ALLENTOWN - Day 2

[wilme861]

Disagree. I hated side by side. Not "Cadetlike" for me. Would take this year over any of that side by side stuff.

Agreed, didn't like that show at all

[Kamarag]

Disagree. I hated side by side. Not "Cadetlike" for me. Would take this year over any of that side by side stuff.

Weird. I absolutely adore that show musically. Visually, meh....but still.

[Plan9]

Sorry, Plan 9, Crown's percussion score is an anomaly that does not yet represent consistency of performance or instruction. It should not surprise anyone on the forum if their percussion score stays the same from Allentown through finals.

Not sure what you're sayin. Never mind, I see what you're saying.....duh!

Edited August 2, 2015 by Plan9

[Tobias]

Weird. I absolutely adore that show musically. Visually, meh....but still.

And we complain about judges. It's all about opinions. Even we can't all agree on shows,

[sched88]

1999 was my rookie year. We came in 4th.

That was the Big Apple show.

[JoeDz]

Being "TheCadets" is so much more than always being in the hunt for the Founder's Trophy. Over the years, they have been through many names, many show themes, many ups, and even a few downs. The fact that they introduced a uniform change for a part of the season is a small discussion point as to whether or not it was risky and whether or not it was worth it.

What remains unchanged for now and the foreseeable future is HOW those young men and women wear that uniform.... How they conduct themselves both in and out of uniform.....what is expected of them every minute that they are "Cadets."

Pride, professionalism, respect, and all those other virtues that Hoppy and the staff expect.....no DEMAND..... from them, each and every rehearsal, each and every field performance, no matter the size of the crowd.

Pretty much, they're like every other DCI corps in this modern era..... They travel safely, look after health and well being, and rush to help each other when in need. They strive to win......express disappointment when they don't and take the sheets and "tapes" and make adjustments.

If The Cadets don't win it all next Saturday, it will be because they ran out of time...... Same would be true of Crown, Blue Devils, and BLOO... ,

In the end, it isn't cadets, crown, BLOO, or bd who win....... WE DO !!!, and 150 kids from each open class and world class corps return to "life" as an improved person and leader.

Want to see how important uniforms really are? Go to YouTube and view the final run through by 2014 Blue Devils in the Indy Colts training facility. The echoes were terrible, the kids were in shorts and little else.. If that performance was judged, they still would have won the gold !

What a year ! What a direction our activity is taking !!!

(Edited for spelling error)

Edited August 2, 2015 by JoeDz

[wvu80]

Wow, Cadets! Unbelievable show, start to fantastic finish!

But they won't win. They can't win.

This is my first time seeing those black unis, and they RUIN the show. I am so disappointed. All the big marching moments are LOST, and it doesn't "hide" any dirt. Changing to those black uniforms is the biggest mistake in the history of drum corps, and I've been watching over 30 years, and I am a HUGE Cadets fan.

I'll elaborate later with specifics.

I know it's bad form to quote yourself, but I have been very emotional with my reaction to the Cadets appearance with all-black uniforms, with no examples of why I reacted the way I did. This is the analytical part of what I've observed.

1. Crowd. Someone else observed the high mark time is now invisible; I agree. I've seen Cadets live and I've seen every broadcast, this was always a huge crowd pleaser and big applause point for the audience. I watched the Allentown broadcast twice; there was NO crowd reaction on this move; none.

2. Sense of awe: Not everything in a show is a screaming/wild applause moment by the crowd. Cadets pull some moves that are just plain unbelievable the way they hit double-blind moves backwards into perfectly straight lines. It doesn't have the same impact now because it blends into the background, although you can see it if you look for it. It doesn't JUMP at you like it did before.

Pass throughs, the same thing. Contrary motion does not convey the feeling of speed because the black just dully blends into non-visual impacts. The continuity of the snaking black line is now EXTENDED into the black CG uniforms which are OUTSIDE that form. The creme creates contrast and doubles the feeling of speed when the colors are traveling in opposite directions.

3. Show is inside out: This isn't objective, this is MY personal perspective. One of the reasons I love Cadets show is that I like to see the musicians march. Nobody does this as well as The Cadets IMO, in part due to the visual impact of those creme pants.

As I watch the show, I see the musicians in the center of the field with the flags to the outside. Now, the marchers disappear and blend with the CG making angled lines and forms a LOT more ambiguous. The FLAGS now dominate the visual field with their neon color and the bright yellow on the CG arms. My eyes are drawn to those bright colors. To me, this takes away from the visual STRENGTH of the show design, and focuses on the relative weakness of the color guard's imprecise arm movements and takes my attention away from the now invisible PRECISION of the musicians in motion.

I now see TWICE as much visual "dirt" as I did before. I'm not looking for it, the bright colors draw my attention to it.

4. GE Moments are lost: All that brilliant choreography up and down the 45's is now lost with the black. It gets muddled up with the black pants of the CG members, which extend the lines away from the precision of the horn players. The wonderful dancing by the horn players in the waltz section, same thing; you just can't see it, it blends in with the CG pants making coordinated moves look, well, not coordinated.

+++

Guilt Section: I apologize to the Cadets for being so critical, as this is a drum corps and a show I love. I think its a championship show, and frankly, I hope you win. I hope the judges look past the part that I as a crowd member was wowed by upon earlier viewings, that is now lost. I hope the judges reward the fantastic marching and playing and overall show design that is The Cadets 2015.

Edited August 2, 2015 by wvu80

[garfield]

Yours is a heartfelt review, WVU80. I can't help but think something is coming. Another surprise. A neon strip down the leg. Yellow and green neon shoes. A gold cummerbund. All of which would be cool.

I love the black for what it does with and to the music. But I hate what it does to the visual. At least now. I'll have a chance to see them 3 times next week and I'm hopeful that either I come to like it as is or they throw another pre-planned surprise splash of color.

Love the show. Love the run and gun of classic Cadets. I hope I can see them under the Oil Can's very competent lighting.

It didn't seem to hurt them the other night.

[2000Cadet]

That was the Big Apple show.

Yes it was.

I know it's bad form to quote yourself, but I have been very emotional with my reaction to the Cadets appearance with all-black uniforms, with no examples of why I reacted the way I did. This is the analytical part of what I've observed.

1. Crowd. Someone else observed the high mark time is now invisible; I agree. I've seen Cadets live and I've seen every broadcast, this was always a huge crowd pleaser and big applause point for the audience. I watched the Allentown broadcast twice; there was NO crowd reaction on this move; none.

2. Sense of awe: Not everything in a show is a screaming/wild applause moment by the crowd. Cadets pull some moves that are just plain unbelievable the way they hit double-blind moves backwards into perfectly straight lines. It doesn't have the same impact now because it blends into the background, although you can see it if you look for it. It doesn't JUMP at you like it did before.

Pass throughs, the same thing. Contrary motion does not convey the feeling of speed because the black just dully blends into non-visual impacts. The continuity of the snaking black line is now EXTENDED into the black CG uniforms which are OUTSIDE that from. The creme creates contrast and doubles the feeling of speed when the colors are traveling in opposite directions.

3. Show is inside out: This isn't objective, this is MY personal perspective. One of the reasons I love Cadets show is that I like to see the musicians march. Nobody does this as well as The Cadets IMO, in part due to the visual impact of those creme pants.

As I watch the show, I see the musicians in the center of the field with the flags to the outside. Now, the marchers disappear and blend with the CG making angled lines and forms a LOT more ambiguous. The FLAGS now dominate the visual field with their neon color and the bright yellow on the CG arms. My eyes are drawn to those bright colors. To me, this takes away from the visual STRENGTH of the show design, and focuses on the relative weakness of the color guard's imprecise arm movements and takes my attention away from the now invisible PRECISION of the musicians in motion.

I now see TWICE as much visual "dirt" as I did before. I'm not looking for it, the bright colors draw my attention to it.

4. GE Moments are lost: All that brilliant choreography up and down the 45's is now lost with the black. It gets muddled up with the black pants of the CG members, which extend the lines away from the precision of the horn players. The wonderful dancing by the horn players in the waltz section, same thing; you just can't see it, it blends in with the CG pants making coordinated moves look, well, not coordinated.

+++

Guilt Section: I apologize to the Cadets for being so critical, as this is a drum corps and a show I love. I think its a championship show, and frankly, I hope you win. I hope the judges look past the part that I as a crowd member was wowed by upon earlier viewings, that is now lost. I hope the judges reward the fantastic marching and playing and overall show design that is The Cadets 2015.

Now that I've read why you feel the way you do, I can certainly understand what you're talking about. I am hoping that it'll perhaps look different live inside LOS as I will be there. But I certainly understand your POV.

[StuStu]

I know it's bad form to quote yourself, but I have been very emotional with my reaction to the Cadets appearance with all-black uniforms, with no examples of why I reacted the way I did. This is the analytical part of what I've observed.

1. Crowd. Someone else observed the high mark time is now invisible; I agree. I've seen Cadets live and I've seen every broadcast, this was always a huge crowd pleaser and big applause point for the audience. I watched the Allentown broadcast twice; there was NO crowd reaction on this move; none.

2. Sense of awe: Not everything in a show is a screaming/wild applause moment by the crowd. Cadets pull some moves that are just plain unbelievable the way they hit double-blind moves backwards into perfectly straight lines. It doesn't have the same impact now because it blends into the background, although you can see it if you look for it. It doesn't JUMP at you like it did before.

Pass throughs, the same thing. Contrary motion does not convey the feeling of speed because the black just dully blends into non-visual impacts. The continuity of the snaking black line is now EXTENDED into the black CG uniforms which are OUTSIDE that from. The creme creates contrast and doubles the feeling of speed when the colors are traveling in opposite directions.

3. Show is inside out: This isn't objective, this is MY personal perspective. One of the reasons I love Cadets show is that I like to see the musicians march. Nobody does this as well as The Cadets IMO, in part due to the visual impact of those creme pants.

As I watch the show, I see the musicians in the center of the field with the flags to the outside. Now, the marchers disappear and blend with the CG making angled lines and forms a LOT more ambiguous. The FLAGS now dominate the visual field with their neon color and the bright yellow on the CG arms. My eyes are drawn to those bright colors. To me, this takes away from the visual STRENGTH of the show design, and focuses on the relative weakness of the color guard's imprecise arm movements and takes my attention away from the now invisible PRECISION of the musicians in motion.

I now see TWICE as much visual "dirt" as I did before. I'm not looking for it, the bright colors draw my attention to it.

4. GE Moments are lost: All that brilliant choreography up and down the 45's is now lost with the black. It gets muddled up with the black pants of the CG members, which extend the lines away from the precision of the horn players. The wonderful dancing by the horn players in the waltz section, same thing; you just can't see it, it blends in with the CG pants making coordinated moves look, well, not coordinated.

+++

Guilt Section: I apologize to the Cadets for being so critical, as this is a drum corps and a show I love. I think its a championship show, and frankly, I hope you win. I hope the judges look past the part that I as a crowd member was wowed by upon earlier viewings, that is now lost. I hope the judges reward the fantastic marching and playing and overall show design that is The Cadets 2015.

I had the same reaction, particularly to the ballad and the waltz. The movement detail disappears into the murk.

I just hope the lighting in the oil can alleviates some of this.

Perhaps the judges will not be swayed one way or another, but watching the feed from Allentown I found the black uniforms muted a lot of the spark in that show last night.