Xcalibur

I think that ranks right up there with, "What country are you from?" "Iowa" (repeated several times) Priceless Carlito

We did an underwear run thru during the week of nationals. After the run thru, the brass staff informed us that one of the soloists....ummm...got larger during his solo. Obviously we weren't able to see this for ourselves, yet it was quite humorous. One more...the high note soprano guy had this double A at a major hit. He was known to use excessive amounts of pressure. After one run of that section the brass guy announces, "We want to HEAR the A, not SEE the A." Awesome. Carlito

I gotta go with 79-80 even though 77-78 is right there as well. Carlito

BD 1994 had a hornline made up of 62 men. I believe that there was one girl in the line in 95. Carlito

OK, here is a little clarification on this. Huntington, WV was on August 8th which was a Monday. Cavies were at 91.8 and BD was at 92.3. This was the closest corps to BD that year. I can only speak for myself, yet watching the entire Cavalier corps sit outside the stadium while the staff read off recaps to them just added fuel to the fire. On Wednesday the spread increased to 1.3, Thursday was 1.2, and Friday in Montreal the spread reached 2.5. From my point of view, BD was done having corps be close to them at that point. Unfortunately, Lynn, MA was on Sunday, the day after free day, in Montreal. I vividly remember OP telling us how important that show was and how it would set up our Nationals week. Although we topped Phantom by 2.6, it certainly wasn't the performance that anyone expected. As far as 95 goes, the show before Nationals BD was lights out. It is the cleanest show I have ever seen. I am still mystified as to what happened over the next 7 days. You weren't alone Scott, I didn't see that coming at all. Hats off to 95 BD, they were a very special corps. Carlito

What an awesome thread! I had to go with 84, which is my favorite BD show. Major props to 88 and as many have mentioned the greatest hornline I have ever heard. 95 BD...I saw them at DCI Mid-America, the Saturday before nats, and it was the cleanest show I have ever seen. Unbelievable. (Honorable mention: Scott's solo during horn warmup of POC. I've played that tape a million times. Lights out.) 90 was such a fun show to watch and had a ton of people who went on to do great things marched that year. 98 was a magical show for me. Perhaps it was undervalued...that show was it for me. Carlito

Come on John, no love for 1982? I'm just joshing. 1982 for me. It is the standard in my book. Carlito

Thank you Chuck. Your insight is tremendous as always. Drum corps is similar to life: Keep the main thing, the main thing. Carlito

Just a few: 89 BD 93 Phantom 95 BD 00 SCV Carlito

My first shirt was from 83 BD. It's the one with the devil wearing the BD uni and holding the shako. I still have it, though I don't think I could put it on without destroying it. I loved that shirt and wore it often. Carlito

I'll play: 1. 80 Bridgemen 2. 84 Blue Devils 3. 88 Santa Clara 4. 95 Madison 5. 84 Garfield 6. 77 Bridgemen 7. 82 Blue Devils 8. 75 Muchachos 9. 80 Spirit of Atlanta 10. 80 27th Lancers Carlito

The dude tears up that solo at semis. I can understand the desire to hear the 89 BD solo at its best. I believe that the finals performance of the corps is superior, though after the frack it is weird to hear Tim playing his part down the octave. I'm sure that a total performance with the semis solo from the ballad and from the Bolling tune fused with the rest of the corps' performance from finals would be the best. Carlito

If anyone cares...the initial wetness was proclaimed by Chris Kincaid in 92. The follow-up in 94 was a tribute to him as that was his first year in BD. Carlito

Let's give some props to both the Bridgemen and Suncoast Sound. Having them both on the countdown would be outstanding. Carlito

If it's only one show...gotta be Bridgemen 1980. The rest of the top 5 includes: 80 27 82 BD 84 Garfield 88 SCV Carlito

Clearly we all have our own definitions of clean. I won't put the words '05 Garfield and. Clean in the same sentence. For my money, the cleanest show I ever saw was BD at DCI Mid-America in 95. Clean hornlines I've heard include 88 BD and 81 BD I've not yet heard a drumline that played with the clarity of the Bridgemen from the early 80's Just my two cents Carlito

I'll second that. Truly amazing and a joy to listen to. 1988 BD hornline is the which I compare all great lines to. Carlito

This was the Madison/Dick Tracy shirt, circa 1988 or so. It read like a Dick Tracy cartoon and was priceless. There was a staff member who used to wear it a lot and I had to get one. I have a nice collection in my archive, including my vintage 1983 BD shirt with an actual devil in the BD uni. The only shirt I never got that I always wanted was that Garfield shirt from 90 where the guy is holding his head as this hand is pulling his brain out. That shirt was awesome. Mike's Buddy

Here's my five in no particular order: 1980 Bridgemen 1984 Blue Devils 1988 Santa Clara 1984 Garfield 1980 27th Lancers Carlito

Indeed he did. I was responding to who the soloists in the ballad were. Roland's note at the end of the small ensemble in Spanish Fantasy is lights out. Carlito

Yes, that is the very same Jim Rogers at the end of SF. Of interest perhaps, he also played the soprano solo at the end of the opener in 96 BD. Way off topic, but a good friend reminded me of different potential endings the show had. One involved Jim playing a little spanish lick and then ending on a high note that he liptrilled for what seemed like minutes in the tomb. Obviously that didn't make it to the field. We all wanted to bust out the ending from 86 and throw down. Needless to say, our opinion was not included in the final decision. Jim was one of the bari soloists in 93, my favorite part was the duet with the soprano. The other bari soloist is Scott Rankin I believe. Other than being a monster player, rumor had it that he was super competitive...with his own brother who marched in Phantom that year. Apparently he wanted to beat them more than anything. Carlito

That would be John Hartwick and Tim Meehan on soprano with Jim Rogers on bari. Nathan Moore played soprano also and he was the guy playing the backfield/lip trill part. Jim was one of the most phenomenal players I have ever heard. I believe that he finished 2nd at I&E two years in a row. Tim was awesome. He's exactly the kind of guy that you want to march with. Carlito

Exactly what would set them, or anyone else, apart from every other hornline out there. Awesome. Carlito

I saw this piece for percussion performed by one of my friends who is a fantastic performer. The different textures, unique sounds, and just having fun was truly amazing. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants a little insight into Cage's mind. Carlito

I'm with you on that one. KC was a great place for finals. I believe that having a finals rotation would be beneficial for many reasons. Carlito