Olive

This was a wonderful of evening of drum corps. Truly entertaining as far as indoor shows go. Cabs had an strange ensemble moment towards the end of their performance. I was surprised to see their stage set up was different than some of the other corps. Maybe that had something to do with it. Nothing some tracking wont fix. Fusion was so much fun. They will be a highlight of DCA's entertainment factor this season. If this season is anything like last season Cabs brass will get better and better as the season progresses. Fusion brass will basically stay the same from wildwood on. Maybe it has something to do with the age of the corps or the instruction. Cabs staff know how to get it going when the season is progressing and Fusion doesn't have it as figured out yet. Maybe some staff changes are coming, bringing in some experienced instructors might be what fusion needs to get over their stagnant brass improvement last few seasons. Highlight of the evening was Fusion drum line. They seem to have it figured out. Looking forward to wildwood!!!

Bushwackers have been more interested in looking and sounding like a World Class DCA establishment these last few years. Last year they even broke 90 at my local show in Bridgeport. If they are making the same progress they made in the last 3 years, they can call the performers in the Color Guard anything they want. Looking forward to see a thought provoking, challenge taking drum corps again in 2015. Being different is what I love about this corps when they were at their competitive best. Thank you for designing shows that is forward thinking and fan friendly. GO BUSH!! Olive

Congratulations to Mr. Hammond. Does anyone know why he was fired from all of his other responsibilities? There must have been something. Mr. Hopkins likes his employees to be proactive and accountable. C2 did always have a really slow start every season they have been out. Is that a reflection of Mr. Hammond's managing style? There must be a reason why he wasn't just let go of C2. There were many housing situations this year during the tour of C1. Did that have something to do with it?

Bucs performance. Epitome of a peaked performance. These guys (and the other "B" corps) are changing what entertainment is. Cabs were just great. If there were hearts to be won over, they won them. Can't wait to see these guys next year. Excellence of fusions guard. I wish the work was more interesting. C2 percussion. Could have won if the rest of the corps was better. Bushwackers being entertaining in their unique way. This is my corps to watch next year. Can't wait to see what this design team comes up with next year. White Sabers!!!!!! I don't understand why they aren't open class and why they wear empire shirts under the uniforms. Govies' brass arrangements are perfect EVERY YEAR

This is turning into an applause - meter. Who can make the audience applaud the loudest. There was a drum corps handing out blue cards to their alumni which had a guide when the audience members were too applaud. If steel city would have had that years ago they wouldn't have been leapfrogged like this year.

Bridgeport scores yet?

Mr. Ream Would you be able to give some insight into these questions I posted in another thread. Thanks Is Cadets2 really ONLY 4 points behind the Bucs? I thought that would be a bigger difference Is Bush really 4 points behind Cadets2. I thought that would be much smaller. White Sabers - WOW!!! of all the "a" groups that went "open" it looks they should have been one of them. What's going through the mind of a judge when the are finalizing each score and also what justifies the difference between the two particular scores?

Does anyone have a Review for this past weekends' Downingtiwn show? Congratulation to the Buccaneers!! That'll be a big boost in confidence for them. Is Cadets2 really ONLY 4 points behind the Bucs? I thought that would be a bigger difference Is Bush really 4 points behind Cadets2. I thought that would be much smaller. White Sabers - WOW!!! of all the "a" groups that went "open" it looks they should have been one of them. What's going through the mind of a judge when the are finalizing each score and also what justifies the difference between the two particular scores? Any info on the would be interesting to read about.

The Grand Prix!!!!!! This will be the best one I've been to since 2011! It looks like a lot of these groups are TRUE drum corps. I'll be on the 45 with the family. Come say hi

Is this a show announcement.

This seems like an exciting opportunity for someone who doesn't play a brass instrument but loves drum corps. Olive

Bob Jacobs is one of the greatest guys in drum corps!! Honest Integrity Always treats his people well Cares about his members and now this!!! Olive

Don't we find out what Cadets2 is all about on Thursday? All the questions will finally be answered.

What happens if Cadets2 doesn't field a corps? Has this question been brought up yet? Will Mr. Hopkins let a small drum corps compete under the "Cadets" name? Personally speaking, I don't think Cadets2 will win for a few years. Olive

What a great addition to the momentum Fusion has going for themselves. Last year's brass writing was also well crafted. Who was that person? Why is he no longer with the corps? Olive

I'm happy that the OP had his/her questioned answered (even though we had to listen to all the other corps representatives chime in on an entire different subject matter) I'm not sure why you all think that's ok. Olive

Sorry Sayre. I must have been thrown by the SUBJECT of the thread and the actual advice from you and others not being an answer to the SUBJECT of the thread. Way to continue the hinderence of DCA's growth. Please don't respond to me without being more right. Olive

Sometimes when I can't find something I use a search engine such as google, yahoo, bing or ask. I'm sure there are more. I think people are afraid of Cadets2 and the offseason competition is rearing it's ugly head. Cheers!!! Olive

Does anybody else feel bad for the origianl poster besides me. The OP asked about Cadets 2 not any of the other drum corps that responded. I am sure that if someone from C2 would have posted in a seperate thread asking about a seperate drumcorps some of you would be up in arms. Please stop living in a double standard world. To the original poster - The director for the Cadets2 is Eric Kitherman. Here is his address Eric@yea.org Hope this helps Olive

This is going to be another great season for DCA. Here is something that maybe noone has thought. It is taking 2 promotions and 1 consultant to replace Rich Hammond. Rich must be one special person. Olive

Pre-Judging can do that. And the Jim Ott is only awarded on one night. Olive

Is there any speculation who the instructional staff will be? Are the entire brass and percussion staff from The Buccaneers the last few years going to be at Cadets2? What about Colorguard???? Olive

Mr. Brassynsassy - The crowd was applauding and cheering for all the corps. A few people around us said that the Buccaneers were in a league of their own. Mr. BJenner - Since you have been drum corps since 1974 I'm sure I don't need to tell you that what the numbers are and how effective the drill is are two different things. I already acknowledged that the corps has gotten much better. Mr. Jami - Since you read my review you know that I said the front ensemble sounds like a front ensemble. Kudos to you for playing as well as you did on borrowed equipment. Mr. Katz - I agree with you. Mine is just an opinion. I'm not sure what the difference between a review and a critique is, but it's still my opinion. I think at the end of the season when you watch and compare the two shows, you will agree that the final product of 2007 is on a different production value that the final product of 2011. I think I will be able to make it out to Secaucus. Mr. Tenntux, will you be at that show? I would love to sit with you. Have a good night and best of luck to all the corps this weekend. Olive

Good Evening (or morning should I say?) Just got back from the Jersey Shore and we had a splendid weekend. Luckily we changed our plans and did the Seaside Boardwalk on Friday as our original plan was to go on Sunday. Saturday we spent a majority of the day on the beach. What a great day for a Drum Corps show. The last time I wrote a review, I tried to not hurt anyones feelings. After reading other reviews and the comments that followed that review, I figured I would be a little more, let's say, less reserved. Please don't crucify me, i'm just being a little more honest.... We got their a little late and caught the very end of "The Banner", which also meant we didn't have the best seats in the house. As you are looking at the field, we were on the 30 on the left side. First on were The Sunrisers. These guys have made major improvements since their performance in Wayne, NJ. Specifically speaking, the costuming and the musical performances. If this season ended on Saturday you could say that the rebuilding of The Sunrisers is a success. I personally hope that they can bring back all of the new Drum Corps people they have created and build from there. Hold on to the designers and add some techs and this group will make strides in the future. Welcome back!!! Next on was Carolina Gold. All I have to say about this group is that they are FUN FUN FUN!!!!! The 2 soloists are soprano gymnasts. Playing in the stratosphere with great strength and endurance. The show is a blast to watch. For an "A" corps if they get a little more detail oriented, this program has championship legs. Fusion on the other hand, has made drastic improvements to their show. Since I saw them last, they have gotten clean and have increased the difficulty on the performer. The guard seems a couple weeks behind the musicians but they have what it takes in their book. I have to mention that the duet in the middle of the program is cute. Someone in the stands said that the two performers are married and are the founders of the corps. That is very sweet. To compare these two "A" class corps is difficult. Fusion is clean/safe and might be close to maxing out their show. Gold can use the next few weeks before nationals to clean their show, which is a good thing because they have something to clean. It seems what the hornline is playing is a little more challenging for Gold than for Fusion and the other way around for the drumline. Either way, Fusion and Gold are going to make the "A" class finals enjoyable to all that can make it to Ra-cha-cha. The Caballeros from Hawthorne, NJ were next. It was yet again a privilege to hear the Great Frank Ponzo playing on the field with this group. He sounded great at Wayne and sounded AMAZING on Saturday night. This group gets the "MOST IMPROVED" award from me. The progress they have made is miraculous. The hornline sounds like a hornline now and the Front Ensemble is playing together with musicianship. They are marching the drill better for sure. The drill itself is very awkward. Lots of incomplete thoughts and uncomfortable transitions. This is not a performance criticism at all, as a matter of fact, I think the performers are doing the best they can with what they have, which isn't much. The guard performs the heck out of their show. I'm not sure they have gotten much better than the last time I saw them in Wayne. Maybe it has something to do with their warm up. They originally began their warm up right behind the stands and were quite distracting during Sun's performance. I'm assuming they were asked to move, because they did. Knowing how important a warm up is, I hope the instructors plan ahead next time and understand that they can really ruin a performance with a bad warm up. Moving forward Caballeros, please reconsider what you want from your Drill guy and your Drumline Guy. If you can make some changes there, I'm sure you will get out of this 4 year middle of the pack slump you are having. Please bring back whatever it was you were doing with the Carmen show in 2008. That show was EXCELLENT. I thought you should have won that year. Next on were the Buccaneers. I'm not sure about what everyone else saw out there, but it is safe to say that they are not as strong as we think they are. Or at least they weren't on Saturday. This is not the Buccaneer drum corps we are used to seeing in the middle of August. Don't get me wrong, they weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination. They are simply not as polished as you would have wanted them to be at this time in the season. Lots of performance errors which led to many distractions from the hornline. The end of the show was strange. It was like watching TV during a thunderstorm. Lots of static with the picture and sound going in and out. You can somewhat understand what the performers are playing and what the drill is supposed to be but it doesn't make alot of sense at this time. This definitely needs some TLC going into the next few weeks. On the other hand, I LOVE THIS COLORGUARD!!!!! So much detail, so much musicality, so much to watch. Even the Ballet Bars (which I understand what they are now) made so much sense. This Hornline and Drumline can really play well at times. I would have liked my last impression with the Buccaneers to not have been a sour one. This Bucs Drum Corps could be the best one of the championships, if they want it to be. Moving forward, change nothing. All of the designers and instructors should stay the same. This drum corps seems to have the best of the best working for them. Maybe the Cabs need to reach into the Alumni and find the funds to get the Buccaneers' Drill person. Our host Drum Corps were The Bushwackers. Last time we saw you, the show wasn't done. This time, the show is completed. Good luck to you for the rest of the season and start cleaning. We all want to see the mighty Bushwackers back where they belong in the top of the pack. I know there has been a much needed administration change. Is this the reason why the corps is so small and young? I'm curious as to what the last Administration did to do this to this once admired organization. Moving forward, leave the drumline instructor alone and see if you can get someone like him/her for the other sections. The Bushwackers get the "Little Engine that could Award" Good Luck to all of you in the next few weeks and at Nationals Olive

Hello I'm a little bothered with this thread. The premise of the title of this thread is worrisome. What does a drum corps that doesn't even exist yet have so many people worried about? The OP of this thread began with the assumption that Cadets2 is going to kill other corps by taking membership. Another poster is worried the Mr. Hopkins is going to try and alter the rules of instrumentation. Rules are decided by all the members corps, Cadets2 not being one. If the Members decide to alter the rules of instrumentation, the members corps will vote on it. Some of you have shown support to drumcorps that have barely put out a quality product in years and years and yet you have already passed judgement on a drumcorps that doesn't even have a membership to teach. OR a show to perform. I am asking the moderators of this DCP to shut this down. If any other corps was being slandered like this, you would do so without hesitation. Please do not have a double standard. Thank you Olive ps I would appreciate it if more people took advantage of proper spelling, grammar and punctuation.