So what DID happen in SCV 1993-1995?

[Jeff Ream]

Eff all of this noise, the drum feature from 93 SCV is still one of my favorite drum corps moments ever. We from Bloo didn't get to see that show a whole lot (maybe just once before finals), but I remember getting to the stands just in time for this show on finals night. Aren't drumlines just supposed to stand in one place and play the feature? I guess not after that show.

I would be very curious to see a tape of this show from early season. I remember hearing through the grapevine that SCV was struggling, but then I saw the show, and I had a hard time understanding why people were talking that way.

i heartily agree with you...this drum break changed the nature of the best for everyone else. even in a "down" year, they started new trends...kinda like another "down" year, 1980.

I'm not a fan of 95. I highly enjoyed 94. But I'd kill to get any bands I work with to do 93, and i'd probably try to blatantly steal as much as they could play

[snare36]

Oh my god....it's SPIKE! Spike, I LOVE your book....its fantastic, i look up to you in so many ways! Please consider writing another book, even if its just fiction! Your writing style made me visualize perfectly what was going on, and i could relate so much...please make a little somethin somethin to read on tour this year :) i love ya errr sir....

Hey, I'm so glad you are enjoying the book. I will eventually write another book. I am just now finishing grad school so most of my writing time has been devoted to that. Sorry, I don’t have anything ready in the shoot to entertain you for the summer other than Not for the Faint of Heart. However, I would HIGHLY recommend the following titles:

THE LINE, by Courtney Brandt (Amazon.com)

BUILDING THE GREEN MACHINE, by Colt Foutz (cavaliers web site)

ON THE FIELD FROM DENVER COLORADO,… THE BLUE NIGHTS, by G.M. Kuzma (Amazon.com)

I’m so glad you enjoyed my writing style. I wanted people to feel my emotions in every moment from almost getting deported from Canada, to winning Percussion at DCI. I’m glad it came through.

Jeremy “Spike” Van Wert

www.wildridepublications.com

[eqlou]

you liked the devs and cavs better than vanguard in 95? wow, not me, i can't even remember the devs show from that year (a rarity for me, i'm a fan and listen to devs shows frequently),

dear scotty,

I'm challenging your fanhood. if you listen to devs and don't like/remember 1995, well then ugghhh i don't know what to say! it was less than 1.5 points from being four consecutive DCI titles.

carpe noctem lou

[Hrothgar15]

I know exactly what you mean by that. 93 would have been my 4th patch, and 94 my age out. I would have had a lot of seniority. In 92 I was a vet (2 years) and I was one of the most junior members at 19 with two years with SCV A -Corps. We had a lot of experience and talent in the horn line in 1992, and I feel it was wasted. Hell, I played 3rd sop and placed in the top 10 at individuals.

I’m honestly glad I walked away, and focused on finishing college.

The disappointment that was 1992 was merely a prelude to the disaster that followed, and continued through the mid 90s

In terms of the corps being young I think 2/3 of the horn line simply aged out, and of the 20 or so that didn’t even less stayed. I will validate your statement.

What? Are you sure you're referring to the correct year? The 1992 Vanguard show is one of their best, definitely in their top 5.

[Lance]

I wouldn't put it in the top 10 for them, but it had a few nice moments. And I still think that Not the Nutcracker was pretty cool, though, again, it wasn't one of their best offerings...but I thought it had a nifty ending.

[drumlaw80]

i heartily agree with you...this drum break changed the nature of the best for everyone else. even in a "down" year, they started new trends...kinda like another "down" year, 1980.

One of the things that transformed the 93 drum break into something amazing was the insane drum line drill, which was mostly written by our cymbal instructor, Robert "the Jackal" Chavira. At that time, I had never seen anything like it done before ... Jackal went off the deep end, and created something that I wasn't sure at first was even possible for a drum line to perform.

They eventually pulled it off, but it certainly gave the drum staff heart attacks when it rained. lol.

[drumlaw80]

What? Are you sure you're referring to the correct year? The 1992 Vanguard show is one of their best, definitely in their top 5.

1992 was cool for Vanguard fans, myself included ... but it was tough for such a retro show to be competitive at the end of the year, I think. The other interesting item of note about that year is that is was the greatest collection of talent I have ever seen in a drum line battery (to this day). They pretty much wrapped up ALL of the top spots at I&E that year.

[Jeff Ream]

One of the things that transformed the 93 drum break into something amazing was the insane drum line drill, which was mostly written by our cymbal instructor, Robert "the Jackal" Chavira. At that time, I had never seen anything like it done before ... Jackal went off the deep end, and created something that I wasn't sure at first was even possible for a drum line to perform.

They eventually pulled it off, but it certainly gave the drum staff heart attacks when it rained. lol.

and since that day, sit and hit drum solos went by the way side. i got ahold of a lot tape years ago of that years line, and what really amazed me wasnt how hard the book was, but the layering of the voices and the interplay between sections, especially before the slo mo part.

what I really loved was the yellow hardware on the drums...stood out against the dark shell color and the white uni tops.

[mad_scotty]

dear scotty,

I'm challenging your fanhood. if you listen to devs and don't like/remember 1995, well then ugghhh i don't know what to say! it was less than 1.5 points from being four consecutive DCI titles.

carpe noctem lou

challenge? ok, i can do that. section one, performance. we have to sing off every single part to the 80 and 88 shows. section 2, history. we have to identify from memory the moment of each show scott johnson shouted "uuuuuuuh-huh" audibly on the finals broadcast. section 3, essay, we have to discuss all of the times wayne downey slipped part of legend of the one eyed sailor into the show and offer theories as to why.

all while high mark-timing.

you ready to go? loser has to fight kimbo slice!!! i'm ready for it!!

(anyone not getting the kimbo slice reference should go to youtube and search "kimbo slice")

[SCV90-92]

1992 was cool for Vanguard fans, myself included ... but it was tough for such a retro show to be competitive at the end of the year, I think. The other interesting item of note about that year is that is was the greatest collection of talent I have ever seen in a drum line battery (to this day). They pretty much wrapped up ALL of the top spots at I&E that year.

It’s a popular show for sentimentality. The reality is there were 128 of us on the field performing a simple show relative to our competitors. Standing still and blowing our brains out while the guard locks arms and does a company front doesn’t exuberate skill or complexity in chorography.

I forgot about all the drum talent too. It was clearly a Sunset year.

We entered that season with high expectations and felt honored to be playing bottle dance, but it fell short of the ideas we had in the off season.

It could have been such a better show and ended on a soft note like the musical, and not in your face retro.

The show didn’t exuberate “this is what SCV learned, and this is what SCV has become” it exuberated “this is what SCV was”.

But it’s an important part of my life. I never won DCI, big deal. I came away in life with far more than simply being in a marching band on steroids for those years.