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Brian Murphy - consultant for Spartans and Academy Matt Stratton - Brass Staff Cavaliers Seth Murphy - Brass Staff SCV Josh Brennis - Visual Staff SCV / consultant Crossmen Julian Johnson - Visual Staff at Bluecoats Enrique Perez - Color Guard Staff SCV Nathan Bashline - Audio at Boston Paul Dolan - Medical Staff at Carolina Crown Kelsey Brunson - Admin at Academy Mike Ryan - Admin at Crossmen

1982 is my favorite. It's the first show I ever saw, and was a real game changer with Zingali's drill and that horn line. The beginning of what would become decades of dominance in the activity. 1982 really put the rest iof the drum cops world on notice. I marched Cadets starting in 1984, so I never watched that show live. But I suspect 1984 could be one of the best drum corps shows ever. I am devastated that I will never again get chills when I see the maroon and gold take the field.

I’m actually the designer of Walmart Health virtual care! No kidding! Telehealth does not include any store-centered services, including pharmacy, vision or store products. It does include on demand doctor visits, on phone or computer. It’s a really good service and I am really proud that somehow I am connected to DCI.

Every second of 1987 Appalachian Spring. That show plus SCV’s Russian Christmas Music (in the same year), especially the low brass at 2:26, hooked me on drum & bugle corps.

Its a great venue for drum corps...not too small, not too large. Corps sound great there. There is lots of parking nearby if you are able to walk a couple of blocks. Minimal parking right next to the stadium unless you arrive very early.

It was kind of a moot point. SCV was exciting, but BD was so tight and so "on" it didn't matter. I knew who won after BD's performance, it was obvious.

Heard this tune at a wind ensemble concert today. Great Colombian tune for the Scouts.

Matt Stratton went to Cavies

I hate to see them go, but I'm glad they were here. A few favorites... 1993, In the Spring - My first year to watch DCI on PBS, and still my favorite Cadets brass arrangements. 2000, We are the Future - They slowed it down and still won. 1997, Celebration - The best of their brass band era. 1995, An American Quintet - Early props. 1992, To Tame the Perilous Skies - Cadets and Holsinger. Very 1990s heavy. I really liked 2022 and 2023, and I thought they were on a great path, but nothing in the last couple decades holds up to the 90s in my mind.

It's seriously one of the best shows on tour. You're getting the Top 8 corps (plus Music city), outdoors in a FANTASTIC sounding stadium, great sightlines, and a capacity crowd. This is often where corps will debut their "new" ending to the show as they head to the stretch run. Outside of Finals, it's my favorite show of the year.

I will be there!

I skipped last year but as @drumhead31 stated, it's a great venue except I need a little more knee room in the chair back section. 😁 There's been a lot of construction in the past taking up some of the stadium parking. May have been completed by now but there is parking around campus if you're ok to walk. I have been just taking Lyft from the hotel.

IDK, I kinda adore that ballad, and the visual presentation that went along with it. I've heard from many who marched in 1991 how many boo's they received in some towns (coughTheSouthcough) over the end of that ballad 'story' and the coupling. I dig that show and agree that's it a bit of an underrated Cadets classic (that must've been hell to perform as a snare drummer, with a tenor harness sitting pretty high-up to clear the snare harness that rode a big low). Honestly, I feel like Cadets from, like, 1982 through the early/mid 00's was one banger of a show after another; even their 'missteps' were adventurous and I often 'respected' their designs years I didn't like them

Luckily we could walk there because our hotel was nearby but they had a freakin outdoor circus set up there, too. It seemed dirty and dusty in there to me.

Not a bad venue (needs upgrading), but I understand It was a logistics nightmare for parking, warm up, etc.

Guessing he's pretty happy with the gig in Rosemont these days.

1984. Arranging perfection.

I was in the audience at 1982 Finals, Sam. The crowd was so bananas there was no way in God's name SCV could have heard a thing on the field. I couldn't hear anything in the stands and my ears were ringing.

So many to choose from, but if I have to pick one, it would be 1993. They basically took that amazing 1992 show concept and ramped it up to 15. Seeing them perform live in Denver that year was a real treat!

Having been there SCV did not use dot books in 84/85; the mantra then was “guide to form”. SCV tied with GC for High Visual in ‘84 & won Visual outright in ‘85; from recaps it appears Field Visual was the key.

Deaf or hard of hearing is still the preferred term by most of us, particularly those who sign. Hearing impaired measures one by one's deficit after all. Even in the best of conditions, the best lip readers get about 25%-30% by lip reading and the rest by context or a lucky guess.

I was at the St Louis stadium the last time they held a show there. It was run down and poorly maintained.

[laughs] Pink is a solo act, not a band. She could sell that dome 100 times over what DCI could put in it.

"Mc Duffy"...what a piece of work! In a time when bugles had only one valve, there was no pit, nobody read music, and drum lines played rudiments (whether they complemented the brass charts or not), Mike took the rest of us to school, creating arrangements that sang. Whether for Anaheim, Blue Stars, Kilts, Troopers, Garfield or any of a dozen more iconic units, his work was "the sound of DCI" and we all knew it. And never mind all the "should have happened a long time ago" stuff. Those in the know have acknowledged for years that he was a master, and now it's time to celebrate his "official" recognition by his peers (as if he actually has any).

I think this is the most true form of McDuffy’s. A drum corps classic.

I saw too few Cadets shows in person so will limit my comments to those. 1987: impeccable. For me, still one of the touchstones of drum corps. I saw it live only at semis. The brilliance of their relatively minimalist visual paired with rich intricate music. It set up a contrast with a superb SCV show I also loved. I don’t know how anyone could pick a winner, but I was fine with this one winning. 2013: my reintroduction to Cadets with terrific music and drill and such impressive technical fundamentals. 2015: at San Antonio they had put in the near-final closer and finished 1st IIRC. I thought they would win at that point. I think they changed unis after that. By finals week it was clear they had been passed up but I was a huge fan of their drill and music. 2018: so emotional, and after all they had been through, it was so impressive that they didn’t water down their technical demand, even if they couldn’t get it all clean. So glad I saw it live. 2023: thrilling to see Cadets coming out to take on the challenge of rising back to the top. One of my favorite shows of a great summer. It makes it sadder that this was the final Cadets show but at least they were The Cadets all the way to the finish. I have loved other shows I have seen in the recordings but in my experience, the Cadets’ shows, like most corps’, can’t be fully appreciated other than live. P.S. based on other posts here I am going to dig up all the recordings of 90s Cadets shows I can.

Just putting it out there that 1996 is so underrated.

Finally, a positive Cadets thread - one that is highlighting and honoring the legendary stamp they've left in the activity. The other Cadets thread is a super buzzkill 😡 I didn't start in the activity until I was 15 and I would have never made the cut for Cadets 1994 guard but that's the show that showed me just how clean a guard could be. 1996 was another WOW factor when it came to the guard so I made the jump in 97 - my years with the Cadets were AMAZING! It was hard - they pushed us HARD back then but it shaped the person I became. 1996 Cadets just had it all for me and will forever be my favorite show, even more so than winning in 1998.

I've been too sad to really consider reflecting on shows and music that I have loved over the years from Garfield. We all knew this was going to happen. I'm going to echo what some others have said: the 2021 exhibition year show stands out to me. Not because it was the best show Garfield/The Cadets ever performed. Far from it. But it was that last reminder of what it felt like to watch the Maroon & Gold take the field. Those traditional uniforms. The fact that they gave us some of those goosebump moments from past shows and they sounded pretty good doing it. Watching the crowd in Indianapolis just absolutely go freakin' nuts at the company front in the Land Race (From Far & Away) was not only amazing to see but in some ways felt like the crowd knew instinctually that we may not see this anymore. Even though the corps managed to compete in 2022 and 2023 I think many knew it was going to be difficult for The Cadets to move forward. That company front is perhaps the last truly magical Cadets moment we will ever experience. The 2022 and 2023 shows were excellent, but the sight of the traditional uniforms and the pomp & circumstance of that company front with the heroic music of John Williams basically summed up what I used to love about this corps. I believe that singular memory may be imprinted in the minds and hearts of many as we grieve the loss of an iconic, historic, and great American drum & bugle corps. I continue to feel for all the good people who marched, volunteered, and taught with Garfield.

93 - Only experienced watching videos of this performance as I didn't know anything about drum corps until 1995. 96 - Guard was incredible. 97 - First time I'd ever seen Cadets live and first year I was able to march a DCI drum corps. I thought they were robots. 98 - This is the show that made me want to march there. Drill and marching were absolutely magnificent. 2000 - Obviously, since I marched this year. Funny thing is I HATED this show when we first came out, but it grew on me throughout the season. 2011 - A visual masterpiece. I am such a huge Cadets fan that they used to call me SuperCadet when I was in Cadets. I'm going to miss this corps deeply. The tears in my eyes as I type this can't express how much I hate this news.

Too many to count for me, but I will always have a soft spot for the nostalgia show during the covid year. Brought back a lot of great memories and was really well done.

Along with 1987 (the first year of drum corps I saw), when I think of the Cadets, it's more about pieces of shows. 2000 - having fun in the challenge call/response 2002 - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Early 2000s - Malaguena, Moondance The last 3 minutes of the Christmas show in 2012 2007 - for all the crap from that year ("let's try it without the vocals" and for those at quarter finals.. Yard gate)

I liked 2023 so much. One of my favorites in a strong summer. Your son and you should be proud for being part of it.

The 2021 unjudged show was terrific - we got to hear RPH with a modern brassline (and recording equipment!), and it was awesome.

So many iconic shows in their history that will live on forever, but for selfish reasons, my favorite was 2023. I followed them closely all summer and got to see my son on the field in his rookie DCI season. When the last formation hit on Final night in Indy as a large part of the crowd erupted, there he stood. Right on the 50 yard line. Nobody knew at the time that it would be the last brass release of one of the most storied corps in the history of the activity. It brings a tear to my eye now just thinking about it. Yesterday was a very tough/emotional day for my son and our family. We'll all move on but as I told my son, he'll always have last summer and those memories. I'm eternally grateful that he had that opportunity. Thank you, Cadets. FHNSAB