When Drum Corps International published an article in the fall of 2023 displaying the “Top 5 Allentown scores of all-time,” its data spanned more than 50 years. A holistic list of results from one of the DCI Tour’s most iconic venues — these scores had withstood the test of time.
But in the two years since, iconic competitive showings have completely turned the list upside down.
The historic DCI Eastern Classic event series — hosted annually at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and scheduled for July 31 and August 1 on the 2026 DCI Summer Tour — serves as a key final stop before corps make their way to the DCI World Championships.
Here’s a look back at the new five highest-scoring corps of all-time in Allentown.
NOTE: 2008 Cavaliers (95.950) and 1998 Santa Clara Vanguard (96.000) were both on this list as of its 2023 publish, but have been leapfrogged by recent corps’ tallies. The 2024 Bluecoats, that season’s World Champion, narrowly missed this list, scoring a 95.900.
5. 2022 Blue Devils | 96.050
As noted, it was a close race for the fifth spot on this list, but the 2022 Blue Devils took the cake by a slim margin of 0.05 points.
One of four corps on this top-five list to end up winning a DCI World Championship, Blue Devils earned standout marks at 2022’s Allentown event, going head-to-head with eventual co-silver medalists Bluecoats and Boston Crusaders and winning by over a point and a half, sweeping all captions except color guard in the process.
4. 2005 Cadets | 96.225
In 2005, The Cadets became the second-ever corps to break 99 points at season’s end — a list that now includes four entries. At the time, The Cadets’ final score of 99.150 tied an all-time record with the 2002 Cavaliers.
At 2005’s Allentown event, The Cadets handedly won the latter day of competition, toppling second-place Phantom Regiment — who went on to take that year’s bronze medal — by nearly two full points.
3. 2025 Boston Crusaders | 96.375
Boston Crusaders’ Allentown performance in 2025 came on the wings of a string of second-place finishes during head-to-head matchups with the Bluecoats. The two went neck-and-neck toward the end of the season.
After late-July results saw Bluecoats expand the corps’ lead over the Crusaders into the vicinity of a full point, Boston’s strong score in Allentown signified that the race would be close all the way down the stretch.
In Allentown, the corps went head-to-head with Santa Clara Vanguard, outscoring the season’s eventual bronze medalist by 0.975 and sweeping nearly all captions. Ultimately, a week later in Indianapolis, Boston took home the corps’ first-ever gold medal, scoring just over two points higher than this tally with a final mark of 98.425.
2. 2025 Bluecoats | 96.475
The only corps on this list to not end up with a World Championship title, Bluecoats impressed on the opening night of Allentown competition in 2025.
The Ohio corps held a strong lead at 2025’s Friday night event with the Blue Devils (94.650) and Phantom Regiment (93.225) in second and third.
1. 2014 Blue Devils | 96.825
Blue Devils’ 2014 season was one for the record books, as the corps went on to set an all-time record score of 99.650 — and even despite recent shake-up, its Allentown output was no exception.
The Concord corps’ record-setting final score is half a point higher than any other final score ever recorded; 2025’s results made the cushion slightly smaller on the all-time DCI Eastern Classic leaderboard, with Bluecoats’ mark checking in 0.35 points off the top spot.
Untouchable across the scoresheets, the Blue Devils dismantled the field at the Friday portion of 2014’s event, outscoring the second-place Santa Clara Vanguard by an impressive 2.75 points.
