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Good point. Some of that equipment... it was like throwing a motorcycle.

They were much heavier back then ;)

Two Trooper moves I always loved: the sunburst, and the rifle toss-across with someone in the middle of the circle.

Don't worry about the title. Have you listened to any of the brass rehearsals? The mashup of Sensemaya and Sound of Silence is brilliant, the musicianship that will be demonstrated if they play it properly will impress the judges, and the opportunities for properly featuring the percussion in the piece are practically endless (compared to last year where the percussion was not as dramatically showcased). This has the potential to be a spectacular show. Let's see if they can write drill that will compliment the music, and if they can pull it off with this year's veteran corps.

What Guardling and others have said about the Troopers' signature "Sunburst" visual. For that era, that was the real deal, no doubt about it. In an era when most drills were of the "file and column" variety, a circular/curved move like the Sunburst, executed at such a high level, was stunning.

One of my favorite moments is watching the PR contra in 08 with his eyes closed, sweating, and soaking up the crowds reaction to the performance. That is priceless for a mm people.

Hmmmm, I'm from the era of which you speak, and I like the shows today. To each his own I guess.

I got to see some of those as well. Pleasantly surprised to see my kid getting a run at one of the soloists slots. That would be a huge cherry on top for 2018, but quite honestly I'm just glad he's on the field and loves Drum Corps. Because you have to love it to be any good at it. :-)

March is always my favorite ensemble to attend all year. March Brassness.

Now that is excited! I am looking forward to seeing the show.. Just realized that it is March and there has been no show announcement.

When the corps spends literally decades out of Finals, they tend to drop out of people's minds. Especially in the late 80's - early 2000's, if you weren't top 12, there wasn't much, if any, in the way of media exposure. It was two years after I first saw DCI on PBS that I got to read a program from Finals and found out there was even 25 corps, much less the ones that weren't included. That's one great thing about social media for drum corps - today everyone's able to see (and have an opinion) on every corps in the circuit. Mike

Best piece of good news I've heard in a long time. I hope you're right.

This. Listening to them yesterday down at Salem (along with the C2 gang), it's obvious that they've stepped up their game. Lots of vets and what seems to be a VERY enthusiastic team surrounding them...I'm looking forward to 2 very competitive ensembles. C2 brass in the auditorium was very impressive, even outside the circle!

You're going to be pretty happy with the music. LOTS of notes.

Already have semis and finals tix!

I agree! I am extremely excited to see how they perform both musically and visually. I think they have a staff that can help lead the corps to another championship. May I also add that I am excited to see how SCV performs with Michael Gaines.

I could never do that. I have a fan of this corps for years... nothing will change my mind on how I cheer for my corps.

Definitely don’t stop while Cavies’ stock keeps rising

A Cavies championship!! Woooo!

In the 60's, in the pre DCI years, a lot of emphasis on the judging sheets was really on performance execution. This was an era before highly creative and elaborate drill designs came into being that accelerated in the DCI years. As such, how one marched and played, really was what got Corps high scores. This was the era of the " Tick System ", where a tenth ( a " tick ") was deducted off the sheets by judges for bad execution by individual marchers in Brass playing, Drums playing, Color Guard Equipment work, and Marching ( called" M & M"... Marching & Maneuvering ). The reason I mention this on this thread re. the Troopers is because while the Troopers really were 1st rate for much of the decade from the mid 60's to the early 70's in Drums, Brass, Color Guard, they had quite a few show performances at the National Championships in the 60's, and pre DCI, ( VFW, American Legion, CYO, World Open, American Open, etc ) where their outstanding execution performance in M& M ( Marching ) was what put them over the top. They really could March in these years better than a lot of the Corps in their top tier placement range. One of their signature drill moves back then ( legacy fans here would know this ) was called " The Sunburst ", and typically it was executed flawlessly by their marchers by the time Championships rolled around. Whoever was teaching them M& M in these Championship winning years ( or Medal Years ) really knew how to get their Troopers Corps to excel particularly well in this caption. I want to say it was Jim Jones himself ( Troopers Founder )that was working the Corps at their practices to get them so clean and polished in M & M , but not entirely sure. It could have been others. But in any event, Man, could the Troopers march well in this era.