5. The Cadets, 2000, “We Are the Future”
I’ve already confided that I had to “grow” into The Bridgemen; so also I had to grow into “Millennium Celebration.” Full disclosure: I was so swept away by “Niagara Falls” that I think I refused to let this show break through for me.
No more. The only way to tell this, is to recount what happened to me, one quiet Saturday afternoon, when I needed a little drum corps. I am still not sure why I queued up this show; maybe to give it another chance. *Shrug*
But queue it, I did, and to unforgettable result. This show is something of a master class of layering; the effects start off strong, but it is the cumulative impact that leaves its mark.
Honestly, at eight minutes in I was sold; at ten I was rubble in its wake. This-here Cadets’ show delivers on the promise of the future!
4. Blue Devils, 2007, “Winged Victory”
For all of the shows, for all of the performances, for all of the marching music, and for all of the celebration swirling around Drum Corps International’s 35th anniversary, it was "Winged Victory" that encapsulated, almost documentary style, the three and a half decades, the activity, and where we go from this moment forward.
For years, the Blue Devils have been called drum corps' deadliest performers in the clutch; this overwhelming achievement reinforced it. Concord's history is bullet-pointed with caption victories in every single area of judging, but as this year's championship show illustrated, the Devils are their best when the corps is the sum of its parts.
Head-shaking disbelief at the performed excellence notwithstanding, by season's end, this was the head-nodding victor.
3. Phantom Regiment, 2008, “Spartacus”
For starters, while every fan with any vintage palpated over Phantom Regiment's revisiting "Spartacus" -- real music, remember the drama -- only Rockford's crew had the vision to turn a scored performance into activity-wide acclaim, with lethal timing for the rest of the competitive field.
Taking a shell game programming tact, the design and production staff teased, taunted, and trickled out expanding plot, effect -- indeed mis' en scene -- for six weeks. Blockbuster perceptions grew, as did scores, until ... Allentown.
The "Roman armies" and their abjectly-abused "slaves" retreated into the trenches for four days, planning their final battle of the summer war. They came out fighting.
With music and percussion well in hand, Phantom had found the heart-pounding essence of the colossal tale, and then became subservient to its power. The effects overwhelmed; the scores soared. "I ... AM ... SPARTACUS" became the narrative message of the year, not to mention the most spoken line in Bloomington all week.
Slavish fan adoration became lightning-rod exhilaration at every turn. Regiment responded. The drum and bugle corps activity prevailed!
2. Cavaliers, 2002, “Frameworks”
Domination. State-of-the-art. Undefeated. Standard-setting. We have used all of these words throughout the history of the drum and bugle corps activity. But it has been a while since we have had the opportunity to use all of them together, in one year, and about one unit.
The numbers in the final score do not matter. What does matter is that the Cavaliers showed us all where the activity is headed, definitively.
The standard bearer of the show was the breathtaking quality of performance that oozed from each corps member, and so from the corps battery. If that was a precursor to the next few years in drum and bugle corps, we are all in for a mighty good time!
1. Blue Devils, 2009, “1930”
The freshest ideas on the field were the oldest, 79 years old in fact; the Blue Devils’ lavish vaudevillian variety card of tunes from 1930 melded the traditional drum corps idiom and the corps’ own history of performance with an extravagant use of electronics.
In addition to putting on simply a great show of talent, songs, and pure entertainment; the inclusion of the piano, especially in the final movement, came as close to “breaking the fourth wall” between performers and spectators as this activity has ever experienced. It was bold, brash, and brass (show) business. It was also inventive beyond measure.
The marvel of doubling the corps’ size, and visual opportunities, with stark white chairs was a godsend. The eye-popping and freakishly talented color guard amazed and delighted at every turn, in each act, whether as period character or at its base equipment handling best. Fresh, new, ground-breaking -- “old”; “1930” was the dance derby of the decade!
I’ve already confided that I had to “grow” into The Bridgemen; so also I had to grow into “Millennium Celebration.” Full disclosure: I was so swept away by “Niagara Falls” that I think I refused to let this show break through for me.
No more. The only way to tell this, is to recount what happened to me, one quiet Saturday afternoon, when I needed a little drum corps. I am still not sure why I queued up this show; maybe to give it another chance. *Shrug*
But queue it, I did, and to unforgettable result. This show is something of a master class of layering; the effects start off strong, but it is the cumulative impact that leaves its mark.
Honestly, at eight minutes in I was sold; at ten I was rubble in its wake. This-here Cadets’ show delivers on the promise of the future!
4. Blue Devils, 2007, “Winged Victory”
For all of the shows, for all of the performances, for all of the marching music, and for all of the celebration swirling around Drum Corps International’s 35th anniversary, it was "Winged Victory" that encapsulated, almost documentary style, the three and a half decades, the activity, and where we go from this moment forward.
For years, the Blue Devils have been called drum corps' deadliest performers in the clutch; this overwhelming achievement reinforced it. Concord's history is bullet-pointed with caption victories in every single area of judging, but as this year's championship show illustrated, the Devils are their best when the corps is the sum of its parts.
Head-shaking disbelief at the performed excellence notwithstanding, by season's end, this was the head-nodding victor.
3. Phantom Regiment, 2008, “Spartacus”
For starters, while every fan with any vintage palpated over Phantom Regiment's revisiting "Spartacus" -- real music, remember the drama -- only Rockford's crew had the vision to turn a scored performance into activity-wide acclaim, with lethal timing for the rest of the competitive field.
Taking a shell game programming tact, the design and production staff teased, taunted, and trickled out expanding plot, effect -- indeed mis' en scene -- for six weeks. Blockbuster perceptions grew, as did scores, until ... Allentown.
The "Roman armies" and their abjectly-abused "slaves" retreated into the trenches for four days, planning their final battle of the summer war. They came out fighting.
With music and percussion well in hand, Phantom had found the heart-pounding essence of the colossal tale, and then became subservient to its power. The effects overwhelmed; the scores soared. "I ... AM ... SPARTACUS" became the narrative message of the year, not to mention the most spoken line in Bloomington all week.
Slavish fan adoration became lightning-rod exhilaration at every turn. Regiment responded. The drum and bugle corps activity prevailed!
2. Cavaliers, 2002, “Frameworks”
Domination. State-of-the-art. Undefeated. Standard-setting. We have used all of these words throughout the history of the drum and bugle corps activity. But it has been a while since we have had the opportunity to use all of them together, in one year, and about one unit.
The numbers in the final score do not matter. What does matter is that the Cavaliers showed us all where the activity is headed, definitively.
The standard bearer of the show was the breathtaking quality of performance that oozed from each corps member, and so from the corps battery. If that was a precursor to the next few years in drum and bugle corps, we are all in for a mighty good time!
1. Blue Devils, 2009, “1930”
The freshest ideas on the field were the oldest, 79 years old in fact; the Blue Devils’ lavish vaudevillian variety card of tunes from 1930 melded the traditional drum corps idiom and the corps’ own history of performance with an extravagant use of electronics.
In addition to putting on simply a great show of talent, songs, and pure entertainment; the inclusion of the piano, especially in the final movement, came as close to “breaking the fourth wall” between performers and spectators as this activity has ever experienced. It was bold, brash, and brass (show) business. It was also inventive beyond measure.
The marvel of doubling the corps’ size, and visual opportunities, with stark white chairs was a godsend. The eye-popping and freakishly talented color guard amazed and delighted at every turn, in each act, whether as period character or at its base equipment handling best. Fresh, new, ground-breaking -- “old”; “1930” was the dance derby of the decade!
