chris ncsu

I like them just fine. And gorgeous guard uniforms.

Some people have mentioned Danger Bay, and I agree! I remember watching that when I was <10 and thinking how awesome that would be for marching band or something (my sister was in marching band at the time, so I was all about that stuff). Most TV themes are pretty repetitious so it's easy to get a bit bland with them.

Big Bad & Blue My Spanish Heart Club Blue A Gangster Chronicle Rhythms at the Edge of Time Frameworks Spin Cycle We Are The Future Juxtaperformance Dreamscapes yadda yadda Dreams of Desire (Phantom 90) Songs for a Summer Night (Phantom 91) A Defiant Heart Virtuoso (Phantom 01) Songs for the Planet Earth A Drum Corps Fan's Dream (& Part Dos) Power Pizazz and all that Jazz Red Imago Bellissimo

It's in the closer, right as things are calming down a bit before the big final push...

Just based on the recording (which is all I have, and we know 96 recordings aren't fantastic...but I was only 13 at the time...), Cadets 96 was an incredible hornline and the drumline was extremely well integrated into the music. It is curious that they won that caption that night with an ensemble tear or two, but if you somehow ignore that, they were incredible. They had a string of very well polished hornlines from 93 (92 at times) through 96. But I'm sure you could lend more credit to someone who was there live...

There's one tear, probably the one everyone refers to, just before the one or two measure drum break that leads up to the fugue toward the end of the show...

BD 02 did that.

I'd love to try to find a clip of this. But yeah, all three corps were scary good in 96 (PR, BD, Cadets), all three hornlines absolutely floor me.

I'll just say that I wish they'd perform at Finals simply because that's the night I'll be there :) That's all.

haha, like actually lol. last year they see they can do some bizarre things and get away with it...this year they say 'oh yeah? well now what happens if we...' weird

Oh gosh, I just realized that I...never realized those were boxing rings. What's wrong with me...

About Cadets 94...it's definitely not my favorite, but with regards to its arranging...I actually think it's an extremely smooth arrangement, much like people say about their 84 show. The transitions are very very good, and I especially like they way the arranger was able to blend "I Have a Love" and "A Boy Like That" toward the end...and the return of the fake out -then- reverse company front.

I've always liked that wavy set Garfield made at the end of their ballad in 85. Gorgeous.

3 or 4...definitely Raleigh, NC, along with Charlotte and/or Salem, VA...Charlotte and Salem are back-to-back nights but with completely different and equally-impressive lineups. *sigh* Then Madison for Finals, though man I may try to do something about seeing Madison Alumni Semis...

I was told by a band director that the Cary, NC used to pull a lot of big corps in the 80s. I remember seeing Star there in 1993.

Ahh, what's slated to happen in Tarboro? And I'm still waiting for a location announcement for the Raleigh show.

Cary, NC

I started watching DCI on PBS regularly in 1998, and I still have a big soft spot for Cadets 98....

Cadets 98 -- my favorite silks ever...whole show, all of them PR 01 ending Cavies 02 -- I really like the silks in the ballad Cadets 01 -- simple colors, but loved them, especially the blue (Moondance) and green (ballad)

That Phantom 78 video was fantastic. That looked like some really cool, complicated drill! I can imagine if they were marching faster than that, the drill might come close to holding its own today in some places...

Gah, well you caught me doing NOTHING drumcorpsish at this moment. I'm reading some news and I have the 'Talk of the Nation' NPR theme in my head.

Symph. 1 is a great piece, in the concert hall, I'm not so sure about on the field. It would definitely be pretty intense, and I would imagine the 'attack' part would be something like the portion in SCV 91's show just before 'Fall of Saigon'. Voodoo is so much fun, but again, on the field? *picture's BD's 95 colorguard*

Before seeing Phantom 96, I was expecting way more in my head when I listened to it audio only. I was also unsatisfied with Cadets 02 and 03...remember the barrage of complains about the 02 drill being very cramped and unimaginative? I agree. And 03 was largely blah to me. Lately (post 01), otherwise cool things in Cadets drill just sometimes seem to take forever to develop that there's no wow... Another random one in my head, especially given the years around it...was Garfield 88. Did anything happen in that show? I can't think of anything offhand, and I think I remember people saying they had tones of drill rewrites that year...

Only 2 here... 80 Bridgemen 92 Crossmen

First Video: Finals 1995 and 1989, Christmas 2000ish First Live: 1993