Greatest Patriotic Shows In DCI History

Greatest Patriotic Shows Of DCI

Jul 4, 2017 by Wesley Sullivan

On this 4th of July, we celebrate some of the most memorable shows that DCI designers have given us over the years. Let's take a look back at when the marching arts celebrated America on the field.

American Variations

Star of Indiana 1992

Star's theme was not subtle. Red, white and blue uniforms. Translucent scrims during the ballad represented amber waves of grain, purple mountains majesty, and other familiar American land marks. The music was perfectly chosen, all variations on traditional American patriotic music. And who could forget the star that appeared as if from nowhere, and the American flag set: guard spinning stars, as the form condensed behind one last giant scrim -- the Statute of Liberty and fireworks.

An American Quintet

Cadets 1995

The Cadets of Bergen County married the music from the movie "Far and Away" with a classic American scene -- men preparing for war. An early season ending to this show actually saw all men march off the field while the women stayed behind. That ending changed, of course, and the final ending was a drum major and male guard members recreating the iconic monument to Iwo Jima.

You Are My Star

Boston Crusaders 2002

Boston's You Are My Star certainly pulled at the heartstrings. For the ballad, the corps proper sang the title song by Robert Seeley while the guard opened larger than life pictures of American legends, ending with a faceless first responder holding the brim of his fire hat down. Leading into the final climax, the guard opened text scrolls, all of which had patriotic lyrics and phrases. In the final moment of the show, Boston created a living flag -- the brilliant red of the corps uniform creating half of the flag stripes, guard members in white laying down creating the other half. The remaining guard form the Union -- the stars in the upper left hand corner.

An American Revival

Cadets 2002

Cadets were the other corps to take on an American theme in 2002. An American Revival was similar to the 1995 show -- it featured a storyline in which news of war reaches US shores, men prepare to go off to war, but have a raucous party prior to leaving. This version, though, featured some notable updates. During the ballad, "The Place Where Dreams Come True (from the Field of Dreams, and what could me more American than baseball?), the corps recited the final lines from the Pledge of Allegiance. This is in reference to Newdow v. U.S. Congress, 292 F.3rd 597 (9th Cir. 2002). This case was then famous for holding that the inclusion of the words "under God" in the pledge by Congress in 1952 was unconstitutional. Listen closely on the DVD -- you can hear a large portion of the crowd yell "under God" when the corps gets to that portion.

Cadets also updated the Iwo Jima reference -- they juxtaposed the monument at the front of the field to the famous picture of first responders raising a flag over the ruins of the Twin Towers in the back of the field -- a reference to the famous picture "Raising the Flag at Ground Zero" by Thomas E. Franklin. As a final touch, the Madison fire department brought three fire trucks to the back of Camp Randall and set off their sirens as the show ended.

Honorable Mention

Jersey Surf - 2005, 2007
Bluecoats - 1995, 2013
Blue Stars - 2006, 2009
Bridgemen - 1980.

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