Man, that was a GREAT summer. It was tough being hated and boo'd but I'll never forget the friends I made that summer marching that show and sharing our experience. Thanks for posting!
@@davideanes3425 That's very kind! I'm happy to have been a small part of this show and honored to still be a part of the innovative conversations it still sparks today!
I saw this show in Denver that year. While I admittedly didn’t quite know what to make of it at the time (hey, I was only a kid. 🤷♂️), I can honestly say that I have grown to love this show! Really glad I got to experience Star before they left dci! Many kudos to you and your team for what you all accomplished that year!
O........M.........G This was in 1993!!!!I am totally flabbergasted, mouth and eyes wide ope😮😮😮😮😮 So ahead of its time!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤I just stumbled upon this😂 I love it! One of my favorite shows now. They got 1st place championship in the collective consciousness
Cadets ‘93 was fast, in-your-face, epic drum corps. Star ‘93 was art on a football field. Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges, y’all...
Despite this show's weirdness, I can't help but love it. I have no idea why I love it so much, I just do. It's the only DCI show that has ever made me feel a sense of unease.
But it's a GOOD unease. No composer ever writes with the goal of making a listener feel bad. They all aim to inspire and uplift. Even the most far-out or dissonant ones.
Paul Or Nothing I wouldn’t call props a crutch unless they are excessive. They need to be an addition to general affect but they shouldn’t take over the show. Simple things such as a few things in the background, or one big thing in the front or middle to set the stage. When props are utilized well, I think they enhance the overall effect of a performance, but when they aren’t, I would agree that they are crutches for lack of good design, or even lack of strong visuals if they are a major part of the show.
@@DanCronFunny, I don't find it strange. And they paved the way for corps to use any classical music they felt like. Carolina Crown had a great Bartok string quartet segment in their show this year. (2023) Nothing is more gripping and ahead of its time than those string quartets.
When I first saw this show, I didn't get it at all. I loved the music and two of my favorite composers, but the show didn't make sense. The more I saw it the more it made totally made sense. I love the minimalism of it. You don't need all the glam and flash. Just great playing and phenomenal guard work.
What an incredibly weird and totally wonderful show. The music choice is extremely bizarre and the visual design was it's equal. A top notch performance on all fronts. I have never seen the high cam and am really impressed by the drill execution and fluidity. I can't imagine how many micro-sets were required to achieve this
Hahahaha we had a lot of sub-sets. I remember somewhere (Omaha maybe?) where we spent the whole night vis block (and then some) with Johnny V working the part where the mellos pass through the rotating scalenes (at 5:30). It was broken down into 8 counts, then four, then two until Johnny got everyone's paths correct. That was a long night!
I remember a day or two in Cadets 97 where we had like 8 or 9 subsets, labeled with lettters, while learning some new crazy drill that had not yet been there.
The great master Bartok and the brilliant American composer Barber are not "bizarre." What era are we in? Turn of the century, where Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and all original composers of the time were considered bizarre as well? Still, I know what you mean. I'm a professional classical musician, so I live with such music every day. 🎶
@@smdftb8495 Right?? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else use space near as effectively as these guys. BTW I was fortunate enough to have seen this show in Denver that year. Wish I’d appreciated it more then-alas, I was only 13 at the time...😝
Star had an amazing hornline and drumline however, Cadets had that as well but with a guard and visual show to match. Also, how good were BD's hornline that year!
She made it look like that was her next set, although you can see she was supposed to be in the middle of the triangle the whole time - but yeah what an awesome recovery, and way to blend in with the horn form
31 years later and one has to wonder, was Curt Gowdy reading the newspaper as this show was playing ? ? it's the only explanation I can come up with. Unless he was having some kind of PTSD from finals in '88 & '89, which was in Kansas City.
I saw that show live at finals and it was great. Very progressive for the time. Good ol' Kurt Gowdy calling them the wrong name at the end. He was the worst.
Full Disclosure- Star Alum: This is the most misunderstood show ever. 1. Musically the textures were supported by STRONG MELODIES, it wasn't texture for textures sake. 2. The chorography was supremely musical and there just to check a box, unlike today where it is referred to as "vocabulary." Not for nothing- a language with 3-5 words is not a language, thus the term "vocab" is completely stupid.
What a stupid thing for the announcer to say: "A lot of people don't like this music. Barber and Bartok." How provincial. Here we have one of the greatest corps in history getting criticized for being too patriotic the year before, and now that they literally become the New York Philharmonic on the field, people STILL have negative things to say? Unbelievable. What on earth is wrong with Barber? Or the great master Bartok?! This is the greatest musical achievement of any drumcorps to date. That I am aware of. And they did it ALL while moving. Not a moment of park and bark. They are so in sync too with their movements, and the music is so clear, and they have the best dynamic range I've ever heard. This is the first time I've heard this performance. This was the FUTURE of drum corps. Great classical music performances on the field. Some day more corps will attempt this quality again, instead of cluttering the music with props galore, gay pride rainbow tarps, (Cavies 18), and pop song tracks or voiceovers covering up entire drum lines performances.
Star of India 93' had better music and overall sensitivity to musicianship. Drumline WAY better. Cadets 93' had better drill, visuals, and overall general effect. Hornline was WAY better.
Star and Cadets superb…. My vote was to Star …. This is not exactly music to march by. As a classically trained pianist I had played some of these pieces transcribed. Difficult beyond belief.Judging is quite subjective and it is comparing apples to oranges but frankly star of Indiana got ripped off. Attacks and releases and dynamics and ensemble and drill in and of itself wins it. Those of us who love drum Corps for many years now sadly sadly missed the presence of the Star of Indiana. The cadets and devils have their own style … for sure very great. But think about all of the different variety of music star of Indiana played. From the year they were champions with the Roman and Christian theme to America the beautiful in 1992 to this. That is diverse far beyond. Star of Indiana raised the bar for drum Corps despite what the judges thought and despite Those in the audience who just could not appreciate it. The sheer musicianship was not appreciated as it should have been. What a shame.
It always struck me as odd that people refer to this show as being ahead of its time when this approach to musicality never really took hold in the activity. There was a trend towards abstraction after this, but honestly even that didn't take hold for very long. If you look at modern drum corps, it has much more in common with the meta of this era than Star: a tendancy to not use much open space musically, frequent, large-scale musical arrival points to keep the crowd engaged, shows centered around an easily identifiable theme, sometimes going up to an explicit storyline with narration, etc. Sure, the body choreography took hold, and the way that front ensemble writing was done changed after this show, but in all seriousness, the list of shows that have approached abstraction, modernism and musical minimalism in a similar way is an extremely, extremely sparse category. This show wasn't ahead of its time, its time never actually came. Which makes it seem all the more alien and innovative given the time that has passed.
The being ahead of its time is more the visual approach where the full corps "dances" and has movement typical of the color guard like we are seeing today
A meaningless, abstract, indirect, modern dance sandbox that completely avoided the subject of the symphony. People booed-- not because they hated the performers, but because the production was being coy about what its artistic intentions were. Uncomfortable to watch, unlike any production of Barber's symphony or ballet which is bold and direct and intentional.
@@jesuspectre9883 You're entitled to your opinion, but I think that's exactly Barber - making one uncomfortable. This was the greatest show in DCI history from a design perspective. Every detail was perfection. I HATED this show for 10 years, then I finally got it.
@@totesgene The audience understood Star's tantrum the very first performance they saw. That's why crowds booed. They could feel the childish anger behind the design. Star's management randomly chose the angriest, the most abstract symphony, the most alienating for the audience, the most atonal and deranged one they could find. Audiences could feel Star was nose-thumbing the judges for past scores, and planning to leave the activity at the end of the season. Why won't designers talk about the real reason they selected Medea's Dance of Vengeance? In the 20-year anniversary Marching Arts Education podcast, designers coyly mumbled for an hour about the show being rainbows and handjobs, but not one mention of Star's plan to leave the activity at the end of the season. Come on. There was an obvious plan of sabotage going on behind the scenes beyond the simplistic "We loved this atonal music" and "We wanted to be groundbreaking." Not to mention the laughable "It was my first year, I didn't know what I was doing." Bitch, please. Nobody's buying that. The selection of music and show theme is agreed upon by Star's management in a concerted, joint angry vision. Star's toxic alienation was intentional and can't be covered up 20 years later with a "We were just being authentic to the original symphony" apology tour. 20 years later, Star's designers insist that they authentically reproduced Barber's original symphony, and secretly hope that nobody actually listens to the original symphony to see if that's true. In one egregious example of their glaring departure, the original symphony doesn't end with a screaming fortissimo rage. (Star's ending screamed at high volume, even though the original symphony decrescendos into an unsettling but final afterword.) Star's management mandated that the arrangers infuse the show with unabated anger. Management intentionally wanted to omit any of the original symphony's final reflection. Further, Star added long periods of silence and ridiculously atonal, abstract staccato sections from Bartok, and black leotards and flags poles without silks, as if in mourning. Together, it paints a clear picture of Star management's intentional resentment about the activity, straying from Barber's original artistic intention. If Star had been authentic to the original, the arrangement would have included some resolution. There's got to be a bigger statement after eleven minutes than "our flagpoles are blood red and it's much louder at the end." And now many years later Star's design team is hiding the real reason underneath why they created such a joyless, monotonously bitter show-- it was to spite the judges and spite audiences. It was a childish tantrum aimed at the activity, which broke the fourth wall and alienated people who paid money to see them. And then Star stomped off the stage. That's what immature artists do. www.nme.com/photos/18-of-the-most-farcical-onstage-tantrums-1402719. Laughably, the judges awarded Star second place, a grotesque and damning response to their childish antics. The judges literally handed them second-rate medallions, like day old Totino's mini-pizzas hanging around their necks. It's easy to make audiences uncomfortable. Madison's Last Man Standing featuring members dressed as Native American tribesmen scalping each other did that. It was uncomfortable to watch Cavaliers playing gay Rufus Wainwright's version of Bolero, and equating gay men with mentally ill Ravel and John Nash . Uncomfortable is easy to do. Besides, "doing groundbreaking things" as Star's design team claims they did isn't a solid thematic argument for a performing arts production. An artist doesn't start by saying "I want to innovate." Innovation is a byproduct of a solid artistic point of view. An artist doesn't start with, "I'm going to assault my audience and the judging panel, what symphony can I find to do that?" That's not an organic point of view with substance or depth; it's self-involved and catty and without higher purpose, and without greater observations about our worlds, real or imagined. Besides, this symphony isn't only about "making people uncomfortable." Barber wrote the symphony as a ballet depicting the horrifying Greek tragedy Medea where she kills her children to spite her abusive husband. There's a vast depth of thematic fodder there, along with plenty of societal commentary inside it, all of which Star avoided. It wasn't about that. Still today the all-male design team refuses to come clean about their message in selecting it and editing it for maximum rage.
@@DanCron Pick any topic in the post: 1) Star's design team knows the real reason behind picking angry Medea. 2) Star arranged Medea and Bartok to be angrier than the original. 3) The show didn't have an arc, other than "louder". 4) Designers avoided Barber's inspiration, the Greek myth of Medea. 5) Star's designers still avoid any discussion about Star's exit from DCI.
Just one guy: Curt Gowdy, the then-aging famous sportscaster who’d been hauled in to push the irritating “sport” angle DCI was so determined to cheapen the art form with. I’ve always imagined he never wanted to be there, was reasonably sure he was being put out to pasture, and showed up after a steady Happy Hour at some local Irish bar.
did they? (they played something "quite similar" in 2005 as well, called "False Mirrors," composed by Jay Bocook, Cadets brass arranger, and I'd bet it was meant to sound like this music (couldn't get the rights perhaps. I was asked to compose something in the style of Danny Elfman myself, because (guess what:) the school couldn't/wouldn't get the rights to the actual music.
I wouldn’t say robbed. Their main problem was visual, and i don’t mean the individual stuff, I mean the forms. A lot of Lines that we’re supposed to be strait are jagged on places because of spacing or just members not getting to where they needed to be. A lot of spacing between members was bad aswell. Star was amazing I’m everything, but those visual things and that cost them the championship.
@@davidd1140 I can’t agree with Bluecoats 2014 being robbed. Bluedevils won because geez they had an amazing show and it deserved to win. 2nd place for Tilt is what it deserved because it was better than everyone else there but not better than Devs. Tilt was cool but compared to Felliniesque it couldn’t pass it.
@@highstimulation2497 There are a number of musicians that would have been excluded from the activity, which would be a sad thing. There are probably some now that are excluded because of it.
This show was very good, a little over doing it with the odd ball body movements but musically a solid show, however couldn't hold a candle to roman images.
What's so hilarious is the lengths to which Star's former management and former design team will go to hide the original reason for selecting Barber's Medea-- it had a theme of vengeance against the judges for the previous years' losses. Medea, the greek tragic hero, is an abused wife who slits her children's throats to spite her abuser. Come on, Medea's not something you casually choose because you like playing staccato notes. In a painful Marching Arts Education podcast interview with Star's designers, a full hour mind you, there is not one mention of why they chose Barber's murderous Medea. For a full hour they discuss the show design, but they avoid the real topic-- what Barber called "inhuman wrath"-- what was the inspiration? They talk about people's reactions to Medea, and how Medea is stark and abstract, and how it's minimalist and how they like Barber's use of silence, and they talk about how it doesn't get loud until the end. But they don't talk about the "why" behind selecting it. Normally, designers freely offer their inspiration for choosing a piece-- "my kids requested it", or "I heard the tune on a commercial" or "my wife likes Bartok." But there's no mention of even a flimsy selection process here. It begs the question. What are they hiding? Why select Medea? There are tons of other minimalist, abstract Barber and Bartok pieces in a wide range of emotions. Why eleven minutes of troubled dissonance and murderous anger? BE HONEST, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE MEDEA? The designers on the podcast, Thom Hannum and John Vanderkolff talk about everything but the reason behind the selection of Medea. That's like coming to a bachelor party dressed as Mary Queen of Scotts. Um, dude, do you have something to tell us? It's the big pink elephant in the room. The podcast covers everything but why they chose Medea-- they cover ad nauseum how talented every hair on every kid's head was, naming each person on the design team, the arrangers and how talented they are, where everyone is calling in from and what corps and bands they're designing for now, and their current projects and seminars they're attending, and their week's schedule and when tour starts, and their new haircuts and their son is graduating, and how excited they are, and "amazing" Barber's Medea is and how it crescendos to the end, and a full 20 minute discussion on the subject of the bold use of "silence" in the show as an intensity builder, and how the audience reacted with confusion, and how important it was for them to authentically recreate the barber original score, and how they made very few changes to the original score and how the "scalines" (their shorthand for triangle props) were bold and stark and minimalist. NO TALK OF ANGER OR RESENTMENT, THE MAIN THEME But not a single word in the podcast about anger. You know, Medea was so angry she slit her her children's throat to spite her husband. That's what the Barber piece is about. You can hear it in the music. It's clear. The reason they chose Medea is because the management and directors of Star wanted to wreak "vengeance" on the DCI judges for slighting them in the previous year's placements. Competitive spite is probably not the most legitimate artistic impulse for mounting a production in a competitive environment. It begs the question, why would Star have anger at the judging body of an organization they agreed to return to? That's completely puerile. A true artist doesn't care about judgment. Sure enough, after performing their "dance of vengeance", Star left the activity. It's pretty clear what the artistic impulse was-- vengeance and a plan in advance to leave the activity at the end of the season. The design team talks in depth about how authentically they reproduced Barber's Medea. Authentically. So authentically. With moments of silence, even; we get it. But that's like saying, "We authentically reproduced the 17th century painting, 'Timoclea Killing Her Rapist'." Ummm. Okay why? Why did you choose that painting about rape? What's the point? What's the point of choosing a classical symphonic piece about the most maniacally angry abused woman in any Greek myth ever, Medea? "WE"RE NOT DOING THE STORY" (Even though Barber is.) One of the most painfully avoidant designer statements comes from one who said "We weren't doing the story." But Barber whom they're authentically recreating, was "doing the story". The music was created for a ballet and follows the path of the classic story, with a violent, painful ending. You can't get away from it. That's like saying, "We're performing the 1812 Overture but we're doing it about quilting." Huh? The 1812 Overture is pretty much about one event, it's unavoidable. Sure, you can avoid a narrative structure, but you must include some logical progression and resolution-- the music demands it. GET YOUR SCALINE TRIANGLES HERE There were bold stylistic choices in this production, but they were all separate and lacked cohesion. The leotards, the scaline triangles, the silence, the long "lines" in the choreography, they may have reflected some abstract aspect of the music, but none of those elements tied together into a cohesive thematic argument. Why avoid the Greek Tragedy? Why avoid the robust story that the music represents? That's a choice-- show us why, and replace the story with some other point of focus. For example, Crown used Medea as a backdrop for a story about avenging a murder. At least show us the meaning behind your choice of music, and how the end of the show is different from the beginning. What transpires? How have we changed? Show us why you picked this music, other than to "interpret" it with triangles and fist-clenching modern dance. "OHhhhh, THAT'S WHY!" The show didn't coalesce into an "I Get Why" moment. Ohhh, that's why Star is doing this show about an abused woman! Ohhh, that's why they're so angry! Ohhh, that's why they're carrying around scaline triangles! Ohhh, that's why they're carrying sticks!" But none of those answers came. No answers came from studying the original greek tragedy, no answers came from assuming they were "just interpreting the music." No answers came as to why visual minimalism works for such a psychologically complex character. Smart, mature productions go beyond just "interpreting the music" with random dance movements and sticks. Just because a piece of music is minimalist doesn't mean everyone wears small black jockstraps in the dark. Legitimate productions have a razor sharp, universal, unique commentary on the underlying subject, and a clear message about life, real or imagined-- it's direct, it's articulable (especially in a one hour long discussion), it corresponds to the music, the ending makes sense according to the visual logic preceding it, and the audience gets it.
Have you read the 'Recollections of Star of Indiana' by founder Bill Cook? Written in 1995, with 3 revisions, the last one in 2001, t's a very interesting trek from the beginnings of Star through the 1993 season, its performances with Canadian Brass, and then ultimately 'Blast!'. He says that Mason was frustrated at the 1992 season and that he wanted a vehicle that the corps and its members controlled from beginning to end. No breaks for reaction until the end. Also Mason wanted to dive Into more body movement without any color distractions. (Hence the lack of colors) There's a recent YT video called 'Built To Compete Classic: Star of Indiana, from the percussion section's point of view.
@@jesuspectre9883 I missed the moments of silence. IMHO it's a non stop ride from start to finish. And probably one of the most dynamic shows from top to bottom I've ever heard. I guess I'm sucker for 2nd place show, 'Spin Cycle' is favorite show of all time. (I'm a Cavalier, so I might be bias..lol) My age year was Star's first year. And I hate them, they were competition and also "The Best Little Drum Corps Money Can Buy". But I knew they going to be special further down the line. I see in your other posts you possibly think Mason did this show as a FU the judges, DCI and the activity. And Medea was chosen specifically for that. But in the video of percussion breakdown of this show, Hannum said he brought Madea to the staff after his ex played for him. And he said on his notes to the staff that "This is no-brainer". Knowing the type of person Bill Cook was I don't that was in his DNA to FU DCI. He helped fund the PBS broadcast from 1986 until the 2000's. According to his notes, they were seeds planted to leave in DCI mid 1992. They had done a show with CB that year and the thought of expanding that and doing a longer performances was born. Mason had said in 1987 that he wanted to "Play the game, Win the game, then Change the game". I think they accomplished all the above.
@@elbear98 But why did they select this piece, Barber's Medea? Why not Bartok's "Angry Wedding Accordion" or whatever the name was? There are tons of cutting edge "game-changing" symphonies. The question is, why Medea which focused on anger and "vengeance?" There's more to the story than a pleasant "we wanted to change the game." That in combination with no one discussing the anger underneath the piece, it's clear to me. Not buying "change the game." It's more like "destroy the game with an abstract tirade, and then leave the game." So... nope.
I get that it's slow, but I began to appreciate the intense demand through this whole section when I really invested myself in the show. Highly recommend you rewatch, with greater focus on the cold entrances, dynamics, and pit -> band contrast. If you consider the show as a whole, this part is simply magnificent to me. The show takes forever to build up, and when it explodes in the final minutes it brings about an unreal wave or relief.
@@danjoyce6971 I totally agree. Cold entrances are highly difficult and Star nailed them. All of them. At 2:30, I love how the sections are disconnected visually, then aggregate at 2:50, starting a section with amazing visual and musical finesse. And 5:00 has to be one of my favorite drum corps sections of all time. A well-aligned ensemble through a controlled gradual accelerando. Tight the whole time. Awe inspiring. Jon B, the whole reason for dynamics is to create contrast. "Balls to the wall start to finish" isn't the ideal.
I agree - these kids (who are about 8-10 years older than me) performed this show FLAWLESSLY. It just failed to entertain in the way that the Cadets' show did --> and that show was visually sloppy as hell...especially compared to this one. Even still, I just enjoy Cadets' show so much more.
I marched in the first undefeated DCI corps for an entire season and smashed the DCI high score. The 1982 Blue Devils performed a drum corps show not a chop and bop which is exactly what this years Star did. Now I understand how DCI let them walk.
Tony Signorelli funny enough this chop and bop show actually has a higher score than your record breaking season. Being better than trash doesn’t make your show good
@@tonysignorelli6767 Honestly it doesn't matter. This show is one of if not the most risky and influential things to be put on a field. I'm sure your BD show from 1982 was great, but its nowhere near as influential as Star in 93.
Tony Signorelli your shows were nowhere near as complex though. I decided to go watch it. In comparison to a show like this your content wouldn’t even be finals worthy
“I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.”
Star had the best mellos of any corps I’ve ever heard. Period! They are just money, like a sports car racing that hornline to the finish line! 🏁🏎
Man, that was a GREAT summer. It was tough being hated and boo'd but I'll never forget the friends I made that summer marching that show and sharing our experience. Thanks for posting!
Hopefully all of our fangirling now will make up for some of it!! You all are rock stars in my opinion.
@@davideanes3425 That's very kind! I'm happy to have been a small part of this show and honored to still be a part of the innovative conversations it still sparks today!
I saw this show in Denver that year. While I admittedly didn’t quite know what to make of it at the time (hey, I was only a kid. 🤷♂️), I can honestly say that I have grown to love this show! Really glad I got to experience Star before they left dci! Many kudos to you and your team for what you all accomplished that year!
David Eanes
What section were you in?
If it's any consolation, I listen to this show more than I do the cadets show :D
O........M.........G
This was in 1993!!!!I am totally flabbergasted, mouth and eyes wide ope😮😮😮😮😮
So ahead of its time!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤I just stumbled upon this😂 I love it! One of my favorite shows now. They got 1st place championship in the collective consciousness
Cadets ‘93 was fast, in-your-face, epic drum corps. Star ‘93 was art on a football field. Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges, y’all...
Apples and oranges are still fruit, so they can be compared
@@booker9816 Sure, but judging an apple based on how good of an orange it is doesn’t work. My point is that they can be enjoyed separately. 🙂
That's why imo they should've tied. To be fair though, they were only .1 away from each other at finals so I guess that's close enough.
@@whymethough2701 probably would've tied or won if 11:39 was cleaner
All on the same field tho!!
"Hi, I'm Matt Harloff"
Carolina Crown fans: 😂
When I heard his name: Matt Harloff? From Avon HS Marching Black & Gold, and Carolina Crown?
Despite this show's weirdness, I can't help but love it. I have no idea why I love it so much, I just do. It's the only DCI show that has ever made me feel a sense of unease.
And indeed. Weird is a relative term. It wouldn't be considered that at all today, I bet.
and UNEASE. I love that more than one person described it, on THIS THREAD, no less, with that word! #uneasy:)
But it's a GOOD unease. No composer ever writes with the goal of making a listener feel bad. They all aim to inspire and uplift. Even the most far-out or dissonant ones.
Those cold attacks and accents with the extreme dynamic contrast. What a show.
The most innovative no prop show ever... just amazing
Paul Or Nothing I wouldn’t call props a crutch unless they are excessive. They need to be an addition to general affect but they shouldn’t take over the show. Simple things such as a few things in the background, or one big thing in the front or middle to set the stage. When props are utilized well, I think they enhance the overall effect of a performance, but when they aren’t, I would agree that they are crutches for lack of good design, or even lack of strong visuals if they are a major part of the show.
Still can’t get over how strange this show is-and yet, I just love it! They had the balls to do it their way, and they nailed it!
@Socialish no cadets 05??
@Gerald Blue devils 10, 11, and 13? I get bluecoats 2016 but why those bd shows
@@DanCronFunny, I don't find it strange. And they paved the way for corps to use any classical music they felt like. Carolina Crown had a great Bartok string quartet segment in their show this year. (2023) Nothing is more gripping and ahead of its time than those string quartets.
Beautiful refined sound, bringing chills down to the bone, as well as the fluidity of the drill. Definitely slept on.
This show was SOOOO ahead of its time. Now what some 30 years later this is what drum corps has become.
When I first saw this show, I didn't get it at all. I loved the music and two of my favorite composers, but the show didn't make sense.
The more I saw it the more it made totally made sense. I love the minimalism of it. You don't need all the glam and flash. Just great playing and phenomenal guard work.
But is that a good thing……
“Standing ovation for the Kansas City Star.” 🤦🏻♂️🤣🤣🤣 Curt Gowdy, oof!
Kansas City Star really was amazing
having experienced both sides of the field (member/staff) hearing the staff yell, "Take it!" just before the closer is epic. I hate ageing out.
That chord at 8:39 made all the uneasiness of the show worth the wait.
I wish I could of heard that live. It seems like it shimmers brilliantly
What an incredibly weird and totally wonderful
show. The music choice is extremely bizarre and the visual design was it's equal. A top notch performance on all fronts. I have never seen the high cam and am really impressed by the drill execution and fluidity. I can't imagine how many micro-sets were required to achieve this
Hahahaha we had a lot of sub-sets. I remember somewhere (Omaha maybe?) where we spent the whole night vis block (and then some) with Johnny V working the part where the mellos pass through the rotating scalenes (at 5:30). It was broken down into 8 counts, then four, then two until Johnny got everyone's paths correct. That was a long night!
I remember a day or two in Cadets 97 where we had like 8 or 9 subsets, labeled with lettters, while learning some new crazy drill that had not yet been there.
Love it. but it's only odd compared to other things. Perhaps other things are odd compared to it.
The great master Bartok and the brilliant American composer Barber are not "bizarre." What era are we in? Turn of the century, where Stravinsky, Debussy, Ravel and all original composers of the time were considered bizarre as well? Still, I know what you mean. I'm a professional classical musician, so I live with such music every day. 🎶
Only 1000 views? Come on this stuff is the best
4000 now 😂
And remember.....this incredibly complex and harmonically challenging show was played on BUGLES!!!
Star never even switched over to three valve. They were using the same set of two valve King horns they started with.
Which makes it even more impressive that they would dare to play this show on a set of non-chromatic instruments
5:34 - 6:13 Matt Harloff is conducting his ass off here, man!!
Still an all time favorite for me!
I will put this drumline up against any others. What a quality of sound.
Agreed! Have you seen any videos of their drum line in the lot? Man, oh man are they clean!! And so dynamic and musical!
@@DanCron oh yeah. The clarity and SPACE is just fantastic. I sure wish I could've seen them live.
@@smdftb8495 Right?? I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else use space near as effectively as these guys. BTW I was fortunate enough to have seen this show in Denver that year. Wish I’d appreciated it more then-alas, I was only 13 at the time...😝
This line and Cadets 2005 are easily the most articulate and cleanest in history.
I'm loving that battery at 4:28
They did a clinic on phrasing. By the way the Kansas City Star? Bro?! LOL
Star had an amazing hornline and drumline however, Cadets had that as well but with a guard and visual show to match.
Also, how good were BD's hornline that year!
That closer is nuts
I never noticed the guard girl loses her saber about 15 yards away from where she needed to be for the next set, hella recovery
That was Bink! She was 16 and a beast with the weapons.
I think there were lots of drops in finals that night. Everything was wet after the rain that hit during Madison's show.
She made it look like that was her next set, although you can see she was supposed to be in the middle of the triangle the whole time - but yeah what an awesome recovery, and way to blend in with the horn form
31 years later and one has to wonder, was Curt Gowdy reading the newspaper as this show was playing ? ? it's the only explanation I can come up with. Unless he was having some kind of PTSD from finals in '88 & '89, which was in Kansas City.
My God this show got heat, but man is it a masterpiece of piss and vinegar and violence and "fuck you".
04:20 p-mp percussion feature < >
9:54 Besides the judges tape, hear how clean that roll is with the right air pod only in your ear.
I saw that show live at finals and it was great. Very progressive for the time. Good ol' Kurt Gowdy calling them the wrong name at the end. He was the worst.
Full Disclosure- Star Alum: This is the most misunderstood show ever. 1. Musically the textures were supported by STRONG MELODIES, it wasn't texture for textures sake. 2. The chorography was supremely musical and there just to check a box, unlike today where it is referred to as "vocabulary." Not for nothing- a language with 3-5 words is not a language, thus the term "vocab" is completely stupid.
Star is basically how Carolina Crown came to be.
Carolina crown is star under a different name.
Yes I know.
@@howisitgoin4267 I don't care what people think. You can catch me at finals everyear calling Crown , Star
Matt Harloff basically brought Star to Crown.
Love the commentary at the end
Love that Kansas City Star, lol.
Curt Gowdy was beyond senile at this point. Not sure he even remembered being there
That and the show sucked
Tony Signorelli your opinion but okay
Like watching baseball. I love it, man. Wish it was still on ESPN as I heard it used to be.
What a stupid thing for the announcer to say: "A lot of people don't like this music. Barber and Bartok." How provincial. Here we have one of the greatest corps in history getting criticized for being too patriotic the year before, and now that they literally become the New York Philharmonic on the field, people STILL have negative things to say? Unbelievable. What on earth is wrong with Barber? Or the great master Bartok?! This is the greatest musical achievement of any drumcorps to date. That I am aware of. And they did it ALL while moving. Not a moment of park and bark. They are so in sync too with their movements, and the music is so clear, and they have the best dynamic range I've ever heard. This is the first time I've heard this performance. This was the FUTURE of drum corps. Great classical music performances on the field. Some day more corps will attempt this quality again, instead of cluttering the music with props galore, gay pride rainbow tarps, (Cavies 18), and pop song tracks or voiceovers covering up entire drum lines performances.
Setting the ground for change. .01.... devastating.
.1
Star of India 93' had better music and overall sensitivity to musicianship. Drumline WAY better. Cadets 93' had better drill, visuals, and overall general effect. Hornline was WAY better.
I know they did this show just to piss people off but why is it so good?
to piss people off? I doubt that.
@@highstimulation2497 the contempt for the audience is a reason for this show.
Star and Cadets superb…. My vote was to Star …. This is not exactly music to march by. As a classically trained pianist I had played some of these pieces transcribed. Difficult beyond belief.Judging is quite subjective and it is comparing apples to oranges but frankly star of Indiana got ripped off. Attacks and releases and dynamics and ensemble and drill in and of itself wins it. Those of us who love drum Corps for many years now sadly sadly missed the presence of the Star of Indiana. The cadets and devils have their own style … for sure very great. But think about all of the different variety of music star of Indiana played. From the year they were champions with the Roman and Christian theme to America the beautiful in 1992 to this. That is diverse far beyond. Star of Indiana raised the bar for drum Corps despite what the judges thought and despite Those in the audience who just could not appreciate it.
The sheer musicianship was not appreciated as it should have been. What a shame.
It always struck me as odd that people refer to this show as being ahead of its time when this approach to musicality never really took hold in the activity. There was a trend towards abstraction after this, but honestly even that didn't take hold for very long. If you look at modern drum corps, it has much more in common with the meta of this era than Star: a tendancy to not use much open space musically, frequent, large-scale musical arrival points to keep the crowd engaged, shows centered around an easily identifiable theme, sometimes going up to an explicit storyline with narration, etc.
Sure, the body choreography took hold, and the way that front ensemble writing was done changed after this show, but in all seriousness, the list of shows that have approached abstraction, modernism and musical minimalism in a similar way is an extremely, extremely sparse category.
This show wasn't ahead of its time, its time never actually came. Which makes it seem all the more alien and innovative given the time that has passed.
The being ahead of its time is more the visual approach where the full corps "dances" and has movement typical of the color guard like we are seeing today
Ha Matt Harloff. Caption head for Crown now.
The single greatest show in DCI History.
A meaningless, abstract, indirect, modern dance sandbox that completely avoided the subject of the symphony. People booed-- not because they hated the performers, but because the production was being coy about what its artistic intentions were. Uncomfortable to watch, unlike any production of Barber's symphony or ballet which is bold and direct and intentional.
@@jesuspectre9883 You're entitled to your opinion, but I think that's exactly Barber - making one uncomfortable. This was the greatest show in DCI history from a design perspective. Every detail was perfection. I HATED this show for 10 years, then I finally got it.
@@totesgene The audience understood Star's tantrum the very first performance they saw. That's why crowds booed. They could feel the childish anger behind the design. Star's management randomly chose the angriest, the most abstract symphony, the most alienating for the audience, the most atonal and deranged one they could find. Audiences could feel Star was nose-thumbing the judges for past scores, and planning to leave the activity at the end of the season.
Why won't designers talk about the real reason they selected Medea's Dance of Vengeance? In the 20-year anniversary Marching Arts Education podcast, designers coyly mumbled for an hour about the show being rainbows and handjobs, but not one mention of Star's plan to leave the activity at the end of the season. Come on. There was an obvious plan of sabotage going on behind the scenes beyond the simplistic "We loved this atonal music" and "We wanted to be groundbreaking." Not to mention the laughable "It was my first year, I didn't know what I was doing." Bitch, please. Nobody's buying that. The selection of music and show theme is agreed upon by Star's management in a concerted, joint angry vision. Star's toxic alienation was intentional and can't be covered up 20 years later with a "We were just being authentic to the original symphony" apology tour.
20 years later, Star's designers insist that they authentically reproduced Barber's original symphony, and secretly hope that nobody actually listens to the original symphony to see if that's true. In one egregious example of their glaring departure, the original symphony doesn't end with a screaming fortissimo rage. (Star's ending screamed at high volume, even though the original symphony decrescendos into an unsettling but final afterword.) Star's management mandated that the arrangers infuse the show with unabated anger. Management intentionally wanted to omit any of the original symphony's final reflection. Further, Star added long periods of silence and ridiculously atonal, abstract staccato sections from Bartok, and black leotards and flags poles without silks, as if in mourning. Together, it paints a clear picture of Star management's intentional resentment about the activity, straying from Barber's original artistic intention. If Star had been authentic to the original, the arrangement would have included some resolution. There's got to be a bigger statement after eleven minutes than "our flagpoles are blood red and it's much louder at the end."
And now many years later Star's design team is hiding the real reason underneath why they created such a joyless, monotonously bitter show-- it was to spite the judges and spite audiences. It was a childish tantrum aimed at the activity, which broke the fourth wall and alienated people who paid money to see them. And then Star stomped off the stage. That's what immature artists do. www.nme.com/photos/18-of-the-most-farcical-onstage-tantrums-1402719. Laughably, the judges awarded Star second place, a grotesque and damning response to their childish antics. The judges literally handed them second-rate medallions, like day old Totino's mini-pizzas hanging around their necks.
It's easy to make audiences uncomfortable. Madison's Last Man Standing featuring members dressed as Native American tribesmen scalping each other did that. It was uncomfortable to watch Cavaliers playing gay Rufus Wainwright's version of Bolero, and equating gay men with mentally ill Ravel and John Nash . Uncomfortable is easy to do. Besides, "doing groundbreaking things" as Star's design team claims they did isn't a solid thematic argument for a performing arts production. An artist doesn't start by saying "I want to innovate." Innovation is a byproduct of a solid artistic point of view. An artist doesn't start with, "I'm going to assault my audience and the judging panel, what symphony can I find to do that?" That's not an organic point of view with substance or depth; it's self-involved and catty and without higher purpose, and without greater observations about our worlds, real or imagined.
Besides, this symphony isn't only about "making people uncomfortable." Barber wrote the symphony as a ballet depicting the horrifying Greek tragedy Medea where she kills her children to spite her abusive husband. There's a vast depth of thematic fodder there, along with plenty of societal commentary inside it, all of which Star avoided. It wasn't about that. Still today the all-male design team refuses to come clean about their message in selecting it and editing it for maximum rage.
uh...you mad, bro?
@@DanCron Pick any topic in the post:
1) Star's design team knows the real reason behind picking angry Medea.
2) Star arranged Medea and Bartok to be angrier than the original.
3) The show didn't have an arc, other than "louder".
4) Designers avoided Barber's inspiration, the Greek myth of Medea.
5) Star's designers still avoid any discussion about Star's exit from DCI.
did the video guys just call them the Kansas City Star at the end of the show?
Just one guy: Curt Gowdy, the then-aging famous sportscaster who’d been hauled in to push the irritating “sport” angle DCI was so determined to cheapen the art form with.
I’ve always imagined he never wanted to be there, was reasonably sure he was being put out to pasture, and showed up after a steady Happy Hour at some local Irish bar.
Yes, that announcer was Curt Gowdy, actually a legendary sports caster. That was the last year of the PBS broadcasts too I think.
Was Star sticking around another year had they won in 93?
The official answer is no, win or loose they would become Brass Theater in 94
DCI peaked in '93
They went God country and dark. Dark was taking over. Fight forever for star ✨ this is not something any of you know about this is deeeeeeeeeeeeeeep
then cadets play about the same music in 2013
did they? (they played something "quite similar" in 2005 as well, called "False Mirrors," composed by Jay Bocook, Cadets brass arranger, and I'd bet it was meant to sound like this music (couldn't get the rights perhaps. I was asked to compose something in the style of Danny Elfman myself, because (guess what:) the school couldn't/wouldn't get the rights to the actual music.
@@highstimulation2497 it wasn’t exact the same but pretty similar
2013 cadets I’m pretty sure it was samual barbers music
Jackson ms
Robbed.................1
I wouldn’t say robbed. Their main problem was visual, and i don’t mean the individual stuff, I mean the forms. A lot of Lines that we’re supposed to be strait are jagged on places because of spacing or just members not getting to where they needed to be. A lot of spacing between members was bad aswell. Star was amazing I’m everything, but those visual things and that cost them the championship.
Not robbed......just misunderstood by everybody involved. If you wanna talk robbed......2014 bluecoats were robbed.....just ask the finals night crowd
@@davidd1140 I can’t agree with Bluecoats 2014 being robbed. Bluedevils won because geez they had an amazing show and it deserved to win. 2nd place for Tilt is what it deserved because it was better than everyone else there but not better than Devs. Tilt was cool but compared to Felliniesque it couldn’t pass it.
Seems tame compared to today's shows. Foreshadowing. It's sad the horn lines have to have a degree in dance now.
some people would say it's sad that they didn't used to.
@@highstimulation2497 There are a number of musicians that would have been excluded from the activity, which would be a sad thing. There are probably some now that are excluded because of it.
SHEESH this show requires a brain to understand
Is the show over? Sorry, I fell asleep.
This show was very good, a little over doing it with the odd ball body movements but musically a solid show, however couldn't hold a candle to roman images.
How do you score a 99 and still get second? Star was robbed
Cadets were just better that season, my age out year.
They scored a 97.3
What's so hilarious is the lengths to which Star's former management and former design team will go to hide the original reason for selecting Barber's Medea-- it had a theme of vengeance against the judges for the previous years' losses. Medea, the greek tragic hero, is an abused wife who slits her children's throats to spite her abuser. Come on, Medea's not something you casually choose because you like playing staccato notes.
In a painful Marching Arts Education podcast interview with Star's designers, a full hour mind you, there is not one mention of why they chose Barber's murderous Medea. For a full hour they discuss the show design, but they avoid the real topic-- what Barber called "inhuman wrath"-- what was the inspiration? They talk about people's reactions to Medea, and how Medea is stark and abstract, and how it's minimalist and how they like Barber's use of silence, and they talk about how it doesn't get loud until the end. But they don't talk about the "why" behind selecting it. Normally, designers freely offer their inspiration for choosing a piece-- "my kids requested it", or "I heard the tune on a commercial" or "my wife likes Bartok." But there's no mention of even a flimsy selection process here. It begs the question. What are they hiding? Why select Medea? There are tons of other minimalist, abstract Barber and Bartok pieces in a wide range of emotions. Why eleven minutes of troubled dissonance and murderous anger?
BE HONEST, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE MEDEA?
The designers on the podcast, Thom Hannum and John Vanderkolff talk about everything but the reason behind the selection of Medea. That's like coming to a bachelor party dressed as Mary Queen of Scotts. Um, dude, do you have something to tell us? It's the big pink elephant in the room. The podcast covers everything but why they chose Medea-- they cover ad nauseum how talented every hair on every kid's head was, naming each person on the design team, the arrangers and how talented they are, where everyone is calling in from and what corps and bands they're designing for now, and their current projects and seminars they're attending, and their week's schedule and when tour starts, and their new haircuts and their son is graduating, and how excited they are, and "amazing" Barber's Medea is and how it crescendos to the end, and a full 20 minute discussion on the subject of the bold use of "silence" in the show as an intensity builder, and how the audience reacted with confusion, and how important it was for them to authentically recreate the barber original score, and how they made very few changes to the original score and how the "scalines" (their shorthand for triangle props) were bold and stark and minimalist.
NO TALK OF ANGER OR RESENTMENT, THE MAIN THEME
But not a single word in the podcast about anger. You know, Medea was so angry she slit her her children's throat to spite her husband. That's what the Barber piece is about. You can hear it in the music.
It's clear. The reason they chose Medea is because the management and directors of Star wanted to wreak "vengeance" on the DCI judges for slighting them in the previous year's placements. Competitive spite is probably not the most legitimate artistic impulse for mounting a production in a competitive environment. It begs the question, why would Star have anger at the judging body of an organization they agreed to return to? That's completely puerile. A true artist doesn't care about judgment. Sure enough, after performing their "dance of vengeance", Star left the activity. It's pretty clear what the artistic impulse was-- vengeance and a plan in advance to leave the activity at the end of the season.
The design team talks in depth about how authentically they reproduced Barber's Medea. Authentically. So authentically. With moments of silence, even; we get it. But that's like saying, "We authentically reproduced the 17th century painting, 'Timoclea Killing Her Rapist'." Ummm. Okay why? Why did you choose that painting about rape? What's the point? What's the point of choosing a classical symphonic piece about the most maniacally angry abused woman in any Greek myth ever, Medea?
"WE"RE NOT DOING THE STORY" (Even though Barber is.)
One of the most painfully avoidant designer statements comes from one who said "We weren't doing the story." But Barber whom they're authentically recreating, was "doing the story". The music was created for a ballet and follows the path of the classic story, with a violent, painful ending. You can't get away from it. That's like saying, "We're performing the 1812 Overture but we're doing it about quilting." Huh? The 1812 Overture is pretty much about one event, it's unavoidable. Sure, you can avoid a narrative structure, but you must include some logical progression and resolution-- the music demands it.
GET YOUR SCALINE TRIANGLES HERE
There were bold stylistic choices in this production, but they were all separate and lacked cohesion. The leotards, the scaline triangles, the silence, the long "lines" in the choreography, they may have reflected some abstract aspect of the music, but none of those elements tied together into a cohesive thematic argument. Why avoid the Greek Tragedy? Why avoid the robust story that the music represents? That's a choice-- show us why, and replace the story with some other point of focus. For example, Crown used Medea as a backdrop for a story about avenging a murder. At least show us the meaning behind your choice of music, and how the end of the show is different from the beginning. What transpires? How have we changed? Show us why you picked this music, other than to "interpret" it with triangles and fist-clenching modern dance.
"OHhhhh, THAT'S WHY!"
The show didn't coalesce into an "I Get Why" moment. Ohhh, that's why Star is doing this show about an abused woman! Ohhh, that's why they're so angry! Ohhh, that's why they're carrying around scaline triangles! Ohhh, that's why they're carrying sticks!" But none of those answers came. No answers came from studying the original greek tragedy, no answers came from assuming they were "just interpreting the music." No answers came as to why visual minimalism works for such a psychologically complex character. Smart, mature productions go beyond just "interpreting the music" with random dance movements and sticks. Just because a piece of music is minimalist doesn't mean everyone wears small black jockstraps in the dark. Legitimate productions have a razor sharp, universal, unique commentary on the underlying subject, and a clear message about life, real or imagined-- it's direct, it's articulable (especially in a one hour long discussion), it corresponds to the music, the ending makes sense according to the visual logic preceding it, and the audience gets it.
Come on, now. Tell us how you really feel! 😁
Have you read the 'Recollections of Star of Indiana' by founder Bill Cook? Written in 1995, with 3 revisions, the last one in 2001, t's a very interesting trek from the beginnings of Star through the 1993 season, its performances with Canadian Brass, and then ultimately 'Blast!'. He says that Mason was frustrated at the 1992 season and that he wanted a vehicle that the corps and its members controlled from beginning to end. No breaks for reaction until the end. Also Mason wanted to dive Into more body movement without any color distractions. (Hence the lack of colors) There's a recent YT video called 'Built To Compete Classic: Star of Indiana, from the percussion section's point of view.
@@elbear98 What about the moments of silence?
@@jesuspectre9883 I missed the moments of silence. IMHO it's a non stop ride from start to finish. And probably one of the most dynamic shows from top to bottom I've ever heard. I guess I'm sucker for 2nd place show, 'Spin Cycle' is favorite show of all time. (I'm a Cavalier, so I might be bias..lol) My age year was Star's first year. And I hate them, they were competition and also "The Best Little Drum Corps Money Can Buy". But I knew they going to be special further down the line. I see in your other posts you possibly think Mason did this show as a FU the judges, DCI and the activity. And Medea was chosen specifically for that. But in the video of percussion breakdown of this show, Hannum said he brought Madea to the staff after his ex played for him. And he said on his notes to the staff that "This is no-brainer". Knowing the type of person Bill Cook was I don't that was in his DNA to FU DCI. He helped fund the PBS broadcast from 1986 until the 2000's. According to his notes, they were seeds planted to leave in DCI mid 1992. They had done a show with CB that year and the thought of expanding that and doing a longer performances was born. Mason had said in 1987 that he wanted to "Play the game, Win the game, then Change the game". I think they accomplished all the above.
@@elbear98 But why did they select this piece, Barber's Medea? Why not Bartok's "Angry Wedding Accordion" or whatever the name was? There are tons of cutting edge "game-changing" symphonies. The question is, why Medea which focused on anger and "vengeance?" There's more to the story than a pleasant "we wanted to change the game." That in combination with no one discussing the anger underneath the piece, it's clear to me. Not buying "change the game." It's more like "destroy the game with an abstract tirade, and then leave the game." So... nope.
This show is fire except 2:30 thru 5:20, which was boring af. Cadets show was balls to the wall start to finish... judges got it right.
I get that it's slow, but I began to appreciate the intense demand through this whole section when I really invested myself in the show. Highly recommend you rewatch, with greater focus on the cold entrances, dynamics, and pit -> band contrast. If you consider the show as a whole, this part is simply magnificent to me. The show takes forever to build up, and when it explodes in the final minutes it brings about an unreal wave or relief.
Lol thats actually my favorite part. To be fair, I'm a huge fan of Bartók's music so that might be why.
@@danjoyce6971 I totally agree. Cold entrances are highly difficult and Star nailed them. All of them. At 2:30, I love how the sections are disconnected visually, then aggregate at 2:50, starting a section with amazing visual and musical finesse. And 5:00 has to be one of my favorite drum corps sections of all time. A well-aligned ensemble through a controlled gradual accelerando. Tight the whole time. Awe inspiring. Jon B, the whole reason for dynamics is to create contrast. "Balls to the wall start to finish" isn't the ideal.
I agree - these kids (who are about 8-10 years older than me) performed this show FLAWLESSLY. It just failed to entertain in the way that the Cadets' show did --> and that show was visually sloppy as hell...especially compared to this one. Even still, I just enjoy Cadets' show so much more.
@@iOB to each their own then!
Nope!!!!
Oh my god I've been told to watch this show for many years. What a disappointment! It really sucked...
I marched in the first undefeated DCI corps for an entire season and smashed the DCI high score. The 1982 Blue Devils performed a drum corps show not a chop and bop which is exactly what this years Star did. Now I understand how DCI let them walk.
Tony Signorelli funny enough this chop and bop show actually has a higher score than your record breaking season. Being better than trash doesn’t make your show good
@@aaronlaughlin2389
Tick system vs "build up" captions.
@@tonysignorelli6767 Honestly it doesn't matter. This show is one of if not the most risky and influential things to be put on a field. I'm sure your BD show from 1982 was great, but its nowhere near as influential as Star in 93.
Tony Signorelli your shows were nowhere near as complex though. I decided to go watch it. In comparison to a show like this your content wouldn’t even be finals worthy
This show was a perfect antidote to the "Merica, Fuck Yeah" show of 1992. The only thing I didn't like was the stupid symmetrical pit.