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Easy Chair Adjudicactor: Great Runner's Up Shows


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Musically, yes, although they were noticeably winded by the end of the show Finals night.

Visually, however, The Cadets 98 show is possibly the best ever put on the field. I mean, it's just ridiculous how clean they were.

For sure. Just watch the company front in the Cadet's show. The foot timing is just immaculate. SCV still had a great show though, and won drums pretty easily if I remember correctly. Both great corps and great shows that year.

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Ok...explain it to me.

I think I heard the release tic Jeff was talking about (early in Largo), but I've never understood the hate for the ride. The way the BRASS played it was certainly not like the original, as I recall it (the sop solo especially). It was a more jazzy take on the piece, and I felt the cymbal rude fit it.

As for the following drum solo...I don't hear any real implosion....please explain.

I think they wanted jazzy...it came off more hair band power ballad in execution

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Ok...explain it to me.

I think I heard the release tic Jeff was talking about (early in Largo), but I've never understood the hate for the ride. The way the BRASS played it was certainly not like the original, as I recall it (the sop solo especially). It was a more jazzy take on the piece, and I felt the cymbal rude fit it.

Just MHO...they played the rest of the New World straight, with that great Regiment sound. In the middle was this Muzak elevator music of one of the most beautiful movements of any symphony ever. I was just waiting to hear that gorgeous regiment hornline...and we got this... :smile:

marcel-duchamp-mona-lisa-with-a-moustache-6000.jpg

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IIRC the name of the show was "From New World to a New Age". I felt this "updated" Largo fit the show perfectly, a nice interpretation of jazz/sprituals Dvorak heard when he visited America....and that's from someone who played it with Regiment the first time around. :wink:

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I've never really understood the hate for Largo's drum part. Never really even saw it as divisive until getting online for the first time. (And FWIW, I think as a corps they outplayed Vanguard - SCV's show was kind of messy. And I'm surprised nobody ever mentions the dropped tenor mallet right in the middle of the feature...)

I've told this story before, but I took my stepdad (Harley and beer sort of guy) who had never seen drum corps at all, plopped him down and made him watch the corps that tied in '96 (Blue Devils: Club Blue and Phantom Regiment: Defiant Heart) and '99 (Blue Devils: Rhythms...at the Edge of Time and SCV: Inventions for a New Millenium) and give feedback.

He felt that, and I'm paraphrasing here a decade later, Phantom in '96 should have won outright - he thought their power came across better than BD and the show just had "it." In '99, however, he felt that BD's show was cleaner, louder and more (his word) "bad ###" than SCV across the board. He also said that he felt that in both cases, it wasn't close.

Another good 2nd place show to look at is the Cavaliers' 1991 show (Cavalier Anthems: An Advent Collection), which is a louder, faster, tighter version of their 1990 show. And with Christmas music... sort of. Seriously - the drill is right up there with the best they've ever had.

Mike

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I'm interested in DCP posters sharing examples of non-champion shows that "coulda-woulda-shoulda" won, or otherwise provided a super strong contender against that year's winner.

1975..... Hawthorne Muchachos.

They probably wern't as good as one of the best of all time... the '75 Madison Scouts.

Then again, I guess we'll never know for certain.

Edited by BRASSO
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Shows that Should Have Won (but didn't)...

1987 Santa Clara Vanguard (The Magician/Russian Christmas Music)

1989 Phantom Regiment (New World Symphony)

1995 Blue Devils (Carpe Noctem)

1996 Phantom Regiment (outright) (Defiant Heart)

1999 Santa Clara Vanguard (outright) (Inventions for a New Millennium)

2000 Cadets (outright) (We Are the Future)

2004 Blue Devils (The SummerTrain Blues Mix)

2009 Carolina Crown (The Grass is Always Greener...)

Shows that Didn't Win (and shouldn't have), but Are Still REALLY Strong 2nd Place Shows...

1988 Santa Clara Vanguard (Phantom of the Opera)

1991 Cavaliers (Cavalier Anthems: Advent Collection)

1992 Cadets (To Tame the Perilous Skies)

1993 Star of Indiana

1994 Cadets (West Side Story)

1997 Cadets (Celebration)

1998 Santa Clara Vanguard (Copland: the Modernist)

2006 Phantom Regiment (Faust)

2008 Blue Devils (Constantly Risking Absurdity)

I would add 1975 Santa Clara Vanguard (Hary Janos, Fiddler on the Roof) to the second list. Wonderful, emotional performance that night. And the Drum Line? Holy Mother of God!! :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

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'80 - 27 won East and should have but that was when they peaked. Allentown was electric that night. BD was as clean a corps as I ever saw under the tick system. They had it won Finals night. 27's horn line was weak from an execution standpoint and that is what probably cost them in the end. Ironic that their '81 hornline was much better but the rest of the corps had lost a step by that point.

'78 - I thought PR had it over SCV then, still do today.

I know many 27th fans believe 1980's DCI East show was the greatest show in 27th's history. I wasn't there, but I was at CYO Nationals a few nights earlier where Blue Devils defeated 27th by well over a point and the crowd was none too pleased. I was among those disappointed. Looking back, CYO Nationals did have some questionable results. Just ask Madison who lost to North Star in 79 and did not return in 80, or Phantom who supposedly was unhappy with judging in 1978 and did not return in 1979, and a few weeks back, 27th's Facebook page had stories about George B's reaction to a runner up slot in 1972. I love that the 1980 DCI debate still lingers. Of course when you look at the scores at DCI finals that night, less than a point separated Spirit and Blue Devils with 27th and Bridgemen between first and fourth, so it really could have been anybody's night.

As far as 1981, there are some valid points to be made about whether it was 27th's best show. Certainly it was stronger musically, and while I loved "Danny Boy" and was thrilled to see it added to the show, "Spitfire" was a great ending too and the show did receive a higher score than the previous year's show, but it lacked fire at times and I think not having the iconic rifle line in distinctive uniforms may have hurt. Also, while I loved 1980 from an entertainment perspective, 1981 was an overall more competitive year.

You may also recall the 1978 PBS broadcast, unless you were lucky enough to be in Denver, someone else also believed it was not SCV's night. Pete Emmons was cohosting that year and he was even surprised his own corps won.

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I honestly cannot see SCV as Champions in '87. '89, however, is a different story. As sloppy as they were in some places they were a better corps. I was not impressed by SCV's drumline in '89, but aside from a neat drum feature Phantom's drumline had nothing going on. Visually I think SCV was doing more. Phantom lost visual GE points when they had the hornline mostly standing around doing cape work during the drum solo. In the end I think SCV sold their show better than Phantom. Regiment was clea, but it was a sterile kind of clean. Nothing really exciting.

One further thing considering '89: Cadets drums were robbed. Severely. Almost as much as the Cadets horns getting robbed in 2001.

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