the REAL ending

[Jeff Ream]

On 7/20/2018 at 3:45 PM, Ediker said:

Some corps have performed many different endings during a season.  How many times did 1989 Cadets change their ending?  It's not over 'til it's over...

9

[Jeff Ream]

On 7/26/2018 at 2:26 PM, Woochifer said:

Ah yes! The shark eats the "fat lady"! Maybe the greatest closing gag ever. It propelled VK's show from that year's crowd favorite to all-time legendary status.

Just look at how often that 1992 Velvet Knights performance shows up on people's all-time lists. I don't see too many non-winning performances, not to mention 10TH PLACE performances, that are so fondly remembered decades later.

And it seems that the show's legend has kept growing over the years. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read about how that was the loudest DCI crowd reaction ever. How the raucous ovation blew out one of the field mics on the audio/video production. Stories about how VK fortuitously came into possession of that shark prop because one of the high schools where they overnighted wanted to get rid of it and asked them if they wanted it. How VK ended up with an old UCLA mascot costume for the bear. How VK got an inflatable Godzilla, and when they asked the DCI higher ups if they could add it to the show, the response was laughter and something along the lines of "Go ahead, we'll add a rule banning it next year."

Wherever the truths lie, I can safely say that the VK show was already comedic gold, bringing the house down every night with the "fat lady" gag even before they added the shark. That year, I went to a June show in SoCal, and even in its early form (no shark, no Godzilla v Energizer Bunny battle), the crowd went nuts over what VK was doing.

And what a ballsy move for VK to keep the shark under wraps until finals. Recall that VK did not qualify for finals the year before, so it was not a given that they would make it to the final show. But, keeping the shark a secret until the finals night closer truly made that show the stuff of legend.

Just listen to the audio track of their finals show (the crowd reaction sounds clearer on the CD mix than on the video). The audience was already primed to give VK a gigantic ovation at the end of their show. But, when that shark rolled out, the crowd just erupted and kept getting louder until shark mouth met fat lady. I could only imagine how deafening that stadium was at that moment!

Great moment for VK and the drumcorps activity, albeit a bittersweet one. That 1992 performance would be the last time a comedic show qualified for finals, and the last time that the Velvet Knights ever advanced to finals. The corps itself would fold 6 years later. But, they had that one moment where everything converged, and people still talk about it.

YouTube vid of the VK finale below. FYI, the sign at the end of the show says "It Ain't Over Til The ..."

 

 

Being there it was the loudest reaction of the night. Louder than the Bottle Dance even

[Hrothgar15]

On 7/20/2018 at 12:45 PM, Ediker said:

Some corps have performed many different endings during a season.  How many times did 1989 Cadets change their ending?  It's not over 'til it's over...

What were some of the endings? The one they ended up with just makes so much sense, I can’t picture it any other way.

Cadets 1995 original ending is good (there’s a June performance floating around on YouTube), but I can see why they ended up with what they did. 

[Sideways]

On 7/26/2018 at 2:26 PM, Woochifer said:

Ah yes! The shark eats the "fat lady"! Maybe the greatest closing gag ever. It propelled VK's show from that year's crowd favorite to all-time legendary status.

Just look at how often that 1992 Velvet Knights performance shows up on people's all-time lists. I don't see too many non-winning performances, not to mention 10TH PLACE performances, that are so fondly remembered decades later.

And it seems that the show's legend has kept growing over the years. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read about how that was the loudest DCI crowd reaction ever. How the raucous ovation blew out one of the field mics on the audio/video production. Stories about how VK fortuitously came into possession of that shark prop because one of the high schools where they overnighted wanted to get rid of it and asked them if they wanted it. How VK ended up with an old UCLA mascot costume for the bear. How VK got an inflatable Godzilla, and when they asked the DCI higher ups if they could add it to the show, the response was laughter and something along the lines of "Go ahead, we'll add a rule banning it next year."

Wherever the truths lie, I can safely say that the VK show was already comedic gold, bringing the house down every night with the "fat lady" gag even before they added the shark. That year, I went to a June show in SoCal, and even in its early form (no shark, no Godzilla v Energizer Bunny battle), the crowd went nuts over what VK was doing.

And what a ballsy move for VK to keep the shark under wraps until finals. Recall that VK did not qualify for finals the year before, so it was not a given that they would make it to the final show. But, keeping the shark a secret until the finals night closer truly made that show the stuff of legend.

Just listen to the audio track of their finals show (the crowd reaction sounds clearer on the CD mix than on the video). The audience was already primed to give VK a gigantic ovation at the end of their show. But, when that shark rolled out, the crowd just erupted and kept getting louder until shark mouth met fat lady. I could only imagine how deafening that stadium was at that moment!

Great moment for VK and the drumcorps activity, albeit a bittersweet one. That 1992 performance would be the last time a comedic show qualified for finals, and the last time that the Velvet Knights ever advanced to finals. The corps itself would fold 6 years later. But, they had that one moment where everything converged, and people still talk about it.

YouTube vid of the VK finale below. FYI, the sign at the end of the show says "It Ain't Over Til The ..."

 

 

 

• Maximus: I will win the crowd. I will give them something they have never seen before.

 

[drumcorpsfever]

8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

Being there it was the loudest reaction of the night. Louder than the Bottle Dance even

My favorite. Thanks you for posting. Pretty great camera work, too! 

[kdaddy]

On 7/26/2018 at 1:26 PM, Woochifer said:

Great moment for VK and the drumcorps activity, albeit a bittersweet one. That 1992 performance would be the last time a comedic show qualified for finals, and the last time that the Velvet Knights ever advanced to finals. The corps itself would fold 6 years later. But, they had that one moment where everything converged, and people still talk about it.

Not to derail the conversation... but I was looking back over VK's repertoires over the years, and the stuff they were playing back, say, in the early 80s seemed like the stuff everyone else was playing. That is, they seemed normal. When did they decide to become the jokester corps?

Also, how impressive was that jump from 81 to 84? 33 -> 21 -> 17 -> 12

[corps8294]

6 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

Not to derail the conversation... but I was looking back over VK's repertoires over the years, and the stuff they were playing back, say, in the early 80s seemed like the stuff everyone else was playing. That is, they seemed normal. When did they decide to become the jokester corps?

Somebody had to take over that role when the Bridgemen left. 

[Ghost]

24 minutes ago, corps8294 said:

Somebody had to take over that role when the Bridgemen left. 

And did not Bobby Hoffman of Bridgemen fame teach/write for VK?

[tedrick]

51 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

When did they decide to become the jokester corps

did it start with Peter Gunn?

They were really good -- no one has ever really taken their place of being a serious playing/chops corps but not taking themselves too seriously

[corps8294]

4 hours ago, Ghost said:

And did not Bobby Hoffman of Bridgemen fame teach/write for VK?

He sure did!