Jumbo Staples

Agreed on the homages. I immediately noticed the ending brass run was the same as the jazz run ending of Frameworks.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this in another thread, and maybe I'm dating myself, but I find it really interesting that in his first year with the Cavies, David McGrath is coordinating a program with a Big Brother/Censorship/Media Control theme. He's kind of going back to his roots, when he directed PCEP to a national championship in 1999 with the Thought Crime show.

It's still hard to figure out how the Cavaliers didn't win in 2003 based on difficulty alone. The fact that is all actually tied in to a brilliant theme only strengthened it. I always wondered if the idea of a 4-peat didn't sit in some of the judges' minds. Regardless, I'd have to agree that 2003 as a whole was a fantastic year for drum corps.

The scores weren't insanely tight (although we did have a silver medal tie), but I thought 2001 had a very diverse and repeatedly listenable top 4. It was the first time an all original program took the crown, and I can vividly remember people going absolutely nuts for SCV's New Era. 1) Cavaliers - Four Corners (98.35) 2) Blue Devils - Awayday Blue (97.60) 2) The Cadets - Juxtaperformance (97.60) 4) SCV - New Era Metropolis (95.35)