Brass34

Did the guard webinar happen?

My old roomie that marched Bluecoats in 2014 says Matt Stratton is the real deal. Him with an undoubtedly better brass book from Bocook already makes me feel more confident. Add an already great percussion staff and music captions appear to be on the right track. Visual-wise we’ll see. April sounded pumped on that audio, and she said she is bringing many talented instructors (and creators!) with her. They should be much better with her at the helm.

And yet I’m sure you loved Crown 2016 guard uniforms. They also had a lot going on

Bookmarking this so we can revisit this later

True, it’s very difficult to get into the top tier. My point is that it doesn’t always take years for a design team to gel before becoming good. And even having a consistent design team doesn’t translate to a corps doing well. Plenty of stagnant corps with the same designers. I guess what I want to say is that both opinions/predictions are valid because we don’t know the future. Anything can happen.

Explain Boston.

We’ll all find out very soon who is right and who is wrong! I think there will be some surprises this year

Yikes. The reality is, art and music have always touched on controversial topics. Kudos to the Cadets for doing a show with purpose that makes a statement. The world is changing whether you want it to or not. Things that were once controversial become normal over time. That’s progress. You can stay mad and yell at the clouds; or you can accept the change that young generations are pushing for. Time is on their side. I’m sure this is a show many current members are excited to march this year.

Lots of Cadet content with FloMarching today Here’s a clip they posted on twitter

Not a lot of talk around here this off-season (which is great imo). But now that it’s March and spring training is around the corner, I’m getting a little excited. Made me start thinking what I hope the Cadets do this year. Apart from big picture things like putting out a crowd pleasing show, etc, etc, these are the little things I’m hoping for 1. White/cream pants. Whatever uniform or costume they choose, I want to be able to see their straight leg marching 2. Another powerful ballad. Was certainly one of my favorite parts last year, hope they can do something even better and emotional. 3. Box rotation into a big hit. When was the last time a show had one of these? Used to be a staple, would love to see it again 4. Awesome warm up. Will we see the return of Rocky Point? Maybe something different. Always thought their 2005 ballad would be a cool warm up in the lot 5. No props. Unless they’re absolutely essential in telling the story or portraying the theme, I’d rather do without. (Unlikely to happen in this era, but that’s how I feel)

Well, they aren't singing in English. That might be why you can't understand what they're saying

Obviously anything can happen. But I think Cadets percussion will keep them ahead of Blue Stars in the end

My trumpet tech called that "Look Mommy! tone". You see your mom in the stands and you play louder so she can hear you

I wasn't thinking right now. I'm thinking of 4 weeks from now. And perhaps not a complete uniform change, but they do need to change something. IMO, currently, the visual is very much the same from beginning to end. I know the designers already have something up their sleeve, I'm just speculating what it could be.

I wonder if there is a way to implement a costume change before the end. I wish the MMs could strip off the muddy black drizzle to reveal solid white front. It'd be like a rebirth; a cleansing of who must not be named. Right now, I see the disjunction and disunity. But I need to see a stark contrast, a turning point of some kind, that represents unity. I hear it with the music, but I don't see it.