 1999 SCV. I seem to remember that we were nearly a point behind BD in semis. We came back in scoring, which is obvious, but I've heard people say that it's the most energized performance they've ever seen live.

Count me amongst that group. I was in Madison all three nights in 1999, and as I went back to the hotel Friday night I was a little down because I thought BD was too clean to be caught (and their show wasn't even in my Top 5 favorites for that season).

Saturday night came, and Vanguard simply blew everyone off the field. BD was still a little bit cleaner, especially visually, but 99 SCV at Finals is the single-most effective drum corps performance I've ever seen. They had "it" that night, and the crowd knew it, and fed off of it. SCV got applause that was equal to what the hometown Scouts received, and the crowd response to the collapsing-Y drill move in the middle of the show was the loudest the crowd got all night. IMO SCV should have won outright.

Honorable mention should go to the 1999 Colts, who really let the dogs off the leash on Saturday night. By far their best show of the week, and I was surprised they didn't pass up Crown.

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Blue Devils 2002. Saw them at one of their first shows of the year (in Alabama), and the show did not work well nor was it being sold. Fast forward to the big Nashville show and......WOW! What an amazing turnaround! The show was light years better in terms of design and content (thanks to the tweaks/rewrites) and the members were performing the doo-willy out of it. You can hear how much crowd support they then received at Finals on the recordings.

Believe they flew East to start the season, then flew some of their staff back immediatley to CA to re-write just about everything.

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03 Regiment

I'd counter with 03 SCV. Saw Regiment in CA early that year and they were already pretty impressive. SCV had this odd, esoteric show that really wasn't working in June. But by Finals Vanguard had really put it all together, and if the season had been one day longer I think they would have passed Phantom for good that year.

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1974 Muchachos I think stepped it up a notch or two at finals.

Very interesting Russ You are definitely using your Way Back Machine.

K

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80 Bridgemen.

82 Garfield.

87 SCV.

89 PR & Cavies.

95 Magic.

08 Bluecoats.

All brought their best to FINALS night. All stepped it up.

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As a marching member, I marched one year where we only had one "great" show all season long, and that was 2001 Phantom Regiment. That performance was almost like a sigh of relief after the season we had just had. I'm pretty sure the only reason I came back in 2002 was because I listened to the judges "mini-freak out" on the DVD all winter long.

As far as watching a performance, 2000 Cavaliers. The edge of chaos, they pushed and hyped that finals performance so hard. Had they performed like they had all that year prior, they wouldn't have won.

I don't know about earlier in the season, but that Virtuoso show/performance was really great. The color explosion and energy at the end of the show (end of Festive Overture) had people on their feet at least half a minute before it was done. My friend turned to me and said "they're not even done yet?!"

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Being a homer here... Freelancers 1992.. We were pretty atrocious early on in the season to come in 12 at Madison... Not too shabby. But we don't even hold a candle to Suncoast 1989. That was a corps that as I recall basically didn't even exist until sometime around April or May that season and it was questionable as to whether they would make it out onto the road or not. As it turns out, they came in 9th at KC. An honorable mention would also go to ... believe it or not ... the 92 Velvet Knights. Much the same as Suncoast 89.

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Uh how bout this past year for Phantom? Was anyone else more than worried when they saw what PR was doing in the early season, but by finals, it was wow, and I mean WOOOW.

Good point there. I was more than a little concerned before tour started haha. But come finals week... yeah. Wow.

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