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On the 1994 Boston Crusaders. I posted this on RAMD back in the day. Typed the whole thing out.

I am ok with protesting....safely. Didn’t see much safety being displayed. What was more bothersome in MI, were the militia protesters, arriving armed. I have no understanding the purpose of that and it’s relationship to protesting opening the state (businesses) up. There is no correlation unless it is contrived. Intimidation was the objective it seems and I believe, achieved. No matter, this is not over. Yet. The steps taken have proven to work and we will get through it. Things are beginning to get better. For DC folks we understand patience and perseverance will result in a successful outcome.

The competitive season in 1994 was anything but, at least as far as it came to the battle for Number One. The Blue Devils, with their new uniforms and their 'old is new again' show from Chick Corea's album My Spanish Heart, led from pole-to-pole. Did I say 'old is new again?' That seemed to be the theme for all of the shows in 94. Cadets redid 'West Side Story,' Phantom redid 'Death Hunt.' Madison was Spanish again and Vanguard was Russian, Crossmen were still on Planet Earth, and so forth, and so on. While the execution levels of the corps were excellent, maybe DCI as a whole just needed some time to breathe creatively. But the year may be remembered primarily for two corps who were not on the field of competition. Star of Indiana left the field for pastures in which their members would be 'judged by an impartial audience,' in Bill Cook's words. Those words deserve some more deep thought, even over twenty-five years later. In any case, they toured with the Canadian Brass in a production they called 'Brass Theater,' which would of course eventually lead them to the hit West End and Broadway show 'Blast!' Meanwhile, the buzz in Boston was the amazing, emotional performance of the 27th Lancers Alumni Corps. It was perhaps appropriate that in a year when the future for drum corps was uncertain, the focus was on the greatness of the past. The heroes of yesterday marched out through the fog of Foxboro, reminding us of all that once was good and could be again. Tell us where you were, what you thought, and how you felt in 1994.

Lets see , God forbid any of them get it how fast they run to the front of the line for treatment/ JMO, BUT sometimes ignorance can be bliss and sometimes ignorance is just ignorance

I loved that DCI was held in Boston, actually it was in Foxboro which was very near where I lived at that time. It was a hot, soupy night. I agree with those who say the highlight of the evening was 27th Lancers “Once More in 94.” I can also recall the talk in the stands was the exit of Star of Indiana. What I find interesting is today Star is almost on a mythical legendary level with ground breaking shows that were ahead of their time, particularly 1993. In 1994, Star’s departure was viewed by many as sour grapes. There was also speculation they would be back. I suppose I’m in both camps. It did seem like sour grapes but you can’t deny Star’s contributions. On a completely personal note, DCI in Foxboro was welcomed in Massachusetts. We used to have two huge shows in Boston: CYO Nationals and World Open. We used to see all the great corps at least every other year if not every year, but when the drum corps landscape changed, we had great shows but never shows that featured ten to twelve top corps. The competition that night wasn’t the strongest though there were some great moments. Cadets had a huge Boston fan base and could not go wrong with “West Side Story.” I loved Phantom’s “Clair de Lune.” I wish Boston Crusaders had made finals that year. I know I thought they should have made it. I also know I was probably a bit biased, but making finals in front of a hometown crowd would have been amazing.

It would be so awesome if we could drive the cases down to zero. That's what they've done in South Korea. Both that country and ours reported their first COVID-19 cases on the same day in January. They've had fewer than 400 deaths. We've had somewhat more. Yesterday in South Korea, there were just four new cases reported in the whole country -- and every one of them was at the airport: the cases were all people flying into that country from elsewhere. Imagine if we could get to the same place! (There will continue to be minor flare-ups in South Korea and everywhere else until a vaccine is available. No system is perfect.) But they got a huge jump on us in terms of testing, tracing, and isolating--something we've barely begun. One good thing is that we finally surpassed South Korea in terms of per capita testing about a week ago (although others now are far ahead of both countries in that regard), but because the disease has become so widespread here, we'll actually need to increase our current testing probably six times or more from current levels to have a chance of getting to a place where we can actually contain this thing. Our social distancing shut-downs were not intended only to relieve hospital capacity but also to buy us the time to build our testing capacity. But we can do it. I believe in us. Cixelsyd made what I think is a partially valid point in a previous discussion: even without the stay-at-home directives put in place by many states, a lot of the public would eventually have done the right thing and begun social distancing of their own volition. Here (source) is a graph showing restaurant reservations in the days leading up to states' closing down dine-in service: I say "partially valid" because, in my opinion, without official restrictions in place, there wouldn't be enough voluntary social distancing -- and people would have delayed the start of their distancing even longer. And when a virus is spreading quickly, every day makes a huge difference. If the restrictions started just one week earlier, think how many of the 60,000+ Americans who have died in the past six weeks (even by this official count, which may be under-reporting the real death toll by 50% or more, that's more than died fighting over ten years in Vietnam) would still be with us. Nonetheless, once people started to grasp the dangers, they took action. Another key implication of this chart is that as local governments start relaxing their stay-at-home orders, the public is going to be pretty slow to return until they feel safe. The economy won't rebound while people remain scared of dying. But this is the key point: people aren't "giving up their liberties". They needed a nudge, but they're doing the right thing: sacrificing to protect the nation as a whole. (Once a majority of the public decides they've done enough, and that's it's safe to return to normal, no amount of government orders will stop them from going out again.) And that's noble. It's very encouraging. Cheers to us!

Funny thing is we have laws regarding those things because there are idiots who abuse them. But come up with rules because there are people too stupid or stubborn to wear masks or follow other safety measures and suddenly the Gestapo is running things.

And they're allowed to drive, drink, and vote.

They stole the show. This is why the alumni Corps now play on Friday night.

1994 DCI Productions (Note: All links are to YouTube videos in compliance with DCP policy. Other recordings may be available on other sites.) 27th Lancers Alumni Corps - DCI Finals Exhibition Performance Blue Devils - Concord Pavilion, DCI North Victory Concert, DCI Quarterfinals rain-out standstill, DCI Semifinals, DCI Finals (audio only) Cadets of Bergen County - DCI Quarterfinals rain-out standstill, DCI Finals, 1994 Tour Video Phantom Regiment - DCI Finals Cavaliers - Victory Concert Evansville IN, DCI Finals - show ending Santa Clara Vanguard - Concord Pavilion, Ogden UT, DCI Finals - show ending Madison Scouts - DCI Finals part 1, DCI Finals - show ending Blue Knights - DCI Finals - show ending Crossmen - DCI Finals - show ending Bluecoats - Mid-Season Run-Through, Underwear Run Finals Week, DCI Finals - show ending Glassmen - DCI Semifinals Part One; DCI Semifinals Part Two Magic of Orlando - Rome, NY; DCI Finals Clip #1; DCI Finals Clip #2 Colts - DCI Finals - Show Ending Boston Crusaders - DCI Semifinals snippet with bad video quality, but watch anyhow Troopers Velvet Knights - Ogden, UT; DCI Preview of Champions; DCI East Freelancers - DCI Semifinals (cuts off at beginning of closer) Carolina Crown - DCI Semifinals show clip Pioneer Southwind - DCI Quarterfinals Marauders Nite Express - DCI Quarterfinals L'Insolite Americanos - DCI Quarterfinals Blue Stars

I worked Dept of Defense and would be working at home if I hadn’t retired just before this hit. Figure it made up for all the bad timing in my life. But the ignorance bit reminds me of a co-worker just before we had one of the government shutdowns. He hated the administration at the time and went off that “they” should shut everything down permanently. I asked him what was he going to do for money as both him and his wife (another fed worker) would be unemployed. I got this blank look and “what do you mean” as a response. Guy never put 2 and 2 together....

So much for being an encouragement thread. Do we really need to go through another round of this?

As I said, no problem with protesting...safely, which many were not doing. How did you conclude most DC folks work from home on laptops receiving a full paycheck?

Are you just being argumentative? Or just glib? I have no time for that. The consensus from medical experts is that social distancing, a primary guideline, is a significant contributor to slowing the transmission of the virus. So yes there is a cause and effect correlation.

On this point, accuracy is important. This idea was entirely about our capacity to treat the severely ill, and nothing else. Shutting down half of American livelihoods (which, lest we forget, was to be for two weeks... four in worst case) was explicitly to reduce that peak of demand for hospital beds, ICU beds, ventilators, and healthcare workers. "Flatten the curve" meant the hospital demand curve, not the test kit supply curve. No one ever introduced lockdowns on the premise that 45 million Americans should have their jobs shut down because of a shortage of COVID-19 test kits.

I can't deny that. The Randall May works well enough. It is just lots of pieces and parts that break over time.

Saw that clip after I posted. Saw one Guy with what looked like an assault rifle across his chest and at least one hand on it. Whiskey... Tango.... Foxtrot.....

Thank you! And here they are: Although they're too small to appear in DCI nowadays, given the minimum membership rule.

When I worked on the 64th floor in Seattle and the blue angels were doing an air show in the area, they did a drill where they split out in 5 different directions. One of them headed for downtown and flew between my building and the one across the street. It was just a few floors lower than me. I could see the pilot really well.

Strängnäs from Sweden toured the states three or four times.

Oh I agree up to a point. Like I said I’m not against people getting together to show they disagree. Just the open things up message got really lost with disregard for safety and signs, etc that had nothing to do with reopening businesses. (Biggest sign was anti gay marriage.) Turned into a gripe against the government more than showing support for businesses based on video I saw. And living 5 minute drive away got to see a lot of local media video. And like I posted earlier, PA is looking to start reopening based on county. edit: just read about the protest in MI. Most not wearing masks and not using social distancing. Darwin must be smiling....

It's in my signature...a little D2 Corps out of Cedar Rapids. Had a very very talented staff teaching us, and fellow marching members. Finished Runners up at D2 Finals and placed 21st at 1/4 finals. From time to time i pull out v3 of the CD;s and play that show. It was the start of something great had the funding not run out after the 96 season.

Sorry for the multi posts - final thoughts. Boston got hosed. This was a *really* tight show from start to finish, and I think they outplayed the Colts across the board. Should have been a finalist, I feel. Argh. Honestly? Troopers also should have challenged for a Finals spot. Their program was rock solid and the brass in particular sounded excellent. Finally, just as an aside, I loved VK's musical book in '94, even if it wasn't the most precisely played program ever. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think anyone's tried stuff from Nightmare Before Christmas since. Like I said, mostly overall this felt like a rebound from the '93 shows where most designers (relatively) lost their minds. A few corps still managed to push the envelope, but the evolution stalled a bit. Especially in the bottom half, this didn't feel like an all-time lineup. Mike

(part 2 - for some reason DCP does not like long posts from me...) Blue Knights knocked their show selection out of the park. Trittico had enough complexity to showcase their musicians, while the music was engaging enough to keep the audience entertained and interested. Watching them, it felt like the corps was growing up a bit, and might have found their wheelhouse. (Yeah, yeah, shows what I know, considering '95.) Crossmen went one too many times to the well. Trilogies, even conceptual ones, don't work in DCI - 3 years is too far ahead to predict. Vanguard tried that too in the 2000's by announcing their next three shows, and that didn't last either. The performers did a fine job with the vehicle, clearly, and it felt like the audience appreciated it, but it did also feel like the corps was spinning its wheels a bit. Bluecoats "Blues" show was a more sophisticated set of charts, but I don't know if the corps really broke any new ground here. That said, I'll listen to it again anytime. I love Things Ain't What they Used to Be, and they have a great arrangement of it. Glassmen - no more Tostitos-Bag-Design jackets = yay. Western wear = ... . I'd love to have sat in the design meetings for this one. The show is the equivalent of a road trip in an 80's family van. Captain's chair, full carpet, looking out the window while listening to the radio. I have to admit, even as a Glassmen fan, this one does not make my playlist. While Magic of Orlando's '94 show took the '93 concept and cranked it up, I kind of prefer the charts they played the year before. You can't argue, however, with the massive jump in quality. At the time their costuming was considered a must-see. Today we'd just say "huh. Winter Guard." They definitely earned their spot in Finals. Colts really underwhelmed me this year. The show felt like a throwback compared to everyone around them, but it's a testament to their quality that they made top 12. For me, they improved leaps and bounds in the latter half of the 90's, but we're not there yet. Mike

The summer of 1994 was a solid one for DCI. As the OP stated, it felt like a lot of shows came back to earth a bit. Much like in 1993, where Star and Cadets mostly destroyed the field, it was the Blue Devils who did much the same thing in 1994. The question as the season progressed was not who would win but rather how would the rest of the top 12 shakeout? The Blue Devils were terrific in 1994. Like most years in those days they always have fabulous brass. That was never a question with BD. Their music selections were all Chick Corea pieces woven into a show titled "My Spanish Heart." The music covers all kinds of moods and styles and is certainly one of the better musical packages BD would produce in the 1990s. My favorite BD shows of the 90s are 1) 1994, 2) 1991, 3) 1993, 4) 1990 (Tommy), and 5) 1997 (Casablanca). The others are very good but these were my favs, and 1994 really hits the spot. With Star of Indiana leaving the activity for Brass Theater (and eventually Blast!), the Blue Devils were smart to pick-up one of Star's top visual instructors, Todd Ryan. Todd is a former Madison Scout who had been working with Star of Indiana. He helped to bring their marching technique to the top of the activity. This is what he did for the Blue Devils beginning in 1994. BD was strong across the board but it was their overall GE score that made the big difference. They had a .2 lead over Cadets in ensemble captions, and a .1 lead over Cadets in performance captions. Cadets actually won field percussion on Finals night but I think BD still got the drum trophy for the 3-day Finals scores. So Cadets had clearly made it a closer contest in the last few weeks and lost by .7 at Finals. Having said that, it really was BD's year. Their new uniforms were hot and, to me, 1994 marked the beginning of a new era for Blue Devils. The Cadets, in typical Cadets fashion, started sluggishly and although competitive with most other corps early they would get "housed" by BD in the early season. For fans that may have forgotten, the Blue Devils flew East early summer 1994 to compete in a number of shows and then flew back to the West before continuing their tour. But much like the Cadets in those days they managed to fine tune their 10th anniversary production of West Side Story into a 2nd place finish at DCI Finals and they closed the gap with a very high-powered Blue Devils. The Cadets brass and percussion in 1994 was incredible, especially by season's end. In brass performance they tied BD in brass musicianship and were only .1 under in brass tech. In performance percussion they tied BD in tech and beat them by .1 in musicianship. Ensemble GE, Music, and Visual captions were all close. Overall GE was the difference for BD. Cadets just could not give the show the same kind of life they had with their 1984 show. Of course, I regard 1984 as one of the best shows I've ever seen...period. I was glad the Cadets took a different direction with 94, and all in all it is a pretty cool show with outstanding performance. For the 2nd year in a row, and 3 out of 4, Phantom Regiment had taken 3rd place. Their 1994 show was another wonderful package, but it probably lacked a little bit of the magic found in their 1993 show. All the music is fantastic. Phantom did very well in Ensemble Music captions but were 4th in field brass (under Cavaliers) and were also 4th in field percussion (also under Cavaliers). Death Hunt was good but never felt like it was the best ending for this show. Other than that I really have few complaints about Phantom in 1994. I loved the opener and the Debussy and their talent was certainly on display. I'll post some more about other shows later, but I wanted to say a few words about the top 3.

1994 felt like, in many respects, a bounce back from the previous season for many corps. BD of course, reinvented themselves for the first of many times to come. The "classic" 80's look was gone and replaced with what at the time was a sequined, streamlined head-scratcher. Of course, it turns out they were right all along, and the new jacket became iconic for a couple of generations of high school and college marching band folks. I'm sure BD's sudden visual dominance had nothing at all to do with that either. The music, meanwhile, was single-source, intense and blew the roof off of every show they were in. It's definitely a show where I felt that there was no choice but for them to win. That said, Cadets felt solidly locked into second. Nobody was going to challenge their run-and-gun West Side Story show, but they weren't catching BD either. This is my favorite of all of their versions of WSS - it's way more complex than the '84 show and doesn't need the bells and whistles of the '09 production. Mambo is my one of my favorite charts from the whole season. Phantom Regiment expanded on their '93 show concept a bit and came back with brighter, tighter and faster charts, and to me a vastly improved battery. They also knew what the audience wanted, and the crab step closed the show out with a bang. And that guard - wow. The '93 show might have been more "classic" Phantom, but '94 kind of moved them slightly out of their comfort zone, and it was pretty awesome. Cavaliers pushed a little harder into classical and wind ensemble literature, and while 4th is nothing to sneeze at, it just *felt* like the corps was drifting a bit. It was not a terribly engaging show, and Sensemaya in particular might have been one of the strangest openers played in all of DCI at that time. The closer also felt like a massive swing-and-miss and didn't fit at all with everything else. History shows they righted the ship after, but as much of a Cavaliers fan as I am, this is... not my favorite show. Vanguard veered hard back into theatrical production, and The Red Poppy is a bright, massive show that feels like it shouldn't be played in small stadiums. (I feel the same way about "The Bluecoats") Everything about it just looked "big." Russian Sailors Dance was the highlight of this one. Madison Scouts put on the first of three Latin jazz shows, and I think this is the one everybody sleeps on. The visual production was stellar - the whole drill, like SCV, just "felt" big, with a ton of field coverage. Malaga, of course, set everyone on fire, but their arrangement of Cuban Overture is a classic on its own. If you're a more recent Madison fan, check this show out - it's worth it. (more coming)

I don’t like to judge but that’s just wrong. Those airplanes should fly at least 6 feet apart.

The entire top 5 were very entertaining in '94. I especially enjoyed the Cadets and Vanguard. I still have my '94 Vanguard shirt. If it was a person it would have aged out 5 years ago. I wish it still fit...

I used to work for a company that produced air shows. It was pretty nifty having the Blue Angels parked right outside our office windows.

As underwhelming as May equipment is, it is a faaaaaaaaaaar improvement over the XL equipment Mapex used to partner with.

27th Lancer’s reunion performance.😍

Bridging the generations and the distance, members of two pivotal years of the Boston Crusaders had the unique opportunity to connect over the weekend. On Saturday night, the 80th Anniversary corps consisting of our current 2020 members, and the 50th Anniversary Corps (alumni from the 1990 corps) met over Zoom for a unique history night. With notable alumni......... and many more in attendance, both corps enjoyed an evening of storytelling, nostalgia, and celebration of all things BAC. As the 1990 alumni traded stories of old rivalries, nicknames, and memorable moments on the road, the 2020 members enjoyed learning and interacting with the corps who preceded them. The 2020 members enjoyed hearing from alumni that went on to successful careers in a variety of fields including professional musicians, engineers, medical professionals, and current BAC staff and board members. Impressive attendance, participation and excitement from the 1990 corps, now 30 years removed from the anniversary season, is a testament to the bond that was formed. Even though the 2020 corps will not convene for a traditional history night at Most Precious Blood this summer, we were able to bridge two notable generations and provide a connection that otherwise would not have been possible. https://bostoncrusaders.org/2020/04/bridging-the-generations-and-the-distance/

DCI High Percussion Winner

Neil Peart found Tama

It isn't hard to find a line of percussion equipment better than the System Blue stuff. It just didn't sound good. As you also mentioned, BD cranks the crap out of their snare drums anyway. You might actually be able to hear the tenor line on the field next season though. I thought the SB tenors were especially weak in their projection.

Today's new numbers in the U.S. are pretty bad, with the single highest daily death toll so far (2,900), BUT some of that appears to be due to reporting lags (Pennsylvania reported a huge number of deaths today, probably covering several days' backlog), and the seven-day rolling average still suggests that the nation's COVID deaths peaked about a week ago. New York clearly peaked two to three weeks ago, at roughly 750 deaths per day. That state's daily numbers have been slowly declining since then to about half the peak. Now as you say, these are only the official numbers, and the real numbers are expected to be something like 50% higher than that (just as with the flu, where the official count during any given season is in the range of 5,000-15,000 and only gets revised up to the higher numbers after the fact), but there's no reason to believe the curve is notably different. So again, there is reason to believe things are starting to look up. I am mildly encouraged.

Rejected earlier drafts: Summer Off - and You Thought the Witch Puppet Was Bad Summer Off - It’s the Pitts

Most "DC folks" have the luxury of working from home on their laptops and collecting a full paycheck. That's not the case for most Michigan residents, and except for bringing firearms to their protest I agree with them. There. I feel encouraged now. 😀

Apparently there were quite a few with AR-15’s.