NakedEye

Since Cadets pulled that off after 12 days of rain and with the last part of the drill not on the field, it will be interesting to see if the gap gets narrower or wider over the next week. Their show looks to have a lot of potential.

I can see just enough of it to think it is that mossy green like the seaweed on the jackets. They definitely aren't the beige ones from last year.

Am I seeing green plumes? I think so..

The Seaweed is Always Greener? Hmmm. Perhaps on the field with the flags, etc. it will work. Perhaps.

Wait, are you encouraging SOCIALISM in drum corps? BWAHAHAHA! Sorry, couldn't resist that. At the end of the day, the "entire activity" is not going to pay their individual bills, so if they can help with that by offering a high-quality product to their fans for a price, why shouldn't they? It's the same as the DVD and merchandise sales that all the corps do. Fan Network is fine for a sampling platter from everyone, and they all get a portion of those proceeds. If you want a more substantial meal from one corps, you can pay them for that directly. Haven't the Blue Devils had a similar offering for years?

Agreed. They are perfectly fine, but I prefer the black plumes, gauntlets and accents. They looked really classy and serious. Wasn't a big fan of all that silver they added in the later years. It is funny how these trends change. It used to be that Magic was one of very few with black plumes, then "dark" was the new thing and everyone went to black pants, gloves and plumes. Now Blue Devils have kickstarted a shift in the opposite direction.

I like the steeper stripe too, but the tradeoff with it was the green sleeve, so I'd rather have two red sleeves and live with the stripe being a little flat. It really is a nice look. Very clean and simple.

Huh? These are basically identical to their '99-01 uniforms, with perhaps a slightly shorter top and slightly shorter gauntlets. The past recreated with today's breathable fabrics. Look at pics of the older one and compare. Not much difference at all.

Wow, I'm really surprised by this. It is about 180 degrees from what I was expecting, which is probably my fault. But, with the title and source material, I fully anticipated something that would be lush and emotional, and instead it came off as pretty dry. That's not due to the early season jitters and performance, it is more a programming issue. Even in their first outing of Spartacus, you could get a feel for the direction they were taking and sections were really strong and dynamic and moving, while covered in dirt. This is....eh...I don't know. As someone else said, it does sort of remind of 2004 in the way it seems to amble around without engaging. The jazz sections in Rhapsody worked so well as they were pieces of the whole, and weren't contrasted with heavier classical stuff. Here the lighter approach confused me. What a shock! Well, they will no doubt add and add and add with lots of layering, but right now I'm a bit concerned about the framework. I'm really interested to see this in about a month.

So that uniform addition looks pretty grassy alright...

Yeah, I would agree this is what appears to be happening, and it's a good thing. The '97-'01 uniform was the best they have had in recent times, imo. Really balanced and not too Christmasy. I would guess that last year's shiny one with the unfortunate tapered white stripe must have been considered a major bomb, to dump it after less than one season. By all means mess around with the cg outfits every year, but if they stick with a classic look for the rest of the corps, it gives an impression of focus and consistency. No doubt their climb back to the top will get a good start this season.

I really can't see any positive reason for posting that letter on here. The OP had to know that the majority of the reactions would be "awful, immature, unprofessional, burn him at the stake!!!!" Are some of those responses justified? Sure, but that is why they quickly edited that original version. I saw the announcement for the position on Hop's blog and it did not have the questionable paragraph, so they no doubt knew they shot from the hip too quickly, then thought better of it and fixed it. Who among us has NOT done that in these days of instant electronic communication? Seriously. Does it make it right? Of course not, but for all the things YEA! does very well, press releases has never been one of them. They are more often than not poorly written and a bit too oddly personal, with more opinion than information. It would be awesome to hold them to a corporate gold standard of professional communication, but knowing they are a non-profit that is always scraping for funds, and is led by a volatile personality, that seems a bit silly. Some of the other corps do this better. Some don't. Cut them some slack and give them credit for fixing it quickly. It sounds like this employee did bolt with little notice, right at their busiest time of the year, when keeping track of every nickel is super important, so I can imagine that set off panic and stress reactions. If that caused a brief bit of poor judgement, well it happens, and they have seemed to put effort toward correcting the situation.

I don't have this concern at all, as the arrangements sound very fresh and interesting. Since they were originally going to pull from the broader collection of Bernstein works, and eventually narrowed the focus to WSS to concentrate on developing a few key pieces rather than disjointed snippets of many, it doesn't appear at all their main purpose was to redo a classic. I'm sure they will have references to the past two shows in both drill and music - after all, this season is all about celebrating their history, but these are the same people who went out on a limb repeatedly in recent years, so you have to expect that they still have some daredevil left in them. Even in '94 they took great pains to make the show distinct from the '84 version, and it really was. All about looseness of style and more of the gang and ensemble dance numbers rather than the rigid precision of the previous decade. If you want to be strictly technical about it, the '94 was a letdown from the '84 from a numbers standpoint - it didn't win. But was that the case from an enjoyment point of view? NO WAY. It was fantastic. I'm sure wherever they end up this year, the entertainment factor will be the same. There is so much pent-up demand for a non-speaking Cadets show after the last few years that I think a lot of people will be on their feet. Personally, I was really excited about that clip. It is just GOOD to hear that music, even with the new and different arrangements - sentimental and unexpected at the same time.

I mean broader context: 89-93, 03-07. Not so much the drape business of last year, though even that emphasized shoulder width. Those other ones generally had a much wider sash and a blockier appearance as compared to the nuance of the new one. Again, is that a bad thing? No, it is just a different and more subtle approach.

Hmm, I think I am slightly less enthusiastic after seeing the whole effect as well. Mainly because some of the clean simplicity of the previous uniform (which was very powerful and intimidating) has been lost. The narrower sash and abundance of fussy details with buttons and trim softens the whole thing quite a bit. It reminds me of a ballet costume version of a toy solider. That's not necessarily a negative, but it doesn't come off as "ROARRRRRR!!" and in your face as the previous ones. Now with the helmets on, it may change the dynamic of them a lot. Not quite getting the bit of piping that is only above the sash with the buttons, and doesn't continue on the lower "tongue" flap. It disrupts that sweeping line that was put there for a reason. The drum major is much, much stronger. Why? Because it has the contrasting sash and trim color, as opposed to the monotone effect. That contrast has always worked SO well for them in the past. Also it doesn't have that button piping thing going on. They obviously FIT much better and I'm sure they are all much more comfortable in them. I'm sure they're excited about them and at the end of the day, that is what is most important anyway.

This is almost like Cesario went back to his original '87 white uniform design for them and modernized it. The giant chevrons and the lower-contrast silver accents instead of black. I don't get the impression that the curved flap shape will be as prominent in person as in the photo, as it seems to be more a retouched shadow than any actual piping on it which would show from a distance. I've always liked the effect more when they use the black baldric, but overall this is a very sleek update by the guy who created this look for them in the first place. Since he is doing the guard outfits (and most likely the flags as well), it will no doubt be beautiful and coordinated when all put together. He pulls that off better than just about anyone else.

My guess is cost. It's a lot of gas to travel down and up the Florida peninsula for just one show. I'm disappointed, as I really wanted to see them live here this year, but it is understandable. They did make the trek last year.

Phantom 2 and Madison 2. Everything else is uniform-based in an obvious sort of way (even Crossmen, who do have the white cross on the uniform in a prominent place) and those two are using more logo-based ideas. Yes, those elements do appear on their uniforms as well, but they are relatively minor.

I think this a great move. Am rather ambivalent about the KANSAS music, but it IS high energy and catchy,which is more than can be said for anything they've performed in recent memory. It also sounds like an intelligent approach to a direction change. They knew they couldn't play southern jazz again without the chorus of critics immediately shouting, "THEY'RE NOT AS GOOD AS THEY USED TO BE!" so instead they're looking for a way to bring underutilized music with similar energy to the field. Seriously, if the only thing everyone is comparing this to is the 1993 Northern Aurora, which relatively few people saw, that pretty much qualifies as having a blank slate. I DID see that show and have only the vaguest memories of it. White pants? lol Let's just have a round of applause that they aren't performing "A Triad in Three Parts" or some such overly-explained BS that has been the norm lately. It sounds like a fun idea and I'm interested to see what they do with it.

The image reminds me of the paintings of surrealist Rene Magritte. He often used a man in a bowler hat, floating, sometimes with an umbrella, so perhaps they are going for an oddball/surreal-type theme.

I look forward to this! His '91 SCV guard was sooooo lyrical and expressive. Plus he often seemed to try unusual equipment, like the umbrellas, straw fans, etc. that added a lot to the story. I'll be they will have interesting show this year!

Meh..you're making lemons out of lemonade on this. They didn't have identity issues this year, just a show with design flaws caused by trying to slowly develop a story, not realizing how that would mess up effective pacing. I think the lesson was learned and if they had started the drastic changes a few weeks earlier, things might have been a bit different at the end. As far as Bernstein "AGAIN", well the last all-Bernstein show was 19 years from next summer's debut. Some kids in the 09 corps weren't even born then. If it's seen as a crutch, that's certainly a very dusty crutch. Of course they did place 4th and 5th in 88-89 and then win with Bernstein the next year, so if Lenny has any magic dust attached to him, it will be fun to see what happens next summer. I see the name change as a cool way to salute their 75 years of history. It may win sentimental points from fans and alumni, but hard to see too many of the judges throwing points their way because of it.

They finished where they did due to their simply fantastic execution, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a safe show. When you pack a program with known audience hits, you're not exactly living on the edge. They've taken much bigger risks in the past: the horse concept, show about bells, show about industry, even the colossal chess piece program. Those all had much higher potential for failure, but they managed to pull them off, even with much less talent at times than they have now. I really enjoyed those previous shows. They had a great way of being slightly quirky and very interesting, and that element was absent in 2008, replaced with a program as vanilla as their uniform color. A lot of people love vanilla, and that's great, but please oh please, at least add a few sprinkles on top next year. I really do think they have the potential to win, but how bold they decide to get in the next few seasons will determine how soon it happens.

Please. No. Just no. Now that they have all this new talent and status, let's see a cool original show like they used to do, taken to a higher level. You won the crowd over, now quit playing it safe.

I think the storyline/pacing of Spartacus is at a level way above that of Faust, which I was only lukewarm on. This time they really did convey a storyline that the audience could follow easily - not a simple thing to do with its subtle nuances and so many constraints that are always present in a drum corps show. Even though they took liberties with the original Spartacus tale (the whole guard being crucified at the end may have been a bit of a......downer), it all made sense and provided so much opportunity for the audience to get excited and cheer them on. I could never get past the instant resurrection of the girl in Faust. She's killed by the demons and then within 30 seconds she's up doing leaps. That was just WAAAAAYYY too fast and it seemed to ruin the credibility of the story. In Spartacus, the drama moments were much more drawn out and allowed to resonate for more impact. For the most part, the dead stayed dead or were reintegrated in a more gradual fashion, and thus those impact points weren't negated. It appears to me that the staff learned a lot from their attempt at story in Faust and in creating this show made sure to carefully think out the potential credibility issues beforehand, and then come up with solutions. I personally loved it.