Most difficult show you ever marched?

[727driver]

1993. Music, drill, staff, weather, everything made that year just a beast. Hardest show I ever marched.

[JayM]

Individual show? Des Plaines in 2003. It was a grass field that was completely soaked due to rain. I guess we decided to march the show because it was one of our home shows, but it probably wasn't the best decision in hindsight.

We had 17 guys go down in that one single show. I fell during the 3rd movement drum break, right after the four rotating boxes, when the boxes collapse into lines before morphing into the Wu-Tang set. Being the farthest point out, I had to jazz run to the line and then change direction to backwards marching away from the line. I saw two other guys go down at the same time. I guess it wasn't so difficult in terms of heavy breathing and muscle pain, but it was difficult to have confidence in the field beneath us.

As far as pain goes...

2003 Portage, Michigan. I swear the grass was like 5" tall. Tall grass + Spin Cycle = ouch.

[NeutralNovice]

Great stories! keep em coming!

[Michelle]

My hardest individual shows were ones coupled with heat and my lack of ability to breathe.

1) 2005 - Quarterfinals

At the time, I didn't know I had exercise-induced ashtma. I just knew that I had trouble breathing and would start wheezing if we ran something like suicides for physical training. At that particular show, DCI didn't provide water to the corps going on in the afternoon. It was pretty hot for being in the Northeast, and I had my worst show of the year. I couldn't even play the closer because I couldn't breathe. I was wheezing/crying by the end. Just to add on to that, I have one of the close ups at the end of the show on the DVD... and I look like I worked really hard, but it's really me gasping for breath. When we went out to take pictures/watch the Instant DVD, I must have had 10 cups of water!

2) 2006 - Battle Creek Regional

Once again, it was burning hot outside (props to the "There is no sun, there is no heat... the hottest thing out here is Spirit Drum and Bugle Corps" - you made my day ). I think I forgot to use my inhaler before the show (something I know NOT to do now), and I had an asthma attack coming off the field. Similar to Quaterfinals the year before, I could barely play the closer. I had to have my jacket taken off before we sang the corps song. I drank lots and lots of water and finally felt better.

3) 2007 - Preview Show at JSU

Okay, 100+ degree weather on the astroturf plus original 192ish set show with 32432048 jazz runs plus exercise-induced ashtma = BAD. I don't know what else I can say about that. I don't remember playing anything after the quintet in the ballad, honestly. That just sucked.

[BD Raggamuffin]

I always HATED ( and I think this is probably true for all who have ever had to go through this) Birmingham (DCI South) Prelims. GOD AWFUL!!!

I can't remember ever being so miserably hot in my entire life. UUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CroWnSoPrAnO]

2007 was pretty difficult but it was my first season, so i suppose it can only get harder! lol

[SACMellos2010]

Hands down for me 1991 from both musical and visual demand. We went hard from the first note to the last note of the show and there were a lot of notes and a lot of moving going on.

[ieuph7]

Two memorable shows for myself:

1. Semifinals in 2002

Roughly 2/3ds of the corps had food poisoning from the day before (I should've had the pb and j), and during rehersal there wasn't ever a moment when all members were on the field...since we were all running full-tilt to the bathrooms. Luckily I found the super-secret-bathroom which was less occupied than the others. Anyways... During warmups there were quite a few holes, as people stayed on the bus and met us at the gate because they were so sick. I tried to power through it, which in retrospect was a mistake. The show itself was the hardest thing I've ever done. I didn't play hardly any of the show, and simply went on muscle-memory to get me through it. Right after we trooped off into the tunnel I fell out of rank and threw up. Miserable.

2. Dress Rehersal in 2002

Throughout everydays I had been playing on a tiny baritone since that's what they had handed me way back in the early camps. But the day before the dress rehersal someone hurt his leg or something (I don't really remember). Now this guy was BIG. And he was carrying a horn affectionately known as "the Hoss"-- the biggest euphonium in the line, aquired sometime in 1997 I think. So J.D. ordered me, from the field, to go and get his horn and ditch the little tiny thing I was using. Of course I wasn't ready for it, having trained and practiced on such a small horn. The following day was the dress rehersal, during which my arm muscles physically gave out during the second half of the show. Then we ran the show a second time. It was death incarnate. However, in defence of the Hoss, it was the best playing horn ever and I adored it all season. Wouldn't have given it up for the world. I just wish I had been using it earlier to build up more arm strength.

PS-- if anyone has marched with the Hoss, I'd love to hear about it. I assume I was the last person to use it (since we switched to King (btw, those horns were the same size as the Hoss--they were wonderful) in 2003 (though perhaps it was sold to a DCA corps or some such).

Edited December 6, 2007 by ieuph7

[ieuph7]

bump, because this was buried fast

[sprsquish]

Vanguard 2003.

One of our early season shows was at Stockton. For whatever reason they decided they didn't need to cut the grass. Going from 0 to 190 bpm is hard. Keeping that going for the first 5 minutes of a show is hard. Ending a show at the same tempo is hard. Doing it all at the beginning of a season in ankle high grass is/was absolutely impossible.

Aside from that the show itself was tough. Trying to ignore the other side of the field so you can come back in at exactly the right moment (which ended up being about a triplet 1/8th note before the ictus), moving faster than anyone should go while holding a metal object and not being able to breath easily, and doing it all right out of the gate was hard.

I'd go back and do it all over again in a heartbeat. That show taught us something about ourselves that we'd never had learned any other way.

Des Plaines in 2003. It was a grass field that was completely soaked due to rain. I guess we decided to march the show because it was one of our home shows, but it probably wasn't the best decision in hindsight.

I remember hearing about that show. Word spread pretty quickly that Cavies were slip-sliding all over that field. I felt really bad for you guys.