cadet_mellos

The best thing for the sport would be to recognize 2-5 or 2-6 are close enough to one another where super-skilled judging can identify who has the strongest night. And it varies many nights so there is a reordering instead of slotted-in-advance of the performance and sameness of ranking disconnected from what happens on the field. I am not convinced the judging is unbiased and objective enough.

BAC in my hometown for 3 days. Exciting. I have a photo of them tonight and am thwarted from posting it so far. Don't remember how it works.

Yes, agree BAC is on a diligent multi-year mission.

BAC Brass was stronger than the CG in Massillon. That bodes well for their brass. But I thought their CG would be much higher. They took many elite Crown guard and their entire guard staff,

The snares said the dresses are history. Sayonara. Robes and Manline do not mix well. Too macho for that.

Special witch's potion at work. Made with a lock of hair from Hopkins, valve oil from Gino, and the bottom half of an old 2016 mannequin. The spell is cast!

DCI should free up the rules and let a Cadet friar do an exorcism on a BAC witch. And BAC can return the favor sending CG dancer to boogie to Bernstein's Mass.

Repent now. And they will spare you from the stocks.

Such vivid descriptions from Kevin, we have a virtual seat in the house. Thanks so much. My son is out there tonight. You and DCP are a godsenD Kevin!

The 18 mph wind didn't blow a sabre and chop off a witch head?

She's guilty! But let her still sing.

I have friends marching Cadets, Crown,, Coats, BD, and BAC this season. Everyone scored except waiting for the BAC debut. They are on a mission.

Are Troopers in Cavalry blue with yellow neckerchiefs?

Usually Bloo enters with an off-season blackout and get to surprise DCI with their innovation. Methinks there is another corps who takes that tack into tonight. One who has yet to show their cards.

One of the things I find most valuable about this forum are posts like this from Cadet93. Providing an insight to the sport beyond what meets the eye to explain how the strings get pulled in the competition.

Cadets have been hit hard by injuries in Spring Training. It could be 2 weeks before the subs know what they are doing, but maybe they will amaze. Holy bass line, guard, baritones, mellos. Tuba sub hit ground running and the high schoolers are back in action from home visits at graduation. Pit, snares, and quads are only ones unscathed. I love this show and the team this year. We will take it step by step but expect some sweet enhancements before writing anything off. They have the music and firepower to win best brass again. The've added the guard drama piece to put it over the top. This is going to be one relentless drive to the top so put on your seat belts. Where are the posts from Capybara? He was in fine form in 2015.

I liked some of BRASSO's posts as well as GUARDLING's. Should be some common ground there in theory. Blessed be the peacemakers. Starting fresh below. Some of my first exposure to Hop's philosophy when I came in cold last off-season with my mello son was reading the backs of t-shirts the kids were wearing with his quotes. Best one was "If you think your summer is going to be fun, don't come here. - George Hopkins". The idea is if you want to be as good as the expectation is in the Cadets, then you have to give up fun. They sneak it in nevertheless. And the nmber of people auditioning may have set a new record; somewhat intimidating going in there with my high schooler and the gym is packed with hundreds of college student Cadet wannabes. They definitely aren't begging anyone to do it, except after untimely injuries.

BRASSO initially posted that antiques are one man's junk and another's treasure. (Wanted the multiple quotes but my 1st attempt failed. Will do it manually here.) I'm with BRASSO on his junk-treasure analogy. I would go so far as to say it is highly relevant, not irrelevant. I haven't made it all of the way through this thread yet (there is a lot of it) so apologies if someone already posted my sentiments by now. Cadets are getting flak for traditional uniforms and movement. Many devalue what they are doing and would like them to junk it. But some of Cadets' attributes are timeless and the more the other corps morph, the more valuable the Cadets tradition becomes. Don't throw it out; tap into the tradition and execute an insanely difficult drill and music book. Take it to #1 in 2015 and show the world the real value of what was cast aside. Others like Maneuvah want them to go deeper with their 10 theme and build in more powerful metaphors (would be surprised if they have the stomach to redesign the ending roll out; hasn't been learned yet but they wrote it). I like how you are trying to push them over the top, Maneuvah. You are a rebel, I like what you are attempting, I can't decipher the Greek photos you posted yet, but don't dumb down your posts for me; we need to raise up to your level, instead), The Cadets could use your brain at the highest levels, and I hope they can get you into Hop and his senior people earlier in the process going forward.

My spin on this is the question is "will this year be that show?"., not next year. The great pleasure in life is doing what others say you cannot do. Granted, sticking in some extra spoken random numbers from the recording isn't going to get them there, but when they do the real ending and nail this technically difficult show, it would be good for the sport if they get rewarded for it. Anything less than 1 is not what we are going for.

I was anticipating a mention of how effective and visually stunning the simulated wild horse stampede by the Trooper guard was. As far as the Cadet guard, they have looked improved in at least their last 2 shows and have some momentum. I'm watching the hornline and percussion more but haven't seen anything dropped for a long time. They have a high risk show and are getting it down well recently. Getting the French Horns in tune as a group of 8 in varying temps is a tough assignment but they have that figured out now. Boston Crusader vocalist a little better than the others IMO. Crossmen a close second. Trooper's OK but a little grating. The vertical BAC banners obscuring my view all over the field was a little weird. One of the corps had several giant drums on a raised platform that started the show off on a powerful note. Didn't see that mentioned in the review but to me that was a highlight. Have not seen the BD or SCV yet but will have a shot in Clifton. My son was recruited by the BD but opted to stay closer to home with the Cadets this season as a rookie. Last night was his first shot at hanging out after the show with BD people and the other corps. Hoping he makes some friends with at least one person in each of the corps. Thanks for the review. Very interesting to hear another perspective on where they stand.

I suppose so but I can think of one thing in particular he loves more. Inspiring youth to take a "carpe diem" attitude to all phases of their lives and spend their time on earth doing something extraordinary, especially beyond DCI. It's not merely about catching spinning rifles to him; it's much bigger than that and he never lets any of us forget the goal. Won't need food tampering to win. We have enough extreme sore throats right now where those guys could be unleashed to be extra huggy with the BD, Crown, and Bluecoats. One of them can write, can't talk, and he still marches. Tough as nails.

As a newby, I'm curious how George Hopkins Director of The Cadets gets lots of comments here but I have yet to read anything about any of the other corps directors. Is there a reason for that? Are the others less visible, accessible, or perhaps post less on twitter?

Happiest reunion photo I saw was 7th Regiment and The Cadets with old friends from the wild Bushwacker days together again. Friends for life now. Gotta love drum corps!

I like to remember the maximum beats per minute of 226 as 2+2+6=10. I didn't hear the show in Foxboro tonight but postings indicate the french horns were very sharp and on their game.

What Crown brass do that I admire is the punctuation of their power notes with dead silence before and after. It maximizes the effect of the high volume and tone quality they get. They know how to show off their strength well and I don't hear that effect as much in the other corps this year. But I haven't heard BD or SCVG yet. Only heard BlueCoats at the cinema event.