The DCI summer tour is ramping up into the first big weekend of regionals, but first, it made a short visit to Florida and Minnesota for two nights of drum corps on FloMarching over the weekend!

Blue Devils and The Cavaliers saw each other for the first time at the same venue this weekend at DCI Minnesota in Minneapolis, a show that used to be the first regional stop for many corps. Phantom Regiment, Blue Stars, Crossmen, Colts, and Madison Scouts all continued their brawl to top one another.

Down south in Orlando, FL, many corps made their FloMarching debut including Boston Crusaders, Music City, Spirit of Atlanta, and Jersey Surf. Not to mention, it's been a while since we've seen Bluecoats and The Cadets.

Land O' Lakes

Minnesota. The land of many lakes. Raising Cane's (if you've been to the show, you know). And oftentimes, heat that just seems unacceptable for a location so far north.

Open Class started off the night strong with Shadow, Colt Cadets, River City Rhythm (RCR), and Legends. Legends swept the first spot in all sub-captions, except percussion (to RCR), with an overall score of 56.600.

In World Class, the Colts and Madison Scouts continued their push to best each other. Colts earned the lead this time with just a 0.050 point lead in Minneapolis. They topped the Scouts in overall visual with a hefty lead of 0.60.

At the top of the recaps, Blue Devils and The Cavaliers performed for the first time in the same venue in 2018. The two were just 1.600 points away from each other. They have not scored this close to each other since 2011. 

Perhaps the most surprising thing on the sheets for Saturday night is The Cavaliers taking the color guard caption by storm with a 0.40 lead over BD's renowned guard.

Lightning Strikes In Orlando

Despite a minor delay due to weather after the first few performances, things got rockin' right away down in Florida over the weekend. Kicking off DCI's Open and World class competition, Heat Wave debuted its show on FloMarching.

In World Class, Music City wowed the crowd and had it talking all night long about "that train show." The corps is making its debut in World Class this season after consistently reaching the top of Open Class, year after year.

The most shocking results of the night came later after scores finally made it onto DCI's website. The suspense was well deserved when everyone found out that Boston Crusaders and Carolina Crown actually tied with a score of 82.100.

For anyone out there wondering, Boston hasn't beaten Crown since 2006.

— Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21) July 9, 2018