George Dixon

I really like this song. Great selection as always by BD

your list closely mimics mine: Everyone. Especially Crown, Cadets, Cavaliers, Academy, Oregon and also in my case, Crossmen, Troopers, Blue Knights, Blue Coats...

probably a clever term for more practice :)

sent you a PM

So a bit more from rehearsal yesterday... The corps has the opener on the field, the second tune (other than last 15 or so sets), and the ballad on the field So far the show is very "intense" with several dramatic moments and quite a bit of body movement, more of a "modern dance" or "lyrical" style than we've seen from them in the past The corps is quite loud and puts out some great quality of sound. They were busy working on things such as general dynamics during the ensemble and brass rehearsal I saw. So bigger picture things obviously this time of the year... There was no violin solo at rehearsal, I would imagine (she) is arriving soon. They have some violin solo playing out of the pit right now in the electronic underpinnings of the show - which if performed live, should sound great I do think the violin addition suits the program well. Should layer on the emotional nature of the music/staging appropriately The brass soloist was present at rehearsal. He is a ringer, as expected, with a terrific orchestra quality tone. He is currently being mic'd and amp'd (as are the french horns during their difficult feature on the stage) -- corps needs to work on settings for amplification and reverb, or lose the amplification idea altogether. These are currently very out of balance with the rest of the ensemble and come out of a speaker that also places them geographically (spatially) out of synch with the ensemble. So work to do there... The music/show is quite dark, sad, there's an underlying feeling of loss or death or betrayal - so in this way, the black cadet uniforms seem to make a lot of sense The guard is ahead of last year at this juncture. I personally prefer the guard work, staging and choreography. The weapons line seems extremely talented. The guard in general appeared younger than the past couple seasons, but with a lot of talent The guard is very featured throughout - so hopefully they build on this early potential, as the success of the emotional aspect of the program will depend heavily on them The weapon and silk work displayed so far (although incredibly dirty and rough as it was just learned) appears to be much more modern and "whole body" vs. utilizing just the upper body Brass ensemble itself puts out an amazing sound. I'd place them on par with last years line, but I personally prefer this year's arrangements and staging. The tendency is to play in little clusters at standstill during their hardest "featured" moments - ala BD, And like BD, they also have key moments of extreme musical challenge on the move. The drill is allowing them to put out incredible quality of sound and staging them appropriately. Pit seems improved from last year. Some very musical writing with a bit more electronic underpinnings at this stage than last season. A very movie-like underscore for the entire production. Several keyboard features during the portion of the show I saw yesterday. Battery is a monster once again. The snares and base line are on par with last year (possibly improved, but too early to say for sure) while the tenors seems a notch above last year as a set. If you remember, that was an area of turnover for the first half of last season - may have cost them the drum trophy in the end Battery has a wonderful feature right down front during the first 3rd of the program - something missing the past couple years IMO There are 3 "props" or stages - two on the field as raised platforms for the violin and trumpet soloists. Those were being "recreated" yesterday using stacked "10" boxes from 2015. I'm sure a more permanent stage is in the works. The guard uses these to store equipment and large scarfs/panels they dance with during the ballad. This allows them to switch equipment somewhere other than the sidelines. These field stages are well incorporated into the drill and serve to anchor several features of dance and/or musical features (plus the solos) The front "stage" is long and very low, runs about 5 yards in front of the front sidelines down the entire field from say 15 yard line to 15 yard line (it wasn't set up last night so a guess on my part). It is about 2 feet high and has ramps connecting it backwards to the field so members can just run up for features During the opener the the guard (on silk) utilize the front stage. The second tune sees the french horn solo and weapons feature (some nice rifle work) utilize the stage During the ballad (as it pushes forward during the build) several brass players (upper/mid) and a few featured dancers use the front stage before they "drift" back as the ballad subsides The Cadets are using 3 conductors - 1 each on the front 35's and one on the 50 back field My favorite portion so far is the ballad, very powerful emotionally Should be a good season for the Cadets, I'm personally quite exited by the design and hard working/talented members

I'm really excited to see them this year. Especially after seeing Cadets rehearse today. It sounds like we will have a great season this summer!

It is all good I literally just meant they had 7 on the field at this stage vs about 4 last year. As far as better, it is too early to say other than I personally prefer the staging and choreography this year.

Wow. Two lectures. 1 for making predictions when I wasn't making predictions and another for saying that no one was making predictions

Calm down. No one is making any predictions They are ahead with 7 minutes on the field.

Way ahead. Especially the guard. They've been transformed into an expressive modern dance troop

I'm in Johnstown visiting the members I sponsor. Corps heading into dinner break. Smalls at 630 then ensemble All sections appear ahead of last year Staging I've seen so far appears strong Lots of small ensemble features

agreed. The guard work and staging looks extremely strong. I have a good vibe as well that I never got the past 2 seasons... the brass and drums are just incredible, so it will literally come down to visual on how far they can take this :)

Hopkins did a live Facebook video a short while ago showing the construction of the large and low front platforms. Essentially it consists of 2015s boxes connected by long panels and ramps. The video is available on his fb page

Good point. I should label as dci championships. Will go back and do that.

Sounds awesome. Can't wait to see them.

Cadets brass sounding cray cray

I don't think that's safe to say at all... I'm thinking they are utilizing more staging (indoor guard/percussion approach) than drill (especially in the 3rd tune aka ballad but not so much a ballad) and in regards to choreographed moments Darryl isn't going to take the Cadets to a completely different place. As you mentioned the Cadet drill approach is in his DNA So a continuity - and a fresh start, at once I'm even more excited (interested) in the guard caption. That guard is WORKING. Time to spin after dinner at 11pm??!! Work it :)

here this may help as we make our predictions: DCI Championships: Only 9 corps have ever won the title (including 3 ties): Blue Devils 17 titles (2 ties) The Cadets 10 titles (1 tie) The Cavaliers 7 titles (1 tie) Santa Clara Vanguard 6 titles (1 tie) Madison Scouts 2 titles Phantom Regiment 2 titles (1 tie) Anaheim Kingsmen 1 title Star of Indiana 1 title Carolina Crown 1 title Last Year's Rankings 1 Blue Devils 97.650 2 Carolina Crown 97.075 3 Bluecoats 96.925 4 The Cadets 95.900 5 Santa Clara Vanguard 93.850 6 Blue Knights 91.850 7 Phantom Regiment 90.325 8 Madison Scouts 88.750 9 The Cavaliers 88.325 10 Boston Crusaders 86.800 11 Blue Stars 85.150 12 Crossmen 85.025

I think "flex drill" is really what we are talking about here in regards to Cadets. So far the drill this year is a little less flex, a little more geometric

you learned a valuable lesson - don't participate in any Crown conversation unless your post reads something like "OMG!!! Best EVER ever ever" / otherwise your personal character and motivations get dragged thru the mud. Meanwhile - I agree with the other point being made. Some of the corps programs can be a bit hard to figure out (see the animal farm Boston show, which I saw countless times with confused audiences)... Crown's programs tend to be both a straight-forward, enjoy on the surface approach as well as more layered in meaning (such as the spectrum flags in their 2014 show)... Some corps (unlike Crown) tend to forget that on the surface in ONE viewing it should still be entertaining I for one think the corps that get that combination right year after year tend to do the entire activity a lot of good

NO doubt whatsoever. Also of course Zingali and Marc - just great drill guy after great drill guy... I recently watched the 99 and 00 productions - some terrific drill moments. The winding/unwinding moment in 2000 was so "simple" an idea, but executed so brilliantly. One of those moments no one can forget. Also the "waterfall" pass thru in the closing moments!!

CG love in this latest behind the scene Rocky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53nfORfx-UA

Thanks for sharing The more I see the more excited I get I love that they are going out of their comfort zone a bit Hearing good things about the guard also The brass sounds freaking incredible. Almost an orchestral sound but loud as crap. And as we know, loud is good.

I was on a plane and didn't get to see it either. I guess the intent is to drive "live viewers" and remove the videos so the show is watched 10,000 times before the first competition. Given how last season played out I can understand. Anyway - I agree with others comments in general from what I have been able to learn/hear/discover/watch/listen to: 1. 2016 Cadets will have a very fresh visual approach 2. So far the guard seems to be off to a very strong start 3. The drill so far seems like a mix of Cadets approach and a more fresh approach. More staging, less flex drill 4. The music is ahead of last year. Both percussion and brass 5. The "new" chemistry will either lock in quickly or may hurt them competitively. I would think a "quick start" would help mitigate that 6. The corps will have 7-8 of show on the field by Sunday. Proof positive that standing/clustering/emoting creatively is a little faster to field than 300 pages of drill 7. Assuming a cleaner guard, the epic horn and drum lines should keep the Cadets top 3 this year. Time will tell Here's my picks for Championships given everything as they are now. I'll post updated picks July 1: George Dixon, on 23 May 2016 - 7:58 PM, said: