wallace

I'm going to make like Martin Luther and nail my theses concerning everything wrong with drum corps on one of the corps amps this summer The first thesis will expound the reasons why the shako of silence is like mouse droppings in the pepper grinder. Then I'll REALLY get wound up! LOL!

Yes, that was a crazy night. It really jaded my attitudes about drum corps. I knew the activity that I loved since I was a boy had irrevocably changed. There was ugliness from both sides.

The two loudest reactions I've witnessed were 1986 Blue Devils and 1995 Scouts. In '86, I thought the stands were going to collapse.

1987 Cavaliers It was a blast from beginning to end.

1. 1982 is such a fun show. It deserves more credit than it gets. 2. I miss real drum features. With extremely talented pit members coupled with electronics, a bangin' battery, and a courageous drum caption head, I cannot fathom why a knock 'em down and drag 'em out drum feature hasn't been trotted out. I grow weary of the drum snippets with the overuse of posing and bug stomping. It's time to bring out the hammer again. 3. I wish we could have more encore pieces that are FUN! Some of the best music BITD were the standstill pieces. I love the chorales and ballads, but dang! Go into the corps libraries and break out the fun stuff, for Pete's sake.

$25.00?

I just could not screw up enough courage to endure one of Hop's webinars even if he is ever so slightly lifting the shako of silence to donors. I've made it to nearly May without the fun of hyping the Cadets. What does one more month of this laughable media blackout matter?

I loved 1999. The first half of the show was pure Cadets. I loved the ballad though I didn't feel it fit well with the theme. I kept wondering what Nicholas Cage, Meg Ryan, and fallen angels had to do with New York. The ending left me a little "meh." Despite its placement, it's one of my favorite Cadets shows.

...until they want our money. Then, we matter, but only as long as the cash keeps rolling in.

I was there that night! LOL!

Networks aren't going to give up ad revenue for anyone but marquis bands. Even then, I doubt the entire show would be aired.

#fakemath

I remember when that Lion King lick was all the rage among bandos. All the kiddies wanted to learn it particularly the last few measures with all the fireworks. It was fun to hear it the first ten thousand times, but after that... ...UGH!

Cheese goes great with beef.

There will be no hyperbole this season-only genuflection (or genuflexion if you prefer the French derivation).

It's all cool. I didn't get upset at any of the comments in the thread, for I fully understand what the corps proper uniform represents. Like I said before, I am in total agreement with your sentiment. I prefer the traditional garb, and if anyone could offer a real world solution to its weakness in choreography while keeping the corps competitive in the upper tier of finalists then I'll be the first one off the thematic costuming bandwagon. I, however, am finding that shows as great as 83-85 would not win in today's Visual and GE environment, and I regrettably doubt that great music and marching alone are enough anymore to secure a championship.

Yet, the last two Cadets championships its uniforms were radically changed to fit the show theme and to garner visual and GE points, but there's NO evidence to support the notion that creating a complete thematic palette would influence judging.

Listen, I understand your point, but look who is winning compared to the Cadets' stagnancy. I'm with you. I prefer the corps proper uniform; however, you still haven't presented a solution to fix its problems with choreography. Honestly, it looks horrible. If you can give a credible idea I'll be the first one to jump off the bandwagon. However, in 2015 and 2016, neither BC or BD topped 98 which I consider weak years competitely, and we weren't close in the captions that win championships.

Also, as I've joked in the past, the judges never embraced the TEN idea. I still contend all of them were lit majors who hated mathematics.

The only settled matter is BD and Crown, who embraced theme in their uniforms, fared better especially in the Visual and GE captions which recent history proves the Cadets are not as proficient.

It wasn't the uniform per se that tanked 2015. It was the slow reaction to adjust the entire color palette and the feet once the visual dirt reared its ugly head. The supporting colors changed from a vibrant autumnal package to basically neon green. Honestly, it was a huge strategic error to make the wholesale palette change so late in the season. Also, we could speculate the opposite of your point. Had the change not occurred did the show have enough gas to medal?

If anyone can offer a real world solution to overcome the corps proper uniform's weakness in the choreographic and thematic requirements needed to score well in the visual and GE captions I would love to read it. Now, if alumni are happy with the corps being consistently in the lower tiers of the top twelve to keep the uniform then I can accept it; however, we are deluded to think it can currently compete with the push from other staffs. Maybe the trend will cycle back to the traditional, but I doubt it. One of the tenets that formed DCI was creative freedom and innovation, and like it or not, innovation has defined the modern Cadets. In matter of fact, innovation has become one of the Cadets' hallmark traditions as much as its uniform. Can anyone honestly say recent iterations of our beloved corps have embraced innovation?

Regarding the traditional uni: It needed to be updated, for it does not work well with the choreography that, much to my chagrin, is a visual requirement nowadays. It gladdens me the corps colors are making a return, but as Tekk said, it's more about resuming the corps' competitive position that we've grown accustomed to. Great marching just is not enough anymore.

God bless them!

I just don't buy Jeff being purposefully constrained. Perhaps an argument could be made for 2008 and 2014 because of the stages and Oprah tarps, but 2015's drill, IMHO, was crazy good. Any group of coworkers who has been together for a significant period will occasionally disagree, but Jeff was going through a rough patch personally. It's understandable, at least to me, if he wanted a change of scenery. I'm thankful that he shared his talent with the Cadets for so long, and though I'm a big ol' homer, I will be rooting for him to succeed at Crown.