Lesa Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 (edited) 1990. I seemed to always be on the end of a form hauling ###, and at 200+ bpm. And yes, any show in Birmingham, AL did suck! Edited December 8, 2007 by Lesa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkpath96 Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Does rain and mud count? I can remember a few of those! Most difficult single performances... hmm. I'd say Madison 1996 - when Regiment took the field the skies opened and drenched us. When we heard the "Are the judges ready?" the crowd went nuts and off we went, in the torrential rain. I could barely hear myself due to the rain pinging on the helmet and horn, and unfortunately I wore glasses, which got very difficult to see out of. I remember hearing the guard heaving and grunting and working so hard to move their flags. And the percussion fought so hard to keep sounds coming from their drums, having so much water laying on them. The timpanis at the beginning of Shost 5 sprayed water three feet in the air, it seemed, when Jer pounded on them! We had one of the most amazing crowd reactions that night, though. In retrospect, one of my all-time favorite shows, and definitely one that helped the corps strengthen its 'defiant heart'! I always thought finals week performances were the toughest on me, emotionally, especially my first year. That and we were in Florida. All shows in the south in July and August are tough... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MsBusDriver Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Technically, marching wise: '73. The two tempos in "Young Persons Guide to Drum Corps" was very different and hard to learn at first, especially when you did the fast tempo. Easy to lose it the longer you went on especially when the slow tempo was played all around you. '75 "Birds of Fire" Drum solo. All I can say is listen to it and see if you can high mark time to it perfectly the first time. Fun stuff... Technically, flag wise: '74 with "Candide" our Concert piece. Lots of "off" beats. Finally the Guard had to sit down with Scott Pierson and memorise it by singing the whole tune over and over so we could get our flag counts in cinque. The whole season wise: '75, evey show was hard. Everyone kept excpecting a "three peat" from us so there was alot of pressure. Seemed no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't win very many shows. The staff pushed us very hard almost to the point of exhaustion, physically and mentally. But you can only do so much with what they give ya. Still, we did the best show of our lives come finals night. Even if we didn't win it all, I'm grateful for those who remember that show, liked it and say so on this board . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siLk Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 mine would have to be 2005. it might have been the whole rookie thing, but knowing what i now know and having marched some more i still think it takes the cake. the intro and opener from 2006 almost made me pick it. it was hell on earth for a few minutes there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000Cadet Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 (edited) My hardest year: 1999 MOST DEFINITELY. My first year as a Cadet and I didn't move into spring training because I was still in school. I didn't leave for tour on time either. I only showed up on weekends. So needless to say, I had a lot of catching up to do. And Hell's Kitchen was by far the hardest drill I'd ever marched. Don't know how I got Rookie of the Year out of that one. Thank God they let up on us in 2000 (well, not too much). Edited December 9, 2007 by 2000Cadet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
727driver Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Most difficult single performances... hmm. I'd say Madison 1996 - when Regiment took the field the skies opened and drenched us. When we heard the "Are the judges ready?" the crowd went nuts and off we went, in the torrential rain. I could barely hear myself due to the rain pinging on the helmet and horn, and unfortunately I wore glasses, which got very difficult to see out of. I remember hearing the guard heaving and grunting and working so hard to move their flags. And the percussion fought so hard to keep sounds coming from their drums, having so much water laying on them. The timpanis at the beginning of Shost 5 sprayed water three feet in the air, it seemed, when Jer pounded on them! We had one of the most amazing crowd reactions that night, though. In retrospect, one of my all-time favorite shows, and definitely one that helped the corps strengthen its 'defiant heart'!I always thought finals week performances were the toughest on me, emotionally, especially my first year. That and we were in Florida. All shows in the south in July and August are tough... I remember that show in 96...you guys got absolutely pounded! Right up there with Madison's drenched finals performance in 93. Kudos for getting through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorph31 Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Worst individual show. . . 2005 Colombia @ the University of Missouri. We thought the world was going to end after that show. . . And we had like a third of the corps go down on our practice field because of asthma related problems because our field was a giant dust bowl; and our practice field was right next to a little water park (THAT'S THE WORST TORTURE EVER!!!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leland Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 1988 Finals. We had done our home show the night before, drove three hours down to Kansas City, shacked up in a school that must've left the heat on in the gym (we slept in the hallways instead), and went on sometime in the late morning, well after it started to heat up again. Not only were we tired, but honestly, and probably subconsciously, many of us were kind of annoyed by the quality of the show. It wasn't one of our better years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.