garfield Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Honestly, I don't understand all the trepidation here. Cadets have a GREAT vehicle this year, music is engaging, and brass and drums are stellar as always. To me, what more could you ask for at this point in the season? This show has a chance to blow us all away at Finals. Cadets are exactly where they need to be. Don't panic guys. Actually, according to GH (and me) they're way ahead of where they've been in many past seasons. "Where they need to be"? Well, we'll see soon enough, won't we? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) Maybe people aren't getting the "deeper" meaning just yet. It's sloppy and incomplete.I have huge respect for George on so many levels. The drum corps culture and growth we now love would probably not exist were it not for his passion and work ethic. The Cadets carried the DCI banner higher than anyone for many years, at times when no one cared.I also really respect George's desire to run an open process. He gets that 400+ pages on Drum Corps Planet is a pretty good benefit to not having one a-ha unveiling moment, and that ongoing energy benefit everyone. George essentially directed this activity through its worst, lowest times, with shows that many times exceeded historical achievements. That said, it discourages me when I see perhaps the proudest drum corps in the activity floundering, and that is what it feels like right now. Statues come to life? His explanation on the broadcast, for me, made it even worse. It sounded so flippant, so haphazard, and frankly so boring. I am older, I suspect, than most here. And I never had the opportunity to march. So take my comments for whatever you think they are worth. It just hurts my feelings when I see arguably the greatest corps in drum corps history looking so lost. I picked cadets to win it all this year, and right now I don't see them medaling. They abandon their traditions (no problem with that, times change) for a mostly naked dude who doesn't play an instrument, doing goofy muscle poses on a pedestal? What?! There will be a documentary about the activity and half of it will be covering a corps that literally MADE the traditional drum corps ethos...and is now focusing its show on a guy wearing a loin cloth...who is supposed to be a statue...while the corps is playing Pines of Rome...which has been covered so many times that it is almost boring. "We picked Pines of Rome because we wanted to feature French horns, and sort of went from there." Hello, Cadets? Anyone home? And the original title of this show was Stoned? Huh?! This is happening at a time when so many corps are reinventing themselves, and succeeding at it. Cavaliers are certainly a heavyweight, with massive traditions, and they are moving out of their box to compete. Will they succeed? Who knows? But they appear to get how to represent their past while looking to a future. Crown is doing a western. Awesome! Will it work, who knows? Bluecoats are reinventing the very concept of a DCI show. Three years running. Incredible! I still watch Tilt and get goosebumps. BD, sticking to their legacy, but no one can argue with their otherworldly commitment to excellence and training at every level. I don't always love their direction but I cannot argue with their overall show impact and technical achievement. They are dominating the field, and will probably be a medalist yet again. I truly hope this show evolves. Dramatically. The activity needs cadets to help lead the future. Just very worried about what this season may bring for the organization. Edited June 21, 2016 by MikeRapp 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I thought during the "climax" of the show, his slowly walking toward the seat on the right side prop was the coolest thing ever... Obvious his character needs to get developed more during the first half of the program, and he needs to really work out a lot between now and finals. Word choice: Subtlety is not a strong suit, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry7184 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) This poster is rather new and is entitled to his opinion but he has made these same comments several times...after camp videos and before Spring Training even began. Star of Indiana is his leit motif and I believe he has Stars in his eyes when considering anything other. I may be a new poster, but I've been following the activity since 1982 and marched 1984-89. I have NOT made these statements several times before. I am entitled to my opinion. This is a discussion board after all, and anything any of us say is an opinion with regards to shows. In MY opinion, this is the worst designed Cadets show I have ever seen (since 1982). Don't agree, that's fine. We'll see what happens but I'm not optimistic about the Cadets this season. Edited June 21, 2016 by henry7184 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 As a long time Cadets fan, I must sadly admit that I didn't like what I saw last night. I know that it is early, but man Cadets looked and sounded pretty rough last night. What is the purpose of the stage and cake looking props? I hate to say that I found myself losing interest the further they went into the show. And they need to add something to the pants to add interest! They look like they're in a uniform from the waist up, and street clothes for the waist down. I honestly felt like I was watching a lower tier corps at times last night. Quite shocking at times to be honest. This corps certainly has some serious work ahead of them this season. Yikes! "they sounded rough"??!! I seriously have to disagree with that one. An amazing sounding corps this year. As far as the props - they are statue bases. The covers aren't in yet so maybe you'll like them more once they are in stone... The guard will be in 3 costumes. The show flags aren't in - I think only 1 show set was used last night. We have holes and we're at June 20th. I do agree they have a lot of work ahead of them, the corps is sloppy right now. VERY. So that might be throwing you off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Word choice: Subtlety is not a strong suit, eh? oh I used that word on purpose lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garfield Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 The Cadets messaging with this theme seems rather confusing to me at the moment too. What I gathered ( could be wrong however) is that cold, lifeless, statues become live breathing human beings, encounter all the positive and negative emotions that human beings encounter in their lives, then ultimately conclude ( end of show ) that they'd prefer to return to being heartless, lifeless, cold statues again. If thats the meassge, is sort of a depressing one. However, I would tend to believe that Cadets will tweak this and by finals, we'll all find out that in the end, despite the obstacles, its still better to have a pulse, than to be a lifeless statue. That'd be my guess anyway at the moment,.. but who really knows. Yes, as GH explained at the opening, and the corps was to express all of the emotions that drive the statues back to preferring stone. With his explanation I had a hard time experiencing that range of emotions in the programming, without it I wouldn't have known what the heck was going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry7184 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Yikes! "they sounded rough"??!! I seriously have to disagree with that one. An amazing sounding corps this year. As far as the props - they are statue bases. The covers aren't in yet so maybe you'll like them more once they are in stone... The guard will be in 3 costumes. The show flags aren't in - I think only 1 show set was used last night. We have holes and we're at June 20th. I do agree they have a lot of work ahead of them, the corps is sloppy right now. VERY. So that might be throwing you off. I agree - they sounded fantastic, the horns and drums will save their season. It's the overall design of the show I have a problem with. It just doesn't work. There are a few cool visual moments, but the drill overall is just meh. And the concept is just a poor choice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 I may be a new poster, but I've been following the activity since 1982 and marched 1984-89. I have NOT made these statements several times before. I am entitled to my opinion. This is a discussion board after all, and anything any of us say is an opinion with regards to shows. In MY opinion, this is the worst designed Cadets show I have ever seen (since 1982). Don't agree, that's fine. We'll see what happens but I'm not optimistic about the Cadets this season. And we disagree. That's ok too :) Totally agree with you having every right to an opinion, and I also agree Cadets need some changes. However I disagree that "Star did it way better" - I was there that entire season. The take this year is different, and less true to the original, but the Cadets are doing things Star didn't even attempt at the time. There have been several other 'worse designed" Cadets shows (2006 comes quickly to mind) - again, just a differing opinion Hope as the season progresses you start to enjoy the show more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Dixon Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) I agree - they sounded fantastic, the horns and drums will save their season. It's the overall design of the show I have a problem with. It just doesn't work. There are a few cool visual moments, but the drill overall is just meh. And the concept is just a poor choice too. I personally think they need to "shut up" about the "meaning" of the show Just have the guard come to life and go back to statues but don't talk about it It's ok to have a "hidden meaning" that the corps gets and very serious fans "get" but let the show itself speak. Like 1998 - no one said it was about Stonehenge or why the one guard member was always off doing their own thing. It was subtle Cadets need a touch of subtle - a lost art apparently Edited June 21, 2016 by George Dixon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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