jwillis35 Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 (edited) With all the talk of the new staff and the new visual style that will unfold with Cadets (and most of it in a positive way), I wanted to also give a shout-out to the past drill writer, Jeff Sacktig. Jeff's drill writing, IMO, was masterful and beautiful to watch. I really felt the all-black uniform hurt the overall look and feel to Jeff's drill from last season. I also don't buy this "we all need to move in the direction of BD or Crown, etc." Those corps are great, fantastic! They each have a unique style and do it well. If you ask me, what has hurt Cadets is not the drill, but the way the show theme was incorporated with the music and integration of guard. Playing around with gimmicks like the number 10 and X's on the field while playing serious Shostakovich music didn't seem to connect. Regardless of the symphony number, Shostakovich's music needed a deeper theme, or perhaps no theme. I have no doubt they will be good. They always are. Let's face it, here's a corps that received a lot of criticism over their shows of the last 4 years while placing 4th, 3rd, 3rd, and 4th in that span. Most other corps would take that. In 2014 they only lost ONE show to corps not named Blue Devils during the regular season (Crown on 6-22-2014). It was only at Finals that Bluecoats nabbed them on the final night by a little, pushing them to 3rd place. One of the great things about them in the last 4 years has been some pretty awesome music, minus about 1 minute of the 2014 show. I loved the Christmas arrangements of 2012. The 2014 show had excellent Aaron Copland music, and their brass and percussion lines of 2013 and 2015 are some of the finest I have ever heard from the Cadets. Musically they have been excellent. At any rate, I look forward to seeing the new style, and I do hope we still see some classic Cadets in there. Win, place, or show...it's always nice when a corps can retain their unique identity. Edited May 27, 2016 by jwillis35 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Posted May 27, 2016 Author Share Posted May 27, 2016 (edited) Jeff has seen the show and there is a repoire between Jeff and Darryl. I think you'll see Darryl's approach is more modern but the flow is certainly Cadets. Jeff would have also adjusted his writing. Great and difficult drill is hard to clean and no longer rewarded. The mix will be there but time to adjust. One of the most difficult shows ever to hit the field last year and performed well garnered them a whopping 4th place. Edited May 27, 2016 by Tobias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 (edited) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjaFyeYW0AEfvxT.jpg:large Note the towers on each end of the formation. CG not on the field for photo which is why the dot chart differs from what you are seeing. These pro-tem props are made from last year's platfors, hence the wraps. Edited May 27, 2016 by xandandl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brichtimp Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 With all the talk of the new staff and the new visual style that will unfold with Cadets (and most of it in a positive way), I wanted to also give a shout-out to the past drill writer, Jeff Sacktig. Jeff's drill writing, IMO, was masterful and beautiful to watch. I really felt the all-black uniform hurt the overall look and feel to Jeff's drill from last season. I also don't buy this "we all need to move in the direction of BD or Crown, etc." Those corps are great, fantastic! They each have a unique style and do it well. If you ask me, what has hurt Cadets is not the drill, but the way the show theme was incorporated with the music and integration of guard. Playing around with gimmicks like the number 10 and X's on the field while playing serious Shostakovich music didn't seem to connect. Regardless of the symphony number, Shostakovich's music needed a deeper theme, or perhaps no theme. I have no doubt they will be good. They always are. Let's face it, here's a corps that received a lot of criticism over their shows of the last 4 years while placing 4th, 3rd, 3rd, and 4th in that span. Most other corps would take that. In 2014 they only lost ONE show to corps not named Blue Devils during the regular season (Crown on 6-22-2014). It was only at Finals that Bluecoats nabbed them on the final night by a little, pushing them to 3rd place. One of the great things about them in the last 4 years has been some pretty awesome music, minus about 1 minute of the 2014 show. I loved the Christmas arrangements of 2012. The 2014 show had excellent Aaron Copland music, and their brass and percussion lines of 2013 and 2015 are some of the finest I have ever heard from the Cadets. Musically they have been excellent. At any rate, I look forward to seeing the new style, and I do hope we still see some classic Cadets in there. Win, place, or show...it's always nice when a corps can retain their unique identity. Checking the records for 6/22/2014 in Bowling Green, I see that Cadets beat Crown by about 0.7. If that is correct, then Finals night was the only show where Cadets lost to anyone other than BD; and the latter will always be debatable in my mind (but I am biased in that regard). I totally agree that the 2015 theme was not worthy of Shostakovich; but aspects of the drill at insane tempos exposed individual member marching flaws despite fabulous brass and percussion execution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjaFyeYW0AEfvxT.jpg:large Note the towers on each end of the formation. CG not on the field for photo which is why the dot chart differs from what you are seeing. These pro-tem props are made from last year's platfors, hence the wraps. Thanks for sharing The more I see the more excited I get I love that they are going out of their comfort zone a bit Hearing good things about the guard also The brass sounds freaking incredible. Almost an orchestral sound but loud as crap. And as we know, loud is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2000Cadet Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 Thanks for sharing The more I see the more excited I get I love that they are going out of their comfort zone a bit Hearing good things about the guard also The brass sounds freaking incredible. Almost an orchestral sound but loud as crap. And as we know, loud is good. I appreciate the "different direction" in which Cadets are going, but my heart will always, ALWAYS hold a special place for Saktig's whiplash drill. It is what makes The Cadets who they are and it's for what I specifically marched there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 CG love in this latest behind the scene Rocky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53nfORfx-UA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I appreciate the "different direction" in which Cadets are going, but my heart will always, ALWAYS hold a special place for Saktig's whiplash drill. It is what makes The Cadets who they are and it's for what I specifically marched there. NO doubt whatsoever. Also of course Zingali and Marc - just great drill guy after great drill guy... I recently watched the 99 and 00 productions - some terrific drill moments. The winding/unwinding moment in 2000 was so "simple" an idea, but executed so brilliantly. One of those moments no one can forget. Also the "waterfall" pass thru in the closing moments!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I appreciate the "different direction" in which Cadets are going, but my heart will always, ALWAYS hold a special place for Saktig's whiplash drill. It is what makes The Cadets who they are and it's for what I specifically marched there. I personally find whiplash drill to be overrated. Speed and power can become pretty tiresome. I love SCV's and Cavies' approach to drill. It keeps things exciting throughout the show rather than for a few minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I personally find whiplash drill to be overrated. Speed and power can become pretty tiresome. I love SCV's and Cavies' approach to drill. It keeps things exciting throughout the show rather than for a few minutes I think "flex drill" is really what we are talking about here in regards to Cadets. So far the drill this year is a little less flex, a little more geometric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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