jplattSCV

Not counting the 5 shows I actually performed in.... I have empirical evidence in the form of my ITunes play counter that ranks my top ten as follows: 1. 2000 Blue Devils 2. 1996 Phantom Regiment 3. 1988 SCV - Yes, I liked the first version better 4. 1987 SCV 5. 1989 Cadets 6. 2006 Cavaliers 7. 2004 SCV 8. 1986 Blue Devils 9. 2005 Cadets 10. 1998 Blue Devils

There's always room for jello shots

Finals retreat in 1989: Suncoast Sound formed a delta as tribute to their perrenial rival Spirit who had dropped out of finals that year. That was easily the classiest thing I ever saw as a fan.

13 - Blue Devils 03 - Blue Knights 26 - Blue Stars 15 - Bluecoats 11 - Boston Crusaders 20 - Carolina Crown 15 - The Cavaliers 09 - Colts 17 - Crossmen 08 - Glassmen 20 - Madison Scouts 10 - Mandarins 08 - Pacific Crest - 22 - Phantom Regiment 08 - Pioneer 14 - Santa Clara Vanguard + 14 - Troopers

When was the bad? They've been great every year.

I wouldn't say SCV had the biggest response of the evening by any stretch, but it was the first really strong reaction I saw that evening. It stuck out in my mind just on its novelty at the time. From then on though, everyone had something that brought a reaction or two during the course of the shows. But the fact that it was so relatively silent upstairs until SCV made it stand out.

We were old as hell in 1992. There were tons on age outs that year (me included). 1993 was super young. They were awful at the beginning of the year and staged one of the best season developments that I ever witnessed. Truly remarkable.

Hogwash. They are just not playing the same game as everyone in front of them. They have an esoteric theme instead of a beat you over the head obvious theme. 1. Devils are Cirque De So Gay 2. Cavaliers are Samarais 3. Phantom is Spartacus 4. Crown has 11 minutes of endings 5. Cadets have bad experimental theater 6. Bluecoats are boxing All of the shows above them in placement have consistent and obvious themes that even the greenest audience member can understand. Add the fact that all 6 of these corps are bringing talent and quality to the performances and you have a different game that a more traditional SCV show isn't even trying to play. SCV already played that game 25 years ago and they've moved on. You could put them in their 1985 opener costumes and the show would automatically go up 3 points. At least that is my opinion. I for one do not think the staff is a problem. They've cleaned house too often if you ask me.

That's what fans of every corps that placed lower that 1st has said since the beginning of the activity. And I'd bet that if you asked everyone to pick as many as 10 shows that went over the heads of judges over the years, this would not be one of them.

best brass

How come noone added 15 more vibraphone players? ;)

Nice Roman history reference. double lol

I don't know that I agree with that completely. Is it just that the number is too high or that they are actually performing too well? I contend that if people are arguing that it is the latter then the whole judging system is fatally flawed. If a show is performed "perfectly" then it should be high. In June or August. And by perfectly, I just mean that it is performed so well that anyone who hasn't watched the show 200 times will miss most of the errors. Nothing is perfect But, here's the part that would tend to make me agree...I believe that some of these numbers are given high because of the shock and awe factor upon seeing these shows for the first, second, (or some other low number) time. Once you've seen greatness a few times, it inevitably becomes a little less awe inspiring. Its just human nature. You start to be more critical of things that are still pretty great. Compare a New England Patriot or New York Yankee fan to an Arizona Cardinal or Texas Ranger fan and see what weaknesses they point out in their teams. A ranger pitcher with and ERA below 10.0 is having a decent year. Ultimately though, then numbers are all relative. If a judge believes that BD's Visual program is that much better than everybody and PR's percussion is that much better than everybody, then they will likely still believe that in 2 weeks. If anything, it will cause other corps numbers to go down because when you only have 3 or 4 top corps at a show then there is plenty of room to fill in slots. When you have 12 top corps ( or more in the case of semis), scores for some will get lowered because of the need to differentiate.

Who's gonna be the a-hole that knocks out Academy? not me, that's for sure. But, I already voted I can't even credit them.

Better in Person: Vanguard, BD, Madison, Cavies, Crown, Academy, Bluecoats, Blue Stars, BK, Glassmen, Phantom, Xmen, Spirit, Colts, Boston, PC, Troppers, Madarins, Pioneer, and Cadets Better On Video: Nobody

You know what? I stand corrected. Apparently they did very early in the season. I am suprised pleasantly.

03 - Academy 16 - Blue Devils 07 - Blue Knights 22 - Blue Stars 12 - Bluecoats 11 - Boston Crusaders 20 - Carolina Crown 16 - The Cavaliers 10 - Colts 14 - Crossmen 11 - Glassmen 16 - Madison Scouts 11 - Mandarins 10 - Pacific Crest 21 - Phantom Regiment 09 - Pioneer 10 - Santa Clara Vanguard 03 - Spirit 11 - Troopers Credit: SCV Tick: Crown

Bluecoats never beat Cavies or Phantom in '88

Good idea. But, I think SCV may have changed the closer in such a way that there is now a place to yell it. At least, that is what I heard.

as an aside...I like how, on the 4th of July in Pasadena, they played the traditional drum corps arrangement of America the Beautiful with the hint of Oh Canada in it. This was not just a drum corps crowd and I would like to know how many people heard that and thought..."wtf? Was that Oh Canada? Do they celebrate the 4th of July in Toronto?"

The judges know already

You mean you don't think bad experimental theater and drum corps are a perfect match?

I remember the first time that I saw what you are calling an "on the fly" start. It was in Allentown in 1989. I was a member of Sky Ryders that year. We had finished quite a while earlier and I ran back in to see "Garfield". I loved loved loved that show. Anyway, they were doing their usual theatrical entry to the field and then it looked like they just started without being introduced. The announcers may have just thought they were doing the marched warmup like they had done previously. I have no idea if this was done on purpose or if it was pre-arranged but the announcer did eventually begin his usual schtick. The corps is already started... "Is your corps ready"... corps continues.... "Cadets of Bergen Country? You make take the field of competition". The ending of the statement, lined up absolutely perfectly with the first big horn line hit of the opener. It was awesome. They've been entering that way fairly regularly ever since. Never been better than that one though, IMO.

One word... Improvised

I think that we may have peaked in Bloomington a week or so before finals in '92 SCV. They added the pause before the bottle dance started to add a bit more tension. It went over very well and the crowd threw their babies at us....Everyone beat us. We got on the bus. We finished the season. roll the credits. At least that is what it felt like. Everyone felt fantastic about that show as I recall and it definitely never got any better. I mean the feeling never got better. I am sure there were some things that were technically better in the coming days but the emotion of the show was never more clearly communicated. That was clearly a peak for us, IMO.