Sideways

In regards to the Cadets, Change the pants back and the performance numbers will take care of themselves. The Dancer in the Dark melody has the potential to be the most musical/emotional moment of the year. When the battery comes in mimicing the accelerating train is just shear brilliance during the ballad. Incredible control. Btw, if I ever see Hopkins in that swan dress that Bjork wore I will vomit. Tempos are mad and very obviously affecting sound quality right now. You can tell that Gino is back with this hornline in a big way but there were some really ragged moments in Toledo where some shrapnel was flying. Unfortunately the drill does appear to be quite safe at this point. Get some big moves out there to match your sound. Do not quite get the catholic school girl in a dream thing yet, and the door does look really cheaply made. It might not hurt to paint some color other than green. You have the thing sitting on the 50, which means you want to feature it, so don't trying and hide the #### thing. Show was obviously not done visually when I saw it. The closer definitely was based off Medea and I certainly appreciated the Twighlight Zone insert. Cadets certainly have the talent and the show has the potential to become a contender. In it's current incarnation, though, they are looking at they 5-8 range at finals. The good thing is that there is not a better staff out there about rewritting and tweaking things all the way up to finals. Keeps your eyes on this one if they do the right things.

To tell time.

I am glad that my ears were not deceiving me. It was driving me crazy since none of the quotes really lasted long enough to get a firm grasp on what was being played and no one else around me was picking up on the Wind and the Lion theme.

They are headed back in the right direction but at this point it is far from "classic" Cadets. Do I have any doubt they will get there. No. But their show, as it is right now, is a far cry from what it needs to be. And when you say that "you have heard" that the drill is up there. You should really wait till you see them with your own eyes to make that judgement. Refer back to my initial post if you care to see my thoughts from last night's show.

double post.

I would write a different review of the show but I happen to agree with what most of Uncle Darren had to say. I will just comment on some of the differences I observed. Southwind - Major step up in design and talent level for them this summer. Entire low brass section was wonderful. They need to focus the trumpet sound and reign in on few individuals in a major way. That is was a major distraction to their overall ensemble sound and most certainly dragging down the effect number. Drill design was a nice improvement and the only part that needs some major reworking is the ending. The ending drill needs to cook and now it is of slow with too much standing around. Honestly it does look like placeholder drill, something they put in just too finish the show. The only other thing that really bothered me was how much the corps relied on facing backfield for dynami contrasts. Overall a solid show design with many more risks and exposure than last year. They should be solid semifinalists this year. I swear that I was hearing little snippets of Wind and the Lion mixed into the Imagination theme! Capital Regiment - Great ensemble sound from the hornline. Battery has some chops and is not afraid to show it off, extremely aggresive. The design of this show is their most complex to date, I am questioning it though compared to the talent in the corps. Either the show is just that much more demanding and will come along later in the season or the corps just does not have the same level of talent as last year. Foot technique, especially in the brass, was noticeably inconsistant, mostly because of how strong a number of them were. The slackers were definitely standing out. From watching their plumes these guys are even starting to march the same style as Cadets (not a bad thing at all). I am sorry I really didn't notice the guard, probably because of that #### prop. Until the prop is complete and they know what they are going to do with it, I would suggest to keep it off the field. Cavaliers - Last year they had a great show and this year's version is much better. Hornline has by far the best and most controled sound of the night. I just love a number of the articulated passages in the upper brass in the opening segment. Absolutely crystal clear. I know what the hornline is doing with their sound and it will payoff big time come August but I was just dying for them to let it hangout even just a bit more. I love the baseball segment. I agree that the Great Fire portion needs to be more ominous and much darker. I am sure it is incomplete in its current version, but basically it needs to be made more obvious as to what is going on. The mellophones on the ladders and the weaving in of the Amazing Grace melody was absolutely beautiful. The ending section is obviously incomplete as well but is seriously going to rock this summer. The only way I can justify them not winning top guard tonight was because of lack of work in some segments. Skill and design wise they are a superior unit to Cadets though. This will be a show to watch this summer!! The controlled sound they are playing with, for now, is going to ding them in GE but that should go away as the let things open up (I hope) later on. Cadets - Huge sound from the brass and very deservingly to Music GE tonight. One can certainly tell that Gino is back with this line. They are playing much more aggressively and a lot more confidence. What surprised me, though, was how ragged the line was sounding at a few points. Maybe its a function of the demand in the tempos and they are just letting the members blow for now, but they were clearly the third best line of the night. This is the edgiest hornline I have heard from them since '99 (again they had crazy tempos that year though). Show design is definitely more out there and better than the past few years. They need to do more with the door and yes it does look very cheaply put together. I like the idea with the uniforms but they seriously need to keep the pants all one color. Even though they did not march a show like they are capable of, I would agree that their pants are not helping them at all either. The field looked extremely cluttered. Change the pants to one color, use the door more, more clear define just what the school girl is doing, and more than anything else this show needs.....MORE CADETS DRILL. I know the tempos are mad and it is early in the season but for Cadets this drill is way to safe. Dust off some charts from the 90s (92-93, 96-99) and practice your jazz running and this show can really take off. Blue Coats - Impressive brass sound tonight and deserving of beating Cadets in that caption. There was some very suggestive movement by the guard at the very beginning. I loved it ^0^ but some of the women around were I was sitting were a little red faced after it. I am sure others will talk about this as well. Maybe Uncle Darren was right in saying this show needs to be very several times to really understand the drill. I loved the opening and closing segments but thought te middle half, drill wise, was very plain and honestly a throw back to the mids 90s. I will reserve further judgement on this till later in the season. Hornline though had very exposed and difficult entrances all over the place handled them very well. Drums were great and guard was beautiful. I believe it was Coats that had a unison toss were the rest of the corp was silent. Awesome moment in literally hearing the flags. Should be a good summer for the Coats. Glassmen - I loved this show. However, I was the only one in my group that did. Most just couldn't get over the whole it isn't true to Dvorak thing. Yes the music book is quite ragged right now, but it has tremendous potential and the entire package is honestly fun. A very colorful guard, which I will agree could use more variance in the silks they are using. They have a tough and very thickly scored horn book which either needs some serious cleaning and/or to be thinned out in certain sections. Very typical of a Robert W. Smith book though. A lot of clutter in the horn book will take care of it self with the players becoming more conifidant with such a book. The corps marches extremely well, but needs to address intervals (even considering the couple wholes they are marching). Drill design is a strong suit again. The middle portion when the horns are laying on the ground needs more detailed work, again it is early and it is likely unfinished. Overall, I can not really argue with any of the placements tonight other than Cadets over Cavies guard. Each corps and section, otherwise, was where they should have been and scores were just about right. Of all the corps though I believe Cadets are in the most dangerous position right now. The music package is fine even if ragged at some points. They need to seriously consider major visual changes (then again they always rewrite like mad) to both uniforms and drill or fear falling into the 5-7 pack. It is early yet, they have an incredibly experienced design team. They make the proper tweaks and they could just as easily find themselves in contention. Just as likely to go either way right now though. Like Uncle Darren said above, if this show is any indication, it should be a great summer for DCI!!!

Come to Detroit and we'll show you a real ghetto! Good luck this weekend Cru.

Hey Mike, have you been cut from the hornline yet this year?

Here's to a speedy recovery Donny!!

Protect the horn at all cost and, if possible, shift your momentum in the direction of your next drill set.

Hey Goldie!!

You're still bitter about having to figure out what to do with that third valve! :P

Blue Devils '86 Suncoast Sound '85 Phantom Regiment '89

Star '93 Madison '95 SCV '99

Speed Bump - the name of a cymbol player in '94, doesn't really need an explanation Hornmaster - a rookie sop player in '99 that was always wearing a shirt that said hornmaster (he didn't make it through tour) Hallmark - a rookie contra in '99 who always said things that sounded like they came off a card Max - the laziest guy in the hornline in '99, he never "maxed" anything out Jughead - a rookie baritone in '99 that bleached his hair during tour and had a nasaly voice, spitting image of jughead White Trash Chad - ageout baritone in '99, the name sounded right and he acted the part. Great guy and incredible squeeler on baritone Cheeks - mello/alto player in '99 that could hold a contra by the side of the bell in his butt cheeks Moronson - play on name of assistant drum major in '99. drove golfcart into bass drums lined up on sideline during everydays. Nearly murdered by the battery

Looks as if everyone's cleared out of town.

Didn't they lose field brass at finals that year?

Heck then I'll nominate myself as well. DCI Show at Plymouth, MI

Is it just me or were some of the old 2 valve kings some of the best bugles ever played on the field.

I want to see a return to the break-neck drills we saw back in the mid-90s (especially 92, 93, 97, 98).

They should try their hand at Medea or Channel One Suite. ^0^

Like it or not Hopkins is the public face of the Cadets.

No one out there does a better scatter drill than The Cadets.