arabica

This sentiment is always so disappointing to hear when most folks literally have access to the entire world in the palm of their hands at any given moment. But I agree with you that a show should be able to be enjoyed at surface level just as much as when wanting/needing to dig deeper into meaning.

I keep seeing folks reference the “BD shimmy”… what is this/where in the show is this?

Y’all, this is a really, really great year of drum corps.

Cavies, that was the show I’d hoped for at the start of the season. Love the edits, the newfound clarity, and the improved level of performance. Way to go!

Well done Cadets, that’s the first time this season I’ve felt you were in control of your show. Let’s begin that fabled surge to Finals!

I hope your son is having the summer of a lifetime. Thanks for the update!

This. This - or the modern visual equivalent - should be the gold standard. Yes, we can do better…and I trust we’re on that path!

What I wouldn’t give for this to be the case again for The Cadets! 🙌

Sadly, it’s easily been 14 years since this was true. If anything, Cadets have have more recently had the opposite problem, coming into Finals and dropping over the next few nights.

Well said! Last season was conceptually much more tightly-written, so this feels like a step backward despite what is likely a higher performance level. And therein lies my frustration with anyone trying to shut down critique: it's not about just the uniforms, or just the props, or the any of the other little design decisions. It's that all those little decisions unfortunately don't add up to a cohesive whole, and that is likely going to cost them several placements. That said, I'm loving seeing this show clean up and evolve, and the incredible effort of the members. Well done, Cadets!

Nice job tonight, Cadets. They sure are cleaning up yet with a tremendous amount of room to continue to grow. I’ve said enough about uniforms and props, but something has to be done about the two 40ish second percussion transitions into the ballads. The transition into the first ballad there is nothing compelling musically and especially visually happening: why are we watching the battery slooooowly move from one side of the field to the other? And into the second ballad, while the visual is greatly improved, it’s still simply too long and musical dead space. Keep working on defining the Atlas character so we can follow the narrative start to finish, edit these transitions, and we’ll see GE improve for sure. Keep up the great work!

Goodness where is the video hiding, I can’t find it! DM me?

What changes!?

I can’t express the amount of cringe I felt typing my post: that ANY corps has to dump tens of thousands of dollars on props/set design (and let’s just say no to tarps) to be competitive in the current era is disturbing. But also, Cadets had this figured out as early as 2005 with a simple door. And Crown ‘13 won it all with a simple park bench. This edition of Cadets feels to me like shades of 2019/2018/2016, where the component pieces don’t quite make a unified whole. But I know the members are going to perform the hell out of it. Impatiently waiting for when old is new again, and we have a field free of props and compulsory trombone glissandos.

Huge and long-time Cadets fan here, and loved what they produced last year, but I'm not seeing it either. I'm not feeling connected to the theme, the visual design is problematic from uniform to props to movement to drill/staging, and the music design suffers as a result: as wonderful as the brass or percussion writing may be independently, the flow and integration simply feels off...to me, it comes off forced, constrained, and chunky due to certain visual decisions. I'm curious, what were you told about the props and what they are supposed to represent/add? They're baffling, and yes, seem low-effort. In 2023, we KNOW effective and competitively-designed props cannot just be wooden platforms [...with glittery wrapping paper tubes??] clunkily moved two or three times with seemingly no connection to the theme. They need to be intentional, integrated, interactive, and seamlessly restaged. These unfortunately are not that.

**double post**

Or BD’s Godfather. 😂

Removing the percussion judge from the field is a blight on both visual design and music arrangement. Sure wish we’d rethink this rule change. **edit** If what you hear is true, I’m proud of PR for not conforming to recent design norms that dictate the battery live near the front sideline for “compulsory” features just to get scored well: it’s created a much more organic, enjoyable show as a result.

Not a discussion, but here’s the original announcement: https://cadets.org/mgday

Thanks, front page has been updated!

I remember feeling shocked in the moment that was the direction they took after '11, but it was a solid show and it's certainly aged well!

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Thanks for the well-written and honest post -- you are not alone. I, too, struggle with how the activity has evolved visually with regard to to what is the right balance between traditional drill, free-form movement, choreography, and yes, props. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing anything particularly compelling in any of those areas yet. Visual aside, programmatically the show is missing the emotional arc I'd have expected from something titled "Atlas Rising". I'm left craving more drama, more struggle, more "heaviness", more room to breathe...something that allows the gorgeous "Immortal" to create the emotional release it deserves. Instead, this so far feels like paint-by-numbers: smooth, calculated, predictable. That said, as a huge fan I wish this corps nothing but the best and trust they'll have worked their tails off to change my mind come August! Let this be the vehicle they deserve to continue their rise back up the ranks.

This is the announcement I’m referring to. Looks like she’s splitting her time.

Updated with repertoires and links to music for Boston, Cadets, Cavies, and Spirit of Atlanta!