Top-5 Most Legendary Shows are...

[WoobieATL]

So where were they down then, on Friday?

They lost Friday too, after all.

Not sure, but this one has always puzzled me. I wonder if there have been any other half point drops in a caption from semis to finals by one of the top 2?

[Matt_S]

Not sure, but this one has always puzzled me. I wonder if there have been any other half point drops in a caption from semis to finals by one of the top 2?

They weren't quite top two, but just last year The Cadets went from a 9.70 in Percussion tech to a 9.00 on Finals night. They went from third in the subcaption to eighth. In overall percussion, they went from a 19.50 to an 18.50.

[Dmichelle917]

the debate of the who should have won in 93 still gets me riled up. As a sister to a snare player in 93 (he also was a snare in 92 and the DM in 95) I get so upset when someone says "oh Cadets didnt deserve to win" that year. How can you say that and put down the kids that worked just as hard and won, the judges saw it in the Cadets favor that year, some years they dont some they do. I am not a huge fan of Blue Devils this year, i have been told live the show is better then what I have seen on the fan network, but when BD wins, I will be happy for them and not say oh they shouldnt have won just cause their show wasnt my favorite.

[Rocketman]

Also, I'll never understand why people love that 89 SVC show so much when the 88 show was better IMO. I won't take the time to point out specifics but the 89 finals performance had some major execution errors that the judges chose to ignore.

[hsreed]

I watched 10 of the 15 shows mentioned in both articles. Having been there, I agree with most of the choices. SCV 89 built upon and exceeded 88. If you remember, 88 SCV really had only one great show that year and it happened to be finals. 88 should jut be called The Year of Malaguena. Scouts performed a much better show at prelims - actually much more in tune - than at finals. 84 Garfield is still the best show I've ever seen. A great erformance of easily accessible music. And I can't remember so much hype around drum corps as what was created by Phantom 08. Come on, who didn't say "I Am Spartacus."

Star 93s inclusion is disappointing. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. It was a highly technical show that was extremely well performed, but it ushered in a period of drum corps shows that were simply unentertaining. It was an intellectual show that significanty lacked any real entertainment value. This is the polar opposite of Madison 95 - pure entertainment that wasnt nearly as cleanly marched or technically proficient.

The fact that Blue Devils have only one honorable mention is surprising, but not unreasonable. They've generally let others lead the way in innovation, then just did it better.

Well designed, highly technical, and well performed shows may win the title, but truly great shows must have a significant component of entertainment to be memorable and lasting.

[Joe Salvatore]

Wow I was surprised that 1986 BD made honorable mention over 1976 BD.

Also good arguments IMHO could be made for including 1973 SCV and 1982 BD.

[BRASSO]

I watched 10 of the 15 shows mentioned in both articles. Having been there, I agree with most of the choices. SCV 89 built upon and exceeded 88. If you remember, 88 SCV really had only one great show that year and it happened to be finals. 88 should jut be called The Year of Malaguena. Scouts performed a much better show at prelims - actually much more in tune - than at finals. 84 Garfield is still the best show I've ever seen. A great erformance of easily accessible music. And I can't remember so much hype around drum corps as what was created by Phantom 08. Come on, who didn't say "I Am Spartacus."

Star 93s inclusion is disappointing. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. It was a highly technical show that was extremely well performed, but it ushered in a period of drum corps shows that were simply unentertaining. It was an intellectual show that significanty lacked any real entertainment value. This is the polar opposite of Madison 95 - pure entertainment that wasnt nearly as cleanly marched or technically proficient.

The fact that Blue Devils have only one honorable mention is surprising, but not unreasonable. They've generally let others lead the way in innovation, then just did it better.

Well designed, highly technical, and well performed shows may win the title, but truly great shows must have a significant component of entertainment to be memorable and lasting.

I could have written this. They are my observations to a T, hsreed. I do recognize however that people's opinion on

what entertains them is mostly a function of personal taste.... just like anything else, really . I'll often see cars, homes, boats, or whatever, that I wouldn't pay a dime for, whereas others clearly think it's the cats meow and will pay premium dollars for.

[BigW]

Three shows from the 80's, one from the early 90's, and one from 2008. Kind of supports what a lot of people on this forum believe.

Also, I'll never understand why people love that 89 SVC show so much when the 88 show was better IMO. I won't take the time to point out specifics but the 89 finals performance had some major execution errors that the judges chose to ignore.

Ditto. I was told back in the day by knowledgeable guard people SCV's guard did them in in '88, and the guard was a lot better and the surrounding props seem to have got them over the top with the program in '89, and related better to the average fan, which isn't a bad thing. I know there's a few horn guys who prefer the '88 book by far.

The only thing that drives me nuts was the 4895908376 HS knock-off shows that lifted right off of this program and failed horribly in front of my face time and time again for several years.... It's one of the reasons why I can't really Top 5 this show- I don't think of SCV anymore, I think of a Band director who needs shot for attempting this book with three 7th grade Trombone players as his Low Brass section.

Edited August 12, 2010 by BigW

[BOSMarcher]

I find it quite curious that the 1976 Blue Devils show was left off both lists. It was groundbreaking in many ways: longest musical number to date (Channel One), new direction visually (all curvilinear drill), and the first corps in history to sweep all captions. Unlike the current iteration, the corps was wildly popular at the time. I guess 35 years later, many of the people polled don't remember, or weren't around to experience those days. I guess it's no surprise that only three out of the seventeen mentions were corps prior to 1980, with one being the Kingsmen ("the first winner" seems an odd rationale for legend status, though they were a fine corps). I guess the 1975 Muchachos should have been the #1 choice...a true legend, as we don't (and won't) ever know what they did, or would have done.

It seemed like they were going less for "ground breaking" and more for the shows that people are still talking about. I feel like (though it may one day be true), Regiment 08 has not been around long enough to know if it is ground breaking.

[OldManDrumCorps]

Star 93s inclusion is disappointing. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. It was a highly technical show that was extremely well performed, but it ushered in a period of drum corps shows that were simply unentertaining. It was an intellectual show that significanty lacked any real entertainment value. This is the polar opposite of Madison 95 - pure entertainment that wasnt nearly as cleanly marched or technically proficient.

This.