Download of the Week: 2006 Cavaliers

In 2006, the Cavaliers would have had a perfect season had it not been for three shows in July that were won by the Blue Devils, who ultimately finished in third place. At the DCI World Championship Finals, it was Phantom Regiment’s “Faust” show that came within 0.375 of the Green Machine in the year the corps paid homage to its nickname with “Machine,” a mostly original musical presentation penned by brass arranger Richard Saucedo and percussion arranger Jim Casella. When the robots stopped their rampage, the corps had won its seventh DCI title, also taking caption awards in Brass, Visual and General Effect. This was one of the Cavaliers’ most popular shows ever. The color guard members—costumed to look like non-threatening robots (with non-functional headsets)—was a constant source of wonder, exhibiting occasional bouts of humor. The drum major set the pace by giving his salute in a robotic fashion, and then the brass players and drummers took turns coming out of their shut-off state to re-animate themselves and get on with the show. “Movement I—Genesis” commenced with some sinister chords and robotic, stiff movements by the corps, accompanied by whistles and metallic industrial sounds. Clanking sounds were heard throughout from the percussion, with three final clanks after the horns finished playing choreographed by all the members’ heads moving to the industrial clatter. “Movement II—Wired” was largely based on “Renewing Vows” from “Sweet Release,” a ballet by Wynton Marsalis. But before the Marsalis melody could kick into gear, a lone guard robot mechanically lumbered to stage right and began directing the rest of the corps in movement. The straight lines of the prior block form responded to his will and compressed into a block “K,” at which point the block rebounded, knocking the robot backward into a back flip. Then a robot on the other side directed the corps into a wedge, but that too sprung back into the block. Throughout, the front ensemble offered up quite a number of unique sounds that today would possibly be created by a synthesizer.