Cavie74

The simple truth is that you don’t want to perform before or right after Bluecoats. Bluecoats are playing accessible music. You can recognize every musical passage. These tunes are burned into your consciousness. Aside from the music, those electric blue and the day glow guard costumes really POP. Visually, they are such a huge contrast to every other corps. Those busy intricate costumes or muted colors are like camouflage in comparison. SCV fits in the muted colors camp. Nobody won the best props of the night competition. Bluecoats looked a bit like a cluttered house. SCV looked like a skyscraper skeleton construction site. It was a tie. Cavaliers have a very strong musical book to listen to. It compares well against Bluecoats. Cadets have a lot of balance in their show design. Once again Blue Stars march their @55es off and their bass drum book is freaking awesome. Colts guard has a highly exposed guard book with LOTS of unison work. Colts have a really mature show design and are on their way to becoming a major powerhouse.

I think these sub-three-minute “playing while moving” statistics are silly and deceptive. Everyone, ask yourself what a 12 minute drum corps show would sound like if the brass only played for a third or less of the show. Another way of saying it is “they’re playing but they’re not moving for 8 minutes of the show. That suggests that there’s no drill for 8 minutes. See what I did there? I twisted those statistics to show the absurdity of that argument. Deep down, this is a poor argument for why one corps beat your favorite corps. It has little to do with the reality of what’s happening on the football field.

Really??? Cavaliers are known for marching fewer sets? My perception of their reputation is quite different.

1981 Cavaliers snare drummers spell something naughty with their drum sticks in a drum break in “Sing Sing Sing”. It was reprised by the alumni corps in 2008.

2006 Cavaliers broken record bit.

Typical drum corps humor. My last name is Leo so of course my nickname was “Ugh”.

Just for fun!

There was green piping on the gauntlets in 2016. You can see the gauntlets in the singing section of the show (6:30 mark) and the last few counts of the show in the tube site that must not be named.

I see some subtle references in the show that may be missed if you don't have context. I'll leave out the obvious and point out a few more esoteric ones. Cavaliers always seem to have a move or two referencing previous years shows and I saw one right at the beginning of the tenor spin. The tenor on the right moves to the tenor on the left's drum and everyone else shifts to make room. What is not obvious is that he does a skip and a jump with a stick in the air EXACTLY like the marimbas did in 2014. And here's another. I'll go of on a tangent but it will suddenly be "Oh yeah". Did you ever read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code"? What's is the symbol for woman in that book? Right. How many times did you see triangles in that show? You can do a "hidden Micky" but your head will explode counting the jungle gym triangles that featured from the beginning of the show. "Woman" is acknowledged from the very first moment of the show. And a really strange reference that is political in nature. I know this is a stretch but I'll throw it out there. Who knows what song was the first dance for the first couple at the Inaugural Ball? Right, "I Did It My Way".

I could only see the top half of the Cadets speakers. For Cavaliers, the center speakers were visible but the ones beyond each side of the pit were basically stuffed under the lip of the stadium.

Section C row 60 seat 24. I was about 3 rows below the judges row on the side-2 35 yard line. Excellent seats.

One comment about the show tonight... Speaker placement. NIU stadium once had a track around the football field. The stands are cantelievered over the site of the former track. Row one of the stands is probably 20 feet above the field and closer to the sidelines than probably any other venue in all of drum corps. I'm certain the corps have a set configuration for there sideline equipment including their speakers. Unfortunately Cadets and Cavaliers didn't take the lip of the cantilever into account and had their speakers too far forward and were beneath the stands. You could not hear the Cadets vocals and Cavaliers had a nasty reverb from an echo under the stands that reflected also off the back stands. I thought it was pretty bad and demonstrated a lack of attention to a basic understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the electronic equipment.

I noticed a lot of motion and great field coverage by the Blue Stars. My only negative is there are long sections where they stay in a single set for too long. But when they move, they really move.

I haven't seen the show but... In the Cavalier Alumni Facebook page they mentioned the timpani player wears a helmet during rehearsals because of all the action happening near him.

Okay, so I'm old and going hard of hearing. I watch TV with Closed Captioning turned on. I was benignly watching the "Prom" segment when the caption said "rhythmic squeaking ". There are a couple of people in a dorm hallway quietly listening at a door where "rhythmic squeaking" can be heard. I thought I'd share that.

Announced a few weeks ago: https://cavaliers.org/news/cavaliers-announce-new-co-ed-performance-ensemble-chromium-winds

Agreed, This should be a topic for the Competition Committee. Technology such as miked instruments and electronically-generated sounds will need a rational method to be heard by the performers. The question is whether technology directly aids the cleanliness of the performance. In this case, it muddles the Percussion Ensemble Judge's assignment. As an example, marimba players can hear their own instruments. Putting a mic on every instrument along with IEM ( In Ear Monitors) to aid in ensemble seems...crass. You don't see trumpet players play complex ensemble passages while spread to the corners of the field. Put the marimbas closer together is one option. The other option is to add demand and spread them out. Perhaps the activity will evolve based on technology. In the example above, imagine how cool it would be to be in the stands when trumpet players play that complex passage while spread out. The 3D effect would be amazing. This could only be effectively achieved with IEM's.

In-ear monitors for everybody!

But this is a COMPETITION. There's even Percussion Ensemble Judge. The corps need to put on their big-boy pants and perform. How do you fairly judge ensemble when some of the corps are using in-ear monitors?

I'm bewildered and disappointed by the fact that front ensembles (not just Bluecoates) are using in-ear monitors. Please answer this question: How does the PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE Judge reward/penalize performers using in-ear monitors used for the express purpose of tightening up the ensemble? I can picture the judge tape "Good job listening to the rest of the line in your monitors!" Discuss...

^^^This conversation brings back memories. I marched with Mike Boo back in the mid 70's. One day we were in ensemble rehearsal and I missed the instruction that we were to count "four-for-nothing" before playing. Instructor Dan Spalding yelled (he NEVER swore) "Gosh darn it, can't you count to four!" And Mike blurts out in the smoothest delivery "New Math". Well everyone burst out laughing. I never forgot that and every time I hear the term "new math" I think of that day. I just thought I'd share that. Now back to the topic "who's a lock for a medal". Discus...

A question was posted asking about Cavalier Brass: There were a couple of ensemble issues. In the final number there is a cacophony of pre-recorded propaganda interlaced with an ostinato fugue-like passage. It has to be tighter. I expect a rewrite soon. Compared to Crown which was impeccably clean (except for some brass runs). It's still early in the season to expect too much.