During the entire 70's and early eighties, 27th had "the best guard in the business". 15 years of 27th guard doing workshops, videos, and demos across the country. 27th introduced the first asymetrical drills, double flags, the line toss and just pure guard excitement. Even before the show starts, the guard worked it....check it out. 27th Lancers was one of the few corps who sat the pace for marching units of today. Pay your respects!!!
Dolores Goff I remember those days. We were in aw of the rifle line. Just walking into the stadium we thought you girls were just supernatural. The discipline and military bearing. The perfection. We really thought you were not human. I would just stare at you guys.
I first started back in '73, when they still had the American flag on the field. I carried the American flag, the went to banner, (flag ), that is what they called it back then, then I went to rifle. I would go back , and do it all over again, if I could. It was the best time of my teenage years to be part of it all. And I don't know about these days, but the rifle weight 8 Pounds back then, and I still have a flat spot, on the bridge of my nose after throwing a triple, and missed catching it, and it came down on my nose. lol
The guard work of today just can’t compare to this. lancers had the finest guard going. Today, they choreograph so that they don’t have to be precise, to avoid being judged as such. It’s a cop out. A total cop out. These kids nailed it and they were precise with precise stops in rifles.
As an old man that enjoyed the OLD drum corps, i am happy to have watched this,,, great kids doing a great show, so many old time corps did such shows,,, i am a fan of several corps, including this one,,, i appreciate the skills displayed for MY pleasure,,, thank you 27th, Casper Troopers, Bayonne Bridgemen, et al
I was there, and I remember the eye-popping flags at the start of the show, and Zingali going nuts a few rows behind me. SuperInfo2000 is right, young people often lack the perspective to appreciate the efforts of earlier generations. You don't excel at anything without knowing its history.
I was always partial to Madison's uniforms. I loved those expedition type hats they wore. I marched with the Auburn, NY, Purple Lancers, from about 1969 through 1974. We took 10th at the 1974 DCI, at Cornell University. The first, and last, NY drum corps to place in the top 12 at DCI. I am old school. I loved the mallet percussion and the tympani when they came in (I was a single tenor and snare drummer), but you can't beat the old ways of entrances and exits. I many ways, the new style has lots of energy and creativity and outstanding musicianship, but I still like the old way better.
I marched in 1975 and 1976 with Guardsmen. We made finals for the first time in 1976. I love 27th Lancers. I would buy the expensive dci finals dci tapes. I think it was the 1996 tape. After the scores, the tape included the 27th Lancers alumni show. I shed some tears watching it - then at the end when the guard on their backs spinning their rifles... more tears... Thanks for posting this. To all who performed for the Lancers thank you!
Hey say what you want, but I have been a Drum Corp ,and colored guard fan since the 70's ,and this show will always be one of my favorites. It's one of those shows that you never get tired of watching.
79 Lancer rifle line the best rifle line in drum corps history. incredible difficulty with beautiful tasteful choreography all done to absolute perfection. just watch them. you can have Madison or cavies these girls would spin circles around those guys. hats off to Darlene B. Nancy S. and the rest take a bow . you were and still are the best!!
27th by far had the best guard ever even to this day they were outstanding they're right the line totally in sync flag section also totally in sync throughout the entire show very strong Drumline playing some difficult rudiments throw out also the best overall GE ever. The 27th Lancers would have the crowd standing on the feet numerous times throughout the show unlike what's going on with these marching bands people falling asleep oh, I don't mean to sound negative about what's going on today but it is certainly not a drum and bugle Corps
WHO DISLIKED THIS?!? YOU ARE DEAD INSIDE! LOL. Legendary. So privileged to have this footage to revisit now and then. Thank you for some of the best years of my childhood! I was still in High School, but you gave us all something indelible to aspire to, 27!
I was in the Homewood High School Band in '79 when we hosted this DCI Championship at Legion Field, Alabama. I remember watching the Lancers from the stands and how blown away I was by the wall of sound. And here it is, closing in on 40 years later, and it STILL gives me chills. Bravo 27th Lancers!
Hey John! I was in the Homewood High School Band in '79 also and was there that night. Plus, the Lancers were rehearsing near to where I lived so I got to go hear them rehearse and was fortunate enough to hear them working on Open Wide. And that wall of sound was solid enough to reach out and touch. Love this show and can watch it over and over.
First show I saw on VHS in 1992 at NMBSHS in NMB, FL. Mr. Lawrence Davidson was my HS Music Director. He and others sponsored me to march for the Magic of Orlando in 1997. Thank you DCI :)
That's because they were using mylar heads not these Kepler heads that sound like cardboard boxes, plus we used to use real cat gut snares, which produced a nice snare sound. Farmers no drama with the Floyd Bennett golden eagles 1960 and 1961, if you can get ahold of a CD or LP called brass by night. For Real Drum and bugle Corp are on that recording. The first one Saint Albans Queens men from Saint Albans New York, Loretto knights from Brooklyn New York, Selden Cadets from Selden Long Island, and the Floyd Bennett golden eagles from Brooklyn New York. Today is January 16th 2022
Wait, What ? ROGERS ? The Entire Battery ? I thought they played Slingerland, then Premier ? I have Never seen a Rogers marching drum. But those full shell tenors certainly don't look like Slingerland or Ludwig. Ps: it's July, 2022, & DCI HOFer 71 y o Charley Poole is Still Judging = Legend
My first live drum corps in Columbus, OH in 79. These cats were there with Ventures, Royal Crusdaers, Crossmen amd Spirit of Atlanta. Fell in love with these guys. Great in every caption.
Classic corps shows set their own rules: no free expression was allowed, and only through mechanized, militarized, almost robotic precision and containment, the joy happened. But today it's almost too casual; no rule of law, no constraints, lots of free expression, no tension. So the contained emotion you usually got from classic corps' technical excellence just evaporates. Art happens when human emotion battles with the medium's constraints. Without constraints there can be no transcendence.
I have to say, I agree and disagree at the same time! Rifle work as performed by the likes of 27 and others of this era is a lost art, but rifle lines, really color guard in general has grown into much more of a new art today. Most Corps rarely have a "rifle line" per se, but most, if not all, of the guard now can do rifle work, with some really high tosses and catches, often while performing some sort of choreography, while in or on some sort of set piece. I think the art isn't "lost" so much as it has "evolved". Watch any winter guard international (WGI) performance, and you can see the future of what will end up on the field in the summer. While I miss the military precision aspect of rifle work of the 70's and 80's, I'm just as captivated and amazed at what is being performed on the field today.
All sections are platinum, but that color is and was ferocious. I wish nowadays drum&electronics will get back to it's roots and get rid of the running, prerecorded, concert band instruments, and melt faces like they use to.
I won't denigrate the experiences and efforts of the kids who march today. It would be disrespectful to them. That said, the way DCI is run today omits the reward/risk of precision. Most corps rarely scored over 80 to 85 points. The winners may have had about 88 on a great night. One rifle dropped was a tick mark off your score. Out of step, uneven lines, missed notes were all demerits. DCI demanded the attention that it lacks today. Watch the Cadets from 1981 and measure it against today.
Hate to admit it but I remember the inspections on the starting line,and even then you could have seats on the 10 yard line and the only thing missed was the concert presentation
Give me old school Rock 75 Madison and 79 lancers. I’m an old mallet man, back when you had to carry them. Let’s go back to real uniforms and real drills. Screw millennial exotic tights, formations, and music that no one can recognize.
Just my opinion.. I think '79 Folk Song was better then '80. Not just the tempo, but the sop solo, the drill was a little more aggressive. Oh, and the red base drums; they just looked massive. Miss you guys so much. DCI should be stepping up to get these corps a hand to regroup. Please GOD, Please, don't let Stansbury or DeLucia cover the uniforms in sequins and pink orange flame tartan!!
One of my favorite years with the Corp. When we started the year we worried about making finals. The first tour was rough with the low point in Altoona PA where we scored a 55.xx. I remember that show at one point the entire corps stopped playing except for one horn because of a cross tempo. Zingali and Wedge finally got us going after a couple of weeks to the point where we came home from tour and WON the World Open!
Question of the day; how would the 27th Lancers fared in today's DCI where Drum Corps is a shell of it's former self and have "evolved" into Broadway show acts with huge props or the hoochie koochi shows, now without headgear? Just curious.
IMO there's still a sense of freewheeling fun to this show, esp in the guard, that disappeared the next year when it became obvious they had a shot at winning. The guard work in 79 is a bit more loose and playful, ie the end of On the 20th Century and the flag tosses near the beginning of the same number. The guard was even better in 1980 and more tightly controlled, it seems to me.
Very cool color guard and rifle squad stuff during the drum solo. Anybody have the program info? I recognized part of the Holst band suite, Take Five in the drum solo, and Londonderry Aire at the end. Does anybody have the actual program?
@@ItalianOrlando Thank you very much. I've always enjoyed watching corps like this, even when competing against them. Certain corps just have a style that defines them. The way they march, mostly, but also the repertoire and the sounds.
@@argerm57 I've appreciated all the other corps more now than I did when competing. Sometimes when competing, especially at the top level, you're so focused on perfecting your own show, you don't get to enjoy the others. Where did you march?
@@ItalianOrlando I marched with the Auburn, NY, Purple Lancers, from 1967-1974. The first two years were as a parade corps, only, the last 5 were field competition. We were defunct by the time this show was recorded. I've recently reconnected with a FaceBook group dedicated to that corps, and it brings back a lot of good memories.
@@argerm57 OMG that's incredible.... I joined Purple Lancers after the 1974 DCI show - planning on marching in 75. When we folded I went to Squires for 75-76 and then to 27th. I'm Corky Fabrizio's cousin.
Back in the early 2000's, Drum Corp had become so Mansy, Pansy Las Vegas show girl, that it was becoming down right irritating, if you ask me, and I still have a problem with all of the dancing that is now Incorporated in it as well. That is not how MARCHING is suppose to be. Remember actual marching ?? It's good that they are actually going back to the Themed shows of the 90's at least, but if I wanted to see dancing, then I would go to a show all about dancing !!!! Let's get back to the basics folks, and go back to what Drum Corp was, and is suppose to be all about, in the first place. Precision Colored Guards, and marching .
First, you sound like a dinosaur stuck in tar. Second, I agree in part about modern DCI's choreography. It's so inexact. So sloppy. So outwardly emotive. We all long for the days of military bearing and emotional "containment", where emotion was not allowed to be shown. Showing emotion was against the rules. That pressure cooker of emotion gave the entire activity such a raison d'etre and such a restrained beauty. But after about ten years of that, the military style of emotional containment just grew tired. Now military bearing is used as an potent spice, giving way to a much greater variety of styles and emotions. Present day corps have it much harder than before. They must find another way to heighten the emotion without military bearing and precision unison.
Times change and drum corps change....99 percent of performers are not from where there corps is based....they are music education majors....performance majors or dance majors....these are not neighborhood kids learning on the fly....these are professional performers!! I marched in the late 70s until 1983....it was hard because anyone could play lead and sight read....drum corps in now outdoor entertainment!! BD supplies Drumlines for the NFL and NBA....they do commercials and award winning music videos....things have changed!! Get on or get off
Very disrespectful, if it was not for drum corps in the early years drum corps would not be what it is today, I'm sure you're a 20 something so get a grip and smell the coffee. Look at Blue Devils or Phantom form 1979 then get back with me......learn some history about drum and bugle corps.
Yes they stole it from the V.F.W. American Legion posts,P.A.L.,and the many churches that supported ,sponsored,held practice areas for the corps. members.There were once over 80 corps. competing in the World Open championships alone.
