12 things you might not know about 2022's "Top 12"

In any drum corps performance, corps’ designers will often find ways to make hidden — or not-so-hidden — references. Whether it’s an easter egg to a past production or a nod to a corps’ history, many productions feature subtle wrinkles beyond the overarching story or message.

2022’s finalist productions were no exception. Here are 12 things you might not know about the top-12 corps from #DCI2022:

1 | Blue Devils once again paid anniversary homage.

It’s becoming a habit of Blue Devils to incorporate their symbolic anniversaries in program design. In 2017, when the Concord corps celebrated 60 years — its diamond anniversary — the corps utilized diamond imagery in its championship-winning production, “Metamorph.”

Five years later, 2022 was no exception, and was arguably an even more on-the-nose reference. “Tempus Blue,” a program dedicated to the history and evolution of its primary color, blue, in fitting conjunction with Blue Devils’ “sapphire” 65th anniversary.

The corps made its show’s anniversary connection clear throughout the summer, often using the hashtag #SapphireSummer on social media.

20 || 22 - The Sapphire Summer 🌀 Tonight The Blue Devils earned a score of 98.750 to round out an undefeated season and...
Posted by Blue Devils Drum & Bugle Corps on Saturday, August 13, 2022

2 | Boston Crusaders’ 2022 story was a reprise.

Boston Crusaders’ 2022 production delved into an epic poem by John Milton, titled “Paradise Lost.”

The poem tells, in vivid detail, the biblical story of Adam and Eve, described as the first two humans created by God who lived in the beautiful and lush Garden of Eden before being tempted into the consumption of forbidden fruit.

While 2022’s iteration approached the story, setting and characters with a noticeably different tone than its predecessor, it wasn’t the first Boston Crusaders production to tell the Adam and Eve story. In 2009, Boston’s “The Core of Temptation” told the same tale with a completely different list of music selections.

2009 Boston Crusaders "The Core of Temptation" Clip
Finishing in 7th place, the 2009 Boston Crusaders' "The Core of Temptation" figuratively explored the story of Eve in the Biblical Garden of Eden, drawing on musical portraits of desire and its consequences as paradise plunged into madness and chaos. Learn more → https://goo.gl/gaT9py
Posted by Drum Corps International on Thursday, January 25, 2018

2 | Bluecoats’ second set of uniforms was around from the get-go.

A “trippy,” ethereal and unique production, Bluecoats’ “Riffs and Revelations” not only took audiences on many twists and turns — its development throughout the season was a similarly-windy ride.

The Canton corps introduced a handful of noticeable tweaks to its production throughout the 2022 summer, none more eye-catching than a uniform change, presented just before the show’s closing movement, which was first debuted in late July.

According to Bluecoats drum major Vic Lee, the new uniforms didn’t come as a surprise to members.

“We’ve had the uniforms since the beginning,” Lee said. “We started working with it during spring training. When we were at Kent State University (in early July) we started putting that together.”

4 | Carolina Crown retooled some of its 2021 music for 2022’s production.

2022 marked Carolina Crown’s first return to the DCI Tour since 2019, as the corps did not participate in 2021’s DCI Celebration Tour.

However, Crown did develop a production and performance in the summer of 2021, and shades of it found their way into the corps’ 2022 competitive program.

For the South Carolina corps’ 2022 production, “Right Here, Right Now,” it performed Paul Halley’s “Toccata Andromeda.” The same piece of music served as source material for the corps’ closing movement in 2021’s “bubbled” summer.

5 | Santa Clara Vanguard provided hidden imagery in its final formation.

The Santa Clara corps' 2022 production, "Finding Nirvana," featured a journey from chaos to peace. It drew upon various meditative visual cues, and even pulled some music from Nirvana itself — that being the late-20th century rock band.

Vanguard's very last set, though, tied everything together. At the culmination of a series of fluid movement and choreography, its full horn line and color guard grouped together at the middle of the field while props and tarps created a wide oval shape around the entire performance surface.

According to designers, the full visual was meant to emulate true nirvana — a "third eye," often used to symbolize the kind of "sight" that goes beyond basic three-dimensional vision.

"It's inspired by our individual and collective search for clarity," Andy Toth said. "Ultimately, the show is about gratitude. And I mean, what better way to say happy birthday to DCI for the 50th than with gratitude."

6 | The Cadets painted their history on the streets of America.

The Allentown corps’ 2022 program was one long road trip, themed based on the stories of American novelist Jack Kerouac.

Many of The Cadets’ props, as such, emulated road signs, neon displays, and other visual characteristics of a car journey through the mid-1900s United States. Included within said set pieces, the corps took the opportunity to pay tribute to its origins.

Placed dead center on the 50-yard-line, the corps utilized a tarp in the shape of an interstate sign for “Route 34,” in reference to the corps’ founding year of 1934.

The Cadets | "Rearview Mirror" | Semifinals
The Cadets and company fronts, a match made in heaven. Rebroadcasts (10 AM ET) and Select Archives available on FloMarching » dci.fan/WatchLive22 #DCI2022 | Earasers earplugs
Posted by Drum Corps International on Friday, August 12, 2022

7 | Blue Stars had each of its sections wearing their own accent color.

The La Crosse, Wisconsin corps took an interesting approach to costuming, as its horn line sections, battery and front ensemble each had their own feature color amidst an otherwise neutral-palette uniform.

Percussion and brass performers all wore dark gray uniforms with black pants, and each had their own block of color placed in varying locations. This color was red for battery members, orange for front ensemble, purple for trumpets, blue for baritones and euphoniums, yellow for mellophones and green for tubas.

The same approach to costuming was also utilized in 2017 by Blue Knights, for the corps’ production, “i.”

8 | Phantom Regiment’s iconic closer drill form was a late-season addition.

The Rockford, Illinois corps’ 2022 production, “No Walk Too Far,” featured plenty of high-speed drill movements; its final push, however, was arguably its most memorable, largely because it hit closest to home.

On the initial impact of Regiment’s closing movement, its horn line joined together to form the shape of its “chevron” logo, moving forward in slow unison and portions of the form broke off into a long set of lines across the front sideline.

Some might not know, though, that this was a late-season addition by Phantom Regiment. Even as late as the July 29 DCI Southeastern Championship, the corps was still performing this moment of its production in a rigid block shape, as opposed to its logo.

Phantom Regiment | "No Walk Too Far" | Prelims
Stunning. ❤️ #DCI2022 | Phantom Regiment
Posted by Drum Corps International on Thursday, August 11, 2022

9 | The Cavaliers made a percussive reference 20 years in the making.

In the middle of the Rosemont, Illinois corps’ highest-scoring production of all time, 2002’s “Frameworks,” it featured a brief dance break, with simple, syncopated percussion music providing a back-beat.

That same rhythm was sampled two decades later, in 2022’s “Signs of the Times.” In a loud section of brass music that immediately followed a full-horn-line dance section, The Cavaliers’ drum line featured the same music as it did in 2002’s aforementioned break.

Much of The Cavaliers’ percussion feature quoted 2002’s aforementioned break, including two iconic bars at the tail end.

2022 The Cavaliers | "Signs of the Times
tick tock tick tock let's make a tiktok ⏰ Select #dci2022 archives available on FloMarching » dci.fan/22FloArchives The Cavaliers
Posted by Drum Corps International on Monday, November 28, 2022

10 | Mandarins’ props weighed approximately one-and-a-half tons.

Since breaking out competitively in 2017 and 2018, Mandarins haven’t shied away from filling the field with large props. In 2018’s “Life Rite After,” which marked the corps’ first Top 12 finalist appearance ever, Mandarins’ featured a large, round, rotating stage that stood several feet tall and covered 10 yards in diameter.

According to Mandarins creative director Becca Anderson, the corps’ main 2022 prop pieces — which, at times, moved and rotated at speeds “faster than a 4-to-5 (marching step size)” — weighed more than some cars, at roughly 3,000 pounds.

Mandarins | “The Otherside” | Finals
Take me to the Otherside 🙌💜 Rebroadcasts and Select Archives available on FloMarching » dci.fan/WatchLive22 #DCI2022 | Sacramento Mandarins
Posted by Drum Corps International on Saturday, August 13, 2022

11 | Colts waited two years to perform its 2022 program.

Colts had more than its fair share of time to wait to debut 2022’s production, “The Silk Road.” The Arabic-themed program was originally planned to be corps' 2020 production, prior to that season’s COVID-related cancellation.

“The Silk Road” was worth the wait, as it correlated with, arguably, the Dubuque, Iowa corps’ strongest competitive season ever. Colts earned its second-highest all-time placement in 11th, but set a new all-time best final score of 87.200.

Take a journey through this ancient time with the 2022 Colts production of... The Silk Road. Originally planned for the 2020 season, The Silk Road is being brought to life for Drum Corps International’s 50th Anniversary season. The Silk Road derives its name from the highly lucrative trade of silk textiles that were produced almost exclusively in China and transported east to the Roman Empire. Visually the program will feature wagons, crates and, as you expect, an abundance of fabric and garments. The silk moth begins the evolution from thread to fabric. And the show concludes in a dazzling display of silk. The soundtrack is captured through the sounds of Ravi Shankar & Philip Glass (“Meetings Along The Edge”), The Silk Road Ensemble (“Arabian Waltz”), Joe Hisaishi (“The Dragon Boy”), Aurel Hollo (“José / beFore John 5”), Aaron Zigman (“Divas & Dunes”), and Led Zeppelin (“Kashmir”). Read full announcement: https://bit.ly/3PJ3QeY #colts2022 #TheSilkRoad #dci2022
Posted by Colts Drum & Bugle Corps on Thursday, May 26, 2022

12 | Troopers' show was the first to be heard in 2022, but among the last World Class corps to be heard live.

Troopers’ 2022 production titled, “VorAcious,” was announced well before the summer. The Casper corps openly shared its design plans right at the beginning of the calendar year, in early January.

From the get-go, the corps made a point to generate interest in its oil-themed program, as well as its open opportunity for a featured cello soloist. As such, an MP3 of the show’s ballad arrangement, featuring source music of “The Ecstasy of Gold” by Ennio Morricone, was revealed to the public.

It wasn’t until July 8, though — two weeks after the outset of the 2022 Summer Tour — that Troopers made its first competitive appearance and was finally heard live by a DCI audience.