MikeN

The most important statistic of 2001 is, of course, that it was the last time DCI would exist without DCP there to talk about it. On a personal note, I got to see most of the corps in '01 in San Antonio, and of course have watched the DVD's and listened to the CD's for decades now. Cavaliers had maybe the weakest performance of their championship shows, though I would personally put this one still above 2000. Where they might have been behind in music, they were so far in front in visual it wasn't a race. (Again, personally.) 200 bpm backwards in a collapsing triangle into the bottom corner, anyone? Yikes. The drum feature was usually the one that brought the house down, though my favorite moment (they called it "The Matrix") didn't get much of a rise out of the crowd. (In the intro funk section, where the whole block moves left while the individual rows spin around inside of it. Holy cow.) Blue Devils and Cadets tied. Of course they did. Can't be a DCI season without ties during that era. Blue Devils' Awayday show has actually aged pretty well if you watch it now, though the music definitely was not near as exciting as 2000. Cadets threw everything at the wall, and most of it stuck. Their version of Farandole is still the one I sing to myself. Neither really felt like they challenged for first throughout the season. Vanguard felt locked into 4th, but the show is a fun ride. Jug Blues and New Era Dance of course stand out for being dark but fun. (New ... Era... New Era. New, New, New... New Era.) Again in hindsight, this would have been more fun of a concept these days with all of the electronics that could have been tossed in. Glassmen went *really* dark, and to be honest, pretty boring with Imago. Well, boring except for the AMAZING FLUGELHORN FEATURE. If you're watching the show, skip to the ballad, then it's ok to stop after that, unless you like stab stab... stab stab... stab stab type of music. Phantom Regiment climbed from the year before with a little more complex music than the year before. Festive Overture was, of course, the showstopper, but the whole Concerto for Orchestra was a neat, sinister ride up to the big finish. Definitely worth watching. I know in my recaps I tend to bag on the Crossmen, but 2001 is right up there with the best programs they've ever done. From start to finish it was a high-octane race for the high brass, and they just nail it. Fire Dance, in particular, is both edgy and old school in all the good ways. This one is on my All Time Playlist. (TBH, it's not a very long list, either.) Bluecoats were amazing to see in live performance. At the A-Dome, there was complete and total silence during the beginning of Red Cape Tango. Like swallow-up-the-sound silence. Very, very cool. The whole show had a great flow, and felt way shorter than it actually was. Total reversal from 2000, and of course the rest is history. Boston Crusaders had the misfortune in San Antonio of going on during the final block with the top corps, and it hurt them bad. It's another show that, in hindsight, would probably be brilliant with electronics and amplified pits. (They did use Marimba Spiritual again during their SOS program.) At the time, especially after the headliner act that Red was in 2000, it felt like a huge letdown. Crown reinvented themselves... again... going heavy on the symphonic orchestral stuff. History warps our judgement - at the time, it was an okay if not electrifying show. Looking back over decades, it was just another year paddling themselves along until they really hit the big time in '03. Great opening drum feature, though, but I'd have still had them behind Madison. Madison said "screw it" and did what Scott Stewart wanted. Musically, the show is a delight and has all sorts of fun only-in-drum-corps moments. (Timpani player doubling the quad feature in the pit!) Visually, the show was a mess, and the guard was particularly small and suffering. I do drink the Kool Aid - I do feel they were getting unfairly punished by judges for the corps' outspoken-ness against the judging system. But, they didn't help themselves in performance, either. Colts went hard into a medieval-themed show that wasn't going to revolutionize drum corps, but told a coherent story from start to finish and had a brilliant ballad to go with other memorable moments throughout. This one felt like a "strong" 12th. Overall, I liked way more of the top 12 than I didn't. Especially next to 2002, I don't know if I'd put it with the strongest Finals lineups of all time, but it's definitely in Tier 2. Honorable mentions - Spirit went modern and kind of Southern with Ghost Train Tryptich, and ... it actually worked for them. It felt like a reinvention at the time, and they did managed to sustain it for a while. Blue Knights tried to go lighthearted and tripped over their own feet. Luckily, they learned from their mistakes and came back with one of the darkest of the dark shows ever, and it was gorgeous. Southwind tried to capture lightning in a bottle again, with only partial success. Pioneer had one of their last competitive shows before falling off a cliff. And Capital Regiment appeared waaaay off in the distance, running towards the group like Lancelot. Next year - DCP!!! and cavaliers set a record and other things too

We actually had interns who were marching age that ended up filling a few holes during the last few years. One dude near Finals straight up learned the whole drill in less than 3 days. Mike

I’m pretty sure they will. Just like we do the never ending stream of west-point-style and hideous satin shirts from BITD. Mike

"most likely not" =\= "ever" Mike

I'll take Four Corners' show design over both Niagara Falls and Frameworks. Probably the weakest performance of the three, but the best actual show. Mike

To echo others, each corps does their own thing, but it looks like $1,200 - $1,600 non-refundable towards this year's expenses already paid is what keeps getting described. Again, your corps may vary. Mike

Looks like they're just pushing band back a month. No cancellations of region / area / state. Mike

Texas UIL delayed the fall sports decision that was due yesterday, only saying there will be some form of football this fall. (So, we assume, some sort of band season.) Mike

This was the first year that DCI tried streaming finals, thanks to Mars Music (ah, Mars Music). I got to see the San Antonio show this year (and pretty much every year since), and it was a blast. It was, however, the *only* DCI show I've ever watched from the upper deck. This was also around the time RAMD online was in total chaos, having been taken over by a few strong personalities that dominated every discussion. Good thing that's never happened here. 😐 The Cadets should have won the whole thing, without having to share. Their musical program was head and shoulders above everyone else, and Millennium Celebration felt it like it had been created just for them. Classic Cadets brass arrangements alternated between light and dark, technical passages. Of course, everyone wants to talk about the closer. True story - in San Antonio they set up for their encore, and as soon as they started the drum ostinato, there was a mad rush for literally everyone in the entire upper deck to crowd down by the rails to see the tenors better from up above. I'd never seen anything like it. Cavaliers threw out the first pitch on their 2000's formula, and it definitely worked for them. Massive drill movements that flow one to the next, don't leave individuals or files isolated, lots and lots and lots of rotations. It's just a shame that the music is so... ugly. They leaned haaaaard into experimental Wind Ensemble music, and while they did what they do really well, what they did wasn't the most fun ever. This show never makes my playlists. I'd have had Blue Devils second, honestly. Methods of Madness was a bit of a throwback to start, then veered hard into Not Jazz. But for them, it worked so well. The entire program just captures the essence of Hermann's music so well, and they of course sell it like pros. (I'd also like to throw out that the 1999-2003 versions of their uniforms, where they shortened the jacket, are the absolute pinnacle of their uniform design. Tracksuit pinstripes can stuff it.) I kinda liked the show better before they added the brass tag on Finals night too, where it just bomp bomp bomp ends. Vanguard was in a tough place, in that their post-championship show was probably better programmed than their title shot, but the competition at the top was also way tougher. Adagio for Strings brought the house down all summer, and Stained Glass is *still* a masterclass in how to adapt percussion for brass. Not quite Peak Gusseck/Cassella, but man was it close. (Funny note about Generational DCI; my kiddo (marched 17-18) watched this one with me and asked, "why the heck are they all moving so *slow*?!? Ah, I guess everything is relative.) Boston managed shoot up like a rocket, jumping all the way up into the live show with an absolutely epic show. Red had a little bit of everything - a *ton* of symmetrical drill, which stood out, Bolero was a perfect choice as a framing device, and the singing in Con te Partiro was a crowd favorite. The only gripes I have with the show, and these are indeed minor, is that the battery was kind of hidden in the show to a degree top corps don't normally do, and the Symphonic Dance/Fiesta closer felt kind of uninspired. Like I said, though - that's minor. Overall, this is still one of the best shows Boston has put out, and ties for their best finish. Blue Knights achieved their highest finish in 2000, and they did it with a very cerebral program that highlighted brass virtuosity. It definitely was a lightning-in-a-bottle set of charts that probably shouldn't have worked as well as they did, but their performers sold the heck out of the show. I don't know if anyone that year walked away singing the melodies, but everyone sure enjoyed the heck out of what they were doing. Phantom reinvented themselves a bit this year. The black look was finally gone, replaced with khaki and white. Personal disclaimer - I thought it was a wonderful look for them, as it was a very neutral pallette to build on, but Michael Cesario later complained that the khaki actually camouflaged the corps. Musically, they restyled themselves a bit to present bite-sized pieces of some pretty famous if less obvious cuts, and they melded well. It's still my favorite arrangement of Rite of Spring, as they manage to hit the highlights of the work in about 3 minutes. Especially in the Alamodome, the big concert toms they carried in the closer had oomph - too bad they didn't play at Lucas Oil back then! Glassmen for me had this weird "even year" curse. I loved their odd years, and really didn't care for their even years. The brassline suffered a hit of quality going from 1999 to 2000, where Kodaly felt laser-focused, the Gershwin was fuzzy around the edges. I realize complaining about falling from 5th to 8th is definitely First World Problems though. Crossmen brought back Birdland. Again. 3 times in 5 years. I know they had a quality program otherwise, but I ... just can't. Sorry, I feel like I keep hammering Crossmen; I promise they do have shows I like - in fact, 2001 is probably one of my favorite jazz programs in all of DCI history! We're just not there yet. Madison fell off a cliff this year. I've read the board minutes from those years; Scott Stewart was bound and determined to flick a finger at DCI judging, and show design was starting to work at cross purposes. It didn't help that they decided to toss jazz from the repertoire. The end result was an unfocused program that probably got salvaged due to the talent of the membership. Apologies, Madison fans, as you know it doesn't get better from here for a while. Carolina Crown kept at their soundtrack era, this time choosing a middle of the road movie score instead of a middle of the road Broadway show. I actually had the score to Mask of Zorro as soon as the movie came out, and it honestly had about 32 bars of actual melody to it. I wasn't sure how they were going to turn that into a 12 minute show, and honestly... well... beyond the opener, it didn't do anything for me. If I were a GE judge, I'd have had them in 13th. Bluecoats snuck back into finals with a new concept - it's Jazz, but more symphonic! (Ah, if only we knew then what we know now...) They pulled it off well. However... Southwind should have made Finals. I'm not the first to say that, heck - I'm not the first that year to have said it - but I have no idea what the judges were thinking. They were absolutely rock solid across the board and had no discernable weaknesses. Not only would I have put them top 12, they wouldn't have been 12th either. Other highlights - Vanguard Cadets, Cascades and Patriots still pushed the Dark Symphonic stuff hard, but it was good to see everyone else take a bit of a stop back. Troopers were still solidly stuck in their programming rut. Kiwanis kind of felt like the beginning of the end for them, and Tarheel Sun had their last jazz program before folding. Dang shame - they were always a massive corps that (on the field at least) had a definite idea of what they wanted to be. Next year in 2001. Swan Song for RAMD online, the real start of the Cavaliers Era and the full ascent of any-key brass. Mike

... ok, might have forgotten them. Apologies. Short version - the opener was very Classic 90's Cadets, the tenor feature was amazing, the taxi parts were useless, the tarp didn't add anything, and it felt like a swing and a ground-rule double for a clearly home run group of performers, considering they won the year before and year after. I always had the feeling afterwards from what everyone said that Hopkins just got fixated on this particular show and had to have it a certain way. Mike

Getting my impressions in late - sorry, real life got in the way! I missed live DCI in '99, as that was the year they cancelled the Killeen show and moved it to San Antonio. I stayed away out of spite, but yeah, I caved in 2000. I bought the midseason CD's, end of season CDs and 3-volume VHSs that year, so I saw and heard everyone. For me, 1999 had one of the stronger top-12 lineups of the decade. It was definitely one of the most sophisticated musically. If you want to think about the amazing progression of the activity, directly consider 1999 Vanguard vs 1989 Vanguard vs 1979 Vanguard. Feels like three completely different activities. So, of course we know Blue Devils and Vanguard tied. I did show the VHSs to a first-time watcher and had him pick, and he said BD just carried themselves like champions, and that gave them the extra oomph. Rhythms... was a great show for the first 3/4, then the closer didn't really come together like the rest of it. I know they kept tweaking it throughout the summer, but it felt flat against the other styles out there. BD's last year with Yamaha too... <sniff> Vanguard managed to cobble a diverse set of pretty dark and sophisticated stuff into a tremendous whole. Of course, The Canyon stole the whole friggin' show. If there's one single tune that came out of that year, that was the one. Vanguard also leaned <ha!> into body movement in places that year, though the Dance Dance Revolution was still a ways away. Their ballad I think was quite underrated. Cavaliers built their program around classical and band works, much like '98, but in a much brighter fashion. Gotta be honest - I don't care for the music in this show at all. It's not a bad show in the slightest - they drill is top notch and they're nailing the charts. I just don't like the charts. Eh, everybody's got one like that, I think. Glassmen's 99 show was their strongest production in the corps' history. That brassline was amazing, and that big unison fanfare in the closer always had everyone's full attention. They sure felt like one of the Big Corps that year. Madison's Superstar had everything cranked up to 11. Even when it called for a 6, they had it at 11. That's a hell of a live show, but a bit of a mess when you look back on it objectively. Even then, I felt the star at the end was a little cheesy. Still quality, obviously, but I can't argue with them in 6th. Blue Knights found a groove in combining brass band and classical, and they used it well in '99 and '00. Trittico is just a classic "BK" sounding tune, and they felt like a "strong" 7th. Phantom's Tchaikovsky show was an improvement over the messy 1998 program, but it didn't really inspire. It was also pretty clear that the black-on-black was done. It did, however, have its moments, especially in the ballad*. (*see also: every year of Phantom's existence) Boston made Finals finally with a pretty blah set of tunes we'd heard before. They did them *really* well, though, and execution <and playing it safe> won the day for them. Don't take it harshly, BAC fans - they made up for it with a vengeance 12 months later. Crossmen switched to the black and gray in '99, and tried to update the programming a bit to match. It was definitely more symphonic-jazz, a little bit retro, and the visual program was still very good, but overall it was a little bit... just there. Didn't move my needle very hard. Carolina Crown veered again, this time into soundtracks, and I have to say, I didn't care for it at all. Jekyll and Hyde wasn't that great of source material, and I really felt that after the opener, the show trended downhill from there. Finally, Colts had what I still consider their greatest show charts ever. They worked an amazingly diverse set of tunes together, and made a good hornline sound great. It's by far my favorite of the '90's Colts programs. (Also: Bluecoats fell out of Finals... I can say the programming didn't feel like it did the members any favors.) Honorable mentions - well, a bunch of 2/3 corps (Patriots, Spartans, Lew Etoiles, Blue Stars) did a bunch of shows that quite honestly felt a bit over-dark and definitely overprogrammed. Others (Kiwanis, Tarheel Sun, ECJ) leaned hard into jazz. Wasn't much in between. Next year: (2000) The Bb hammer drops! Cavaliers decide melody is for chumps! Cadets deliver the Greatest Tenor Feature Ever! Phantom's camouflage uniforms look like pairs of floating legs! Boston and Blast! coincidentally love Ravel a lot! And other things! Mike

Football coach in TX leaked to the papers that UIL's statement on Fall Sports should happen Monday. Mike

You’re saying then it trickles down. Mike

😄 Mike

Por que no los dos? Miguel

I know there is an expectation that if you're in WC that you will be competing in X number of events throughout the summer. There is some flexibility involved, especially with the larger corps. It's kind of a given that each corps will go on the longest tour they can comfortably support. I've not really heard of a lot of bickering in WC about tour planning at DCI, but then again, they would hardly broadcast that to the world if there was. I know with my OC group, they were fairly lenient. We told them how many shows we were planning to do - which was on the low end of the spectrum - and they did their best to accommodate that. We'd ask for specific events to attend, and they did a pretty good job of that as well, though we never got all of the ones we asked for. For us in TX, the hardest part was right around San Antonio week, as we were either hauling long distances to make it back to TX, or hauling long distances right after to get to the OC-only part of tour. For us, it didn't feel like it was that involved of a process. Especially in recent years, the tour got fairly standardized from year to year, so you knew what was coming. That's one benefit (and I think it's a *big* benefit) of Finals being locked into Indy. Mike

Not entirely. OC-only show revenue goes into a pool and is redistributed after the season. I can tell you firsthand, it's not a lot - not enough to really be a significant line item - but then again, OC shows generally aren't well attended. (Though anecdotally it felt like the Midwest shows in the final weeks of tour had been starting to pick up a bit the last few years.) Mike

So... eliminate all but a dozen member corps with attendant votes? That's the other half of this. Without bylaws revision, I can't imagine any WC corps agreeing to it. Mike

I'm not sure I agree with your "will" and "must" statements here. Mike

"A tough lesson in life that one has to learn is that …..not everyone wishes you well…..Dan Rather" 😐 Mike

Same thing was leveled against the Cavaliers in the early 2000's. Mike

I went back and re-listened to the show today. I’ll concede - the opener pops, much like the ‘91 version, though you can tell it’s structurally influenced by the Birdland opener the year before. The ballad is ... ok, and then the opener starts 6:30 into the show. No wonder the end kind of peters out - that’s a looooong time to run and gun. Someone in the design room wasn’t thinking clearly there. Mike

Might be because the BoD/Corps themselves made sure that DCI returned as much revenue to the corps as possible. Mike

I feel 1998 is one of the weakest top 12's of the decade, especially compared to the season before and after. A few corps hit home runs, but not as many as I expected. Oh, and the recordings were again awful - the mix is insanely loud compared to other years. This was the last year they had the Killeen, TX show - I did get to see BD rehearse during the afternoon - first time I'd been exposed to air only, air and drums, full ensemble... Sometimes we forget how homogenized (in a good way!) and interconnected marching instruction is these days! Cadets had one of the most intentionally-ugly opening horn hits ever heard to that date. Musically, they did what they did very well, but holy cow is that an ugly piece. I keep trying to go back every few years and rewatch, but I can't. I'd have put SCV in first, but also have to recognize that Cadets were very, very clean. When I first saw SCV, I wrote a fairly scathing review on RAMD about how inaccessible the music was. With 20 years of hindsight, no - the show was brilliant. Dark, but brilliant. I still smile when thinking about the dancing tenors. I have to admit I'm kind of glad they didn't win, though, else they might not have done the '99 show the way they did. Honestly, Blue Devils had my favorite show from the top 4. As someone mentioned earlier, BD playing classical was definitely a head-turner, but they made it sound gooood. I loved their arrangement of Romeo and Juliet in the opener, and One Hand One Heart was an epic closer. Personal note - James Gulke conducted the victory concert in Killeen about 3 feet away from me. I might have fanboyed a bit. Cavaliers put together a rock-solid show, built on what they had always done well - visual and drums. The guard had a neat trick wearing the corps uniforms during the opener - funny enough, it made the ensemble as a whole look smaller, not bigger. Machine is a brilliant closer, especially when the guard picks up the cymbals and chaos reigns right up to the abrupt end. Glassmen... their corps was head and shoulders better in talent than '97, and the music was definitely more sophisticated... but the show didn't have quite the same heart. I can't quite articulate what the Bizet show had, but it had "it" and I don't think '98 had it. Madison Scouts had a great and entertaining show, but it definitely felt like Scott Stewart's feud with DCI judging was influencing their design process. Remembrance is a wonderful chart, but I think I liked the '90 version better. Peer Gynt was a lot of fun, and seeing the battery continually swapping instruments throughout the show warmed my percussive heart. Crossmen weren't quite as strong in '98 as the year before, with a show that to me felt like a bit of a retread. I have to admit, it's not one that finds playtime in my lists. Hopkins responded to my complaint online about why Metheny again with "nobody in the current Crossmen has played it." I have to admit, as a parent now I get that argument, but I'd still they rather had made new classics instead of using old ones. Phantom's show, like The Ring, sounded great on paper but wasn't as clear on the field. I think this one should be held against the designers, rather than the performers, though it felt their hornline had slipped a fair bit. The Respighi at the end sounded tired. Blue Knights had what I thought was a very strong and solidly programmed show. I thought between Ben Hur and this they were developing a very distinct sound, and their drumlines were getting better and better. I appreciated the straightforward arrangements too. Bluecoats played a "Greatest Hits" compilation, and it was gooood. Didn't score the highest, but it was great to listen to. I can't complain. 🙂 Crown put on what, to me, was their weakest show since joining D1. Another one I think that falls on the designers. The whole show felt fuzzy both musically and visually. (Of course, with two decades of history, one of Crown's strengths has been that they can turn on a dime when it comes to reinventing themselves, but we're not quite there yet.) Colts switched to vocal jazz (one guess who picked the music!) and it worked beautifully. Yes, 12th, but a bright, fun show that really stood out for its uniqueness. I still listen to the source material. Other honorable mentions - Magic completely pivots...and falls out of Finals. Boston kept '90's Bostoning, right up until next year when they didn't. Les Etoiles did it again, making Semis against all odds. East Coast Jazz put on clinic on how to go Old School in a New School manner, with some epic soloists. And Tarheel Sun put out a massive group that looked like they were going to gain steam. Next, in '99 - the swan song for bugles, and some of the most iconic shows ever for a handful of groups. Mike

Phantom '97 was a weirdly paced show, and I just went back and listened to it. The big horn opening was at 1:14 in, and then it went straight into the first ballad. No traditional opener. The show doesn't pick up any speed again until 4:22. Another ballad at 6:50 that briefly picks up to the fake out ending at 9:45 then the slow and stately recap of the first ballad. Its amazing how little uptempo there is for a drum corps program. Mike