Jurassic Lancer Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 2 hours ago, mfrontz said: I didn't like it at the time, but I only saw it on the PBS Broadcast. I could appreciate its technical difficulties, but on my dinky TV I wasn't blown away. I loved it then ... I love it now. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 14 minutes ago, Chief Guns said: If BDs 91 horn line is 1A........then the 93 horn line is 1AA. Two of the best ever. I agree. When the subject of great brass lines comes up, I tend to begin with BD and Star 91 and BD and Star 93. Carolina has certainly produced a few, and BD and Cadets have had some tremendous lines throughout their history. There are others. But those early 90s lines by BD and Star were really something special. The game is so different today with all the other elements that seem to go into a show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Star grew one me.....i didn't like it at first in 93, tho i didn't see it til finals week. by the time i got the cd's and video, my mind changed. first show was bensalem, a rainout. a week later Hershey. the minute Cadets ended the tenor feature ( that changed tenor writing forever) i said they'd win DCI. I too remember the monsoon at East, but that year it felt East got the B show compared to Denver. ahhhh 1-900 Can Drum Cadets and Star were both incredible. I preferred cadets to win then and now, but both were unreal.Phantom took a huge step forward after 92, and BD was awesome. Cavies was good, but i felt it was 92 take 2. madison so much fun and of course the rain hype in Jackson. Vanguard...my god i still love this show. it was so different from the previous several years...the color scheme, the percussion...the visual....Crossmen....great idea on paper, but didn't work out. no slouch tho. fun Bloo show and i also love BK that year...IMO the last great standalone drum solo!! Glassmen and Colts first time, and still shows i can listen to anytime. i was thrilled i got to do an Arkenstone show as an arranger several years later. In fact vK was 12th at quarters. so much fun with VK and what a drumline! other shows out of the top i love: Magic, Southwind, Freelancers, Northern Aurora 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 and yeah 93 was a shift, but i liked it. in fact i like it a lot more than 94. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimmo Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 Yay, keep these great posts coming! Random recollections... To a teenage brit, the 93 broadcast was initially dissapointing. It seemed less glossy, not such a grand scale, and with the rain, less American! Watching with some older friends raised on 80s jazz, the top 3 lost them - "they're playing warm ups"! Was this Curt Gowdys most error prone year? Loved the BD interlude with the notes on the screen. Can still hear that mellos and alto section now! Cadets running tenor break Phantom blew the house down with FOEG then were quite messy standing up again. Love that show but at the time felt the ending was abrupt BD chain reaction...they come in with this awesome riff, you think some great Johnny One Note or Tommy esque tune is starting... and then they move on. An early foreshadowing of future programming 😁 Anyone else wonder how come the tenor player for Star in the experiment was wearing a vanguard drum line tshirt? Didn't tribal rules prevent this?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 4 minutes ago, grimmo said: Was this Curt Gowdys most error prone year? Standing ovation for the Kansas City Star! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Tuma Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 4 hours ago, Yorkvillain said: Standing ovation for the Kansas City Star! In his defense the local newspaper is The Kansas City Star. Lol. He also coughed up a lung in the same broadcast. You think they would have edited that out of the vhs version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Continental Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: Star grew one me.....i didn't like it at first in 93, tho i didn't see it til finals week. by the time i got the cd's and video, my mind changed. I remember not liking '82 Garfield the first time I saw them. It was just too different at first viewing. By the end of the season I looked forward to seeing them. Vanguard's quiet ending in '83 was also an adjustment. We were so used to having our faces blown off at the end of each show. "Is that the ending? - When do we clap?" Another Vanguard adjustment - the '84 percussion solo. "It's too quiet!" Now it's just so amazing to listen to. Edited April 28, 2020 by Continental 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Continental Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 6 hours ago, Yorkvillain said: Standing ovation for the Kansas City Star! Didn't he also call the VK shark a crocodile? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) Outside of the top 3 my favorite shows in 1993 were Glassmen's "A Voyage Through Imagination" - the music of David Arkenstone. This show caught my attention early that summer. It is one of my favorite Glassmen shows, and I like a bunch of them. This was really great music for a drum corps show. Blue Knights: "The Next Generation" - this was their Star Trek show and it is one of the classic BK shows Blue Devils - I got to see BD live only once (in Michigan). They had a fun book and a fabulous brass line. BD and Madison both gave us great arrangements of "Strawberry Soup." VK and their "Marriage of Figaro" segment was so fun The first regional shows of that summer were DCI North (Buffalo) and DCI South (Nashville) Buffalo, NY DCI DCI North 1 Star of Indiana 88.9 2 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 87.4 3 Cavaliers 84.9 4 Crossmen 80.2 5 Bluecoats 76.5 6 Boston Crusaders 70.2 7 Dutch Boy 68.1 8 Northern Aurora 66.5 Nashville, TN DCI DCI South 1 Phantom Regiment 85.0 2 Blue Devils 84.8 3 Santa Clara Vanguard 80.8 4 Blue Knights 79.7 5 Velvet Knights 73.6 6 Glassmen 73.0 7 Freelancers 71.6 8 Spirit of Georgia 71.5 9 Magic of Orlando 66.7 10 Sky Ryders 64.7 We had 4 shows in Ohio in a period of 3 days that showed just how good Star and Cadets were. I managed to attend 2 of them. --------------- Monday, July 26 --------------- Massillon, OH DCI 1 Star of Indiana 89.4 2 Crossmen 81.1 3 Bluecoats 77.1 4 Glassmen 74.3 5 Boston Crusaders 72.4 6 Dutch Boy 70.0 7 Northern Aurora 64.6 8 Golden Lancers 43.8 This was the Bluecoats 2nd show of the season I think. Great stadium and sound. If the fans were having some troubles adjusting to Star of Indiana, the judges were not. It seemed the judges got it and loved it. --------------- Tuesday, July 27 --------------- Columbus, OH DCI 1 Cavaliers 87.3 2 Madison Scouts 82.9 3 Santa Clara Vanguard 81.9 4 Freelancers 73.4 5 Boston Crusaders 71.0 6 Carolina Crown 61.3 I went to the Columbus show. Shorter drive. Cavaliers were very good but not my favorite show from them. Madison and SCV were both good and fun to watch, they were just struggling with performance and making sense of their shows. I actually really enjoyed Carolina Crown. None of us had any idea what they would ultimately become. Fairfield, OH DCI 1 Star of Indiana 89.4 2 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 87.2 3 Blue Devils 84.6 4 Crossmen 81.3 5 Velvet Knights 74.3 6 Colts 71.1 7 Spirit of Georgia 70.6 8 Marauders 61.8 What Star was doing to the competition, even over a powerful Cadets corps and a solid BD unit was unreal. -------------- Wednesday, July 28 -------------- Centerville, OH DCI 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 87.9 2 Blue Devils 85.6 3 Madison Scouts 82.6 4 Freelancers 73.4 5 Velvet Knights 73.0 6 Sky Ryders 67.5 7 Troopers 67.2 8 Black Gold 50.3 Fort Wayne, IN DCI 1 Star of Indiana 90.7 2 Phantom Regiment 85.3 3 Bluecoats 77.6 4 Colts 73.0 5 Boston Crusaders 72.9 6 Marauders 64.6 7 Southwind 63.8 Amazing looking at this to realize Phantom would go on to take 3rd at Finals. The next big regional was Preview of Champions in Ypsilanti, MI. This was the only regional to include all the corps in D1. Here are prelim results: --------------- Friday, July 30 --------------- Ypsilanti, MI DCI PoC prelims 1 Star of Indiana 90.1 ^ Cadets of Bergen Cty. 90.1 3 Cavaliers 86.7 4 Blue Devils 86.4 5 Phantom Regiment 86.2 6 Madison Scouts 83.1 7 Santa Clara Vanguard 83.0 8 Crossmen 81.4 9 Blue Knights 77.4 10 Bluecoats 76.9 11 Glassmen 75.5 12 Freelancers 73.7 13 Velvet Knights 72.9 14 Colts 72.5 15 Spirit of Georgia 70.9 16 Boston Crusaders 69.8 17 Troopers 67.9 18 Magic of Orlando 67.8 19 Dutch Boy 67.0 20 Sky Ryders 66.7 21 Northern Aurora 64.3 22 Southwind 62.0 23 Marauders 60.9 24 Carolina Crown 59.6 25 Black Gold 51.5 Cadets managed to tie Star at prelims. Both Star and Cadets were pretty far in front of the competition for good reasons. At times during that summer you kind of wondered if anyone would at least close the gap. Phantom was sitting in 5th, but it was all pretty close with PR, Cavies, and BD. The next night Star would pull away. Cavaliers scored better, Phantom tied BD, and SCV jumped Madison. -------------- Saturday, July 31 -------------- Ypsilanti, MI DCI Preview of Champions 1 Star of Indiana 92.0 2 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 90.4 3 Cavaliers 87.9 4 Phantom Regiment 86.7 ^ Blue Devils 86.7 6 Santa Clara Vanguard 83.6 7 Madison Scouts 83.3 8 Crossmen 81.6 9 Blue Knights 79.9 10 Bluecoats 77.1 11 Glassmen 73.9 12 Freelancers 72.3 The next two regional shows were split, with one being DCI East and the other Drums Along The Rockies in Denver. Allentown, PA DCI DCI East 1 Cavaliers 90.4 2 Blue Devils 90.3 3 Crossmen 86.4 4 Bluecoats 84.8 5 Velvet Knights 80.6 6 Boston Crusaders 77.9 7 Magic of Orlando 73.9 8 Spirit of Georgia 73.4 9 Dutch Boy 73.0 10 Northern Aurora 69.0 11 Southwind 67.2 Cavaliers were very competitive that summer with BD and Phantom for most of the season. Not my favorite Cavies show, but the Heroes, Lost and Fallen segment was pretty good. Denver, CO DCI Drums Along the Rockies 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 93.1 2 Star of Indiana 92.8 3 Phantom Regiment 89.7 4 Madison Scouts 86.6 5 Santa Clara Vanguard 85.5 6 Blue Knights 83.1 7 Glassmen 79.0 8 Freelancers 78.8 9 Colts 77.2 10 Troopers 70.2 11 Marauders 67.5 12 SCV Cadets 64.0 13 Black Gold 59.9 This was the first time Star of Indiana had lost a show that season. Cadets had tied them in Prelims at PoC in Michigan, but this probably signaled to many fans that The Cadets were cleaning and putting the final touches on a great show. The Cadets would beat Star one more time before Finals week in Texarkana, AR. ------------- Wednesday, August 11 ------------- Texarkana, AR DCI 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 93.9 2 Star of Indiana 93.5 3 Blue Knights 86.0 4 Glassmen 81.7 5 Freelancers 81.3 6 Colts 78.3 7 Sky Ryders 71.8 8 Marauders 67.9 9 Delta Brigade 34.8 The last two regional shows were held in Houston and Bloomington. ------------- Saturday, August 14 ------------- Bloomington, IN DCI DCI Mid-America 1 Star of Indiana 95.7 2 Cavaliers 93.6 3 Blue Devils 93.5 4 Crossmen 89.4 5 Bluecoats 87.3 6 Velvet Knights 83.7 7 Boston Crusaders 82.5 8 Spirit of Georgia 79.5 9 Dutch Boy 78.0 10 Magic of Orlando 77.3 11 Carolina Crown 70.4 12 Southwind 70.1 13 Northern Aurora 70.0 Houston, TX DCI DCI Southwest 1 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 96.0 2 Phantom Regiment 93.3 3 Madison Scouts 89.8 4 Santa Clara Vanguard 89.4 5 Blue Knights 86.1 6 Glassmen 81.6 7 Freelancers 81.5 8 Colts 80.9 9 Sky Ryders 77.9 10 Troopers 74.4 11 Marauders 69.9 12 Black Gold 61.5 Quarterfinals in 1993 gave an indication of how 1st and 2nd place were really in a league of their own. Phantom would close the gap on Finals night with their terrific performance. BD and Cavalier traded places each night with BD grabbing 4th at Finals. Madison would beat SCV each night. Very interesting to look at the spreads from Quarterfinals. ------------- Thursday, August 19 ------------- Jackson, MS DCI Quarterfinals 1 Star of Indiana 97.8 2 Cadets of Bergen Cty. 97.4 3 Phantom Regiment 94.9 4 Blue Devils 94.5 5 Cavaliers 94.4 6 Madison Scouts 91.9 7 Santa Clara Vanguard 91.1 8 Crossmen 90.6 9 Bluecoats 88.3 10 Blue Knights 87.4 11 Glassmen 85.6 12 Velvet Knights 83.9 13 Colts 83.5 14 Boston Crusaders 83.0 15 Freelancers 82.4 16 Magic of Orlando 80.9 17 Spirit of Georgia 79.2 18 Dutch Boy 78.3 19 Troopers 77.1 20 Sky Ryders 74.3 21 Carolina Crown 74.2 22 Southwind 73.0 23 Marauders 71.1 24 Northern Aurora 70.0 25 SCV Cadets 69.3 26 Mandarins 67.2 27 Pioneer 65.5 28 L'Insolite 64.6 29 Black Gold 58.3 This is probably the best look at how the season played out. I would have been fine with Cadets or Star winning. I was rooting for Cadets at the time but I loved Star's show and likely felt they were a tad better. Phantom was awesome. To this day I think Star and Cadets in 1993 represent two of the most demanding shows I have ever seen. This is especially true if you take away all the frills with electronics, mics, amps, props, narration, singing, etc. Neither show was perfectly clean at Finals due to the rain and other conditions. The extreme heat in the south that summer caused problems for all the corps when it came to practice. Jackson, MS was not the best place for Finals. Attendance did not seem to be good. I would have paid a lot of money to see Star and Cadets lay down cleaner performances in the cool, crisp air of Camp Randal in Madison, WI. Overall, 1993 was a solid DCI season with two iconic shows and some of the best brass lines you will ever hear. In general, drill was wicked fast, complex, and we were hitting the apex of what I call the run-and-gun era (AKA whiplash era). It was a different time. I feel 1992 was a better year when you consider location of Finals and the numerous shows that were better designed. DCI's choice to go to Jackson was not a good one. If you are the type that enjoys a wide-open race for the championship, this was NOT the year for you. You had two choices, and for a lot of the season there was one choice...STAR. Most shows were not close...not even in the ballpark close. Only Cadets truly had a show that could catch Star. Like 'em, love 'em, or hate 'em...Star of Indiana left DCI after 1993, but they left us with one of the most legendary, polarizing, and controversial shows of all time. The show is a timeless masterpiece that will live on for decades more. It will be hated and loved and argued for many more years. To this day it remains the most daring show design I've ever seen. Edited April 29, 2020 by jwillis35 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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