ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania — A handful of red-hot competitive finishes highlighted an energetic Saturday night at the DCI Eastern Classic, as an engaged crowd of 10,300 — the highest number at the Allentown event in two decades — witnessed a close victory for Boston Crusaders.
The New England corps, which posted the second-highest overall score of the two-night event, just three tenths of a point behind the Blue Devils’ mark of 95.775, earned a substantial advantage in visual captions, and a close edge in music captions.
“We are pumped,” Boston Crusaders drum major Wes Booker said. “We are working harder than ever in rehearsals and we are ready to get into it.”
View the scores and recap from the second night of the DCI Eastern Classic
1. Boston Crusaders » 95.475
2. Carolina Crown » 95.438
Carolina Crown was able to keep a razor-thin margin (0.037) with Boston Crusaders largely due to a noticeable lead in general effect of 0.25. The Fort Mill, South Carolina corps also scored ahead of its Boston counterpart in brass and music analysis.
Crown debuted a new twist to the end of its production on Saturday, marching into a longtime fan-favorite drill formation in the shape of a crown, something the corps has been working on for a few weeks now.
“We finally put on the famous crown set at the very end of the show,” drum major Cooper St. John said. “We added another four measures to our last note that we play, just to really make sure we get that hype at the end that we love, just that in your face, end of a Crown show moment.”
3. The Cadets » 92.125
4. Mandarins » 91.988
5. Phantom Regiment » 91.975
In total, The Cadets, Mandarins, and Phantom Regiment were separated by just 0.15 points in what has been a closely-contested competitive grouping throughout the 2023 season. In terms of where the three corps have placed at key events, it’s shaping up to be a race between them for a spot among the top five at season’s end.
The Cadets found a scoring strength in the music captions, earning a substantial advantage over both Phantom Regiment and Mandarins. The corps’ strong result came following an energetic performance in front of a supportive Allentown crowd — the longtime hometown of the corps before relocating to Erie, Pennsylvania this year.
“It was surreal (seeing the crowd’s ovation),” Cadets drum major Cat Yang said. “It feels like we’re at home because we have so many alumni here supporting us. It’s been really great to see the crowd’s reaction as soon as we got here.”
The Mandarins — who recently earned their highest all-time score as a World Class corps, August 1 in Annapolis — finished ahead of Phantom Regiment and The Cadets in the visual caption overall, while closely outscoring the Rockford, Illinois corps in music.
“We were hyped, the crowd was hyped. Everything was perfect,” Mandarins drum major Maya McBrayer said. “This is the best the Mandarins have been in our history of the drum corps, and we're reaching new heights this week.”
6. Colts » 88.163
7. Crossmen » 85.388
Colts finished Saturday night’s event in sixth place. The Dubuque, Iowa corps finished sixth across the board in all captions. Colts continued their strong competitive season, building upon their highest-ever score, which was officially earned August 2 in Centerville, Ohio, and broken again in Allentown.
“It was very exciting performance energy in tonight’s run,” Colts drum major Karissa Blumka said. “We just put a new addition into the closer and it definitely enhanced the entire production.”
Crossmen continued its push toward the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis with a final score of 85.388. The San Antonio corps, which has been involved in a close race for a spot in the “Top 12” that advance to the DCI World Championship Finals, is maintaining a focused approach heading into the final week of the season.
“We’ve seen some tremendous (competitive) jumps and that’s obviously great,” Crossmen drum major Bernardo Magallanes said. “But besides that, the energy and the culture has been amazing.”
8. Spirit of Atlanta » 83.938
9. Madison Scouts » 81.913
10. Music City » 80.250
11. Jersey Surf » 74.975
Spirit of Atlanta returned to J. Birney Crum Stadium Saturday night for the first time since 2019, and earned an eighth-place finish.
After outscoring Madison Scouts for the first time this summer July 29 in Atlanta, Georgia, Spirit continued a strong competitive start to the month of August with an advantage of more than 2 points. The Atlanta corps’ lead was largely fueled by noticeable leads in the general effect and visual captions.
"We spent the last two days working to make sure everything was clean and ready to go,” Spirit of Atlanta drum major Blake Durden said. "This is by far the best they have played so far this season. I could not be prouder of them and the work they put in."
Madison Scouts finished in ninth place Saturday night. The Wisconsin corps scored ahead of Spirit in percussion, and pulled within two points of its season-ending score from 2022.
In 10th place, Music City surpassed 80 points and outscored its 2022 Allentown output by more than two points.
Rounding out the World Class leaderboard Saturday night was Jersey Surf with a final score of 74.975. Jersey Surf has just one more performance on the schedule on Monday in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, before the DCI World Championships in Indianapolis.
“I think we're pretty motivated (for World Championships),” drum major Jonathan Shenal said. “We just had a laundry day, so feeling good. Finally squeaky clean again. We're working toward that end goal hoping to really come in powerful for Indianapolis.”
1. Reading Buccaneers » 85.100
2. Hawthorne Caballeros » 83.250
The top-two finishers at the 2022 Drum Corps Associates World Championships’ World Class division — Reading Buccaneers and Hawthorne Caballeros — competed Saturday night in the All-Age division.
It was the Reading, Pennsylvania corps atop of the leaderboard Saturday night, earning an advantage of just under two points over the Caballeros. The Cabs managed to earn top marks in the visual effect, color guard and music ensemble captions.
“Everything we worked on in rehearsal showed up, we had great energy, I couldn’t ask for a better run,” Caballeros drum major Kim Ronan said. “The crowd was amazing, the energy from them was amazing.”
With just a month until the 2023 edition of the Drum Corps Associates World Championships in Rochester, New York, the corps were excited to have an opportunity to perform in front of the Allentown crowd.
“We loved performing in this stadium,” Buccaneers drum major Andrea Gywn said after Saturday night’s performance. “It’s an iconic drum corps stadium and for a DCA corps, it was a privilege to be here.”
Sonus Brass Theater also took the field in the SoundSport division Saturday night. The Virginia-based ensemble has been tweaking its production ahead of its appearance at the SoundSport International Music and Food Festival Aug. 12.
“We made some changes to our show after our last performance two weeks ago,” Sonus Brass Theater drum major Anthony Fiumara said. “It was our first performance with the changes and we feel pretty good about them.”
While Carolina Crown will take the field at DCI Pittsburgh on Aug. 6, a host of Saturday night’s performing groups won’t perform again until Aug. 7 at either Innovations in Brass in Canton, Ohio or Lake Erie Fanfare in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.