Tobias

Hmmm, don't think so. Those guys are really getting up there. God Bless their talent but I guarantee they're not sleeping in vans all summer.

I saw last nights ensemble up to end of Almighy Father. Brass is much fuller and stronger than a week ago and they seemed to have rewritten some phrases that I thought were coming across very weak and airy for lack of a better term. So good writing/performance adjustments noted. They also turned down volume of choir in key areas allowing percussion feature to shine and boy they do. They are parts of show that are much cleaner in fact "clean" but opening statement still needs cleaning especially guard. Brass is ahead of guard with set cleaning in fact all my criticisms are guard sets not brass. Brass have been working and cleaning drill and it's obvious. They seemed to have plugged in the brass holes and the two guard holes although they're still jumping in and out. Another strong day of rehearsal tomorrow and hoping for a notice from judges of adjustments.

I still think they have time now to really go back and clean. Also avoid a mid season stalemate by portraying new material.

Yes and no. They added a minute (always planned to do that and adjusted the minute leading into it so it's not a tag ending but one that flows). It works better. It addresses the blunt ending they had and addresses the very long non drill period in Almighty Father where the corps was literally doing nothing while the girl was doing her confession. We all knew THAT was going to get nailed day one.

I think I've been very positive for the most part with regards to Boston and congratulated them on the victory the other night. I think some of their alum/fans on here have been less than gracious but I even understand that considering their successful season and note I'm closer to more BAC staff (cap heads and techs) than Cadets staff FWIW. It's an "odd" season for me.

I think "may" in lieu of "are" covers me.

Early season yes. Performance levels Trump demand. If Cavies can continue to clean and Cadets (who just finished their changes) can get performance levels up, who knows. It's all about timing. BAC may be peaking, Cavies I think they have growing room and Cadets are no where near peaking.

Absolutely correct so I'm optimistic they have time to break it down set by set, refining drill, guard positioning and timing, ensemble balancing issues. I still have comfort the show is a strong one, Tom and Drew are tops in ensemble and the guard looked pretty impressive out of the gate for the first time in years so once they get back from learning new closer to cleaning, Cadets HAVE THE POTENTIAL to be looking and sounding very good. Where they fall amongst their peers, time will tell. A few brave judges will need to say hey I like what you're doing now and start assigning more competitive numbers.

I think most caption heads fly in and out. That's what techs are for. Can't image a 50 yo caption head touring 7 straight weeks with any corps honestly

You're exactly correct. When you're learning new stuff (that's yet to be put in the show), you're forgoing cleaning old stuff and are not getting the benefit of the changes hence you slide a bit. All temporary. They will soon start going set to set cleaning and should become more competitive in another week or two.

I heard everyone has been called to fly in and get this baby fixed, finished and cleaned.

Be that as it may, they should still be scoring very close to the Cavies. I've seen the shows ahead of Cadets and with the exception of 2, I'm not impressed at all.

I love the Cadet show this year. As much as if it got an 83 last night. I think the choir is adding beautifully to the musical presentation. The uniform changes are majestic and wonderful and the field coverage is best out there. Honestly I'm absolutely shocked the judges are dumping on this show. Yes I get one needs a worthy ending but very baffled the corps is scoring where they are. If anything, Cadets are innovating this season, something they've been called to do for a while. Incorporating a live 8 person choir to interact musically is a difficult task yet all we hear is the Brass and percussion are getting drowned out with subsequent lower scores yet no EFFECT score boost for that added risk and many parts of the show are wonderful due to it. Just baffled.

I'd like to see the tides turn for the Cadets in the next two weeks. I think the show is too deep, rich and beautiful compared to many to finish in 6-7.

Wow you certainly have an ax to grind.

Not sure anyone is saying new end is a magic bullet but rather a logical ending. I still think now that changes are in, they can settle down and go set by set and clean, refine. They are getting beat a little across the board. That means cleaning time. EFFECT numbers can go up very quickly and by a lot once the product is complete and logical. I still think Cadets numbers start to soar within the next 2 weeks passing both Boston and Cavies.

Congrats Boston! Must feel good. Great achievement!

I think the show is better constructed this year and will be cleaner. You just can't clean coming down slides and all the running around they did last year. This show is constructed much more like a championship show than last year. I think they repeat. SCV is good but I don't think the design holds out, Crown is a super performing corps this year but surprised they're still scoring that high with that design (worse Crown show ever), and BD still has too many visual gaps for my taste. I think Bloo is firing on all cylinders IMO.

No but it's an unfinished product until the show is finished.

I think Boston can beat Cadets but it will be temporary. Honestly I think Cadets once they start cleaning their changes (tonight is last show with old closer), they will open up gap over BAC and will also overtake Cavies. I just think its a deeper more complex show than Cavies (and BAC). IMO. But absolutely no disrespect to BAC, they're great this year, better then I imagined.

Up until last week, I think Cadets were well received by both judges and spectators. It seems they got delayed a bit with weather stuff but had everything gone in by last weekend as planned, we probably wouldn't be having doom n gloom conversations but rather we just need to clean now conversations. I'm glad Cadets have a plan and agree, shows get stale by mid season so adding in your last minute with maybe some tweaks leading up to that is a good plan. Again maybe a week late due to Florida downpours but i guarantee other corps will be making changes to coming up and Cadets will be in cleaning mode.

Agreed. Tonight is about performing the heck out of the first half of show which is not changing and mental awareness of stuff you'll perform for the last time tonight. That's the big leagues. You have changes learned but not yet on the field. You just have to deal with it! Next week should bring clarity to Cadet's show. If Boston beats you tonight, more motivation to work harder but I still think this show has legs and we'll see that in about 2 weeks.

If they're getting that feedback, an easy fix. Also the percussion "issues" are non performance choir volume issues so these balance abberations again can be addressed rather quickly I believe. Again cleaning should be the priority starting tomorrow.

Be nice. I'm sure you'll be cranky when you're old like hockeydick too. I just try to be nice to everyone!

Cadets are in a transition right now but I think they're finishing up all the changes and once they get back to braking down and cleaning, I think they'll open up gap from Boston and overtake Cavies. I wont commit to timeframe but by INDY!!