duhurhurrr

I knew they'd change the ending musically. Great final statement.

BD opening trumpet feature(s).

Has a corps ever tried a manual pitch bend? I feel in the minority here but I wasn't that excited about the ending because it didn't rely on brass-playing skills. I understand though, audience reaction should be worth something.

WOwwwwwwwwwwww 99.65

Of course they chose that Cadets clip, lol.

Me too. I'm so glad they combined the avant-garde with the mass appeal this year.

Not able to watch -- so the opening BD trumpet feature went OK?

Hahahaha.

Picture this being unfurled on the giant backfield tarp instead of the Capitol building. It represents freedom of expression. Maximum GE.

Agreed. I don't think we're seeing haters vs. homers in the thread, more honest criticism than anything else. I don't post much but I felt drawn here to see if other fans of this corps ("We are the Future" was the first show that ever floored me) had the same feeling this year as in 2007, just like 2000Cadet mentioned 2 posts above. I love Lincoln Portrait so I was really excited about this year too.

I agree with you. They expect to be rewarded, or at least not punished, by the judges, for the things they're doing. So I don't blame fans for speaking up if they don't like what they see, since otherwise there's no other source of feedback. Whether the feedback changes anything is a different question.

The OP assumes that people who have issues with the show would be just as happy not watching it. This ignores that some of the people with issues to air are actually big fans of the Cadets who, as in previous years, just want the design team to make the best use of the immense talent of the members. If the judges won't push back against some of the overkill going on, I hope that some constructive criticism from fans will get through.

Hahahaha come on. Also why would the backdrop be the Capitol if this show is about the executive? Because it suddenly turns into a show about "we the people" at the end?

Yes, I think some people in the thread are understandably lumping together medleys or snippets with arrangements that try to turn on a dime in the middle of a musical thought. Almost within a phrase at times. See Cadets opening statement. Edit: not saying that is an unacceptable practice at all, but it's odd to see it featured so prominently now at key moments. I think it makes those moments less impactful.

Agree with the sentiment in this thread. I understand how it was part of the theme of Cadets 2013 but it drives me insane this year.

Wait, BD has mello players playing trumpets during the opening segment?! Just learned this from one of the Inside BD youtube videos. Crazy.

I just saw the new ending tonight, in person. It's kinda cool that someone seems to have read this thread and incorporated some of the PCMB 1998 ending (trumpet solo, Lincoln-themed narration) into the buildup. It's just, after that, it's like you dump an entire box of Hallmark cards onto the field. It's too much. Giant pictures of random people on the field, like six corps members posing slowly on stage for some reason, and the return of the boilerplate presidential sound clips during the final few notes. Yeesh. The narration is direct enough in its message, you don't have to beat the audience over the head with it.

I just got home from the show. BD was incredible, I could hear brass players around me losing their minds during that opener and all I want to do is go listen to it again. Bluecoats were a great surprise too. I hadn't been following closely but their show is excellent musically and visually.

Those guys posting here about superficial patriotism kind of have a point if the very words that the show is based on can be faked for better impact moments. I agree with you, the narration is way better than it has been, especially in 2007 when it ruined one of the best openers of all time. But that mashup of recorded presidential voices is .. not good. Just like in 2012, we're getting close to the end, let's throw together unrelated sound clips devoid of context (the speaking in Lincoln Portrait works because the audience has time to reflect on the historical context of the speeches). These kinds of mashups just substitute for the hard design work of creating a buildup using music.

Having a feel for historical context doesn't make me bored, it makes me annoyed. The Cadets would rather misquote Lincoln in a show supposedly about the words that presidents have chosen, just so they can have some kind of narration impact moment where the dude mechanically says "we .. have ... done." Boredom is too strong a word, but it would be nice to see the kind of fast drill that the corps is famous for and more coherent musical selections. And it would help not having to convince myself every couple minutes that what I'm seeing isn't cheesy.

If they are going to make changes to the ending or otherwise, I hope they think about trying to match the music GE of this "Lincoln Portrait" show from 1998, which got 2nd at BOA nationals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11DMr8BWW6k I'm kind of disappointed that the 2014 show doesn't have the impact that this other show had despite being based on similar music. I think the attempt to mash together many presidents and eras has made it hard to make any kind of emotional impression, but I know that can't be changed at this point. Even the opening statement of this year's show can't decide what it wants to be. The 1998 Lincoln Portrait show has narration too (and singing, and some electronics), yet the narration, limited to the end of the show, is just right, judging by the crowd's reaction. By the way, if anyone from the corps is reading this, please think about changing "the work we have done" back to Lincoln's original "the work we are in" since your modification warps the theme of the second inaugural address for no good reason that I can see.

I've always loved the end of the opener in Cadets 1997 (start at 1:55 to get the effect):

What do you guys think of this (the trombone usage I mean, not the other features that are likely to cause revulsion among DCI fans): If it sounds familiar, it's the original version of the Cadets' Round Four from 2008, I think. Here's a similar trombone feature by the same band the next year:

Same here. One of my favorite drum corps pieces since I bought an early-season (indoor) recording which was surprisingly clean. Of course, since then, they added all the extra stuff at the very end.

The music rules too. I wonder if that part right before the final company front with the 2-note thing from high brass to low is Ticheli or Bocook, haha. I know the last little bit they play after the sustained chord is actually in the original Vesuvius.