GREENBLUE

Wouldn't be be surprised if we see Phantom score higher then Cavies. At this point last year the gap between the two was minimal from night to night. Not until San Antonio did Cavies start to pull away. Tonights performance order and venue wont hurt phantom either lol. Having seen Phantom here on the west coast, I would agree their show to be cleaner at this point, BUT much less difficult then what I've seen from Cavies. At the show I attended the crowd gave Phantom a polite standing O with minimal applause throughout the show. Personally I thought Black Swan to be much more appealing both visually and musically same with my drum corps buddy. With some cleaning,rewrites and additions I think Cavies will have a better show come Finals.

For those of you not aware..... Correction last night on the Brass Score from the Waukee Iowa show. Initially DCI.org listed a tie in brass with Blue Stars with a 13.9, now corrected for the Cavaliers to a 14.7. Changing the Cavies score last night from a 73.7 to 74.5

1 BD 2 Cadets 3 Crown 4 Coats 5 Cavies 6 SCV 7 Phantom 8 Boston 9 BK 10 Blue Stars 11 Madison 12 Troopers 13 Crossmen 14 Colts 15 Spirit 16 Oregon Crusaders 17 Academy 18 BDB 19 Crest 20 Mandarins

From Mike McIntosh twitter: @MikeMcIntosh4: Pretty excited and honored to have written the brass in @TheCavaliers Scene 2 music which has yet to be announced. This piece kicks a___! Looks like there's more music to be announced. Also from his twitter: @MikeMcIntosh4: @TheCavaliers opener. 3 minutes of insanity...completed, proofed and out to the members. This is one for the ages.

Quick question. Does anyone know the breakdown of time a corps is allowed on the field? ie.... On and off/ pre show/ show. For the life of me I can't remember the breakdown of each. Also, has anyone else noticed that Cavies last set is the eye that you see on the bass drum heads ?

Sorry but the groupings this year are going to be (in any order):1-4 BD Cadets Crown Coats 5-8 Cavies SCV Phantom Boston 9-10 BK Madison 11 Blue Stars 12-13 Troopers Crossmen

After seeing the show live last night I would definitly put SCV in the 5-8 group. And they'd better watch their back because Phantom Cavies and Boston could pass them up. It's interesting how a design team can give us argueably the fan favorite one year to a product that has no emotional connection to the audience. There's no doubt that this corps has talent. And the member talent will keep them probably in the top 6/7. The show design is a let down. The backdrops are a distraction, there are way too many and from far away they look like male parts. I like the pillows at the very beginning with the trombones. After that they became ridiculous watching brass members carry them all over the field. My group said they ended up watching some of the corps members struggling with the pillows instead Of enjoying the show. I don't think the drill design is a problem And there's so really nice moments. But I do think the members will have a tough time getting that drill clean. Like I said this is a 5-8 show. I really don't see Madison or BK passing them.

Ummmm.... You do realize that Cavies percussion tied bluecoats for 1st and beat the reigning drum champ cadets in Akron right?

2 things: Through the years Deb Torchia has consistently given BAC higher scores then other judges have awarded. It also been an ongoing joke that Torchia awards the Cavaliers lower scores. As soon as I heard she was a judge I knew that this would once again be the case. Not sour grapes it's history, research it. For those who are saying BAC closed the gap tonight by over 2 points on the Cavies must remember this was only partial panel. If you were to total the 3 categories not judged tonight but judged Saturday ( VP/brass/perc), cavies had a 2 point gap over BAC on Saturday. So realistically, BAC may have only gained .4 tonight. We won't know the real gap in scores until we see a full panel again

I must say that Im incredibly excited to see this show as it progresses through the summer. By watching you can just tell theres going to be many layers added to the production, you can tell theres soooo much room for more. Other corps seem to have already thrown all there eggs into the basket. I also love the fact that theres no props all over the field. This isnt meant to be a slam on any other corps. i find it refreshing to look at a clean field and see drill that spreads from end zone to end zone without surrounding clutter and drill where the members arent marching on top of each other in order to avoid the props. Come finals you potentially have 4 corps (BD/tables, Cadets/stage, Crown/trampolines, Coats/ramps) in the top 6 that rely on these items as integral parts of the show. Its only June and im starting to already feel like Ive seen this before and its losing the wow factor. I do think BD does the best job with the their use of the tables. The Bluecoats use of the ramps started to feel the most redundant to me, they do some very creative stuff. But most of the time I keep getting the image of Cadets 2012 12.25 show when the guard used the same ramps during the "do you hear what i hear" section. I agree with other posters that the ballad section of Cavies show is one of the best (along with BD and Crown).

In the pics on Facebook the corps is practicing in black marching shoes. Don't think they'd be wearing white pants with black shoes. Has been an interesting pre tour though. Haven't seen any pics of the new drums yet either. Only thing I know for sure is that the brass got all new Yamaha horns. Just a few more days till fan appreciation night. Hopefully more info will be revealed soon.

In the cavaliers blog they mention each musical movement will feature something new for the front ensemble and the performer. Exploring the field. Ensemble integration. Dynamic listening environments. Cesario also mentions in the podcast that the Cavies are the one corps he promised not to reveal information about. He does state that while everyone has guessed it will be a vampire show he jokes that there's way more to it then just vampires.

Can honestly say I'm not going to miss Lentz as a judge. His name is one I would cringe at when seeing listed on that nights panel. There's a few corps that come to mind that will definitly miss him.....and the Cavaliers are not one of them.

I don't believe its just because the Martins are joining the staff. It's also because McGrath and Crotts will be the caption heads. The quality of the team that was brought together is pretty outstanding, not to mention the insight that McGrath will have into the judging community and what is expected of the corps. The excitement lies in the fact that the Cavaliers have addressed an issue that needed fixing and in doing so have assembled a pretty darn good staff.

Wow...I was hoping for a new brass staff. Honestly never thought, it would be THIS brass staff. Unbelievable get for the Cavaliers. Absolutely incredible. When your brass caption head was the music judge for finals the past 2 years ....HUGE advantage. Not forgetting to mention the Martin combo. A hall of famer and his son. As well as Chip Crotts. The trumpets should be outstanding next year. Hopefully this announcement helps with member retention as well as makes many new young men excited to audition for the 2014 Cavaliers.

Joe Musick gone from Cavies per Facebook. Also states 2014 Brass leadership announcement forthcoming.

They made finals in 2013??? Or is that your point?...... Sorry, sometimes sarcasm is hard to tell on a computer

2000 2006 2008 In that order

Thanks Chris for clarifying. Michael Gaines was not fired from the Cavaliers. And for those of you who don't know who Chris Lugo is.....look it up

FYI...Tinkel resigned. Not "let go". I still believe that if the corps was performing later in the night Cavies drums would've been Top 5.

Tinkel did a fantastic job. In fact,much better then most expected (2011 high drums) but its exciting to hear McIntosh is back as caption head as well as designer. Now to see what happens with the brass and drill.

Cavies: Over the Rainbow Bluecoats: Autumn Leaves SCV: Send in the Clowns

Cavies had 52

You are correct. Members must house and feed themselves during pre tour.

BD Crown Cadets SCV Bloo Cavies Phantom Boston BK Madison Blue Stars Spirit