bernie_VKpit Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Just as the title says, which Phantom Regiment championship show do you prefer? While I enjoy both shows immensely, I am partial to the 96 show because I saw it live, it was their first championship, and I love what they did with Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. I had friends that I marched with in VK, who went on to BD and Phantom that year. I remember how I was hanging out with them after the show, and they were both so excited for each other for winning. Amazing moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Shosh Five FTW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernie_VKpit Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Wow. 18 votes, 9 for each show. Neck and neck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgerbob Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Still neck and neck! I voted for Spartacus. I've seen 1996 probably a dozen times and I just can't get it into it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Spartacus, but Defiant Heart was really, really, REALLY good. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernie_VKpit Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Spartacus, but Defiant Heart was really, really, REALLY good. Mike Why Spartacus over Defiant Heart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Spartacus had a slightly better brass line, a vastly better drumline and managed to engage the crowd more. Defiant Heart had better arrangements, I would suggest a better guard, and better drill. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajal Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 (edited) 'A Defiant Heart' is one of those shows I listen to year after year. I liked Spartacus, but for me it doesn't come close to the 96 show musically. Edited August 23, 2013 by cajal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Spartacus had a slightly better brass line, a vastly better drumline and managed to engage the crowd more. Defiant Heart had better arrangements, I would suggest a better guard, and better drill. Mike I agree. I personally think Defiant Heart was better programmatically than Spartacus & had better design (especially visually), while Spartacus had better musical performance. Also, to be kinda blunt, I feel like Defiant Heart went for it Finals week and won based on passion & a good design while Spartacus was WAY too pandering and cheesy. It was REALLY hard for me to get over the cloying cheesiness of Spartacus ("hey, we're on the cusp & need more GE: let's kill someone else!"). That corps performed the crap out of their show, but I'm not really a fan of Spartacus as a production. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hostrauser Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Caveat: Dmitri Shostakovich is my favorite composer. I have over 50 CDs of JUST Shostakovich music in my collection (maybe closer to 100). I have at least two different recordings of all of his symphonies and much of his recorded ballet and film score music. I have books about him, have studied him, and he is the primary influence on my composing style. This is not to imply that I'm more right or wrong than anyone else, just to warn you that I have OPINIONS in all caps when it comes to DSCH. That said... Defiant Heart has the best opener in DCI history: Jim Wren's masterwork arrangement of the Introduction to Fourth Ballet Suite (originally from Shostakovich's "Limpid Stream" if I'm remembering correctly). After that, though, the show is good-but-not-great for me. The youthful exuberance of Symphony No. 1 seems an odd mesh to the darkness of the opener and the closer. It seems too "playful" to match the rebellious attitude of the rest of the show. I think Symphony No. 11, Mvt. II and/or Symphony No. 15, Mvt. II would have been a better fit here. And, while the start of the Symphony No. 5 section is FANTASTIC, I can't get over how "untrue" to the original Phantom's finale is. The Finale to #5 is NOT supposed to be this driving blaze of glory. It's a sarcastic and bitter finale, a "phony" triumph, with ostinato repeated to the point of absurdity and modulation away from the major-key "triumph" (from DM to Gm and Bbm). It works as drum corps, but I'm too attached to the original work to fully appreciate the drum corps version, I guess. Spartacus just has great programming and execution. I felt the visual design was better, and the music was just as solid. Shaw's and the Rennicks' arrangements are gold. To me, this show is a 20.0 in Musical GE and about a 19.9 in Visual GE. Even after nearly 20 years of following drum corps, this became my new #1 show of all time. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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