ThirdValvesAreForWimps

Absolutely. While I definitely have my favorite corps -- mine -- I love them all because I love the activity itself. Maybe that's why I'm such a traditionalist; I love the purity of it and that's why I'm resistant to things like live singers, etc.

Thank you SO much!

No. The Dark Years refers to a specific time in Cavaliers history which is generally accepted as beginning in the late 1970s and extending through much of the 1980s. I marched from 1980-1983.

Might we also discuss your "The Dark Years" reference in your signature block, Mitch? Many fans of The Cavaliers do not know what that means. It was the time of zero championships and resetting ourselves and finding our way forward with a new identity. For those of us who marched during The Dark Years, we feel a special closeness to both the past and future of The Cavaliers because we marched knowing we were given substandard shows which could not possibly compete, we had certain instructors who had no business being around a world class corps, and we won a lot of fans in the process because we performed exceptionally well. People forget we nearly folded in the early 1980s prior to Rosemont sponsorship. Still, we practiced hard, beat some corps from time to time and lost from time to time, but we kept The Cavaliers in DCI Finals, sometimes barely making it. We kept the dream alive and I don't regret a moment I ever spent with my brothers. We had immense talent and great energy and to see our current marching members enjoy such success makes us all proud.

Amen! Yes!

It's going to be a fight late in the season.

Sometimes less is more: You can get worse by trying too much aka SCV '82.

With some more work on the brass line The Cavaliers could do more than just hang with Crown.

That's a nice increase!

I can't forgive bad music -- no matter how good the rest of the production looks.

That could help. The other night in Hamilton they sounded tight but more like a concert band than a drum corps. Even when I marched with the corps we started out at medium volume then opened things up as the season progressed but I'm really not sure that's conducive to high scoring early on. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I believe men should sound like men.

I was in The Cavaliers in 1981 and that was the hugest audience I ever saw in all my years of marching. Add in the non finalist corps members in attendance who didn't have to pay and the number approaches 46K. Not only was Montreal the biggest audience ever, they were the best audience ever.

I don't see that happening. A repeat fifth place finish might be this corps' ceiling. The music analysis scores aren't competitive.

The answer to this is ugly but it's the truth and I say this as a supporter of Bb/F brass: When the G bugles were "retired" in 2000, the volume dropped significantly because the design of the G brass was meant for outdoor playing. I'm a good Bb trumpet player and I have zero issues creating a big sound but when I played a G bugle I was a lot louder simply due to the design of the instrument. The reason brass lines lack sizzle and energy is because the Bb and F horns were designed for the concert hall, not the playing field. DCI took the indoor equipment outdoors and while the sound quality is improved, the volume is reduced. That's why it takes 16 Bb tubas to match the sound of eight G contras.

They were lit last night in Hamilton! This might be the best Troopers brass line in decades.

They certainly played well last night in Hamilton. They remind me a little of '90s Madison.

Less brass players? What's next? More singers?

We need to talk brass impact -- or lack thereof. I was at the Hamilton competition last night and while The Cavaliers' brass line was tight and accurate, it wasn't very exciting. Let's hope the volume gets turned up as the season progresses.

That's right. I don't mind the entire corps referred that way in the plural but as an FMM I don't like being referred that way in the singular.

I'm still unable to type. The last three corps were beyond belief.

I didn't think anyone could do Nessun Dorma like Phantom. I was wrong....

It means we need to take the final scores with a grain of salt without a full panel present. It may be a little brisk tonight and - whaddayaknow -- my corps jacket still fits!

This is deja vu all over again. The Cavaliers' success will fall and rise with the brass score just as it did in 2016.

But they broke into '82 SCV instead.