Continental

They creep me out. It was even worse after I saw that episode of Black Mirror with the robotic dog.

Thank you - It's nice to hear about the effect from someone who marched that year. One question - how the heck did anyone who marched SCV that year keep it together during that emotional push in The Tender Land...one of the all time greatest endings.

I think one of the more important topics of conversations is how MIT robotic dogs can somehow be programmed to act as Drum Majors. Imagine the precision of their robotic commands, the ability to create inventive salutes and their sensory perception when people are not following their dots.

One of the nicest parts of Vanguard '88 was the guard. Just so well done. Does anyone know why they decided to go all-female in '89? The guard writing in '89 lost a lot of the magic from '88.

1987 Velvet Knights - June 27th, 1987 @ Riverside CA

1987 Blue Devils early season - June 27th, 1987 @ Riverside CA

1987 Vanguard early season - June 27th, 1987 @ Riverside CA

Phantom 2010 would not have the same effect if it wasn't for that pit. Beautiful writing, integrated so well into the production.

Great point. Not just their instruments. If you got close to their uniforms you could clearly see how old they were. Quite a difference from today where new uniforms/pyjamas seem to be the norm every year.

I went back and watched it and yeah, it was quite a long shot. However, they had some other nice camera work during the show that helped us to appreciate how beautiful the drill was. Also, it was nice that the camera never once focused on that unfortunate guard member who lost her skirt at the beginning of the show.

Look at the camera work at the end of '83 Garfield. Rumor has it there was a Z-pull in that show.

Loved her reaction. Aside from her being so fun checking out videos, people from New Zealand and Australia have this accent I could listen to all day long.

I like this series of threads that you've started. We hear a lot of really interesting details about each of the years. Also, no one is arguing in them. LOL

The activity needs to start funding chiropractors everywhere.

Were people in the stands able to detect the difference or is this something only those closest to the pit could detect? Or small birds, or sharks that happened to be swimming near the stadium.

One of the greatest year-to-year comebacks in the activity. Almost a 10 point jump from the year before. A complete identity renewal which had the audience in the palms of their hands all season. It must have been so amazing to be part of that. We've witnessed many incredible things in the history of this activity - this is one of them.

What was I thinking....we now have microphones and speakers to do that.

I have an actual pit question. Looking at early videos, I noticed that there was a lot more hand waving going on over instruments like Crotales (see Vanguard video below at the 00:10 mark). I'm not a percussionist so I'll ask - did this actually do something to the sound or was it more for show? It's not something you see anymore.

At least in the past few days someone posted '84 Vanguard high-cam. Note - it's not finals. The color of the pants changed for finals. https://youtu.be/ryqwkogBOHs

Blue Knights '91. I love this show. I love the music and the Zingali drill that year. For a while there was a local artist who did custom painting on their flags - each one being unique. I wonder how long they continued that tradition. And yes, I miss the dots. There is also a horn player in a sling still playing. I look at that and think about how absolutely dedicated these performers are.

The times when you know someone is reading DCP and posting videos.

When looking at these older awards ceremonies, I am amazed at how fewer corps representatives (aka Drum Majors) were on the front line to receive their awards. Remember when being a drum major was kind of exclusive?

Interesting - you have pretty much described the majority of art. It is even possible to replace "marching performing arts" with "Project Runway."

If you want to see really bad DCI videos, check out '83 and '84. Pit players during those years were the stars of the show. So many great visual moments not shown because of focusing on the pit. '88 and '89 are an absolute dream compared to those two earlier years.