cadets 2009 v 1984

[Abbevillekid26]

I liked the 1984 Cadets musical version of WSS so much better than this year's Cadets musical interpretation. 2009 Cadets WSS is not even close to the melodically appealing '84 version in my opinion.

Agreed but overall was still in my top 3 favorites this year. Not bad at all just as mentioned it wasn't nearly as melodic as 1984 and couldn't get into it as much.

[chaddyt]

I agree with most that their music this year felt a tad too "all-but-the-kitchen-sinky", but I still love the show. I will admittedly say that most of the emotion I garnered from it however was primarily due to the fact of the nostalgic programming - it was the Cadets doing what the Cadets do best (... finally) The HNC, G, CB, and 75 at the end of the show gave me chills every time. Gimmicky and corny, yeah probably. But I love this corps, and for me, the show actually did become more of an anniversary show than a "conflict/resolution" one. I'm fine with that. And judging from those around me in Indy, a lot of other people were as well.

On a side note, in regards to Boy Like That, it was mentioned about the two "mini-corps" playing their contrasting parts. My ear isn't as good as I'd like it to be, but I remember hearing (AllAccess I believe), that they were also played with contrasting styles as well.

[Tez]

I agree with the OP.

While I really loved the Cadet's 2009 show, there was so much more they could have done with musicality. I'm not talking about the arrangements... I love all the "kitchen sink" stuff and gimmicks galore.... I'm talking about the way they chose to play what they were given. There were so many more places they could have gone with phrase shaping and subtle musical nuance. This has nothing to do with their talent.... their staff just did not choose to "go for it" in terms of musicality nearly as much as Carolina Crown, Santa Clara Vanguard, or even Phantom Regiment did in 2009.

[Schickmeister]

On a side note, in regards to Boy Like That, it was mentioned about the two "mini-corps" playing their contrasting parts. My ear isn't as good as I'd like it to be, but I remember hearing (AllAccess I believe), that they were also played with contrasting styles as well.

Yes'm.

Brass A FTW.

[skevinp]

I liked the 2009 show OK, but...

The day I saw the Cadets in 1984 was the day I fell in love with drum corps.

[HolyName080910]

This is the flaw of the 2009 Cadets program: It was too technical to perform. The Design team tried to squeeze every possible technically and physically exhausting situations into the program making the marching members overwhelmed to "perform". The program was a clinic in showing you every exposed concept you could throw out there. There were so many instances to mess up or simply get hurt, that a lot of times members played like they were stepping on egg shells. Talking about falling, this season for the Cadets probably had the most instances of members falling or crashing. Even with the preshow material (which was pretty difficult drill), the show was almost always 1-2 seconds shy of passing the penalty time limit.

1) Rumble: The brassline was spread over 90 yards at very high tempos with extremely massive step sizes. Musically, the constantly recurring cold brass entrances made it very easy to tear. Probably 1/4 of the ensemble rehearsals and 1/3 of sectionals time was spend on this 30 second tune.

2) Prologue: Tons of double tonguing and tough articulation statements made it very hard to have the hornline agree not only the drumline but also each other. The ending drill was probably the hardest visual moment in the entire show.

3) A Boy Like That: This was the ensemble nightmare of the entire show. The corps was split up into 2 mini drum corps playing completely different but complementary brass and percussion parts. Transferring and syncing tempo was like directing air traffic with a higher chance of falling apart. Visually, this ballad was by no means any break from the show. The tempo was very fast and was marched 1/2 at double time with some challenging closing drill from a dissolving company front. The color guard had to spin their final ensemble work with no musical tempo.

4) Cool With an entire long sections empty of percussion, the brassline had quite the challenge to maintain tempos while playing mezzo forte hits spreading over 80 yards apart. Tempo was kept with numerous and clever methods of handing off "duts" from one person to the next. The tons of rotating blocks and lines made cool quite the spectacle for rotating drill and matching responsibilities.

5) Quintet/Tonight, Tonight There's one thing about marching curvilinear drill at the cadets... but... there's another about making letters and shapes: there's no forgiveness in being out of the form. 1/2 this tune was played facing the backfield. Unfortunately, there was one evil catch. The drumline would be playing at the back sideline with the hornline behind them. Tempos were kept through listening to the trumpets who had the main melody making it an extremely awkward feeling of keeping time. The ending drill, well... what else was there to say? Endurance training to the max.

I'm pretty sure the corps only had 1/4 of the tour shows to be as energetic, "shako-raising", performances. There was just no time to soak up the audience or to really enjoy what was going on musically.

Wow...this is pretty much exactly right. The trumpets in quintet acted as the drumline to keep time. Also, that entire split corps section in BLT was controlled by the center tenor on side 1. Rumble didn't ever really tear per say, rather was more difficult to line up articulations and entrances...step size kind and tempo not too bad. And we repped the end of prologue and the show every single day in visual, part of the daily routine.

[2000Cadet]

It seems to me that a lot of people wanted this year's version of WSS to be like the 1984 or something (or at least that's what I'm getting from the OP). 1984, although I did not like it at all, was a year that cannot be matched. I was only 3 years old at that time, so I only saw it on the videos. I really don't think this year's Cadets' show was meant to match that. It seems to me they were trying to bring a different style of WSS. It may not have been as musical as the 84 version, or may not have had all the dynamics and musical phrasing (which is relative) that some of the other corps had, but the show in my view achieved it's purpose. The show had many elements that made it a GREAT show which is why the crowd at it up (judging from the shows I have attended this summer). It was inevitable though; when Cadets decided to bring WSS out this year, I expected it to be compared to their past versions. I may be alone on this forum with this thought, but I loved this version of WSS much better than any of the others. So you all can finish picking away.

Edited August 26, 2009 by 2000Cadet

[dans]

It was inevitable though; when Cadets decided to bring WSS out this year, I expected it to be compared to their past versions. I may be alone on this forum with this thought, but I loved this version of WSS much better than any of the others. So you all can finish picking away.

You are not alone, the 2009 version of WSS was awesome! The 2009 Cadets flat out rocked. You know that no matter what the Cadets do, some will criticize

[GMichael1230]

I hadn't heard the Cadets show until finals this year, and I was surprised to hear West Side Story, which I remember fondly from 1984.

I was even more surprised that the 2009 version left me cold, musically. The drill in 2009 is, of course, spectacular, otherworldly compared to what would have seemed possible in 1984, but the music isn't. 1984 was more nuanced: the musical expression of the drama, Barbara Maroney's solos, the focus on dynamics, the patience to include whole quiet passages, the whole arc of the show. In 2009, it's just the fast songs, sometimes mixed together incongruously: all Allegro, no Adagio.

Am I off base here? What's the conventional wisdom on this topic?

(And, yes, I know, WSS is vastly overplayed, I'm more interested in the state of music in DCI than WSS itself.)

umm, as good, no...as fantastic as the drill was from 2009, it doesnthold a candle to the design, complexity and staging of the 1984 monster. The basis of comparison is simple 1984's drill as comparef to the rest of the field vs 2009's drill as compared to the rest of the field. The radical inovation, or I should say result of the then evolving innovation of 1984 was just on another level. The opening, non-moving, opening set alone of the 84 show blows away the concepts of what 2009 had..and again, thats just for comparison, not taking anything away from the thrill-ride that was 2009.

G

[tommytimp]

umm, as good, no...as fantastic as the drill was from 2009, it doesnthold a candle to the design, complexity and staging of the 1984 monster. The basis of comparison is simple 1984's drill as comparef to the rest of the field vs 2009's drill as compared to the rest of the field. The radical inovation, or I should say result of the then evolving innovation of 1984 was just on another level. The opening, non-moving, opening set alone of the 84 show blows away the concepts of what 2009 had..and again, thats just for comparison, not taking anything away from the thrill-ride that was 2009.

G

Much as I hate to disagree with you, old bean, I've always thought the drill from 84, a few forms excepted, is quite unattractive. I didn't see them tjis summer, but the show concept sounds intriguing, if a bit one-note with all the fast and furious. But I can't imagine that's the case. I mean, 'I Have a Love' isn't written as fast furious more more more, but did they arrange it that way?