Tad_MMA

So Boston lured those Cadets designers with cash? That's all it took?

On one hand, the 1989 Les Miz show went through roughly 47 endings before they decided on the fast, upbeat one. Ditto 1995---at one point, all the males left the field, and the females removed shakos (men going off to war, leaving the women home). Whoever came up with the Iwo Jima ending was brilliant. On the other hand, those were different times with MUCH more focused creation (and FAR more interesting music). For the last two years, it's been one excuse after another with this corps--no ending, members leaving, MOST of the designers leaving. About that: how does BD manage to keep such an intact staff for DECADES? Even in the "down" years of no medaling ('89-'93), Downey, Chandler, etc didn't bolt. The Cadets are a mere shell of who and what they used to be, and it's sadder than seeing Madison fall apart. From leading where no one could possibly follow ("Uh, WE can't do that!" --- Wayne Downey, 1983) to this. It's upsetting and a real shame. I suppose it will take their alum support to turn their backs (read: close their wallets) for something to change at this point.

I'm not a Blue Devils FAN as much as a BD APPRECIATOR. This is what they do consistently MUCH better than anyone else...with the exception of "Consistent velocity." That belonged to the Cadets of the 80s/90s and the Cavies into the 00s. It is no longer the focus, when it was back then.

Get out of my head.

Crossmen were prepared. I don't get the concept; the music is long out of my head, but as an annual bubble corps, it's hard to say they'll drop out of the 12. Blue Stars can PLAY! Tubas & Mellophones are BOSS! The feet and drill are very suspect at this point. The guard's overwriting is as wonderful as Crown's was last decade. They'll get it:) Cadets have no tradition anymore, and it's sad. Like Celebrity Death sad. Costuming? Vanguard did it in 1986. Velocity? Sacktig just wrote another Cadets drill -- for CC. Comparison points to every other corps? <cricket cricket> Top 6? Uh, don't bet your last $5. To end positively, the guard will be better this year. I didn't say YIKES like last June. Cavies: I loathed every second of last year's obnoxious cacophony; I like this year less. Rondinaro: "I am absolutely in love with the first 2/3 of (CC's) show." Ditto. The vocalist does nothing but take away from more gorgeous, luscious, tasty horn playing. I've been running around telling my DC friends about Bloo's penchant for fluking. Really, every year they've medaled, they dropped the next year (until '16). I was wrong, wrong, wrong! This is an easy #1 or #2 show. Holy wow! Like Rondo said, they "successfully reloaded."

In one regard, Zingali was quoted that the 1985 corps was the most talented with which he'd ever worked, so there's that. Also, the Cadets put out a 20-year threepeat anniversary 2-disc set. One discussion is Hopkins and Cesario; the other is Hopkins, Klesch, T. Hannum, B. Morrison, M. Twiggs, M. Sylvester. It's as good as any Blu-ray extras about the "making of..." I hope they still sell it.

His history is astounding. He went to the Cadets as a bass drummer ("I was the only one who could read music.") From that to '83 drum major to '84 staff (I think a marching tech...). In 1985, Garfield changed their show at least twice before deciding on A Bernstein Portrait. The problem was that Jim Prime's replacement (I might butcher the name) Matt Kampransky got cold feet and gave them no music. So, in MARCH (while SCV, BD and Madison had completed shows and all with repeated tunes), GH begged MK ("I'm gonna ask you one last time..."), and he reluctantly agreed. What was his first chart? "Jeremiah." Are you kidding me? And when they were trying to spiff up the ending (192 bmp), he couldn't quite find the right tone to bridge the Candide overture and the Glitter and Be Gay chart. Program coordinator M. Cesario simply told him, "Opera Buffo!" and there it was. The writing of that last 30 seconds is incredible He also attributed the genius of George Zingali's drill writing. In Klesch's words, GZ "loved the music," so Michael had to ensure that if he was to write a passage featuring a certain voice, he knew that GZ had to stage that voice properly, so 1985 was probably the most symbiotic design out there. And I'm told that ending drill is courtesy of Marc Sylvester. (Perhaps that explains the shift from the Z-pull to an S-pull. ) When the 1985 scores were announced, MK was hanging w/ J. Prime, his mentor. That's a story in itself.

I don't see SCV going anywhere. Why this summer? Since their last (co) championship, they've medaled ONCE. History is on BD's side. 2016 was their FIFTH failed attempt at a threepeat--following the first four losses was a win, so... Won in '76/'77, lost in '78, won in '79. Won in '79/'80, lost in '81; won in '82. Won in '96/'97, lost in '98; won in '99. Won in '09/'10, lost in '11; won in '12. Won in '14/'15, lost in '16; should win in '17. ipso fatso, it's a very consistent stat. Also, all five losses were within a point. Close but no cigar.

A fitting word to describe the 2016 corps is "whimsy," which is hard to pull off. The show wasn't cheesy or forced. It told a simple story simply and grabbed the audience like few others did. The hilarities of VK and Bridgemen were the "kitchen sink" aspects of their what/how. By the time VK finished their 1992 show---which was very entertaining overkill--- their last idea was "the fat lady sings..." until they blasted us with Curt Gowdy's "crocodile" at Finals (with that crowd reaction, how they held the last few phrases together still stymies me). The Academy has been more subtle, letting the audience react in its own way ("xylobones," etc.). Imagine how VK would have handled that. Overkill. The possible irony: VK followed their most popular show ever ('92) with that Looney Toons mess of '93, and they never recovered. Hopefully, The Academy will retain its roots, remember how it got here and artistically move it forward! I can only guess at their higher level of recruitment.

The Garfield Cadets' philosophy, circa 1982, was that if they ever won DCI, the next year they would change everything. Back then, ALL corps repeated at least something from the previous summer. So, 1983 was the last time they repeated a tune (Rocky Point), and they finally won. 1984 was even more amazing given the demand of the show and 13 minutes of brand new music. Ditto 1985 (most amazing was the fact that they didn't get that music until MARCH, and the time signatures for the first 7 minutes were practically abusive); new in 1986, 7, 8, 9. For whatever reason, they were going to do an entire show of Bernstein's "Mass" in 1990, but it didn't pan out. Instead, they grabbed two pieces and threw in a bunch of Bernstein (and the App Spring snippet near the end). Still, 8 of their 10 wins came with nothing rehashed-and one corps director-- and that's pretty impressive.

The 1981 & 1982 versions were entertaining and innovative in their role-playing, etc, but there was really nothing about them to propel the corps competitively. So, no state-of-the-art. OK, they were 4th in '82, but compare them to those above. They had no superlatives to outscore the top 3. In '08, they had a monster percussion section and a fantastic musical approach (performance, analysis, GE) ---just enough to overcome their ho-hum visual design/performance.

Oh, this was around long before social media. Often, the word "political" is inserted into the drum corps debate. I first heard it in June 1985 at my first live show. The chatter in the stands was that "because Finals are in Madison, DCI will make sure the Scouts win." Really, it was a rampant thought. Yes, they were better than their 3 previous years (all at #5) but in the end, not much. Some were saying that "Garfield WILL/WON'T win 3 in a row because of politics." Why did Madison finish a distant 4th in its own front yard? Politics? When using "politics" in the pejorative sense, there has to be an outcome that benefits the one(s) in control. "Pure politics" in DCI accomplishes what and for whom? For the most part, the word is an all-compassing scapegoat. .

I don't feel like reading through all these pages, so forgive any double posting. If DCI took one penny from the Feds, kiss the traditions of the Cavaliers and the Madison Scouts goodbye. No more all-male corps -- even though into the 80s, there was an entirely separate contest for "All-Girl" corps who weren't forced into their own class but chose to compete there. Anyway, Title IX would force itself into DCI and end well over 100 years of combined tradition (I know...Carmen/Alice in W-land...). To the presumed many of you here who have enjoyed so much governmental intrusion into our lives (as long as you agree, of course), be very careful for what you wish. Just because DCI has no government affiliation, what's to stop it from barging in? How about a couple of girls who want to be Cavaliers? That would certainly make news outside greater Chicago. Poor them. The mean boys won't let them play there. Acheson would be the first to roll over and play CYA. "This is a private matter and has nothing to do with the Federal Government," said no Democrat, most Republicans and 5 out of 8 Supreme Court Justices ever. As long as the Feds are at it, what's to stop them from regulating practices, FEES, travel, color guard uniforms? New copyright laws mar performances to a degree on our recordings. There is absolutely no end to the possibilities of control. Hey, why not redistribute the West Coast wealth to more struggling corps? DCI is admittedly ageist. I'm in good shape; I was great with my chops. I want to be a Cadet, even though I would have aged out 3 West Side Stories ago. Remember the young man from the U. of Louisville? Pretty decent trumpet player confined to a wheelchair, his dad marched him around on the field. (Ok, it's an amazing story, and someone made an entertaining film based on the family, so find it!) Regardless of the feels, would the Blue Devils still manage 20.0 in Visual Analysis with clunky wheelchairs messing up their half-arcs? How many corps directors are female? Black? Asian? What is the racial/gender makeup of each corps? Why was the Mexican kid cut from BD (even though she couldn't spin a flag in a Maytag dryer)? Careful now. It all sounds silly, but is it? DCI would have MOUNDS AND MOUNDS of paperwork, rules, regulations through Government Watchdogs ("We're only here to help."). And like any bloated government program, the NEA gets a set amount of money and MUST spend that in order to Oliver Twist for more the next fiscal year. Where are the receipts? I'd like to see how much goes to instruments, choir books and art supplies.

So they "re-re-told" it in 1989 with an all-female guard...

Just wondering: they'd always had a female color guard until 1987 (costumed prop people of 1986 aside). Why did they mix in 1987 and 1988 but then revert to all female in 1989?

Cadets 2005 was incredibly clean. Probably their cleanest overall effort since 1983 (with an astronomically improved drumline). As great as BD '14 was (it jumped to my #2 favorite show of all time), it's major "accomplishment" was the record score. SCV still holds the record for margin of victory (ok, 2.5 vs 2.475 is splitting hairs, but it IS the record); somehow the threepeat has eluded BD after FIVE shots at it (SCV had one shot---nobody else won twice in a row other than the 2 threepeaters); and that huge margin of victory in 2014 still couldn't get them 1st place in every subcaption (let alone a caption award sweep). '05 Cadets are the only corps to do that (with marginally interesting music). The fact that the last two winners dropped 2 full points after BD's incredible score might be a conscious effort or just that the groups have been "1991" good.

Given that, would you say that 1991 was the "worst" year (1984-2016 inclusive)? Star won with 97.0; one in the 96 range; one in 95 range. It IS all relative. For fun, compare 2014 with 2005. Which 2nd/3rd place pair was better? 2014 Bloo/Cadets (97.1+/96.8+) or 2005 Cavies, Phantom? (97.6+/96.8+)? I say 2005. Had 2014 competed against 2005 #2/3, might Felliniesque have scored higher?

Oh good grief. Now DCI members who gain a little fame need safe spaces. Not one bad thing has been written here about Jacob -- -quite the contrary. If he had completely blown the solo, we might bring it up in sympathy, but I doubt people would guffaw. Frankly, I really didn't care for the forgettable 1989 BD show, but when the sop soloist struggled (a kind way of putting it) Finals night, I really doubt many were laughing at him. It was very uncomfortable. By the way, I had a great deal to say about the Cadets' representation on "Clash of the Corps" and none of it at all positive, so I just stayed away. Oog. The entire reason for the thread was asking the kid's age to see if The Academy would feature him again in '17. Now, perhaps in an alternate universe, BD will finish second for the next 3 years, losing to The Academy in his age-out year.

rr, Sorry I started this thread and violated your safe space.

I said the same thing! He really has a lot of talent---anybody can learn to play a horn, but the innate expressiveness he has can only be encouraged. Anybody know his name? It reminds me of the greatest M*A*S*H episode (because it had nothing to do with Alan Alda)---when Dr. Winchester had that guilt complex about the concert pianist - turned soldier whose hand was badly injured. "I have HANDS, David! Hands that can make a scalpel SING!" .... "All my life, I wanted to play. I can play the notes---I can't make the music." He knows that peed-off BD will go wire to wire undefeated, so I can't say that I blame him:) And Shane (?) from the 'Coats has some mighty strong chops. But we were all, "Yeah yeah, finish it and WINK!"

I recall Marc Sylvester lamenting that Blue Knights personnel had been going to BD. I'd like to see DCI pay a little more attention to age-outs from Open Class or from many of these corps that can't seem to get to Saturday night. "Why did you choose to age out with ____?" By the way, BD should listen to "Remains of the Day" from "Corpse Bride." It's snappy, jazzy and right up their alley. As long as they're getting FlugelBoy, take the same movie, too.

Haha. "If BD is smart..."

No. Maybe a little disappointed. He ended up being the centerpiece of the show -- moreso than the bride and groom, for whom the show was written. That would be like Crown's piano-playing "Rach star" moving on. It's like the former Cavies' horn sergeant defecting to BD... blah blah blah "Brotherhood..." If BD is smart, they'll write him some good flugel.

WHAT? Boo!

This may have been covered already, but I'm looking at a deadline. How old is the flugel soloist? Is he back for 2017?