danielray Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Had an interesting discussion recently on the strong impact that winterguard has had on drum corps and the idea that modern design in drum corps can really be traced back to a single breakthrough winterguard show. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slingerland Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 (edited) I think it's only fair to warn people that a Styx tune will be coming their way if they click 'play.' Edited March 10, 2013 by Slingerland 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Having been to every WGI World Championship since the organization had the first one in 1978, I'm not sure this show is the single most influential show on the what you say. It was without a doubt my favorite show of the year, but there were so many groups that seemed to redefine the activity back then, including Stanley Knaub's Seattle Imperials, who arguably introduced ballet in a big way. It's sad that the smoke machine effect towards the end totally pooped out in Finals. It was used in Prelims when the guard preceded Phantom Regiment. John Brazsale went onto the floor before PR's guard took the floor an said there was residue left on the floor, requiring staff members to go onto the floor with rags and clean up whatever was there. (The Prelims were held in the tiny gymnasium at Oregon HS, a Madison suburb. People were practically hanging from the rafters.) At Prelims, the smoke machine was incredibly effective...the guard members seemed to be coming out of a dense fog. Prior to Finals, the Quasar staff tested the machine so much, to be sure it wasn't spitting up any penalty-assessing residue, that by the time it was activated in Finals, it had next to nothing left. What you see in this video isn't a tenth of the effect it delivered in Prelims. Anyhow, the guard still took a 0.50 penalty, finishing in 3rd with a 94.167. Holly HS was 2nd with a 94.5 and Phantom Regiment won with a 95.1, despite the one comment on YouTube that Quasar was second by just a tenth. (Source, the scores I wrote down in my WGI program book and the notes I took for my Drum Corps News article.) Phantom Regiment took the awards for High General Effect and High Marching & Maneuvering, Holly won for Best Rifle Line, St. Anthony Imperials for Best Sabre Line and Skylarks for Best Flag Line. Those are some additional reasons I might counter that this show launched the revolution in drum corps guard design. It's more likely that shows have such an effect when they win. Again, as I stated earlier, this was my favorite show of the season. After Finals, I went to the guard's housing site and spent almost three hours chatting with the members, their parents and their staff, including George Zingali, whom I hadn't met before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 I think it's only fair to warn people that a Styx tune will be coming their way if they click 'play.' We're mostly adults...we can handle it. The kiddies might need therapy, but if they're old enough to know about winter guard, they're old enough to deal with Styx. True story: Styx came to my Chicago suburban high school to present an assembly program in the spring of 1973, when I was a high school senior. They were doing the Chicago area school circuit to try to get some traction. I was on stage with them during set-up, along with other members of the jazz band who pitched in to help move stuff. One of our sax players did some improvising with them during their warm-up. It was a few years before I heard of the group again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpaul Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Had an interesting discussion recently on the strong impact that winterguard has had on drum corps and the idea that modern design in drum corps can really be traced back to a single breakthrough winterguard show. Why this show in particular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Why this show in particular? Because he hasn't been wrong yet. Haven't you read the Guinness Book of World Records article on that? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flammaster Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I think WGI is very innovative. Some of it I dislike but all in all i think it is very creative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mello Dude Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 Because he hasn't been wrong yet. Haven't you read the Guinness Book of World Records article on that? :tongue:/> Ok, you got me to nose my diet soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 I can remember seeing Quasar live in Eastern Mass and CYO circuit shows, along with St. Anthony, Everett. There must be something in the water in the North Shore of Massachusetts (Everett and Revere are neighboring cities). I remember hoping that Quasar's smoke machine would set off alarms, and at one show I think it did but I was not in attendance, but I do remember that they were amazing. As a far as WGI's impact on drum corps, keep in mind that when WGI was formed, the guard caption on DCI score sheets only accounted for two points of the total score. Yes, a strong guard made a huge difference as far as overall GE was concerned, but even as late as 1978 and 79, some guards were still for some corps just an adornment, including some of DCI finalists. There were guards that began to break the mold. Many nostalgic video clips of DCI's early days show the majestic and precise Anaheim Kingsmen and some of the most iconic guards most notably 27th Lancers and Phantom Regiment, made huge strides pre-WGI and as the organization was developing, and we can't forget the stunts of Cavies, Madison, and Kilties (when they were still all guys), kind of a one upmanship, but WGI did show what guards could do on their own It did seem that in the late 70's, what you saw in a gym in January or February probably made it to a drum corps field the following summer. Today, I am more of a "visitor" to color guard shows due to schedule conflicts, though this year Mother Nature and snow share some of the blame, and I don't follow guards as I do drum corps, so I'm not sure that I can say how much of an impact WGI has on DCI today, but in its early days, I think that WGI did give guards the recognition deserved as talented groups and individuals and we witnessed this confidence and innovation in drum corps shows.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guard Diva Posted March 11, 2013 Share Posted March 11, 2013 It appears that someone (on staff perhaps?) runs out onthe the floor in back part way through? and I'm assuming the guys in white shirts running all over the place are judges? What is it theyare hunching down to see and look at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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