Vuitton

The single greatest most unjustly underrated show of all time - 1985 PHANTOM REGIMENT!

We had those in '88. Doing sectionals in as much shade as we find and all the sudden half the hornline starts screaming.

The WORST was standing at retreat and having something in your ear. We didn't dare move during retreat in Scouts, and unlike today, we had full retreats at almost every show. I wish we didn't have them at any non-major show back then. It was awful sometimes because of the bugs.

Terrifying!

When I lived in San Francisco, a friend saw my neighbors online dating profile and the title was "No Bugs, No Drugs" LOL.

Are we talkin' STDs here?

I can't tell you how much I appreciate you sharing your perspective. '93 was tough. I saw Star in Stillwater, MN that year. My friend knew a guy there who marched Regiment in the past and he had been an DeKalb. He just went on and on about how amazing the show was, and that no one was going to beat them. I was excited, as I was a huge Star fan. Well, I hated the show. I hated the show for years after. Then, in 2004, I went through one of my annual Star kicks where I'd listen to '89 to '92 non-stop, and I thought I should give '93 another go. I don't know why, but suddenly I got it. It's my favorite Star show, hands down, and one of my favorite shows of any corps. It's just completely brilliant. I think the emotions I felt during the show in Stillwater were some of the emotions I was supposed to feel, but it was so different from any show I had ever seen. I look back and just can't believe I didn't love the show from the beginning, so it's hard to retrace my feelings about it then all these years later. But, however late, I'm so glad I finally arrived at a place where I could not only appreciate it, but love it. Sometimes the best works take the most work. I'm sorry you had hecklers - that's just so dumb. I always cheered, even in Stillwater. While I may not have appreciated the music and the visuals at that time, I certainly appreciated the excellence of the performance. You marched one of THE legendary shows. One of those shows that will be talked about for years and years to come.

Thank you for your input here. I'm a HUGE Star homer. I loved their shows from '86 to '93, especially '90 to '93. I'm glad you have cleared things up, because I don't think Star was ever salty over results. They placed very high for most of their existence, and I don't think anyone who marched '93 thinks they got screwed, just as I wouldn't think anyone who marched '93 Cadets would have thought they got screwed if they had finished 2nd. Both were amazing shows and both were deserving of a title. Cadets won a numbers game, that is all (I say that about our win in '88 too, and many wins along the way). People also need to consider that in '92 fans weren't cheering when Star was announced in 3rd because they lost, they were cheering because Cavaliers were that much closer to winning. There was a lot of buzz and excitement in Madison all week in '92. Most people seemed to want the Cavaliers to win their first title. That is understandable. They were such a storied organization that had never won, and they were in a position to do so. There was a lot of excitement in the air during the week because of this, and a lot of people were very vocal in wanting the Cavaliers to win. That had nothing to do with Star. Not once did I hear anyone say, "I hope Star loses." I heard a lot of people say, "I hope the Cavies win." Big difference. I wanted Star to win, but I was very happy for the Cavaliers and it was exciting to be there to see a new champion crowned. And year - that '92 show. That hit in the opener was the most defeaning thing I have ever heard in my life.

Beethoven: 1st movement of the 14th Piano Sonata Beethoven: 2nd movement of the 5th Piano Concerto Beethoven: 1st movement of the 4th Piano Concerto Beethoven: 4th movement of the 9th Symphony Beethoven: the finale of the opera Leonore Mozart: 2nd movement of the 21st Piano Concerto Mozart: 2nd movement of the 41st Symphony Mozart: the finale of the opera Le nozze di Figaro Bach: 1st movement of the 1st Cello Suite Bach: "Wohl mir, Dass Ich Jesum Habe" from Cantata No. 147 Brahms: 1st and 7th movements of the German Requiem Schubert: 1st and 2nd movements of the 8th Symphony (they are the only two movements of this unfiished symphony) Tchaikovsky: 4th movement of the 6th Symphony Tchaikovsky: 2nd movement of the 2nd Symphony

I think 2005. I just looked at 2005 and 2006 thinking it would be one of those years. They did win in August in 2006, but not in 2005. I can't imagine they went 2007-2018 without winning in August, considering they were top 2 every year and won heaps of titles during that span.

We're hugging it out, and I will explain to you in a DM why I'm sensitive to this stuff.

I did edit out "That's because he's upset Regiment beat Crown, and his pro-Crown bias prevents him from seeing things as they actually are" but unforuntately not quick enough. I do apologize, publically, for the first part of that statement. That was out of line. However, we all have biases. It's human nature. We have to recognize those biases to get beyond them. I am just very frustrated and disappointed that you seem to be trying to take away a great achievement by Phantom Regiment, by minimizing their efforts, minimzing the quality of their production, and minimizing the complexity, intricacy and content of their show. Both Regiment and Crown had difficult shows in different ways. We all have to remember, we are not qualified to judge one caption, much less all captions simulatenously and from an internet stream at that, and that includes content and achievement. If we were, we'd be working for DCI.

When you have a corps with enough talent to win, year after year after year, and you continually place 4th because of your visual design, then yes, visual is a big weakness.

Overcoming biases is very difficult. I spent a long 31 years in that world myself - 1984 to 2015, when I said all the BS people today still about the Blue Devils, and thought certain corps were always getting favored and certain corps were always getting screwed. I was so enraged after Devils beat Crown in 2015 that I told a friend that I don't think I can follow this activity anymore. He said, "perhaps you should first try seeing what's really there, and try not seeing what's really not there." He then went on to tell me I was so biased (not just against BD and for Crown, but against and for other corps too). I was angry at him at first (how dare he), but then as I thought about it, it made sense and I opened my mind. This activity has been so much more enjoyable for me once I realized I don't know everything, I'm not qualified to judge any caption much less all of them simultaneously, Devils (and other corps) have deserved everything they have gotten, and I just want the best corps to win regardless of whether or not I am a fan of them. I am very grateful for that friend.

Yes, that's why I said, "I don't think they have to go coed to get back into a medal position. They just need to follow Regiment's path and put out good designs."