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Today at this moment, I would walking from the lot to the stadium fresh from watching SCV kill it at RCC - Western Corps Connection (Riverside show - now relocated to San Bernardino Valley College). And based on last year's schedule, I would be awaiting Mandarins's performance. Link to the Performance Photo

This has to make your list of DAP for the DAF Pod.

McNutt or ScoJo jokingly said after hearing of the change in judges on the field, now they could crank up the writing even more since the judges won't hear as much, lol.

Santa Clara Banguard Clue Devils Boston Grusaders Bluegoats Carolina Frown Spirit if Atlanta

Exactly, and also that the writing wasn't affected by the change.

Indeed, big takeaways?

Video works now

Amazing Zoom call, discussed shows, DCI history, technique, etc

This season has to be remembered for the lottery draw for order of appearance. I recall hearing from VK vets from that season how disappointed they were that they had to perform 1st even though they were ranked 7th. Bloo and VK are fun shows. Scouts strength is in the closer. BD and SCV had the more balanced shows. SCV has such emotion and I feel BD should have won. Looking back, I wonder if people were thinking if the Cavies may become contenders.

This in my opinion encapsulates why the Blue Devils won. Todd Ryan and Scott Johnson, addressing the issues that held back BD from becoming contenders in DCI since 1988. In 1988 BD was 3rd and some say should have won that year, then they placed 4th very year since with the exception of 91 when they placed 5th as they took High Brass with Star. Bottom line, BD's percussion program took a hit when ScoJo (BD Battery Tech 77-89) left for SCV and Tom Float walked early in 1991 and wasn't until ScoJo came back in 94 that he and his staff restored BD percussion back to prominence.

1993 will always have a special place for me as this was my first exposure to drum corps. Back then I was 16, jr. in High School. Back then, John DeNovi (current DCI Marketing Exec) was our marching instructor, and he brought in VHS tape of the PBS broadcast during band camp and played the Cadets 93 show. My jaw dropped. How can they march so fast? Being a tenor player, you can imagine how jarring witnessing tenor playing at it's highest level, 2 mallets per hand feature as an example. He then said that PBS was replaying the broadcast that following Sunday morning. So of course I got up early, got a blank VHS, press record and watched. I posted a YT playlist of another user who uploaded the broadcast version of DCI Finals in 1993. My first impression was the Intro, it was B-Roll of the Cadets sweating with a Curt Cowdy voice over talking about the "the fire that burns inside", basically, DCI's version of the "frozen tundra" line in NFL flims. Then followed by the intro to the Scouts, treating the broadcast like a sporting event, as a young impressionable sports fan, it got me. Quick Impressions Madison Scouts: Performing in Heavy Rain The energy from the crowd Screaming Soprano Solos in Strawberry Soup Keep in mind, the biggest drumline I ever seen in competitions up to that point would be 5 snares, 3 tenors and 5 basses, and here you have Scouts with 10 Snares, 5 Tenors, 6 Basses, 9 Cymbals, so yeah, that caught my attention. The Drum Feature, especially the snare-tom feature Blue Devils The Hornline! That cat in the goatee can play You can march in 13/8?! lol Quite a few drops from the guard, but understandable with the rain Love the different Soloist and Brass Ensembles Cavaliers Solid Show Oh my, a lot of falls Very cool drum feature Phantom Regiment Forever (even though I'm a SCV supporter) I root for Phantom Regiment because of this show Love the show The pit is in the middle of the field!?! Unique percussion arrangement The whole Corps did what?!?! (crabwalk) The ballad, one of my favorites of all time The Fire of Eternal Glory Helmets on the field as a formation during the ballad What a way to close out the show The crowd ate up the show Star of Indiana Please note that I regard this show as one of the best of all time and once I listen to the source music in college, I quickly realized the brilliance of the show, and also realized the brilliance of the arrangements from Prime and Hannum. This show is a work of art, period! (My confession - I had a bad impression of this show as a 16 year old caveboy. The thoughts below were my initial impressions) As young, immature musician, this show was over my head Why no costume for the guard? Just black leotards? Why is the corps doing body movement? Weird music "Finish it, take it home!!" Wow the corps is hyped at the end of the show I thought they were the Star of Indiana 😂 The Cadets (of Bergen County) Ah, this is more like it Man they are moving fast Jesus Christ Quads! Even I knew the snare line bleeped the bed at the end of the snare feature. Awesome ballad Great Show Well, below is the broadcast. Enjoy!

I think it deserves a bump, interesting perspective, especially about Star's exit from DCI.

DCI High Percussion Winner

star of indiana - recollections by Bill Cook - Founder, Star of Indiana Originally Written: Sept. 23, 1995 Revised: Nov. 17, 1996, Mar. 12, 1999, & January 2, 2001 THE SUMMER OF 1993, THE YEAR OF THE B###H The "Medea" show was music by Bartok and Barber. Again, Jim decided to experiment with body motion executed by the entire ensemble. He asked the visual people to design a stark show which would be portrayed by contrasting colors and shapes--triangles and straight poles. The 1989 uniforms were replaced with a cream and black uniform. He did not want visuals to detract from the drill or body sculpting; the music was to be arranged to enrage and anger. It was not supposed to be sweet and lilting. Suffice it to say, the audience responded properly but the raw discordant sound grated on me at the beginning of the season--I was irritated after each performance. When the show was finished, it was beautiful to watch. And today, the 1993 show stands out for me as my favorite. The drill intensity, blatant bursts on the horns and discordant percussion were intriguing . I'm probably nuts but I actually enjoyed getting irritated--Medea was truly a #####. Our final score was 97.3 for second behind the Cadets with a 97.4. Retrospect, 1993 I'm often asked and I'm sure the members are asked: "Didn't you think that you should have won?" Hey, I think that Star should always win but that is not the way life is played. The beautiful part of drum corps is that there can only be one champion and in 1993 it was the Cadets. Now, what about the members? Were they disappointed? Come on--sure they were. But after a few tears were shed, most of them headed for supper and a few of them were looking for rides back to school. Like many other corps, we were all glad to leave Jackson--it was hot, it was humid, and it rained! Championship week for Jim and me was bittersweet. The week was exciting and had the best of what drum and bugle corps has to offer. Our future was already charted; we would go with the Canadian Brass--win or lose. When we came back to Bloomington, we announced at our annual banquet that Star would be leaving drum corps, would be playing on b-flat horns, and would be performing "Brass Theater." It seemed like 1985 again when Jim "sold hot air." He described "Brass Theater" to the members, and then he casually mentioned that they would have to prepare for two types of shows, one performed on a small stage and one performed on a basketball floor. He explained that the repertoire would exceed two hours in length, that percussion and brass ensembles would be featured during various parts of the show. When he finished, I felt warm and fuzzy but I'm not exactly sure how the corps felt except confused. After this meeting, I have been asked what the corps members thought and I can only answer--anxious but understanding. Star's association with the Canadian Brass in 1993 was the year of Star's swan song. In the early spring, Star, Glassmen, Chicago Vanguard, and Pioneers gave a stand still performance at Indiana University's Auditorium in Bloomington. The night before, all of the corps attended a performance of the Canadian Brass ensemble; the auditorium was filled and the crowd received them with the enthusiasm of brass music lovers. That evening, Jim and I had been invited to a reception for the five CB which was hosted by Harvey Phillips, Dr. Tuba Santa. During a conversation, Chuck Dahlenbach of CB asked us if he and two other CBers could stay over and watch our drum corps show on Sunday afternoon. He didn't need to ask; we would have begged him to do it. In any event, they attended the performance, and afterward Chuck broached the subject of how Star could participate with them. The following Monday Chuck called to ask if some of Star's percussionists could play on their 'Broadway' CD. During the time of the recording, ideas started to develop; several weeks later, we met Chuck and Gene Watts in Florida and began discussions on how we could perform together. At the time, I did not believe that the corps could learn two hours of music and play it with the precision necessary to satisfy audiences that had very high expectations. But Jim, Gene, and Chuck thought otherwise. In June we signed a letter of intent which resulted in a contract that was signed in September. We thought that our members deserved a chance to perform at some of the best venues in the world, to try to reach a level of excellence that is uncommon for young people and to be a part of a new genre. The program had to be two hours in length with twenty two minutes of drill plus solo features for both brass and percussion little did we realize what a challenge this was going to be.