Favorite DCI Show

What is your favorite DCI show from any year and why?

Scouts '05; Crown '04; Bluecoats '05. Those are today's favourites

1. Phantom '08
2. Crown '09
3. Phantom '05

It's a tie.

Definitely Star of Indiana 1991. Why?
Well, it's one of the most difficult DCI shows I've ever seen win 1st place, including the music, marching, and the guard. The whole show was ridiculously clean, approaching Cavies 2002, the music was insanely hard, they were the second loudest ham sandwich (VinnyE reference) in DCI history, with Star '93 being the first, the guard was insane, there was some of the hardest drill I've ever seen, and I could go on forever on why this is my favorite show, and I my opinion, the best DCI show ever. Please see youtube link for further inspection:
youtube.com/watch?v=fL38BVqbvE0

Velvet Knights 92.

SCV 1999- Inventions for a New Milennium

This show is pretty much perfect. Right from the opening set, a sense of intrigue is created as the corps comes from the corner and the music builds. The drill's intense throughout the show as well as the music, which is dramatic at times as well as playful. For me, this show had everything a show should have; it has a lot of intensity, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed.

Favorite shows by corps:
SCV 1999- Inventions for a New Milennium
PR 1996- A Defiant Heart
CAV 2002- Frameworks
BD 1988- ?
CC 2009- The Grass is Always Greener
CAD 2000- We Are the Future
BC 2003- Capture and Escape
BAC 2002- You Are My Star
BK 2006- Dark Knights
GM 1998- Dreams of Gold

BAC 2009. Bacchanale..nuff said.

@Shawn- if only Star actually did win in 1993...Cadets won by a mere few tenths which is one of the things that made 93 such a controversial year.

My favorite show...seriously changes every week/month. If I get some time, I'll eventually make a list of every show that I've loved at some point...

Madam wins XD
I'd go with BAC 09
Crown 07
PR 07
BD 91 :)
and BD 98

My favorite show (For this week at least)...

Phantom Regiment 2009 - and yes I am telling the truth.

@ Dave - Yeah, I wish Star had won '93 as well, both because of the loud ham sandwiches and the crazy good show, but what can you do? I think the Cadets had a very good show that year as well, and in finals it really just came down to a few minor execution details that the Cadets beat them out on. Both extremely good shows though.

crown 08 + 09

Crossmen '92. First show I ever heard, and absolutly beautiful.

Today's favorite show for me is Blue Devils 1988. I like their jazz songs especially Happy Days which is my favorite song played by a drum corps after When A Man Loves A Woman, also played by the Blue Devils.

crown 08! best music by far

Crown '09
Cavs '02 (of course)
Phantom '89, '03

@Shawn and Dave - In 1993, Cadets beat Star of Indiana by just .1. Check this out:

Quarterfinals:
Star - 97.8
Cadets - 97.4

Semis:
Cadets - 97.3
Star - 97.0

Finals:
Cadets - 97.4
Star - 97.3

So intense! I think Star could have won 1993 but I also loved Cadets' show. Both were brutally hard...

I have too many shows that are my favorite. DCI is my favorite. =D

My favorite was Carolina Crown 2009, because when I first saw it it blew my mind. All the thing going on during the show was amazing.

I can't pin down only one, but my top 5 shows are, in no particular order:

Crossmen '91 - One of the best brass lines ever in my book
Star of Indiana '91 - Amazing music, amazing drill, amazing guard... Hell, amazing EVERYTHING!
Velvet Knights '92 - Never fails to make me laugh until it hurts and not care
Boston Crusaders '00 - Intensity is the key word here
Madison Scouts '88 - One of the best versions of Malaguena, which happens to be one of my favorite songs

'92 VK was good, but '88 could very well be the best show in drum corps history:
vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individ...

I'm serious. Watch it.

My dad marched 88 VK :)

Vanguard 99
Cadets 00
Madison 95
Blue Devils 96
Star of Indiana 91-93

In Order:

Phantom Regiment '08: Spartacus
One of my directors came from Phantom, and it's flat out AMAZING.

Bluecoats '07: Criminal
The drumline was amazing, and it is EXTREMELY entertaining and creative.

Boston Crusaders '08: Neocosmos
The Matrix brass feature, my favorite brass feature. I love the music.

Cavaliers '06: The Machine
Pure awesomeniss, Best CG performance I've ever seen.

Bluecoats '08: The Knockout
Awesome show and brass feature.

Cadets '03
The Z-Pull!

Cadets '09: ...And the Pursuit of Hapiness
Great music and drill.

Cadets '00
Awesome drill, good music.

^ That'd be '08: ... And the Pursuit of Happiness
I'll agree on the drill!

Phantom '03. Simply epic.
'08 was cool, and I thought '09 was underrated.

I really liked The Cavaliers' '06 show.

Haha my bad Justin Ekstrom! '08 seems like lasst year in my mind because I've only seen parts of '09 shows.

Phantom Regiment 1995: Adventures Under a Darkened Sky

They were able to transform some of the legit music world's tougher pieces and take the darker richer tones and craft them into this brilliant, imaginative, powerful show. Great horn line and the power of this show is incredible. The music courses through my body at every moment causing goosebumps, and wave upon wave of musical delight.

Santa Clara 2007: ! (Eureka)

This show is captivating from the opening trumpet solo to the vanguard "v" in the cymbal line at the end. There are a lot of quirks in the music as well as some pretty neat drill. Plus, they had a lot of crowd involvement (vanguard yell and the shouting of "EUREKA" at the exclamation point impact set).

but if you ask me again in a week, I'll have a new favorite show :P

I don't really have one anymore.

This is a common forum topic... I've answered the same every time.

Well i have a very long list but ill try to trim it down

Cavies: 95,02,06,08
BD: 08
PR: 08
SCV: 09 (i get goosebumps still every time i watch the final push of that show)

Cavaliers 1995, that show was crazy!

the undefeated 94 blue devils

@Tim Devino - I haven't been able to find full video of that year, but I know someone who aged out with that show. The only part I've seen was Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which is one of my favorite pieces ever and they did an awesome job with it.

Cavs '02 and Cavs '04

Cavs '02 because its just an amazing show from beginning to end. Cavs '04 because I love James Bond shows done by any type of marching band.

its on myspace... or was last time i checked... idk i have the phantom classics vol 2 cd so its on there.

and yes its sweet.

vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individ...
there you go

Being a visual guy.. Cadets pick a year..

1983 - zingali changed the activity

1998 - Sacktig is the best drill writer from this point foward
2000
2001
2003
2007
2008
2009

I have a new answer everyday, Today, I like '90's Phantom Regiment. Yesterday, it was old school Scouts. And I mean OLD school Scouts, i. e. 82, Slaughter on 10th Ave. :) Delicious

changes all the time. For now its PR 2007.
...Firebird Finale

star of indiana's show from 1991

Star 90... another week and they would have won their first championship... incredible show, great music of walton

Star 93... no big suprise there... who doesnt credit this show as being less than genius?

Blue Devils 1988... jeeezush! forget that slow lame visual program and shag stepping... brass and percussion were as tight and solid as a big band on the field

SCV 91... Miss Saigon... one of the very few shows that can emote an emotional reaction, incredible

1987 Garfield Cadets... woah! somewhat standard in comparison to today's shows... but they were the ones raising the bar.

1991 Crossmen... Pat Metheny Group... woah! Love this show... grooves, rocks and perfectly peels paint off the press box

1995 Cavaliers... omg... to have shut your eyes and listen to this is like CD quality... fantastic...

1989 Phantom Regiment... perfect show... awesome...

1996 PR... enough said about this... watch finals and you will see why they tied... almost a perfect show.

2000 Cadets... jeesh... could that drumline be any cleaner? Fun show... typical cadet stuff, done to the max. This sort of crowd pleasing is what is sometimes missing from the activity.

2002 Cavies... it was their visual design that won this... so perfectly integrated into the music... however, I enjoy Saucedo's composition, the corps did not really do it justice musically in my opinion... would like to hear Frame for symphonic ensemble (strings and the works)

okay, the rest are just cliche, obvious likes... just wanted to point out some of the more obscure ...

Phantom '96, '03, and '08. (A Defiant Heart, Harmonic Journey, and Spartacus)
SCV '88, '89, and '09 (Phantom of the Opera, Phantom of the Opera, and Ballet for Martha)
Crown '07, '08 and '09 (Triple Crown, Finis, and The Grass is Always Greener)
Cadets '09 (West Side Story)
Cavies '06 (The Machine)
Blue Devils '08 and '09 (Constantly Risking Absurdity and 1930)

I'm a huge GE fan. If a show can "get" me, then I love it. If a show doesn't really speak to me, I'm not crazy about it. Now, the question is: what "gets" me?

Music - If I can hear the story/theme of the show in the music, it's good. Also, of course, there's intonation, good technique, yada yada.

Visual - If I can tell that the drill is difficult, but the corps is performing it like it's a piece of cake, I like it. For instance, if I see a company front that all of the sudden starts doing 4-5's at 190+ bpm, and it's clean, I'm in love. Also, if the guard is integrated into helping to tell the story or convey the theme.

for sure...

1) The Colts 2007(Equinox)
2)Phantom Regiment 2008(Spartacus)
3)The Cavaliers 2002, 2006, and 2009 (Frameworks, Machine, and The Great Divide)
4)Madison Scouts 1988(second part of Malaguena)
5)Carolina Crown 2006, 2008, & 2009(In.Trance.It.,Finis,and The Grass is Always Greener)
6)Boston Crusaders 2009(The Core of Temptation)

Those because they entertain me and hold my attention throughout the show. Plus, the Colts are probably my all-time favorite drum corps because i LOVE their music and they do some really cool visuals