What's your favorite show?

[lizzard2027]

This is open to DCI, UIL, BOA, any marching show!

Not who will win or who won - just personal faves.

Personally I LOVEEEEE Spartacus (Phantom Regiment 2008) and Eagle Air [idk the name lol] (Barber's Hill HS 2024).

What are yalls fave shows?

[takigan]

For me I don't think there's one single show that jumps out at me as THE show out of all the hundreds of shows I've seen over the past 20-ish years. Hebron's "Penstriped" (2021) came pretty close.  It's probably my favorite show of the past 10 years.  But that show lacks a certain stylistic depth that I feel a "favorite show ever" should have.  In a sense, Penstriped is really just a really difficult cookie cutter show (the last few years of Hebron have been probably some of the most technically challenging music ever put on a field by a HS) that's very well arranged with choice selections that compliment each other really well, that a band made up of nearly 90 All-Region kids and over 20 All-Staters played the absolute SNOT out of, and their musicianship and maturity came through in a way no other program ever has.

That said though....I really REALLY like Cavaliers 2008 (Samurai).  It's probably the one DCI show I still consistently watch today.

[cheeto2401]

  On 10/10/2024 at 8:07 AM, takigan said:

For me I don't think there's one single show that jumps out at me as THE show out of all the hundreds of shows I've seen over the past 20-ish years. Hebron's "Penstriped" (2021) came pretty close.  It's probably my favorite show of the past 10 years.  But that show lacks a certain stylistic depth that I feel a "favorite show ever" should have.  In a sense, Penstriped is really just a really difficult cookie cutter show (the last few years of Hebron have been probably some of the most technically challenging music ever put on a field by a HS) that's very well arranged with choice selections that compliment each other really well, that a band made up of nearly 90 All-Region kids and over 20 All-Staters played the absolute SNOT out of, and their musicianship and maturity came through in a way no other program ever has.

That said though....I really REALLY like Cavaliers 2008 (Samurai).  It's probably the one DCI show I still consistently watch today.

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any cavs show from the 2000's to the 2010's should be in every dci fans top 10

for me, its cavs '06 "Machine"

[MarchingThings]

  On 10/9/2024 at 7:11 PM, lizzard2027 said:

This is open to DCI, UIL, BOA, any marching show!

Not who will win or who won - just personal faves.

Personally I LOVEEEEE Spartacus (Phantom Regiment 2008) and Eagle Air [idk the name lol] (Barber's Hill HS 2024).

What are yalls fave shows?

Expand  

My Top 3 High School Shows are probably

1. Hebron 2019- Among The Stars

2. Tarpon Springs 2010

3. Vista Ridge 2018- Lost And Found

Honorable Mentions: Westlake 2024 (BC Ballad is gorgeous)
Cy-Fair 2018 (Them woodwinds)

My Top 3 DCI Shows have to be

1. Crown 2017 -  It Is

2. Bloo 2017 - Jagged Line

3. SCV 1999 - Inventions For A New Millenium

Honorable Mentions: Blue Stars 2024 (BC I marched this show)

Phantom 2023 (Ballad.)

[WanderingTraveler]

Cavaliers 2013 - Secret Society always scratches my brain, I love that show.

[Samuel Culper]

  On 10/30/2024 at 7:42 PM, MarchingThings said:

My Top 3 High School Shows are probably

1. Hebron 2019- Among The Stars

2. Tarpon Springs 2010

3. Vista Ridge 2018- Lost And Found

Honorable Mentions: Westlake 2024 (BC Ballad is gorgeous)
Cy-Fair 2018 (Them woodwinds)

My Top 3 DCI Shows have to be

1. Crown 2017 -  It Is

2. Bloo 2017 - Jagged Line

3. SCV 1999 - Inventions For A New Millenium

Honorable Mentions: Blue Stars 2024 (BC I marched this show)

Phantom 2023 (Ballad.)

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My favorite of all time, but I am terribly biased.  I love seeing others appreciate what our kids put on the field that year, though.

[MarchingThings]

  On 10/30/2024 at 7:59 PM, Samuel Culper said:

My favorite of all time, but I am terribly biased.  I love seeing others appreciate what our kids put on the field that year, though.

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That Flugel Soloist was beyond words. The fluidity and dark tone in all of their phrases was amazing. The lip slurs from G to G was just wow. I could go on and on about that show

[FEDude]

High School:

1. Reagan 2003

This is a show that didn't deserve to win nationals (despite being so close): Visually it's a mess, whoever played gong that day was always off, you can hear clarinet squeaks through their features, etc.

Still, I've never had a show move me so much. When they start playing Jupiter in the second movement, it feels so triumphant. Then when they bring out the giant flags during Horkstow Grange, I consider that the perfect ballad. This isn't even mentioning the powerful first book and the closer that ends right where the show started.

On one hand, it's a show about geometry, but on the other hand it's about becoming more than you thought possible. Previous Reagan shows relied heavily on the front ensemble. Here, we got to see the full ensemble push themselves more than ever. I believe this show sticks in your head years after watching it.

2. LD Bell 2006

If this show was a little cleaner, I think it would've swept that season, UIL and Nationals. 

3. Reagan 2019

Not as talked about since Hebron 2021 happened, but this show was one of the most exciting shows I've ever seen.

4. Hebron 2022

Not as beloved as 2021, but I'll still put this one on when I have a long drive. Just a pleasure to listen to.

5. Cedar Park 2023

Kept me hooked start to end. Such beautiful visuals, especially during their ballad.

DCI:

1. Cadets 2005

2. Blue Devils 2015

3. Carolina Crown 2016

4. Cavaliers 2002

5. Phantom Regiment 2006

[BuckShot13]

High School: 1997 Mesquite Poteet Ballet Sacra. I was in 4th grade and first time I ever saw that show was state (older cousin was a freshman and trumpet soloist) and I was hooked and wanted to be a teacher from that moment. Which I did for 10 years before life decided I needed to go another direction.

LD Bell and Duncanville have always held a special place in my memory the late 90's and early 2000's those programs where amazing

DCI: 2006 Cavaliers I'm biased because I marched that year, was a little bitter sweet, Won state and won worlds the same year (long story behind why I only marched DCI in 05 & 06 nothing bad, just long lol)

For DCI I like different shows across time, 88 Scouts, 03 Cadets, 05 BlueCoats, 08 PR/Cavs, 03/04 BD some older ones from the 70's and 80's like the skyriders, Velvet Knights, and Anaheim Kingsmen

Little culture shout out to Nishishara (sure I butchered that) I saw them live in Japan and holy heck they were good, those kids are amazing and the program they have is top tier

[Liam Allen]

High school bands:

Man this is a hard one.  Of course Hebron 21 is the undisputed god-tier show.  On a combination of skill and just my preference, Hebron 22 is still my favorite.  Keller 19 is another absolute banger and I’ve stolen a lot of that source music.  Broken Arrow 21 is a work of art.  The last 30 seconds of Hebron 23 induces the holy goosebumps.  Managed to see Hebron 24 live and almost fell over.

DCI:

Personal champ pick is Down Side Up.  Babylon, Change Is Everything, E=mc2 are other great gold winners.

To prove that I’m not a fan of just the last decade, I really like We Are the Future.

A hot take is that Felliniesque is not a good show.  Stupidly well performed though.

Some favorite non-winners include Exogenesis, Live! From the Rose, SCV 88, Into the Light, In ABSINTHEia, and Tilt.

[ruben_f]

My top 5 favorite shows

1. Blue Devils 2023 "the cut outs"

2. Leander 2016 "The 4th Dimension" - This show is really well-designed

3. Ronald Reagan 2021 "The Path" 

4. Broken Arrow 2021 "The Edge of Eternity"

5. Clear Brook 2022 "Paradiso" 

[J-Mike16]

This is a tough question to try to answer because there are just so many amazing shows. However, the ones I continue to go back to over and over are.... (If there are any Avon lovers in here, here you go)

• Avon 2013 - Statuesque (Probably in my top 3 favorite shows of all-time. It is also the best show to not win Nationals.)
• Avon 2012 - Feast or Famine (This show helped fuel my love for marching band as I was in 6th grade beginner band that year.)
• Hebron 2021 - PenStriped (For obvious reasons that I don't need to go into)
• John B. Alexander 2018 - The Price of Progre$$ (Easily one of the most emotional shows ever. This show was ROBBED heavily. Absolutely deserved about 15 to 20 places higher)
• Richland 2007 - iShow (Holy cow this show was awesome! The opener music + drill is 🔥)
• North Shore 2016 - Muse (The entire band and staff knocked it out of the park with this show. Them making State Finals that year was 1000% accurate. They were truly one of the best in the State!)

I can 100% bet yall that I left about 1 or 2..... or maybe more on the lines of 10 to 20 shows that also deserve to be mentioned 😂

[hippkerr]

Flower Mound Leanardos Dream 

Hebron Penstriped

[Thanos]

I got to many favorites to count, but here's a rough top 3 for me.

1.) Hebron 2023 (Monomyth)

- There's not a single music book in this activity that kept me on my feet like this show's did. When I first saw them live at Indy during preliminaries, I was completely blown away by them. Monomyth is my favorite marching band show by a long shot!

2.) Flower Mound 2024 (Textures And Tones)

- Such a great show. Was absolutely amazed by the GE this show possessed. Kept up with this show the whole season and I 100% knew it was gonna be in contention of winning. The story that was told was simply breathtaking!

3.) Vandegrift 2022 (Into The Grid)

- Now I'll admit I'm biased with this opinion because it's a Tron show. That aside, this was a very clean and executed year for them and I enjoyed seeing it on stream (This was my first year watching the San Antonio Super Regional)

[zxrzxz]

Can’t rank these to be honest but these are some of my favorite High School Shows. These are just the all around great shows. Also disclaimer most of these are pretty recent.

Obviously Hebron 21 is up there (Penstriped)

Flomo 21 (The wonderful world of Dr. Seuss) I don’t hear this one get talked about enough. Everything form the design, choreography, and music is just so fun. There’s so much character and Flomo always nails their themes.

Cesar Park 2022 (Mirror Mirror) From a design aspect, I’ve always liked this one. I was lucky enough to see it in person multiple times and particularly the opener and the ballad stick out. The mirror choreography is so satisfying visually.

Hebron 2015 (360) Just amazing, no other comments

Castle 2024 (Neo Noir) The music selection is great in itself. Love the outfits and everything. It wasn’t the best in cleanliness but wow did it pack a punch

Here’s some specific moments from shows that I like

Rouse 2023 Closer (Requiem)

Hebron 2024 Ballad (Amorphous)

Flower Mound 2019 2nd Movement (Vitrify)

Vandegrift 2021 Ballad (Juliet Letters)

Lonestar 2024 Opener (The Other Side)