Tour of Champions

[bobchilds]

I attended the shows at Pasadena, San Jose, and the indoor show (Cupertino?). The outdoor shows were great, but the indoor show was my favorite by far. Those performances are not on the video, and I'm not sure a video would have done them justice anyway. It was quite an experience seeing and hearing top corps perform up close, indoors, with dramatic lighting, in uniform, with the introductory videos. Being in California, and never having been to nationals, and having been a fan since 1983, it was quite an experience.

[Wildabeast]

Charlie Frey has 2 photo albums from the San Diego show posted in Webshots.

Part 1

Part 2

One fond recollection (from the San Jose show): Madison's DM ran from his podium, up the stairs of the lower deck, apparently ran up the stairs to the upper deck, and continued to conduct the corps from the upper deck of San Jose State's Spartan Stadium!

...and yeah, the corps was holding a chord.

(...and the crowd really went wild.)

[Jared_mello]

dvd wasnt very good at all, but worth it simply for the value of the standstill recordings of all the corps. some great hornlines that year. bd's lead trumpets that year were from another planet.

[Jared_mello]

Charlie Frey has 2 photo albums from the San Diego show posted in Webshots.

Part 1

Part 2

One fond recollection (from the San Jose show): Madison's DM ran from his podium, up the stairs of the lower deck, apparently ran up the stairs to the upper deck, and continued to conduct the corps from the upper deck of San Jose State's Spartan Stadium!

...and yeah, the corps was holding a chord.

(...and the crowd really went wild.)

he peeled and ate a banana once he got to the upper deck, if i remember correctly.....while the corps was still holding that ice castles chord.

[MAV]

What a memory!

I was in the press box and watched the Madison DM climb the stairs through the audience. As he ran past people - their heads turned to follow him, huge grins on their faces. Some with a 'what the heck is he doing?' look. Then I turned to the back door and watched him run past that to the ladder. Cool moment. Actually watched him practice this prior to the show - checking the timing and do-ability of the stunt. Totally worked.

But also loved watching Cadets make many a western drum corps fan into a Cadets fan that night too! They pulled out "The William Tell Overture" with a small brass choir and then later all the horns played "Moon Dance" while walking from the field, up the aisle stairs and into the audience. Cue audience berserkness.

MAV

[bobchilds]

I was in the press box and watched the Madison DM climb the stairs through the audience. As he ran past people - their heads turned to follow him, huge grins on their faces. Some with a 'what the heck is he doing?' look. Then I turned to the back door and watched him run past that to the ladder. Cool moment. Actually watched him practice this prior to the show - checking the timing and do-ability of the stunt. Totally worked.

I almost forgot about that! Just to clarify for those who weren't there (hope you don't mind, MAV, this happened during the MS show. The DM cued a loud chord, and then ran up into the stands and up the stairs to the upper tier of the stadium, while the corps was holding the chord. As the DM climbed higher, the corps got louder and louder. Once he got to the upper tier, he smiled and cut the chord. Truly one of the biggest hypes I can recall.