chaddyt Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I think a member from that year would have to chime in to give some insight regarding the OP, but I seem to remember hearing that the phenomenon of "show design blues" was more of a factor in 2008 for the Cadets. At least with 2007, the drum corps aspect of the show was outstanding. 2008 was weak with the exception of Vesuvius, IMO. Add the even-worse-than-last-year story line and narration, and I think I could see why some members may have been less than thrilled with their designers. I was at finals that year, and I almost got a sense of "thank god that's over" from their performance. Or maybe that was just me projecting.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I was there in '08 too, and the show definitely felt tired at the end - very much a "thank god it's over" vibe. Wasn't just you. From the discussions on DCP during the 2007 (This I Believe) summer, and from folks since, I think the Cadets really had a really good attitude about that show. They almost won the title - I can't imagine they could do that if they *weren't* committed to it. Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RContra Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Trying to figure out how to say this without giving away the identity of the subject... I facebook'd an acquaintance of mine who I thought had marched Cadets vaguely in that era. Turns out my memory isn't as bad as I thought, and indeed, he/she did. Came from another good corps, and after that year of Cadets, went elsewhere. Said the design was "absolutely [expletive] embarrassing to be seen doing all summer. But some of us who want to march in the top can't afford plane tickets to the west coast." On the same subject, I thought it was funny when talking to a Glassmen buddy of mine who marched late 90s and early 00s, that he said his most fun summer was 2000 when the did Gershwin. He thought the music put everyone in a better mood, and although they didn't place as well (which is a whole different topic), he felt like they enjoyed what they were doing more and worked especially hard. His explanation for why 2001 was an even better performance with a more esoteric show was just talent level, retention and a staff that had "figured it out." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyboy Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I don't think the show affects a member much at the top levels. Yea it would suck to practice and perform a bad show day in and day out, but the level of excellence still makes it worth while. What makes me sad is when a small corps tries to be artsy and FAILS. The practices are painful, the shows are painful to watch, the tour has to be a level of drumcorps hell that no one should experience. But yet we see it year in and year out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallace Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Cadets 2007 was good. The narration was pure cheese, but it worked. The 2008 melodrama failed miserably. I liken it to the difference between 2005 and 2006. One show clicked; the other show was a hot mess because of pushing the experiment/boundary too far. It happened this year, too. Great corps. One glaring design flaw that ruined a championship caliber show. Could 2007 have won without narration? I'm going to say no. The theme wouldn't have worked without it. Same thing this year. Would the show have won without the towers? Not without a different "prop" that was far less cumbersome and awkward that could achieve the side by side effect they wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 2007 was the only recent year I felt the wrong corps won The Cadets were amazing Semis & Finals nights. The crowd, not so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogiempt Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 As a member of Cadets in 2007 (see my signature), the narration didn't affect me much at all. 2007 was one of my absolute favorite shows to march - the music and drill was some of the most fun and intense that I had the opportunity to be a part of. Some back story for you - After each season, George has us fill out surveys. These surveys cover everything from food, to housing, to transportation, staff, and the show. We are able to give as much (or as little) feedback as we like in the surveys. After 2004, most of the membership said that we wanted to get back to The Cadets pushing the envelope - we wanted to do stuff that nobody else was doing (remember that 2000-2004 were all very crowd-driven shows in terms of design, whether or not they actually worked). So, the 2005 show was born. After 05, we continued in a similar vain. History will show how that worked out for us... So, after 06, we had similar feelings to post-04. We just wanted to play incredible music and march impossible drill. Thus, the 07 show was born. The narration in 07 changed through the camps, spring training, and into the season. Being a member on the field, we were so much more concerned with playing in time, having incredible feet (hello, watch the company front on an angle at 212bpm in the closer!), and hitting dots that the narration that was going on was the last thing we were thinking about. Yes, we had moments in rehearsal where comments from the box would be directed at the narration (speed of speech, volume, inflection, etc), but we were still a drum corps and got rehearsed as such. Having marched many years, I can say that the 2007 corps was one of the most intense and hard working corps I have the priveledge of marching with. The brass line in particular was one of the greats that Cadets have had (2001 anybody??). 2007 will always hold a very special place in my heart. I wouldn't go back and change a thing about that summer. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbg Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 The Cadets were amazing Semis & Finals nights. The crowd, not so much. The crowd on Quarter Finals night was the worst thing I ever witnessed from a drum corps crowd......the entire hash mark incident was blown way out of proportion.......people just wanted to complain because it was Cadets/Hopkins/Narration.......if any other corps had asked to have the hash marks redone it would have been a none issue........and if a corps went out before the Cadets and had to perform without hash marks....well that would be their own fault for not wanting or paying attention that the field was in proper condition.........one other thing people forget.......Cadets didn't perform last......Hopkins asking to have hash marks put back onto the field also helped the Blue Devils. I went into that week not having a favorite group....i just personal want to see all the groups do well....like who would ever want to buy a ticket to a concert and hear a bad performance.......but after quarter finals night I was hoping Cadets would have won just so people would have gotten all butt hurt about it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideways Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Cavies won visual performance at prelims that year performing before the Cadets...just saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolpete Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 The 2007 DVD hasn't got a lot of viewings by me. Wasn't really sold on the top 2 shows but there are some good shows down in the placements. The Bluecoats had the highest 7th place score ever with the very entertaining Criminal, Crown won the fans over with Triple Crown and Phantom was my personal favorite with the underrated On Air. Maybe its time to pop that DVD in again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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