What was the best crowd response your corps got and where?

[scv74]

1970 Racine WI. Crowd started to get up to get refreshments, but when we were really getting into the OTL, they started returning to their seats to watch the little Corps from CA. At the end of the show, the announcer proclaims... "Wonderful show!, Wonderful show! Santa Clara Vanguard!!" It is on the record (the one with the Racine Scouts on the cover) so I know it's true. Never heard an announcer say something like that again... until 2002.

1973 Oshkosh WI. I counted 5 standing Os during the show. Can never forget something like that!

2002 Madison WI. Along with my SCVAC Brother, the crowd reaction to the Bottle Dance . And what the announcer said? At the end of the playing of "Clowns", the announcer said... "And that's the the show for tonight folks, drive home carefully..." Heh, we were the first ones on!

I love Wisconsin!!!

Might also include the rainout (74 or 75) (think it was the US Open in Ohio). Did the show in garbage bags...those that were still there were out of their minds.

[Northern Thunder]

Might also include the rainout (74 or 75) (think it was the US Open in Ohio). Did the show in garbage bags...those that were still there were out of their minds.

SCV also did a garbage bag performance in Stillwater, MN in 1975, the night before they beat otherwise unbeaten Madison at DCI Midwest prelims. .

I always wondered if you guys would have beaten Madison in Minnesota that night had the show not been rained-out.

The crowd went wild that night, and I know the SCV equipment truck got stuck in the mud near the parking lot

Edited August 8, 2014 by Northern Thunder

[Caviecub]

Cavaliers introduction on the starting line at 1975 DCI Finals. We were Boo'd mercilessly by all the East Coast and Muchachos fans. That was my most memorable crowd reaction - ever.

Why were the Cavies boo'd so much there?

[GUARDLING]

Why were the Cavies boo'd so much there?

the connection to the disqualification and also a member of theirs

[Tapper7]

Under the Saturday Night Lights, Finals Night '97.

The last show. just a fraction of a moment to express a great volume of emotion and shared experience. The goal is to peak at finals and give everything away to the audience. I did. The corps did. The audience felt it. I could explain more in 10 minutes of music than a compendium of anecdotes.* Eric Hand and Matt Carroll are featured both gave historic solos. There is a point where only the show can tell you what I can't put into words. There facts and stories and legends.... fortunately there is a recording. DCI and PBS always do a great job with that.

Reliable Rondo hosts.

Garfield's "Celebration: The Music of Philip Spark" is outstanding.

The Blue Devils were phenomenal as always. Brian Kettlehut is a good friend; he introduced me to drum corps, he's featured as an upper-lead/soloist. ...and Sean Billings ... pastes a doubleC.

Mike Boo gave a thoughtful and kind review as well----

http://www.dci.org/news/view.cfm?news_id=a1f8ce72-6eed-471a-bd02-01e1971ef6c0

*I really liked Crossmen's rendition of Birdland and they closed with the Don Ellis Classic "Niner-Two"-I'm a huge fan of that show.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Tapper7

[GuyW]

Don't have a large database to draw from, but:

1. DCI Finals 1974 in my one and only tour in Anaheim Kingsmen;

2. DCI Semi-Finals 2007 with Kingsmen Alumni

[TroopAlum12]

2011 Troopers, BOA summer symposium show. Right as we went into the infinity chord near the end of the closer, a kid on the front row of the second deck stood up and shouted, "GIVE IT TO ME!!!" Then we hit the chord and the crowd erupted in a massive standing ovation.

2012 Sioux Falls, South Dakota, we had a show where both the corps and the crowd were just electrified. There was this kind of tangible energy on the field that we were all just feeding off of. Never felt as pumped during a show as we did then. Crowd ate up every moment of it.

Edited October 26, 2014 by TroopAlum12

[doublc]

I have 2 shows that I remember as a performer, and 1 that I remember as a member of the audience:

The 2 shows in which I participated as a performer were 83 finals in Miami, and 87 prelims in Madison, and the thing that has stuck in my mind about those 2 shows was that it wasn't about the audience response for the performances...it was that we hadn't even gotten on the field yet.

'83 was unique because as everybody knows, no eastern corps had won DCI up to that point. We'd had a pretty good season, we lost prelims (kinda deservedly if you've ever seen the prelims video), but there was still a lot of anticipation that the audience could witness history being made that evening. All I can remember about that evening was the electricity coming out of the stands as we came through the gate. I believe we went on right after Phantom that night, and from the field, it felt as though the audience was thinking, "We need to be respectful to the performance on the field, but REALLY want to see what's up next!" Once we started moving onto the field and Mr. Crocker announced us, the crowd went NUTS!!! You don't ever really get to experience something like that on the Class A level, so it was quite the experience for me! From that moment, I was literally in a fog for about the next 2 hours. Don't remember playing a note, don't remember marching a step. The next thing I can literally remember about that evening was looking down & seeing a red, white & blue ribbon hanging around my neck. A pretty cool experience.

'87 prelims was similar for me. As I recollect, we felt a little flat through warmups, and a little listless lining up in the tunnel to come on for prelims. Then...the rains came....

We were shoved into the walkway under the back stands to wait for the shower to pass, and it was though everybody woke up at the same exact time. Suddenly, we were the bull locked up in the chute trying to throw this knucklehead off our back in less than 8 seconds. When the rain had passed, it was a COMPLETELY different organization lining up to go out, and it was another instance where the audience felt it, too. Don't know who performed before us that evening, but I've always felt bad, because whereas in Miami, the audience continued to watch the performance on the field, in Madison they most certainly did not. You could feel the audience's involvement in the performance on the field slowly dissolving. And once again, when we hit the field, the crowd response was unbelievable.

The one time I felt an "otherworldly crowd response" as a spectator was during prelims in Kansas City in '88. I was still marching, but that was the year that DCI decided to go with the BOA no-score-slotting to determine performance order, and no announcement of scores. You know....to heighten the suspense ;) We went on early enough in the show to be able to go back in and watch some corps, which we were rarely able to do because we usually went on late. I got into the stands and was able to find a decent seat just in time to see the Madison Scouts. We hadn't heard much about Madison that summer because that was the year they spent the early season in Europe, and I think we were only at 1 show with them prior to Nats. All I can remember was that they put on a performance that DARED you not to react. They did the "whirling dervish" move into the wedge at the end of Malaguena, and physically pulled me out of my seat along with 20,000 + other spectators. I was foolish enough prior to that moment to think that we were actually still competing with them, but suddenly found myself realizing that they were playing a completely different game than we were. I'd had the opportunity to witness a lot of great performances, but to have a performance completely strip me of my own control over my reactions was pretty darned cool!

[rayfallon]

I have 2 shows that I remember as a performer, and 1 that I remember as a member of the audience:

The 2 shows in which I participated as a performer were 83 finals in Miami, and 87 prelims in Madison, and the thing that has stuck in my mind about those 2 shows was that it wasn't about the audience response for the performances...it was that we hadn't even gotten on the field yet.

'83 was unique because as everybody knows, no eastern corps had won DCI up to that point. We'd had a pretty good season, we lost prelims (kinda deservedly if you've ever seen the prelims video), but there was still a lot of anticipation that the audience could witness history being made that evening. All I can remember about that evening was the electricity coming out of the stands as we came through the gate. I believe we went on right after Phantom that night, and from the field, it felt as though the audience was thinking, "We need to be respectful to the performance on the field, but REALLY want to see what's up next!" Once we started moving onto the field and Mr. Crocker announced us, the crowd went NUTS!!! You don't ever really get to experience something like that on the Class A level, so it was quite the experience for me! From that moment, I was literally in a fog for about the next 2 hours. Don't remember playing a note, don't remember marching a step. The next thing I can literally remember about that evening was looking down & seeing a red, white & blue ribbon hanging around my neck. A pretty cool experience.

'87 prelims was similar for me. As I recollect, we felt a little flat through warmups, and a little listless lining up in the tunnel to come on for prelims. Then...the rains came....

We were shoved into the walkway under the back stands to wait for the shower to pass, and it was though everybody woke up at the same exact time. Suddenly, we were the bull locked up in the chute trying to throw this knucklehead off our back in less than 8 seconds. When the rain had passed, it was a COMPLETELY different organization lining up to go out, and it was another instance where the audience felt it, too. Don't know who performed before us that evening, but I've always felt bad, because whereas in Miami, the audience continued to watch the performance on the field, in Madison they most certainly did not. You could feel the audience's involvement in the performance on the field slowly dissolving. And once again, when we hit the field, the crowd response was unbelievable.

The one time I felt an "otherworldly crowd response" as a spectator was during prelims in Kansas City in '88. I was still marching, but that was the year that DCI decided to go with the BOA no-score-slotting to determine performance order, and no announcement of scores. You know....to heighten the suspense ;) We went on early enough in the show to be able to go back in and watch some corps, which we were rarely able to do because we usually went on late. I got into the stands and was able to find a decent seat just in time to see the Madison Scouts. We hadn't heard much about Madison that summer because that was the year they spent the early season in Europe, and I think we were only at 1 show with them prior to Nats. All I can remember was that they put on a performance that DARED you not to react. They did the "whirling dervish" move into the wedge at the end of Malaguena, and physically pulled me out of my seat along with 20,000 + other spectators. I was foolish enough prior to that moment to think that we were actually still competing with them, but suddenly found myself realizing that they were playing a completely different game than we were. I'd had the opportunity to witness a lot of great performances, but to have a performance completely strip me of my own control over my reactions was pretty darned cool!

Great stuff - Rick!

Hope you and yours are enjoying the Holidays.

Being around Cadets (Garfield) through those great years then guiding Crossmen through their best years is a pretty special accomplishment.

[Tapper7]

Don't have a large database to draw from, but:

1. DCI Finals 1974 in my one and only tour in Anaheim Kingsmen;

2. DCI Semi-Finals 2007 with Kingsmen Alumni

1. Is a li'l b4 my time but...2? That was a blast... we had like 100 horns ALL IN G - the line was Wall-to-Wall West Coast Drum Corps Ringers.

Santa Clara, Concord, Sacramento and BOTH Anaheims were well-represented. We opened with Folk-Song Suite which is a barn-burner...A legit Color-Presentation with full Honor Guard had not been done in a looooooong time....and the crowd recognized us for it. That open C major chord at the end reminded EVERYONE that G Bugles simply can't ever be replaced entirely. Decibels and frequency don't lie. When those open (concert) C major, Gmaj and Amaj chords lock-in at w/ a full clip...there's simply no other sound like it.

Here's a sample.

Crank it!

Features Phil on Sop and CARL on Barry.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Tapper7