GREENBLUE

Just posted this in the Atlanta topic, thought it could be relevant here. Blue Knights: what a difference a month makes! Saw the show live in Arizona and thought they'd be lucky to make Finals. So happy I was wrong. I really, really liked this show and their design choices. Such an improvement. Congrats! There is no way this show is not making finals, and Spirit better watch out, this show can catch them. Cavies: You have my vote for most improved. This show is sooooo entertaining and the guys know how to perform the hell out of it. Im not sure why the guard is getting criticized so much, the drill has them all over the field and the book seems to be just as hard as everyone infront of them. As a whole, the drill looks a thousand times better then earlier in the season and the musical/visual transitions make sense now. No matter where the men in green place, I have a feeling they're gonna be a crowd favorite in Indy. I cant't wait to see this show live. It may not be your traditional drum corps show, but #### did it make me smile. Including today, Cavies have 5 practice days before Indy, alot can still be added and cleaned. Are they gonna medal, no. Could they surprise someone infront of them, absolutely.

FINALLY got to watch Atlanta. Blue Knights: what a difference a month makes! Saw the show live in Arizona and thought they'd be lucky to make Finals. So happy I was wrong. I really, really liked this show and their design choices. Such an improvement. Congrats! Cavies: You have my vote for most improved. This show is sooooo entertaining and the guys know how to perform the hell out of it. Im not sure why the guard is getting criticized so much, the drill has them all over the field and the book seems to be just as hard as everyone infront of them. As a whole, the drill looks a thousand times better then earlier in the season and the musical/visual transitions make sense now. No matter where the men in green place, I have a feeling they're gonna be a crowd favorite in Indy. I cant't wait to see this show live. It may not be your traditional drum corps show, but #### did it make me smile.

I must admit i'm pretty impressed with the reactions that the OP has gotten. When I first started reading the post I thought for sure there would be a -23 at the bottom. lol. Here's my read on the show: While I enjoy the show, I don't love it. It appears as if they're trying too hard. It's a visual design that just isnt quite their style. I've read where people compare them to earlier Cadets and I agree, but with one big difference. If you watch the Cadets, their drill design moves with a purpose, it flows. When I watch Crown this year, while I think the drill design is very demanding, I really dont't get the flow. It feels as if its marching just to march. There are no real transitions between sets and not much design when the set hits. Personally, I'd prefer them to go back to the 2007-2011 style shows and up the difficulty on the design. I found them more entertaining. I commend the members on marching this drill, but watching last night, it just isnt clean. Lines aren't there, spacing issues, body placement, forms are not hitting. I think the judges are being very generous in the GE Vis and Vis categories. Once again, kudos to their Brass, unbelievable (1st, maybe 2nd if BD is on fire). Drumline, definitly think 6th/7th is about the right placement (BD, Cadets, Cavies, SCV, Bloo infront of them, phantom/crown interchangeable). Guard, I'm sorry, but visually they get lost, I do see some great tosses occasionally, and the cubes. But, as mentioned a million times before, where's the color? Again, where's that flambouyant guard we've come to enjoy in the past? Crown doesn't feel like Crown to me this year. Maybe thats good for them, they are in contention for a medal. I just wish they could've done it while staying true to their identity. I don't feel like I'm watching the same corps.

Call me a honk, but I think it'll be interesting to see what the Cavies can do going into these last few weeks. Tonight they're coming off 2.5 days of rehearsal time, so hopefully they implemented some much needed changes/GE additions and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned the other parts of the show. Will they debut them in Arkansas or wait till Murfreesboro or Atlanta? I don't know. I do think however, that out of all the top 13 right now, this show has the most room to grow and in the process may pull off a few surprises.

TRUE STORY: When I was in college I was on the Interfraternity Council, our campus had 23 fraternities (sound familiar), about a dozen thrived and every rush got the highest quality men and received the highest dues. These fraternities had the biggest houses and were the most popular. Another 8 of these fraternities, while not being the biggest, were quite essential to our greek community and still managed to draw in a good sized membership. Then there were the last few. While having great men, they were the smallest houses and struggled year in and year out to fill a pledge class and meet their financial responsibilities. My last year on the council one of the smaller fraternities decided to close its chapter.Before the decision was made we (IFC) met with their exec board to try and fix the problem....you know what the problem was? In order to keep their membership numbers and compete with pledge class numbers, this particular house had no financial obligations from their members. They were so in need to keep their current brothers and to attract new members, that when it was time to collect the money, they didnt have the courage to do it. In actuallity, the brothers lost their fraternity because they werent willing to keep up with their financial resposibilites and the fraternity folded because the exec board was so afraid that they would lose membership if they pushed too hard. My point is, it sounds like Teal was happy to have their membership numbers, but was afraid to push their nonpaying members away. Im pretty sure that BD, Cavies, Phantom, Cadets, etc... hold their members to their financial commitment. But then again, they can be more selective because their membership pool is alot bigger then someone like Teal. Good luck to them in their future endeaavors and I hope to see them on a football field sooner rather then later.

And that my friend is one of the things I like least about drum corps.

Not making any excuses for the Cavies, but I know they marched a parade today and performed at the town (Rosemont) picnic. I'm guessing not much rehearsal time. I am impressed they were able to jump in front of Boston.

Ive been to finals every year since 2004, i see as many shows on the west coast as possible. Some years I do the texas circuit, other years the east coast/allentown circuit. My point being, Ive seen numerous crowds in all parts of the country, and I see the same reaction no matter where I am. I HAVE seen Phantom and Boston and Santa Clara this year and crowd was not throwing babies or jumping out of their seats. While I do enjoy some of the "old tricks", ie. Madisons rotating company front, I do not want to see every corps doing their "best ofs" every season. Allentown, supposedly, has the most knowledgeable, "seasoned", fans. Its these fans last year who ruined the shows for me. Each night they criticized any show that used synth, the shows that used bright colors, the shows that used sound bytes, the shows that didnt feature a melody for at least 3 minutes, etc... DCI as an activity has evolved, i just feel as fans we need to evolve as well. I dont want every corps to be doing a cookie cutter show, thats what makes the activity so great. Everyone has a right to like what they like, but when Im at a show I dont want to listen to everything thats wrong. Its drum corps people, lets enjoy it!

If theres any question at all, theres hundreds of pics on Cavies facebook and not a one shows a girl in the 13/14 member pit.

Personally, I love the fact that he's standing up for his men. Its disgusting some of the things people are writing on facebook (and these forums). I saw someone write that the 9 dollar signs on the drums, represent 9th place that the Cavies drumline is gonna get. Or 15 must represent 15th place that the Cavies are going to place. To hear about how the shows a "joke" and people are laughing at the show...really? Do you know how many shows in the the 20+ years i've been following drum corps, that have been way more a "joke" then Cavies 2012? Everyone keeps asking "whats wrong with DCI", "whats wrong with drum corps"? I think the fans are alot to do with the problem. Its these "armchair quarterbacks" that are hurting the activity. When I marched, the stands were full and the crowds would jump to their feet mulitple times during the show. Corps woulding get standing O's before taking the field, there was passion and enjoyment from the fans. Now when I go to shows, I listen to people constantly complain about the shows, people politely clap at the end of a performance, people criticize every decision a corps is making. Back in the day, people went to shows for the love not only of their favorite corps, but for the love of the activity. Now, most only show love for their favorite. Did we ever stop to think, that its us, as fans, who need to make some adjustments and not DCI? As fans we need to stop with the "vulture" attitude (stop going in for the kill) and find ways to support the corps, no matter if they're in first or 22nd. Remember, Cavies may be having an "off year" in 2012, but that could be your favorite corps in 2013.

just checked out the recaps, surprised that no one noticed there was no Percussion judge.The percussion score was actually the same score as musical analysis. Not to take anything away from Spirits performance tonight, but they were the definite benefactors of not having the percussion judge. on 7/6 with a percussion judge: Coats 15.2 Cavies 14.8 madison 14.7 spirit 13.4 on 7/7 NO percussion judge sub music score: Coats 16.0 madison 15.3 spirit 15.1 cavies 15.0 if you look at the score increase in one night (with no judge): spirit +1.7 coats +.8 madison +.6 cavies +.2 Again, not trying to take away from spirit, but the scores are a little tainted. Odds are if there was a percussion judge tonight, Cavies would have still placed higher then spirit. please dont shoot the messenger

just checked out the recaps, surprised that no one noticed there was no Percussion judge.The percussion score was actually the same score as musical analysis. Not to take anything away from Spirits performance tonight, but they were the definite benefactors of not having the percussion judge. on 7/6 with a percussion judge: Coats 15.2 Cavies 14.8 madison 14.7 spirit 13.4 on 7/7 NO percussion judge sub music score: Coats 16.0 madison 15.3 spirit 15.1 cavies 15.0 if you look at the score increase in one night (with no judge): spirit +1.7 coats +.8 madison +.6 cavies +.2 Again, not trying to take away from spirit, but the scores are a little tainted. Odds are if there was a percussion judge tonight, Cavies would have still placed higher then spirit. please dont shoot the messenger

Have the Cascades ever been this close to beating the Cavaliers? Do you think they will catch up? It is finally great to see some competition in World Class. Really pleased to see the Crossmen back. Are you being serious?

Thats what I find most interesting about DCP,,,for years people have been complaining that the Cavies dont march and play enough and that their shows all seem to be the "same". Now, that their marching and playing more and have a changed up show design people on here are saying the organization should R.I.P. "cause its not like the Cavies from the last 10 years." Which one is it? Last year people said that the Cavies, had too many gimmicks and tricks, and also showed them too early in the season. This year the staff has decided to hold back on giving the audience too much too soon, and suddenly the Cavaliers "will be lucky to stay in the top eight".

Judges: Vis Effect- Bret Mascaro Music Effect- Jay Kennedy Vis Ani- Mark Metz Mus Ani- Albert Lo Music Brass- Lynda Eubanks I know there are some pretty big spreads in scoring right now with Crown,Cadets,Cavies. But,It'll be interesting to see if those tighten up when you add Percussion/Guard/Visual Prof scores back into the mix. Also a factor right now seems to be the GE taking a hit for incomplete shows or just learned closers.

ill be there...write a review after show

Generally when I think of the season I expect BD, Cavies and Cadets to be in the top 5. I believe since 1990, only twice has one of The Cadevaliers not been in it. Lately Crown has taken over the fourth spot. That only leaves one "wildcard", which comes from one of the Phantom, Bluecoats or SCV. These generally make up your top 7. I think the surprise is more likely to happen at the 8th spot with Boston, Madison or Blue Stars.

so from the looks of things it looks like the brass are going to take off their jackets at some point? while I dont mind the guard(it looks like typical BD guard costumes since '08), I dont care for in the slightest the "reveal" uniform for the brass. Don't their designers watch Project Runway? A thin top, with a bunch of material on the hips is never flattering. lol.

If you follow the Cavies on facebook/twitter they did a very good job of keeping their followers updated. Every day they posted interviews with members and pics from that days rehearsal. As well as updated articles, fan mail, etc...Of course I wouldve liked some more audio/video from the show, but beggars can't be choosers. I'm just happy the season officially starts tonight!!!!! Kudos as always to our friends over at the Cadets for allowing the fans to follow their season, pretty much from last November...

In the future, everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes." - Andy Warhol The Future is Now. The 2012 Cavaliers step into their next 
15 Minutes - Exploring the Silver Lining of, and the Monster better known as, "Fame." "Procession of the Divo" The camera clicks and the DIVO enters in this Juxtaposition of the Modern Celebrity set against the unexpected Classic entrance of DON JUAN. "The Fame Monster" It's all about the $$$ and Greed. The tension mounts musically; ELVIS is DEAD, Long Live 
DON GIOVANNI! "I'll step on anybody to get what I want - It's going to be a bumpy ride!" "Out Here, on My Own" The title says it ALL. Fame is a Prison, but the show must go on - Laugh, Clown Laugh. "King of the Mountain" A Celebration, an Embrace...a CLIMB to Fame that Explores the NOW of music. From GAGA to Electronica and back and forth (and back and forth). In the Now, WE ARE ALL FAMOUS FOR THIS 15 MINUTES.

i didn't know tom cruise marches in the Cavies guard.... i like em', very andy warhol meets risky business, meets the 1980's

great... now ill be humming vesti la giubba all day. in all seriousness, when its said and done I think this is gonna be a beautiful ballad. Finally the emotion i've been wanting from the Cavies

I would have to agree...the first thing that came to mind was how i thought it lacked the emotion and "raw power" that JD brought to the music. I also agree, it was good but different. I missed a reoccurring melody throughout the show like we've heard in the past as well as the transitions. To be completely honest, Nessun Dorma, while being my favorite moment of the show, still couldve given me more. ****I just listened to the show again and have figured out why I feel this way about Nessun Dorma. Usually, the piece builds until you get that huge climactic moment. This arrangement builds then gets cut short into some tempo increase, then the soloist comes back and you're like here we go now we're gonna get it...it hits then it goes quick tempo again. It never finishes the intended musical phrase. For those of you who know the piece its the "Vincero, Vin-ce-ro!" part. If you dont know the aria youtube it and you'll see what I mean. From what previous posters have said, the visual adds alot to this music. Maybe this will be the first time in years that i'll prefer Phantoms visual over Phantoms music. Its still early and has time to develop/change. Excited to see them in Arizona next week!

Thanks for the clarification...thats the problem with message forums, unless you clarify each thought things can be misinterpretted. Im glad to hear the hornline sounds phenomenal while standing still. lol. About the teaser...I know that it was not professionally done, actually their interns put it together. Hence, probably not realizing a run through might not be the best choice of musical clip. I will give them kudos for doing an amazing job of providing daily member profiles and facebook pics.

you would think that people would just enjoy the preview and stop b####### about it... And we wonder why corps dont like to release pre-season clips...hmmmm