DCI Drumlines of the Decade: The 90's - Part 1: 1990-1991
It's back! The "Favorite Drumlines of the Decade" series continues with a look back at the 1990's. A time when fans argued the pros and cons of mylar vs. kevlar drumheads and the beats flowed like wine (+1 to Lloyd Christmas). This series is going to be STACKED with videos so it will be broken up into 5 parts:
Part 4: 1996-1997
Part 5: 1998-1999
And so we begin...
<<<1990>>>
Phantom Regiment
Once you get past the guard uniforms check out the sweet stick work from the snares. Also love the old school "vented" snare drums, those bad boys were LOUD. Learn more about the HV ("High Volume") snare drums here.
Boston Crusaders
Let's see here... Colin McNutt, Nick Angelis, tasty beats, and a bad ass vibe? I'm in!
Blue Devils
Drum Solo from "Tommy" featuring the infamous BD drum rack! (and a healthy dose of backsticking at about 1:30).
Cavaliers
Drum break (anyone recognize the drill at 1:00 in? - see Cavies 2008 (here about :30 in)
Some classic Cavaliers... Get it Green Machine!
Star of Indiana
Could only find the full show but still totally worth a watch...
Crossmen
Same deal here... great arrangement and a smokin' drumline.
Cadets
Unfortunately I couldn't find any performance videos of the Cadets from 1990 but I did come across this fascinating interview with George Hopkins (especially considering the G7 proposal that came up a few weeks back).
Velvet Knights
For those of you who have heard the legend but have never been able to see the madness up close here's an interview with the Velvet Knights. It ends with a great message that still holds true today...
* It was brought to my attention by Jeff Ream over in the DCP Forums that this interview is likely from 1989 but was run during the 1990 DCI finals broadcast.
<<<1991>>>
Unfortunately there weren't as many video clips available from '91 but that doesn't mean there was a lack of talent. The Cavaliers, Star of Indiana and SCV tied for top drums (19.3 total perc score each) and it's easy to see/hear why!
Cavaliers
Some fun interplay between the quads and snares, love the clarity from the quad line...
Santa Clara Vanguard
BEASTLY is the only word that adequately describes this line...
Star of Indiana
I could only find a video of the full show and it can't be embedded but is a must watch if only for the unis and drill ;-)
Phantom Regiment
I believe this is the last year that Phantom played on Mylar* (when the camera zooms in you can barely make out the HV vents on the snares) and did they ever do it justice. You can't find a buttoned down technique like that anymore (all wrist baby!) but they definitely paid for it in the standings (7th overall). A part of me longs to see lines go back to the "no arm movement" days but then I think of how my wrists felt after playing with that technique for a single indoor season back in '99 (hint: didn't feel too good).
* Bill in the comments section pointed out that Phantom began using Kevlar heads from '89 forward (possibly '88)
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10 years of throwdown | in DCI, Top X
Reader Comments (4)
Phantom started using Kevlar heads in at least 1988. I know they used Kevlar from 1989 on.
GREAT lines! Good job Eric!
@Bill - Thanks for the heads up! I'll get that updated in the article. Crazy how "deep" those snares still sound with the Kevlar heads!
There were also some Div. II & III drumlines to note also. One that comes to mind for me being a Southwind vet was Southwind's Drumline 1991- Undefeated all season!!! I was on the cymbal line that year, we had some fun!!!
I wish I had some video for you to post, but I know there is a full video on the internet Somewhere!!! The drum feature was really good.