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I am grateful for the compliments but I have to say, watch the credits at the end of the last corps on either disc and know that list of people, especially director Jeff Clark and audio engineers Jamie Vanadia & Cory Coken deserve the lion’s share of the credit. As drum corps fans, we are so lucky that so many gifted people work on this production every year. And, if you didn’t watch the credits last year, we did a little director’s track from the 2018 Bluecoats, just for fun. But again, thanks!

Yeah, that was healthy.

Hi George. We are extremely confident in our financial structure and our board. As long as great people like you and everyone who has supported The Cadets continue to do so then we will continue to be fine. I have been around drum corps and fundraising since 2011 and see no reason that fundraising will be anything but successful as it has always been.

Just to clarify...The Cadets at present still operate under the YEA! umbrella. We will be an independent non profit organization beginning on March 31, with a full board of directors as required by the government. Please please rest assured that we know what we are doing. If you have serious questions or concerns about this then please email me at bmartin@cadets.org. As the Development Director i can assure you that you can make a donation to The Cadets today or after March 31 and everything will be fine. Brad Martin Development and Marketing Manager The Cadets

I feel like when we have discussions about drum corps being a rich kids game, etc etc., this is really what we are thinking about. Even when I marched in the late 80's, it was still a "show up, work harder than anyone else and LISTEN, and you'll end up where you are supposed to be." I really believe now that the level of talent and the difficulty in design and what the MM's are having to execute 1. Makes it easier to be picky and 2. Makes it necessary to be picky. If someone wants to argue with me they can, but I would urge people to think about something first. Those who marched in 60's and 70's laid the foundation for us that marched in the 80's and 90's. We then laid new building blocks for those to follow in the 00's and through today. The progression in design, difficulty of drill, electronics etc etc etc is natural. We shouldn't be ashamed of what drum corps is today but rather embrace it and have pride that WE HELPED BUILD THIS. The young men and women are not more talented today than they were "BITD." They do the same things we did...work hard, trust their staff and push themselves to do things they didn't know they could do. I draw a parallel (as I usually do...and yes, I know it's annoying,) to billiards. I played at the pro level for 2 years...a miserable 2 whole years. But I can tell you this. The greats of the 60's through the 90's were no less talented stringing 8 or 9 racks together then the cats now are stringing 8 or 9 racks together. People say that today's top players would wipe the floor with 80's players. The technology has changed in the tools we use now. It's not a different level of talent it's just a slightly different game. The guys (and gals) who played on tour in 80's and 90's laid the foundation for the folks playing at that level today. Yeah we had bigger pockets in the 90's. We also had shafts that were made of this amazing stuff called wood which would deflect the ball off of it's target line. Now they have smaller pockets but shafts made of carbon fiber which don't deflect. Slightly different game...same talent level. I'll try not to digress anymore today but I can't promise anything because it's 8am and I'm at work..on a Sunday.

I'm more for Do-it-up-Devils!

You know what was healthy? Spartacus.

Remember “Einstein on the Beach” is an opera. Love is never healthy in opera, or at least is rarely healthy in opera. Opera is filled with jealousy, murder, suicide, twisted love triangles and in one case, you might even be able to say a love hexagon! We cheered Turandot and Calaf finding love ❤️ in Phantom’s great production in 2012 even though it started with the poor Prince of Persia have it his head chopped off and impaled because he could not guess the answer to a riddle. We also can’t forget the father’s servant Liu who was killed because she refused to reveal Calaf’s name. Crown portraying two young lovers on a park bench may have been gooey, but at least everyone was alive at the end, and in the world of opera, that’s healthy.😎

Hey we all get to decide who we prefer. I thought Coats should have won last year and Crown should have been second or third. So I'm clearly "not-enlightened" as well. 91 - I thought no one was close to Star - JMO

Fair point. Here is what I can offer as the issue: What does this teach as a value system to the actual corps members? You work hard; your challenge, either musically or by physical challenge is greater; you know the technical challenge is greater and you achieve -- but the outcomes do not reflect what you and many others know to be true. The mass appeal argument you make is clearly right; A theater show and theatrics certainly has more mass appeal than technical performance differences that most cannot appreciate or even perceive unless they are at the skill level needed to see it in their own areas. We celebrate Baryshnikov for a reason. My opinion: wrong value system.

This. We have gotten to the point where show design & season is awarded high scores, not the performance on any given night. And it has been that way for a while - consider Star in 1991 - even Rondo on the telecast said they didn't have a good run at finals, while SCV & Cavies had great runs. But Star won because of season & design, not performance on the field (my analysis, not Rondo's).

You two are both too funny to get old so don't sweat it LOL.

That certainly is the mantra. Of course we all know talent has probably never determined the champion. Staff and design matter most.

Cadets were never the most talented corps. Many people have rings with a maroon stone that would have been cut elsewhere

Everything BD is first class!

I told BigW and some of the other folks on the DCA side a few years back that I was going to try to convince Britt to scream it during SOA's intro in Atlanta in 2018. It was her first drum corps show and I thought it would be funny. Unfortunately, they serve beer at the stadium literally every 22.5 feet so getting her to do anything other then comment loudly on random things like props was nearly impossible. I think Waliman is probably exactly right. Just because it made me laugh to read this post, here are some of the "first DCI experience" questions that I got that year (taken from my post in '18): Things my girlfriend said to me at DCI South this year (her first DCI show) that made me laugh: "You keep saying things like 'balls clean' and 'p**s clean.' None of those sound clean to me. Why don't all you drum people say like...'Brita Clean' or something?" "Why do they keep saying "dut, dut, dut?" (She then proceeded to say dut, dut, dut very loudly while jutting her head forward like a rooster clucking) "It's summer and all of these people are wearing jackets. Like, who wears a jacket in the summer? Wait a minute...you're wearing a jacket too! What the h**l man?!?!" (referring to corps jackets) "I found my favorite corps thingy!! They're from Denver and I'm from Denver! I'm buying all of their souvies on your debit card. I hope they win." (This is before she had even heard BK play) "They serve beer at this stadium?!?! How do I not know about this drum corps thing?" "I played clarinet in high school....this seems a little more....advanced." "So an entire corps was in the bathroom changing....." "I just noticed that all of you drum people look like your hands got run over by a truck. What's up with that?" "So many unitards.....just so many unitards..."

yeah Star dirty was still better than everyone else.

The brass was unworldly.

i just cant get into this show period

To me, the '65 Royal Airs just seemed to be a well-balanced corps, with Truman Crawford brass arrangements that were cutting-edge for their time... and a show that, again IMO, just seemed to flow better, make more sense, than some other "throw a bunch of tunes at the wall and see what sticks" programs that were not uncommon for that era. I never saw the '65 corps in person... a couple of years before my time... so I'm basing my thoughts just on the recordings I've heard, and from the recollections of friends who did see them.

Did he #### in your Cheerios in the 80s???

To Tim K's point.... "Well what did you expect? A happy ending?"

Long as your group knows what the plans and dates are then so far so good.... 👍

Thanks Brad - love the confidence. Keep rolling and many of us will UP our donations - I plan to.

So expressing how you love someone is "unhealthy", "obsessive", and a "dependency". Okay. Someone better wake Shakespear from the grave to tell him the true meaning of love so that he can rewrite his Sonnets. Seems to me someone just wanted an excuse to say they liked Re:Rite of Spring better.

I still like BD's re:Rite of Spring better that year.

Anyone make a hole in one on a par 4 recently? More banned for life for yeah. 🏌🏾‍♂️

When the Muchachos were still around, there was a woman who would yell something like "Go, go, Muchachos!!!!" just before the corps started, at pretty much every show I saw them. I mean, this woman was LOUD!!!

The folks at the tee on a par-5 who yell that... they should be banned from golf tournaments for life.

I think that's part of the key. You still support the activity even if you don't necessarily agree with the direction of all the moving parts. I can get behind that 100%. I don't absolutely LOVE the new show design in a lot of cases, but I did notice something. I have sat and watched many a show (including ones I marched in,) on youtube with Britt. I'm 48 and she's 29. What I can say as an absolute is this: She is MUCH more interested in the newer "format" of shows than she is in shows from the 80's and 90's. Today's design holds her interest more and she is the epitome of the casual fan that we are looking for to put butts in seats. She has no drum corps background...just some HS band. She can appreciate what we did but it just doesn't light the same fire as the modern concepts of design do. It's an interesting tug of war to be certain.

Yes. This is how it is now. Like many, I do not think this is a good thing. But I still support drum corps in general. Far too much emphasis on soft skills as opposed to hard skills. Hard skills are basically color guard, M & M, field drums, and brass. All include technical and performance. Pit percussion fits both hard and soft skills in my opinion, and are very important. The rest? - soft skills. ( props, amplification, general effect, and what is described as "show design") -- The hard skills are foundational and should comprise the significant majority of scoring outcomes. Everything else is along for the ride. Bottom line - we are forgetting about actually marching as a valuable and judged part of drum corps. And difficult marching and playing together? Not even a judged factor anymore, objectively. Stand play, move, stand play move. No reward for risk. All good.

Hi Terri, Dave was a “motivational” instructor wasn’t he? Not just Dave, but his entire family was involved in drum corps and we were fortunate to share in that!

He was a great guy. He wrote our drill and taught us in 1977. I learned more about marching and drum corps In general, from him than anyone else.

Oh gosh still? Even with the “bad run” Star was a mile better than second and third / while the crowd was cheering for anyone but star. If anything the scores were too close imo

I feel so much better when people say things like this LOL. Every time Britt asks says something like "I was negative 1 years old when you started college," I don't know whether to feel old or dirty...or both LOL.

You need all of the three legs of the tripod, members, staff and design.

Once upon a time, MM’s performance at a specific show could make a huge difference in outcomes, even surpassing the design’s impact. For example, 1979 Troopers at DCI Prelims.

Someone should ask if Brandt Crocker is ready...to retire. He ruined himself 20 years ago. Awful.

Probably not the most random thing I've heard shouted a drum corps show LOL. It is, in fact, pretty darn cute.

Still got walker and wheelchair from my late wife in the cellar (next to my collection of crutches and cane). But hit 62 last year and yeah you never know.

The only shout out I despise was the 2000 SCV / Crystal one on the recording. But I guess I shouldn't complain too much, my daughter was about 4 and we were high up in the stands, forget the corps but right at the big pause in the ballad my daughter yells, "Look! A fire tuck!" There was one off in the distance driving somewhere. She was not into the shows that night and we were luckily not anywhere near a mic and the diehard fans around us thought it was cute.

Granted it’s not the world class corps but BDE, but have you all seen the collaboration they did with the K-Pop group BTS? They’re getting quite a bit of exposure in other forums and social media. Hardliners may have a problem with it but the more exposure for the activity the better I say.

Jim I think it was either you or BigW that I posted to and stated when they ask if the corps is ready, everyone should scream "Meh...we guess so.."

Lol think it was the CT Hurricanes who yelled “YES!” from the field at DCA Finals late 70s when asked “is the corps ready”. Kinda like a wth then a laugh from the crowd

BTW..On the east coast the cry was "DAZE ALWAYS READY'..a little combination of Brooklynese and southern twang'' ..lol ..peace

So, I am just thinking out loud. No, I am not an attorney, have never played one on tv, nor have I even stayed a night at the Holiday Inn Express. But I do remember what the Boston Crusaders went through at the end of 1982. After being left stranded in Europe without any remaining funds due to primarily to the misdeeds of one individual, the corps was bankrupt. The end was at hand, it seemed. Some alumni got together and decided to field a corps regardless of the bankruptcy and the multiple lawsuits from creditors. The only way this could be accomplished was to change the name (to the Boston Drum & Bugle Corps), which essentially made it a brand new organization. Drum Corps East wouldn't let the corps perform at any shows, but DCI did, with the stipulation that "Boston" was a brand new drum corps and thus had to go on first at every show. After three years of the new organization (and new BOD) they were able to retire enough of the debt and buy the name back. I don't know if the Cadets situation is analogous. Interestingly, many of those folks involved with the 1983 Boston corps (which had 51 members) can now be found on the INSPIRE BOD. For the record, while I am not particularly a Cadets fan, my feeling is that DCI and the activity is better off WITH the Cadets than without. I hope it all gets worked out. Perhaps go back to being the Garfield Cadets and start fresh?

They are the same people who attend PGA tournaments and love to yell " in the hole".

nm

I still have a scooter!!! Not sure if it's a Rascal. My now-departed wife needed it after her stroke. I figured I'd hold onto it. I'll be 62 in June, and ya never know. LOL.

Ya know, I like this guy