bluecoats88 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Being happy for Bluecoats making top 12 for the first time - but also being sad since we had been beating them the year before (It just made me wonder what could have happened had my corps not folded) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm guessing you were either in Les Eclipses or 27th Lancers, and I'm thinking what could have happened was that Sky Ryders might not have made finals with that great west side story show if your corps had stayed and been strong. If you were with Les Eclipses and made finals then we would have lost 27th and both Troopers and Sky ryders would have dropped out of finals being replaced by to new comers. Just imagine the possibilities for the years to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardguy89 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Hey Phil, I was in Les Eclipses in '86 and Connexion Quebec in '87 - not trying to bag on anyone. Just found it hard to see all the corps that we used to be competitive with (Sky, Bluecoats, DutchBoy etc...) doing so well while we were "stuck" in a corps going nowhere fast! Its all good though- '87 turned out to be the "funniest" year of drum corps I ever had. Later, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BbTrpt1 Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 (edited) Right on the spot with Wave... they were really fun that year. 1987 was a great drum corps summer. It was my third year with Florida Wave and we knew we had a realistic shot at making Finals. I remember beating Dutch Boy for the first time that season at Finals at DCI Canada in Hamilton, ONT. They then proceeded to play "O, Canada" off the field and we got booed all the way out of retreat..... ^0^ I remember the first time we beat the Troopers somewhere in the Midwest. We were all psyched because it was the first time we beat a Finalist Corps. I still give Jason Buckingham (who was marching bari in Troopers in '87 and is now their Caption Head) crap about this all the time..... ^0^ Beacuse of the scheduling that summer, we didn't go head to head with SkyRyders until about 10 days before finals and only saw them twice before semis. The first time we saw them we were on like 2 hours before them and they crushed us by 9 points. We saw them again a few nights later the show before DCI and closed the spread to 2.5 points. We took 2nd place at quarters behind Bluecoats (finalist corps from '86 didn't have to do quarterfinals) and were ready to smoke semifinals. We had a great show but ended up in 13th, .6 behind SkyRyders. They actually only beat us by .5, but Dean Musson (who later became corps director of Crossmen) got us a .1 penalty for some stupid boundry violation with the backfield podium. In an ironic twist, the guard members who played Tony and Maria for SkyRyders that year were both from South Florida and had both marched previously with Florida Wave in 1984 and 1985. Long story short, Florida Wave never recovered from missing Finals in 87 and folded 4 years later. If we only could have seen SkyRyders 1 or 2 more times before DCI and caught them, who knows what would have happened. Might have changed the history of drum corps in South Florida. Oh well, at least I got to say "Horn Line, Ready Switch" at retreats the next two summers. Heh, good times..... Edited June 17, 2005 by BbTrpt1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 A side note about SCV and I will be drawn and quartered for my opinion, but: I did not like the Russian Christmas show. From the hokey "wizard" to the no-so-great backdrops, it did nothing for me. I was distracted by the props. For people to say that this show should have beat Cadets, I say "HOGWASH!" As an addendum to my earlier reply: I bought my latest, and last, batch of "Legacy" DVDs and began watching them this week. I got to 1987 today and was all psyched up, because some of my favorite shows of all time are from this year. Then I started watching Santa Clara, and was reminded all over again about what sometimes drives me nuts about the telecast. They did this long, seemingly endless shot on the drum line coming out of the red tent during "Russian Christmas Music" (like, "We must focus on this illusion to show the audience how it's done!"). Meanwhile, I know there's all this magnificent drill coming out from behind the props, building in perfect synchronization with the music, and I came this close to throwing something at the TV. (Not the first time that's happened, either.) So tonight, I had to get out my videotape of what I think are semi-finals from '87, but taped entirely from the upper deck. Now, this is how these shows should be watched. It's just as true for Santa Clara as it is for Garfield. But the difference is that you don't see the props up close . . . and frankly, the audience isn't supposed to. So what may have looked "hokey" or "not-so-great" up close actually looks quite good from a distance, and makes perfect sense within the context of the music and drill. It's pretty rare to achieve this kind of emotional push, and Santa Clara does it. Watching this tape only reaffirms my love for this show. It was beautifully written, and beautifully performed for maximum emotional impact. And, watching Garfield from the upper deck also reaffirms my love for that show. As with Santa Clara, the telecast missed so much in its almost frantic effort to find a close-up. To really appreciate the liquid movement of this drill, you have to watch it from up top. A friend of mine described it perfectly: "It's like you've got a puddle of water on a tray, and you tilt the tray around, changing the shape of the puddle." That's how that drill moved, and Zingali was a genius. But his genius wouldn't have amounted to much if the corps hadn't been able to perform it. It's not flawless execution--Santa Clara didn't have a flawless program, either--but it's about as close as humanly possible, under those conditions. As I said before, 1987 is one of those years when I could've lived with a first-place tie. Both corps were that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Oh, and another thing: You can actually hear Garfield's soloist at the end of the semi-finals tape! When I watched the "Legacy" DVD, I was surprised that I couldn't hear the soloist. I knew I couldn't hear those final notes on the telecast, but I figured that was a technical glitch, and they would be able to restore the sound in the DVD. Apparently not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBrancheau Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Sue: To describe Cadets' drill as "water on a tray" is a PERFECT description! I guess my bias against lots of props in a show is aimed at SCV. It was just too distracting. Cadets' show was clean and without visual distraction. I thought SCV's props looked like an Indiana Class C high school band. Also, like I said before, I don't "get" SCV for some reason. They have never held my interest. Only in the last few years has BD held my interest. Maybe I'm maturing in my tastes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Sally, I tend to agree with you when viewing the props up close, as they weres shown, unfortunately, in the telecast. Up close, they look somewhat tacky and cheap. But from a distance, I thought they looked like the real thing, rich and ornate, and were also integrated beautifully into the drill the drill and music (which, in my experience, Indiana high schools typically did not pull off). Just my take on it. . . . And, of course, I'm a longtime Santa Clara fan! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byline Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Cadets' show was clean and without visual distraction. Well, there was that dancer, who was good . . . but also distracting, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deftguy Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Sue:To describe Cadets' drill as "water on a tray" is a PERFECT description! I guess my bias against lots of props in a show is aimed at SCV. It was just too distracting. Cadets' show was clean and without visual distraction. I thought SCV's props looked like an Indiana Class C high school band. Also, like I said before, I don't "get" SCV for some reason. They have never held my interest. Only in the last few years has BD held my interest. Maybe I'm maturing in my tastes! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sally, As crazy as this sounds, I didn't mind SCV's props at all. They IMO tied the show together nicely and were tastefully used. SCV I get, it took me till the 90's to get the Cadets, and even then I only liked their shows in three years during the 90's 92,93,94 were the only years I really liked them. The Blue Devils have never held my interest, never. Not saying they weren't good, its just I am not into emoting, or dancing guards, but their hornline has always been like butta. A Indiana class C high school band???? SALLY!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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