BRASSO Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) “Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.” -Hunter S. Thompson what happened to THAT corps? Who knows.. but for context, the guy you quoted ( Thompson ) here we all know "what happened to THAT guy" . He put a bullet in his head at age 67 after decades of journalistic non production due to his heavy use of Meth, Acid, Coke. We learn from the likes of this hedonistic sad sack that speed eventually leads to a disconnect to reality and an early death for those stupid enough to take meth and coke. As for the Cadets, anyone ragging on a Corps before their first show is entitled to their angst, imo. Edited June 10, 2014 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NakedEye Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Judging. That's what happened. " Faster, Faster" and a "Zillion notes" is no longer judged like it once was. I too miss the " We can Do it better while marching backwards" Cadets! I don't know. Is that solely the case, or does the Cadets' reluctance to modernize also play a part? From my perspective, Crown, BD and Cavaliers have all been presenting "modern" drum corps for several years. It is somewhat evolved from just marching and playing to almost be a multimedia presentation. They've each brought something new to the table: Crown with the body movement, which came off as ridiculous for years and then finally worked and worked really well in 2013, Cavaliers with a sort of techno feel to sound and visual layering, and BD with their extremely complex staging and space utilization. There has been a lot of debate about whether these approaches are harder than the traditional Cadet style or not, but ultimately the judges were convinced there was sufficient difficulty in the new ideas, and I can't really disagree with that. Ironically, the Cadets, long the pushiest of envelope pushers got somewhat left in the dust by the advancements, and this year's show strikes me as almost a tantrum against a freight train that is leaving without them. So you have a man, who for years questioned why corps need play so much music by "dead white guys" creating a show full of music by the deadest and the whitest, the theme of which is to salute a handful of Presidents, who also happen to be dead and white, in a Ken Burns documentary format. Meanwhile the competition is doing commissioned original compositions, David Bowie, stuff from "Lost," etc. Is this bizarro world? Who is looking to the future here? I just find it so odd. It is too early to tell how this Presidents show is going to turn out, though my initial impression of it on the broadcast was pretty much what I expected: really talented and expertly trained kids with an amazing work ethic busting their butts in a design turkey. I'm interested to see how the judges react to the stage, as whenever the guard got on it to dance, they immediately caused a visual conflict with the drill moving behind them, and this was from the fairly elevated viewpoint of the camera. I love love Copland, and was largely introduced to his music by the Cadets in the 80's, but someone droning on about the New Deal on top of it, even a kid with as great a voice as this one, really made my eyes glaze over quickly. We'll see how it plays out. Perhaps it will be epic. I hope so! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 this year's show strikes me as almost a tantrum against a freight train that is leaving without them. Lol!... all aboard the " Tantrum Train " ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 really talented and expertly trained kids with an amazing work ethic busting their butts in a design turkey. This is kindof the trend for post-2000 Cadets on even-numbered years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NodnarbSwagFish Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) For whoever is complaining about not seeing the show because of the stage, keep in mind it's literally only 6 feet tall. It won't hinder the view that much if at all. Edited June 10, 2014 by NodnarbSwagFish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 (edited) For whoever is complaining about not seeing the show because of the stage, keep in mind it's literally only 6 feet tall. It won't hinder the view that much if at all. Except of course for the thousands of people that'll be sitting in the first few rows in many of the low level school stadiums stands across the country. If they buy a ticket there in the first couple of rows, and want to see the Cadets corps marchers performing in back of these ramps, it could very well mean they'll be unknowingly SOOL with those high ramps in front of them it would seem to me. But who really knows at this juncture for certain.. ....( but we'll learn soon enough). Edited June 10, 2014 by BRASSO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 For whoever is complaining about not seeing the show because of the stage, keep in mind it's literally only 6 feet tall. It won't hinder the view that much if at all. I watched the feed live and whenever there were people on that stage, it hindered my view of the corps. Not saying that I'm not going to see the show or hate on it because of it (I honestly care way less about visual design compared to musical arrangements), but it definitely isn't going to be my favorite show visually this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NodnarbSwagFish Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Except of course for the thousands of people that'll be sitting in the first few rows in many of the low level school stadiums across the country. If they buy a ticket there, and want to see the Cadets corps marchers performing in back of the ramps, well it might mean they'll be SOOL with those ramps in front of them. But who knows.. we'll learn soon enough. Fair enough, but do keep in mind that it blocks as much as if it were just the pit as the performers are probably around that height and maybe even taller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NodnarbSwagFish Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I watched the feed live and whenever there were people on that stage, it hindered my view of the corps. Not saying that I'm not going to see the show or hate on it because of it (I honestly care way less about visual design compared to musical arrangements), but it definitely isn't going to be my favorite show visually this year. Again, fair enough, but the performers are being featured and the brass amd drums were just standing still...it could mean more ge for cadets though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Oh for crying out loud do we have to launch a personal attack every single time there's a post we disagree with? I agree that the changes made recently have not been for the better. Narration is not necessary, is almost always vapid, and detracts in a big way from the real talent of the musicians. I don't care if every corps does it every year. That doesn't make it any better. Same with the thunderous synths. So attack me. Well that's just like, your opinion, man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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