Forevergreen Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 The members don't design the show. And Cavaliers' stock in trade in their 2000s run was being one step ahead of the curve, not going back to the past. The pyramid is cheesy, and I hope for their sake that they come up with something that is more active, and more drill-oriented for the 40 seconds it takes them to build a cheerleader pyramid. They can do more with that percussion writing than they are. It's not "picking' on anyone if you see them wearing a t-shirt with a suit, and let them know it might not be their best choice. I love drum corps.....but there is plenty of cheese to go around.....from the yearly bad guard outfits of BD, to the bad portable restrooms this year by the Cadets (but #### they sound good), to trying to make marching members dance who have no dance training and it is obvious-see Crown, BK, to last years Cavalier show (yes the entire show), to the bad beheading in last year's Phantom show, to the Bluecoats bleachers this year (sorry, some may say not chees...but it is like people who wear socks with sandals-NOT !!!!)---I could really go on and on.....But, one disclaimer-----it says alot about me because I keep watching it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I think they're going for a Fight Club moment, but the pyramid just ain't it. Really? Why is everything with you people on DCP about the Cavaliers always trying to copy 2002? Maybe it just the type of thing they have in every show? Moments throughout all '00, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '08, '10, '11, '12, and now again in '13? Why is the displeasure for the same stock show from Phantom or Blue Devils, or the same keys played musically every year by bluecoats, nonexistent? It is very easy for y'all to pick on the Cavaliers every year, and you say you don't talk badly about the members, just the design staff. But you can't honestly think it doesn't always go back on the performers every time you say something like that? Just let the kids perform, and enjoy it or keep it to yourself. Now off my soapbox, sorry to explode in that. Not sure what dc planet you've been living on, but the Blue Devils get plenty of heat on these forums for, in some people's eyes, appealing to the esoteric every year. Anyway, I figured Cavaliers were inspired by Mandarins' pyramid from last year, and tried to find a way to improve on the concept in their show. Not sure they've managed it yet, but it was greeted with notable applause at Bowling Green. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Looking for 2013 discussion threads for specific corps? Check out: Blue Devils (also here) (and formerly here [locked]) Blue Knights (also here) Blue Stars Bluecoats (also here) Boston Crusaders (also here) Cadets Carolina Crown Cascades (also here) Cavaliers (also here) Colts Crossmen Jersey Surf Mandarins Madison Scouts Oregon Crusaders Pacific Crest (also here) Phantom Regiment (formerly here [locked]) Pioneer Santa Clara Vanguard Spirit of Atlanta Troopers (No thread for Academy yet, so far as I can tell.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCFan Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Perhaps you haven't noticed that Scouts, plus Bluecoats and Phantom and maybe more, have plateaued-out score-wise, while Cavies, as noted above, have been climbing by leaps and bounds. Despite all the hype, Madison's show package isn't all that. If you look at the recaps a lot of judge's scores have a very small gap between content and performance, which is supposed to mean there's not much milk left in that cow. I've seen the Scouts and Cavies live not long ago and Madison is definitely my hot dog corps, which is useful for getting something when the concession lines are short, but you couldn't pay me to watch or listen to that show again. Cavies' package is far more complex and interesting and has a huge amount of room to grow, and by their sub-caption gaps and high content scores that's exactly what the judges have been telling them. I don't think Madison has any chance of staying ahead of them and with their show package and momentum I think the odds are better than 50:50 that Cavies will overtake at least one or more of the corps in your top six list. I agree. There is simply much more content in the Cavies show yet to be perfected, and be reflected in the score. In particular, I want to see the brass score come up, perc & guard seem on track, and the visual has plenty of room to grow, which Cavies are great at. Recall that Madison had a relatively fast start last season then ran into the wall of lack of content, and were passed by others. I think this will be the case again for them, and I also see SVC, despite having strong perc and somewhat improved brass, has serious guard & visual problems, which are of course related to each other,ultimately, and their content "gap" from performance is much smaller than Cavies. Also, Bluecoats' show is a bit lighter, content-wise and theme-wise, than we have seen from them in a while. I remain convinced that Cavies will catch them, if not by Minneapolis, then shortly thereafter. I just wish Cavies had had one more show this week, to gain another point or so, and put them within 1.5 of SCV going into this weekend. but I think it will happen, nonetheless. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PC Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) Just got back from watching the Michigan City Rumble live last night, high on the fifty. Great view and heavy humid air conducted sound with remarkable clarity, and guaranteed at least a partial standing ovation for every corps ("Air! I need air!"). But the real headliner was the rematch of Scouts vs. Cavies. Madison's show "Corps of Brothers - 75 Years of Survival" is one that a lot of people either love or hate. For Uber Patriotic Scouts fans, it's a wonderful tribute to Our Troops. Others find it over-the-top and a bit cloying, and the sight of guard members in cammo flouncing around the field something less than macho. Perhaps these are supposed to be post-DADT troops. But the guard lays it on thick, portraying helicopters, weapon-firing and the carrying-off of their presumed dead comrades from the field of battle. Cavies' show "Secret Society" is even more bluntly self-referential - a drum corps show about one furtive facet of the drum corps experience, initiation, presumably as practiced by the Cavies, albeit obviously tongue-in-cheek. Actually more of a self-satire, this is a show that even the jaded can enjoy. Stepping off with all the corps except the initiates (CG) completely masked in long black hooded cloaks, the guard steps off as if bound with their hands behind their backs. Guard dramatic features include blindfolded equipment tosses, a human pyramid, and disappearance and re-emergence in the new uniform of the fully initiated, green and geared. In a similar love/hate fashion, critics decry the cloaks, pyramid and extended sequential flag toss equipment-change exchange as much as fans of the show applaud them. In this second face-off in as many days, Cavies again narrowed their score gap behind Scouts, now down to less than half a point (.45), tied with Scouts in GE, carrying the visual caption, and, in a flip from the night before, taking best guard. Comparing and contrasting the two shows, Cavies accelerate and decelerate their already furious drill pace in step with the tempo of the music, while Scouts do to opposite, mostly parking and blowing during the fast hard parts, with brass or battery executing hard drill features only when their section isn't playing. Cavies' horn line is younger and less experienced than Scout's, and have a lot more simultaneous responsibilities, which mostly explains their relative music placements. But the Cavies have been cleaning up rapidly and their drill and show package is much more complex and nuanced than Scouts', and at the rate Cavies have been closing the gap the odds are probably better than 50:50 that they'll overtake Madison by Minneapolis. I had seen both corps shows live before, and I watched Cavies' rehearsal and run-through yesterday afternoon before the show. And their run-thru was much cleaner and tighter than their jittery and tentative run last evening, so they were able to close the gap even when performing well below their demonstrated potential. The ongoing trend hasn't faltered yet and the only way the dire predictions of Cavies ending the season at 8-9th or lower can come true is if fans of the Cavies' and fans of the Scouts' shows are both wrong about their comparative level with the rest of the top ten or twelve and they are both doomed to be surpassed in the end by corps they have been consistently beating by healthy 3+ point margins in multiple face-offs or some dark-horse corps from the distant coasts. The unlikelihood of this eventuality should now be dawning on the Chicken Little's in this thread. Edited July 8, 2013 by PC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Really? Why is everything with you people on dcp about the Cavaliers always trying to copy 2002? Well, to be fair, that's a pretty darn good show to mimic from a design & execution standpoint. If Cavaliers are going to pull from their past for design inspiration, they could do FAR worse than pulling from 202 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 In a similar love/hate fashion, critics decry the cloaks, pyramid and extended sequential flag toss equipment-change exchange as much as fans of the show applaud them. When exactly do the fans applaud the cloaks? I can see them applauding the moment the cloaks come off, maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREENBLUE Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 (edited) New guard work last minute of show...so much better. From the looks of the new practice flags looks like they may be using different colored double sided flags, good effect. Edited July 17, 2013 by GREENBLUE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREENBLUE Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 (edited) ..... Edited July 17, 2013 by GREENBLUE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forevergreen Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 New guard work last minute of show...so much better. From the looks of the new practice flags looks like they may be using different colored double sided flags, good effect. Good to hear that. The capes do not look as bad as the show has cleaned, however, I just wish that creatively they would have done something different because I do think that visually they are not adding anything to the show for the length they are on the members. Dare I say that maybe if the cloaks were more tailored-perhaps with some color ?????? LOL. That said, I do like this show a lot better than the show last year and hope they can continue to build and gain momentum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highwaydude Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 What the heck happened in Atlanta? I'm surprised this isn't getting talked about. I think I counted 3 or 4 members fall during the show in Atlanta. One brass player fell and then caused another brass player to fall. And moments later a Color guard member got caught up in his flag and tripped himself. With two weeks before finals this is not good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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