Dmlkmen

I think All is Full of Love may become a candidate for the fans choice, ballad of the year. Of any piece being played this year by a corps, hearing this one is what I am most anticipating. We have heard Hunter, the overture to Dancer in the Dark, 107 Steps, and a few others from Bjork on the field over the years. ( Of course with Crown this year, add Bachelorette to that list too). But All is full of Love has been on my list of “ the music corps should do” for quite some time. (This piece, and many of her songs from the album Vespertine, would be my choices to note in Lances’ thread). Bjork may be known for a genre of music that is uniquely her own. Her weird lyrics, odd time signatures, and unique polyrhythmic layers and beats in her music, are things to admire and love about her. But this piece is just beautiful and emotional, perhaps different from many of her other songs. It showcases her incredible vocal range, perhaps the best of any of her songs. The “small, yet mighty Valkyrie”- as Rza from Wu Tang once called her, after doing a collaboration. I am sure Crown is going to play this with all the power and emotion each and every night that you see here. Very much looking forward to hearing it this year.

Seconded. What a great story. I attended the Tour of Champions show at the Rose Bowl. I remember how incredible that piece was hearing it live.

Jim Prime will always be my favorite arranger. It begins and ends with Prime for me. So naturally, I tend to like shows and arrangers who feature that style or palette of Primes’ brilliant brass arrangements. I know its likely the opinion of many that Shaw picked up where of Jim Wren left off. I agree. But there is also a bit of Prime that I hear in Shaw’s arrangements. Its because Shaw always seems to give you, what seems like, a full, masterfully arranged piece. And of course, it doesn’t hurt that his music has been played with both Regiment and Vanguard horn lines that were in yearly contention for “the Ott”, with those arrangements. All of this noted, I would like to add my list of favorites to a thread dedicated to this “Shaw Appreciation Society”. Really there isn’t a show I haven’t enjoyed that he has arranged in DCI. (And now that it was mentioned, I’ll also look at some of the shows from Sunrisers). So out of his large body of work, here is my best of the best list: 1. 1991 Phantom Regiment member, Mellophone Solo - Nessum Dorma. 2. 2005 Phantom Regiment - Rhapsody in Blue/ American in Paris. That show is a masterpiece. I could listen to it in the car all day. I absolutely love the minor key change he used in the main theme. Low brass and middle voices especially. 3. 2006 Phantom Regiment- Ave Maria and the ending of the show with the reprised themes. In Ave Maria, Soprano voices picking up baritones on the sideline was a great touch to the arrangement. 4. 2003 - Phantom Regiment- That year I saw them early in California, and many in the crowd with me were saying after the show how different and majestic the corps sounded. A huge difference from recent years. As if they hadn’t heard this type of Regiment in quite some time. Especially in the Canon opener and the Maslanka closing piece. 5. 2008- Phantom Regiment. One of the greatest shows of all time, and I would be anmiss to not mention as a favorite Also saw them early in California that year, at the Oceanside show. At that time, early season, I remember sitting in the stands and thinking how intense the music was.. 2006 grabs you from the very first note in the opener. But opening with that majestic theme from Spartacus and then into the opener, just wow. I hadn’t seen a show that intense, live, since Vanguard 1999. I left that very early look at the show in 08, amazed. I could go on and on, but for brevity I’ll also note all of his recent Vanguard work makes up position 6 and and few more slots. He brought some pieces we never thought we’d hear, as well as some familiar pieces with masterful arrangement, ( Pure Imagination from 2015 comes to mind). Greatly looking forward 2023 show with Regiment, especially how the Muse songs are interpreted.

Nice! And glad that Boerma is back and arranging. Love that they are taking chances with Jazz and overall great music that we wouldn’t expect to hear on the field. Very much looking forward to this! But just one thing…for the love of Seattle, please do not have a patch or someone singing “ Black Hole Sun won’t you come and wash away the rain….”. Same with Rusty Cage, (which should be a phenomenal “in your face” opener). There is one Chris Cornell. And that Chris Cornell is hard to duplicate. Let the horns and percussion be the cover band and maybe some synth for those weird guitar riffs. If Black Hole Sun is the ballad, I’d like to hear something rough. Please no Sarah McLaughlin- esque patches. Beef it up and make it edgy.

The video posted on DCI’s website the other day about what this was going to be had me cautious at first. But now that I see how these pieces fit together, I get what Tony Hall was saying. Muse music being played by Phantom Regiment isn’t something I’d expect to see on the field. Perhaps with Bluecoats or Blue Knights it would easily fit. So Tony Hall was right- this does make me say “wow they are actually doing this! “ As it relates to the theme, I think 2nd Law/ Isolated System is a great piece as a preshow to introduce the Exogenesis concept. I can literally see how this piece sounds when I listen to it. Now, how that leads into Supremacy….yeah, that’s the “wow they are really doing this” for me. Supremacy is like a mix of a James Bond theme song and rock opera- almost Queen like in sound. But thats the beauty of it. JD Shaw took pieces we would never expect to hear on the field in his work with SCV. He made them sound so unique and masterful. I am really looking forward to what he does here with these pieces. So, getting into the back half of the show, the more “ traditional” pieces we might expect to hear - I am curious if the Rachmaninoff is the 2nd movement of that 3 movement piece. If that is the actual ballad of the show. That movement is one of my favorites, and I had hoped for Phantom to have it in a show for quite some time. I had not heard the Melilo piece until tonight, as I found it on YouTube. I can see how this will end the show. Much like the Melilo piece last year, there is some fantastic brass passages, peaks and climaxes, that will be phenomenal to hear. Very much looking forward to what Tony Hall described, this year. This different, yet classic all the same edition of Regiment.

This has the potential to be one of my favorite Cadet shows, ever. The music is powerful and inspiring, Very much looking forward to the product on the field this year! The Cadets playing Hans Zimmer music has been a successful formula before. Angels and Demons was incredible in 2011. I think Zimmer’s theme from Superman is one of the most inspiring pieces in film from the past decade. It’s an instantly recognizable piece. It isn’t just this piece, but all of them being a perfect fit to being both a very powerful and inspiring show. The Batman piece to close the show is something I saw in Lances’ “ music corps should do” thread. I have been hoping for years it would make the field at some point. I have wondered why more corps haven’t thought about taking Zimmer’s score in those Batman movies and arranging them to be their own. We will finally get that chance this year. I was also very impressed with The Cadets visual last year, especially the drill to their opener. I hope we can see more of that this year.

1994 Brass Theater version, ( with drill), of Medea/ Strings for Percussion and Celeste. ….And yes, even in this version, the crowd is heard screaming “ Do it! “ after the FFF ( triple forte) chord in Medea, and into the the accelerando. As a side note….as someone who appreciates demand in drill and music equals movement, both 1993 Star and Cadets have to be all time champions of drill speed and demand. It was as if each was pushing the other to raise doctor beat a bit more in practice and just turn on the after burners in tempo on the field that year. This video, I think, shows that demand that was present in the drill extremely well. We get to see, close up, what an individual needed to do in movement and playing.

I didn’t see this show live on the field. However, it was what they did with it in 1994 while touring with The Canadian Brass that I did get to see it live. Both in its standstill version at Wolf Trap, and in the indoor drill version. Wolf Traps’ show will always be remembered, because I had front row to the show. Percussion played Marimba Spiritual, followed by Star coming out in uniform to perform a shortened but no less incredible version of their 91 and 93 show. The CD from their initial year with Canadian Brass is unfortunately one I lost somewhere in my travels and moves over the years. It has the recording of Marimba Spiritual, Medea, Pines of Rome / Villa Borghese, Pictures at an Exhibition, and a very good Everyone Loves the Blues (similar arrangement to early 80’s Blue Devils). I’d love find it and own it again, if anyone knows where to find it. The first CD of Brass Theater, if I remember correctly, had a light blue cover with a maple leaf in blue and orange, noting “ Brass Theater”. It also had a write up about Star of Indiana on the insert, explaining how they were discovered by the Canadian Brass and how Brass Theater evolved.

2007 Cadets. Surprised there is no mention of it yet in this thread. In my 30 years or so since being introduced to DCI, this one stands out as the most controversial to me. While the Cadets show that year was mentioned as somewhat of the focus of narration/ amplification, it wasn’t just this show that had us debating. I remember at the time the Old School vs. New School debate was reaching a heated peak over amplification. And even if you were accepting of where amplification was at the time and where it was going, you could probably find yourself arguing over 05 BD and this shows narration being horrific, while at the same time praising 07 Bluecoats and Crowns’ use of it. Narration, amplification- where we thought it might head, even where we thought it wasn’t/ shouldn’t be- it was the controversy of the time. I was in the crowd during the Cadets Finals performance. I was near Side 1, 35 yard line, roughly middle of the stadium from field to press box. You could hear fans screaming obscenely in their discontent from all sections of the stadium during the voice/ narration parts of the show. (It’s definitely heard in the Finals recording). But you also notice the increase in crowd response and cheering when the corps is playing. The polarization reached its apex at Finals. So much so, The Cadets included a joke in the show to note that they knew the fans were thinking. This year also included “ Hashgate”. I remember that specifically as it delayed our KAC performance time a bit at Semifinals. But the term lives on today. There is a recording of the show that I believe is labeled by fans as “ sans voice”. I listened to “Sans” the other day for the first time as I found it on YouTube. It confirmed what I thought of at the time as an incredible hornline with a great book. Hearing that corps in the “ sans” recording, perfectly brought to light Saktig’s demand in the drill of that show as well. A drill I consider as Saktig at the top of his game, especially the last 30 seconds. This noted, there is a bit of a masterpiece in the way the The Cadets marched and played this show. Even if the voice and the story were terrible in hindsight, we can now say corps like the Mandarins, Bluecoats, Blue Knights, Crown, and yes, The Cadets, have improved on dramatically from our “ humble beginnings”. I just wish more of the fans at the time could have had the foresight to see that eventually this would change the game, instead of simply giving up on the activity. .

Love this show. Glad to see it get love on DCP 22 years later.. I was lucky enough to see it live. I attended a show at Disney’s Wide World of Sports that year. Early season show where BD came east and toured Florida, along with the Cavaliers. The show was on a baseball diamond and the seats were rather strange in terms of perspective to the field. But because of those weird angles, the sound was awesome. The angled seats made it feel like you were sitting on top of the corps. While BD definitely thrilled with their show, (which to this day is also one of my favorites)… I remember The Cadets that night were on fire. The beginning hit of Young Person’s- playing the 16th note runs- I was floored at the precision of that horn line. But it was really the whole show that was just jaw dropping. The crowd that night was sold. 2001 had all of the things I love about Cadets. Speed/movement = music. Great symphonic music played impeccably well- including a real crowd pleaser in Moondance. Incredible drill.

Kips Bay Night Club and East Coast Jazz are some of my favorite names of any corps. And going through some of the names of corps back in the day, there are some great ones that stand out. The story about how a corps marched as “ The Thing” in the early 80’’s, probably deserves a description on this thread. I have heard it a few times but don’t remember all the details. I know it involved two Wisconsin corps trying to figure out what their merger name would be. Perhaps someone could explain it here.

Great topic. Thanks for starting the discussion. 1988 Blue Devils, Since I fell for you closer and the opener. The reprise of the opener that the Blue Devils played in their 2009 show, is also one of my faves. 1991 Crossmen - Its really the whole thing from Minuano to Third Wind. But what stands out is the drum solo in Third Wind. Gets me every time. (1998’s version as wel)). 1993 has some of my favorites… 1993 Madison Scouts Strawberry Soup- Crowd Reaction at the end with the soloists on the front sideline is the definition of on fire. Arguably, any brass players dream to be those guys. 1993 - Phantom Regiment End of Estancia with the crab step into Fire of Eternal Glory. Like Madison, the crowd reaction plus the music - chills every time I hear it. 1993 - Blue Devils, the Hank Levy piece in that show. The arrangement is masterful, and that hornline playing it is just…legendary. So calming and relaxing each time I put on the Blue Devils Legacy CD in my car. 1984- Madison Scouts, Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters. A piece I would LOVE if they brought back on the field. Its just sounds so unorthodox to be in a drum corps show…Thats why I love it. Anything John Adams.... Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Harmonic Nights, Chairman’s Dances…all great. I vote for more John Adams on the field. Star 1989….The company front and the chord. G horn goodness and chills every time I hear it. If the meaning of “triumph” were to be described in music….Phantom Regiment’s 2010 opener from the Band of Brothers, and the 1992 closer for the Cavaliers. Anytime a corps has played On the Waterfront. I am with a lot of you on Shaker Loops. I love the groove of that section in Bloo’s 2015 show and find myself bobbing my head to it every time I hear it.

LA will host the Olympics in 2028. As to what new venues and infrastructure go into the city while hosting, could be interesting. Perhaps a renovation to both the Rose Bowl and LA Coliseum will happen. Specifically the LA Coliseum in order host the ceremonies as well as track and field events. We will see. Regarding the quote that nearly half of the Top 12 is currently from the west…Let’s not forget what 2007 did in terms of creating new corps, and even reuniting old ones . From having finals at the Rose Bowl in 2007, it coincided with new corps emerging. VK, City Sound, Incognito, and what was then Hawthorne Gold, came into being. They joined Impulse, and the Nor Cal cadet corps of BD and SCV. Later iterations of those corps with staff from creative teams are present in a thriving Western Open Class today. One that holds its own western corps/ Pacific open class championship. And what did it do for the Alumni and all age corps? The Blue Devils had an alumni corps perform at the Stanford show that year. And of course, The Kingsmen Alumni Corps took the field at DCI semifinals. Of greater outcome to that corps, many caught the drum corps bug once again and continued past the Semifinals performance. The Kingsmen went on in 2009 to field an all age corps. It was, sadly, the corps only year. But members from that corps went on to SoCal Dream, Renegades, and the Freelancers Alumni. All of this was something glorious we got from just one year with finals in California. Of course we would love to see it back. Could we match the corps created and the alumni who picked up their horns again and formed their own groups post the experience? Perhaps. I personally would love to see a VK Alumni corps once again take the field, at home, as the Kingsmen did. I’d like to see Gold, Watchmen, Vessel, and other California, Oregon, Utah, and Washington Open Class corps be able to say, march finals “at home” this year ; Join Us! And we say DCA needs to thrive again..what if all age made a comeback in Cali because of an expanded DCI schedule giving so much exposure to a new group? We haven’t even touched the tip of Soundsport and Drumline Battle events. Imagine the interest you could get regionally in California, which could never be present in Indy?

Blue Stars 2010-2011 Two of my favorites from the last decade. 2010 Houdini is aggressive, loud, and full of moments that I love in drums corps. Should have been a Top 6 show that year, in my opinion. 2011 with music from the Bourne Identity and Matrix. Carrying over the aggressive percussion from the year before, there is an added groove in the Bourne Identity themes. Brass is solid, carrying over the sound from the prior year. 2011 makes me wonder if Blue Stars could reboot this show, with a modern twist. With electronics and their over the top props and guard…This could be fantastic.

Until the John Williams moratorium changes and we can hear Star Wars music on the field…..(which probably won’t be in my lifetime)…And no, not forgetting Star of Indiana 1986 and their take on it… I would love to see a superheroes show with music from the Marvel movie or show introduction included. Either the new version that we hear before every Marvel movie or show, or the older version we heard in the introduction of the Iron Man films. The music from the new phase 4 trailer, which builds upon the main theme, would be phenomenal as an opener for any corps. I would like to see the signature French horn parts in that piece, mic’d for their parts. Very similar to the way The Cadets used staged French horns in their “10” show a few years ago. As for other superhero themed music… I would hope we could hear the theme from the Avengers in a show at some point. Lastly, we have had Hans Zimmer’s music from Man of Steel before, ( Vanguard Cadets a few years back). But I would love to see a corps expand upon it, with additional selections from Hans Zimmer”s score in Man of Steel, The Dark Night, and his recently Oscar nominated work in the new Dune film. Honorable mentions: 1. A rebooted/ second take Star Trek show from the Blue Knights. Building upon their underrated (IMO) 1993 show, they add in music from the latest Star Trek films, I would love to hear how Jay Bocook would arrange this music, in particular Enterprising Young Men. 2. The film, Atonement, has had music from the Dunkirk scene played by The Cavaliers in 2016. However, the entire soundtrack of the film is incredible- including that haunting theme with the typewriter percussive elements. I would love to see what JD Shaw could arrange with this music, and give it full treatment with Phantom Regiment. 3. A Henry the V show. Taking music from both Walton’s score that SCV played in their very underrated 1993 show, and the theme music from Kenneth Branagh’s recent adaption. In particular the theme from the St. Crispin’s day/Band of Brothers speech. What could the Boston Crusaders do with this music? Or, Phantom Regiment?

I’ll be there tonight. My seats are in the section with indoor/ outdoor seating,- (where one can go into the cash bar inside). This will be my first time at Colorado States’ new stadium and I am looking forward to it. The acoustics at Mile High Stadium were always great, so I hope CSU’s stadium will provide the same. I will probably be in the bar inside watching the Open Class corps for awhile before heading outside closer to sunset. I’ll post some pictures tonight in the thread. Intereted in how the “stadium stomp” will sound and feel at this stadium when the Blue Knights take the field tonight…

1995 Madison Scouts. This year is my 30th year since seeing my first show live. I have never seen a crowd reaction since, in the way crowds reacted to this show at the time. (2008 Phantom Regiment came close, when seeing live). I saw this show three times live- And the experience the roar of the crowd from the rotating company front to the end was just incredible. There was something about 1995 Scouts that people were just going crazy for. When you have snare drum heads signed by the line selling at your souvenir stand, and selling out those heads at several shows- its probably as close to being rock stars in the activity as some might get. What you see in Buffalo as crowd reaction is so muddled, unfortunately with what DCI considered to be, “ a great partnership with IBM”. You don’t get the feel of it. I have watched the remastered version on the Essentials Blu Ray, which is better then then DVD and VHS I had of the show. But really, seeing that live, the reactions- and how Drum Corps World wrote about it that year- it was something incredible. I have heard about 1988 and the crowd reaction in Kansas City with that show. But I can’t say I was there to tell the tale….

Also, regarding the app….Marvelous idea on integrating tech into a show. Really looking forward to seeing a view of the crowd using it at largely attended regionals, as well as the corps Finals night performance. And there couldn’t be a more perfect time to introduce a QR code leading to an app, to encourage crowd integration within a show. Whether one knew what a QR code was, pre peak of COVID, or not- We of course learned a bit more about them with the “paperless everything” atmosphere we were in.

Agreed. Really liking the demand of drill, demand of challenging music on the move, and them doing it effortlessly. I anticipate what additions they may add to that drill and musical demand, in the coming weeks as they finish their show. IDK, is it OK to say I still like demand of music and drill, more then I like staging and emphasis on props in 2022? Or does the drum corps version of the Progressive Guy who helps people not become their parents, need to accompany me to DATR this year to help? : ) All things considered and joking aside…Looking forward to seeing this live when I’m in San Antonio.

If I am not mistaken, did SCV play this piece as their ballad a few years back in their Devil’s Staircase show? ( I remember it as The Eternal Knot). It is a beautiful piece and one of my favorites. Definitely looking forward to hearing it in Crown’s show this year.

Good luck Boston. Nothing but the best for this year. I hope the screens come back and are very much integrated into the show. I liked the leap of innovation taken last year with them. You are adding a new level to shows, and the sky is the limit to what can be done with background projection. Very much looking forward to seeing them again, if its in the cards for your show this year.

Don’t know. Aside from Pacific Crest giving us a show concept and Troopers doing the same, there have been very few announcements on anything. I am buying a ticket for San Antonio today, (and when I bought a ticket for DATR last week), I think it is the first time in 30 years as a fan where I had no idea what any of the corps at the events would be playing…as of April. But, for what it’s worth, Tommy is one of my favorite Blue Devils shows from all time. And it would be phenomenal to what Bluecoats could do with the music today if that is their show concept for 2022. (And as a side note- if we can bring back other themes from 1990, I would like to see Scouts play Rememberance, and Crown’s or Phantom’s take on Belshazzar’s Feast.).

I might be one of the few people who puts 2011 as their best show of the 2010-2019 decade. In particular, the opener and closer/reprise of House is not a Home at the end. I can listen to that all day. That said, I really like when BD plays the music of one artist for a show. Whether thats Burt Bacharach, Bernard Herrman, Don Ellis/ (with a mix of Hank Levy), Chick Corea, The Who, etc. Those shows have all been some of their most entertaining to me. So as a request, I would love for them to do a Sergio Mendes show. Include Brazil 66's Mas Que Nada through solo years and later pieces like Maghelena, (and others from his Brasileiro album). One can wish. Anyhow, looking forward to whatever it is they put on the field this year and best of luck to another championship year. Really looking forward to seeing them live in Denver at DATR this summer.

I am going to call this shows that have nearly blown out the speakers in my car. And to quote the SF Renegades, "Loud is Good". 1. Cavaliers 1990 show opening hit as they turn from playing backfield chords, and go into the opening of Gloria....Something about how 1989 and 1990 was recorded that made all of the horn hits in various shows, Volume 11. Honorable mentions from those years include Star and BD shows. 2. 1993 Blue Devils - From a hornline that is arguably one of BD's best ever- The part in the Hank Levy piece, Chain Reaction, where Sopranos hit that high note chord, right after the front ensemble and percussion break. 3. 1994 Blue Devils - In a year where the BD snareline is kicking butt the entire show, the end of Day Danse where they are are doing their "trademark to that show", high stick drumming into a marching block. Along with the sopranos hitting chords at fff into that block.....man, enough said. 4. 1995 Madison Scouts- specifically, their performance at Allentown. I was there. I wish there was a recording or video of their show from that event in 95. It wasn't just the corps but also the crowd reaction- That crowd was on their feet and so loud after the revolving company front at the end, that the corps seemed to play louder over the crowd. It was one of my favorite moments all time as a fan. 5. Last but not least.....My experience in the 200+ hornline of the KAC (Kingsmen Alumni) at the Rose Bowl in 2007. In particular, our dress rehearsal show at Long Beach City College the week of Finals. Our hornline arc'd up on the track before we performed, all 200+ plus of us playing F Tuning and The Kingsmen Chorale.

Just wishful thinking…..Would love to see Bloo do an entirely Zappa show next year. What they could bring to the field with Throwers arranging and their visuals and props would fit the music. Honorable mention for a show based on Elton John or Pink Floyd. Sky is the limit for next year on how they innovate.