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Classic DCI review: 1987 SANTA CLARA VANGUARD


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I have actually used an online random number generator to come up with some shows to review for fun.  First up… 1987 Santa Clara Vanguard!  Wow – what a classic.  It’s hard to choose if they should have won it all, or if Garfield’s sophistication really deserved it.    Copland’s great, but I’ve decided SCV’s Russian-themed show really came together well enough to be my favorite.  Back in the 1980s, you could be fun and have SCV’s serious/disciplined/regimented style at the same time.


The musical selections were very beautiful and exciting.  omg, Lezghinka!  This is one of classic drum corps’ most exciting percussion features ever!  How did they do that???!!!   I really miss percussion features that are so “melodic” that you can “sing” along with them.  It’s a blast to pound them on the steering wheel while driving too.  This is a HUGE part of what made drum corps so badas* to me when I discovered it in the 80s.  Even the little things like the tenors shaking their fists and the multiple “fake-outs” that they were going to start playing, but didn’t were badas*.  By the late 90s you couldn’t pound or sing along with drum features any more.  ☹️

Edited by Skeletor '96
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2 hours ago, Skeletor '96 said:

I have actually used an online random number generator to come up with some shows to review for fun.  First up… 1987 Santa Clara Vanguard!  Wow – what a classic.  It’s hard to choose if they should have won it all, or if Garfield’s sophistication really deserved it.    Copland’s great, but I’ve decided SCV’s Russian-themed show really came together well enough to be my favorite.  Back in the 1980s, you could be fun and have SCV’s serious/disciplined/regimented style at the same time.


The musical selections were very beautiful and exciting.  omg, Lezghinka!  This is one of classic drum corps’ most exciting percussion features ever!  How did they do that???!!!   I really miss percussion features that are so “melodic” that you can “sing” along with them.  It’s a blast to pound them on the steering wheel while driving too.  This is a HUGE part of what made drum corps so badas* to me when I discovered it in the 80s.  Even the little things like the tenors shaking their fists and the multiple “fake-outs” that they were going to start playing, but didn’t were badas*.  By the late 90s you couldn’t pound or sing along with drum features any more.  ☹️

There is more to this post, but my connection keeps breaking down... more to come.

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The drill design and execution were fantastic for their day and the hornline was too considering it was 1987.  Does anyone else miss 2-valve G-bugles as much as me?  I had a lot of fun playing one of those in Division III in 1995.  Santa Clara’s magic tricks were so much fun, too.  The guard member appearing out of thin air wasn’t as cool as the “magic pants” tunnels from 1985 and 86, though.  And, to wrap it up:

Great Gate Of Kiev – enough said.          

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1987 SCV is one of my favorite all time shows. There are so many carefully crafted nuances in that show. The second place finish is controversial and if you ever want to ruffle the feathers of die hard SCV fans, tell them Garfield deserved the trophy and you may need a body guard if you tell a Garfield Cadets die hard it should have been SCV’s night. I only saw SCV on TV that year, though. I did see Cadets and that was a monster of a show. 

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If these are reviews, isn’t the a sub forum for those?

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There doesn't seem to be much traffic there, and I get a lot of compliments and criticism where the traffic is.

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