HOOKEDBYLEGEND78

I just voted. Hope they get the $50K and use the $$$ to make my ears hurt with a gigantic wall of brass sound. It is a little weird that Spirit of Atlanta may get $50K from Pepsi, while being in the same city as the headquarters of Coke's galactic empire.

T.O. Any of the 1985 show prior to First Circle. Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor. My Heart Belongs to Me. Everybody Loves the Blues. Bacchanalia. Longer than snippets would be preferable, please.

Yes to all of these! I've always thought the tag ending of "Playing Our Song" from 1980 should be/could be a great added ending in another Scouts show opener. Just hope it's not "How Deep Is Your Love" from '78!

If I remember correctly, I think the corps proper went off the field as usual, but the sop soloist went to a different spot on the field (apparently for fun), making the 2 guard members adjust to him. Any one else remember that?

And all the people said......."AMEN!!!" Excellent, excellent article!!!

Ummmm.....am I looking at this wrong or are the backfield seats pretty darn full? If those are the backfield seats - wow! And I don't see people in uniform, so it is not apparent that these people are members of other corps which had already performed and are now watching the rest of the show. ???

Nailed it.

T.O. was a great chart and played exceptionally by BD in 82. I am thankful for being able to hear them perform many times that summer. I would love to hear T.O. on the field from BD again - preferably as part of the show (as opposed to concert piece). It would be hard to top the 82 version, though!

80, 82, 84, 86, & 89 made my short list. 80 Finals was my first show to see live, and it was awesome (I loved 10.5 out of 12 corps from that show, and liked the other 1.5). I marched in 82 and think the 82 Devils are still one of the best corps EVER and that Cadets start of the "new" was something to behold both visually and musically. 86 was sweet from 1st through 9th place (for me), although Cadets show seemed disjointed. 89 was great due to the battle of the Phantom's at the top (I still think the last minute or so of PR's opener is some of the most intense playing of all time), Cadets with a great program, Star really started to shine, and loved that small Suncoast hornline and the air release in the opener. But 84 just edges these out for me, as each corps had something great about them. From Garfield to VK - I was entertained.

Loved the opener in '81!!! Great soloists!

Thanks for posting this!

I agree. And I despise electronics in drum corps, but they "flagrantly integrated" the guitars with the brass book pretty darn well, and I appreciated that. I also like that they had their horns moving some air out the end of the bells - good volume for a smaller (and young) brassline. I am very happy to hear about RWS now being involved, and I expect even greater things of Teal Sound now.

Yes. This, too.

And yet another question could be - did Fans "love" a certain show because they truly loved that show, or did they say that they "love" that show simply because they perceived the majority of the the other shows at that contest to be non-entertaining (i.e. - corps/show was loved by comparison, but was not necessarily loved on its' own merits)?

1 - 2004 - ATTRACTION: The Music of Scheherazade - wish that they had euphs in the brass line, had one more week to clean the show, and had no amped pit - then it may almost be a perfect show for me. I loved their performance in person as well as watching a 3+ hours rehearsal that summer. Great music choice, great arrangement (still needed euphs, though), loved the drill and emotion. We need more shows like this one every year. 2 - 2000 - Age of Reverence - Wonderful concept, emotional aspects were conveyed very well. Needed to have started the season more prepared (possibly due to the shakeup at corps director?), because this show had the potential to score a LOT higher. 3 - 2001 - New Era Metropolis - I didn't like part of the closer prior to the "New Era" chant, but really liked all of the rest. 4 - 2005 - Russia: Revolution/Evolution: 1917-1991 - last 30 seconds or so of playing/arrangement/drill is intensity and goosebumps. 5 - 2009 - Ballet for Martha - greatly exposed vehicle that just works. Somewhat a rehash of Garfield '87, yet cool in its' own right. 6 - 2006 - Moto Perpetuo - Mr. Moto was just nothing but cool! Awesome drill. Hornline sounded thin in spots, but concept was intriguing. Next tier: liked a lot of these shows, but not enough to be in tier #1 7 - 2003 - Pathways - outstanding percussion! Great music demand in having drill start at opposite goal lines. 8 - 2008 - 3HREE - great music for first 2/3 of show. Closer music just felt wrong (which is weird since the first 2 choices "shouldn't" go together either). Too many rewrites of closer to score well at Finals. 9 - 2002 - Sound, Shape, and Color - some part of this show design just didn't click with me. talented corps. I only liked snippets of these shows 10 - 2007 - Eureka! - I liked the yells! 11 - 2010 - Bartok - interesting, but not truly engaging to me.

Well, I'll say something positive! I always like Space Chords!!! Thanks for sharing!

I can understand why you might say that, not having experienced it live. The drill was written very well, but was not up to the caliber of several other corps that year. The drill was executed very, very well. The "universal love" for the show is primarily about the MUSIC - superbly arranged and played in a mad dog after raw raw meat mentality - by both the brass and percussion! They wailed like few have ever wailed in DCI. The guard helped in establishing some of the emotional levels coming off of the field, but the POWER & PRECISION of the music was truly what made this show tick. That lead soprano line cut through like a laser. Power, passion, intensity - these are the types of adjectives you will probably see that a lot of people will have in common when describing this show. Their finals show was a truly historic event, and man am I glad I was there! When I think of ultimate crowd approval roars, a few that quickly come to mind include Madison 95, Phantom 2008, VK 92, and SCV 82. There is something special about those connections with the audience. I hope that helps to explain "the magic" a little bit.

1 - 2002- Frameworks 2 - 2004 - 007 The next tier: 3 - 2010 - Mad World 4 - 2001 - Four Corners 5 - 2000 - Niagara Falls 6 - 2003 - Spin Cycle 7 - 2008 - Samurai 8 - 2006 - Machine I could not get into these shows: 2005 - My Kind of Town 2007 - And So It Goes... 2009 - The Great Divide

1a - 2007 - Triple Crown - opening and closing statements define this show. 1b - 2008 - Finis - a.k.a. "Hooked On Classics" - an extremely strong 4th place finish. loved the hit after Candide 1c - 2009 - The Grass is Always Greener - PUCK I consider these a triumvirate of shows that belong together. Even though 2010 reflects back to 2009, it somehow doesn't have the same feel or flavor as these 3 shows. 4 - 2010 - A Sec2nd Chance - one of my 3 favorite shows of this year. Brass sound is amazing, but parts too exposed to allow for maximum scoring, but I like that they went with this anyway. Most distinctive brass sound of the last 4 years. Suncoast had the most distinct sound 83-86, especially 84-85. 5 - 2004 - Bohemia - in spite of the mic'd voice in the middle of the show, the opener and closer are outstanding. Remarkable hornline improvement in 2 short years. 6 - 2006 - In.trance.it - cool show, needed percussion score to jump a spot 7 - 2005 - Angelus - nice arrangements, great opener medley, brass sounded a little forced and thin in spots but strong in other spots. Transition year?

Obviously!!!

Pretty close to how I see things, also. I'd move 1992 up one spot, 1998 down one spot, and 1990 up one spot.

1 - 2010 - Slaughter on 10th Ave. Rhapsody in Blue. The Men of Madison are back! 2 - 2005 - The Carmen Project - needed a better close to the show and more hornline projection, otherwise I enjoyed it. 3 - 2003 - Gold, Green, and Red - The music of Benoit Jutras - a great rebound from 2002 and well designed show to get them back in Finals. 4 - 2000 - The Cossack Brotherhood - not really clean, but very entertaining! Next tier 5 - 2004 - Madisonic - nice in concept, but something too sterile about this program. 6 - 2001 - Hot Jazz - Madison Style - played loud, music just not quite to the level of the 80's versions of B in B 7 - 2007 - Unbound - loved the intro/opener These programs just didn't do it for me. 8 - 2008 - La Noche De La Iguana 9 - 2006 - Primal Forces 10 - 2002 - Conquest 11 - 2009 - Ralampago

1. 2008 - Spartacus - not just my Phantom phavorite of the decade, but one of my all-time phavorites in all of DCI (most days THE pick) 2. 2006 - Faust - the ballad and closer were simply awesome 3. 2003 - Harmonic Journey - it's all about the song selections and arrangements. Wish the opener was better in tune, but the reprise in the closer was off the hook 4. 2010 - Into the Light - outstanding program choice and design. the only things keeping it from being my second phavorite of the decade are: 1) bass synth, and 2) horn line too reserved volume-wise (not Phantom-y enough). I really appreciate the drill, soloist, and emotional levels of this show. I'm not a percussionist, but even I can tell that this percussion section is smokin'. 5. 2007 - On Air! - the block form with the upper brass trill and then the beastly low-brass entry a little over 3 minutes in is phantastic, and the Flower Duet is superb I also liked a lot of 2002, but really didn't get in to many of the other years of Phantom from this decade. 2004 had great talent but the program did not sell. 2005 was enjoyable in person, but I do not like to listen to it on the CDs. 2009 PROGRAM was very disappointing.

It was a tribute to their roots, similar to what Cadets (Holy Name) did last year. The reminder to their original name and the neckerchiefs they wore at finals appear to additional pieces that are part of the "building the brand" project of the 2010 Madison Scouts. A very successful rebuilding of the brand, I might add!

If you banged your head off of the turf as hard as she did in the 2008 show, you DESERVE to be an angel! P.R. 2008 and 2010 both are great shows, in very different ways.