Most difficult shows

[MikeZ]

I once marched at a show in Canada where the staff failed to tell us there was a 55 yard line and two 50 yard lines. That was hard.

Z

[boxingfred]

Cavaliers -2003 Still to this day the most visually demanding show!

Cadets - Pick almost any year

Crown - has had some wow shows as of late.

Vanguard - Has had some great shows too!

[Catan]

I've always thought 1993 Cadets and 1990 Star of Indiana are two of the most difficult shows I've ever seen (both visually and musically).

[thewsquared]

Am I the only one that thinks that Crown 2012 was more demanding both musically and visually than 2013? Both are beyond ridiculous though

[DrumManTx]

Am I the only one that thinks that Crown 2012 was more demanding both musically and visually than 2013? Both are beyond ridiculous though

For the modern era that's what I was going to say, 2013 appeared to be a notch or two easier visually, but it also cleaned MUCH better than 2012 which was just insane.

[TESB]

I'm not so sure about 2013 being only a notch or two easier, or even really THAT much cleaner, though the uniform did help with that. 2012 Crown is probably the hardest drill and body movement a corps has attempted (in certain aspects), and certainly showed everyone the limits of being that good in both brass and visual. But that show, while visually harder, wasn't designed as well as 2013. Also 2013 was pretty middle of the road difficulty visually (if anything i'd say shows peaked in sheer difficulty mid-2000s). They had an opener (sort of opener) and closer where they moved (for half of it) and that was kind of it, a walking drum break and ballad. Also Sprach outro (the last drill move of the show, the last thing, as a drill writer, you want your audience to remember) was an awkward half time baby step from a blob shape to an ill-shaped crown shape. Cadets shows any given year on pacing alone will usually be the hardest shows.

Crown's brass book was probably the densest and cleanest any corps has done, but nothing a corps hasn't done before. It was mostly variations on a Bb scale and multiple corps have done the technique runs they've done. From the videos on youtube it's also apparent they play every lick multiple times in a show warm up. Take the first little run of "Rocky Point Holiday", have your trumpets in two groups and play it alternately and you get that show's main musical effect. That squiggly run is the same lick three times and not everyone plays, the bird and bela runs lasted longer and sounded harder. Crown's writers are really good at making it flashy and wow-pizzazzing you and most people have fallen for it very very hard. But it really is one for the books.

Edited February 24, 2014 by TESB

[Dan Detweiler]

While I too was very impressed with Crown's techincal facility last year, we have to remember that difficulty lies in many different musical expectations. Playing a bunch of notes isn't the only way that a musical book can be difficult...just sayin'.

Dan

[thewsquared]

I just think 2012 was harder because of the sheer number of things going on at one time. Dreams was a beast of a piece in the first place, then they put it on a field while running for 9 minutes straight. It was just ridiculous! This years music just didn't strike me as being quite as challenging as 2012.

[drummer5485]

2007 Cavaliers is insane visually.

[MikeN]

I think it was on the DVD or in an interview after that Jeff Fiedler said he felt the drill move the Cavaliers do in "Frameworks" (2002), right after the Fight Club sequence, was the hardest thing they'd ever done. It's a circle that reaches from the front sideline to the back sideline, with carats in the corners around it, sliding left while the circle rotates.

Mike