dans Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 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. Well said sir. At the end of the day, this version of the Cadets does not seem very well thought out. Very confusing theme. Just the fact that they changed the name of their theme makes one scratch their head in confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadet93 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) Wow, I really do not get the negativity towards the visual show design that is coming out. To me it is interesting, fresh, and different. And anyone saying they look like a 10-17 place corps, that is just ridiculous and stupid. There are several great visual moments. I am an alumni yes, I am biased yes. I also can be very hard on them. Last year at this point people were raving about the brass and percussion and all I could do was point out how dated and stale the drill looked. It may not bring a championship this year, but I think it has the potential to, and I also think it is a great step forward in design evolution for the corps. Edited June 21, 2016 by cadet93 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara 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. Lol seriously? Have we already forgotten about poor little Geoffrey? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dans 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 know this is a very talented group George...I attended their camps during the off season. My concern is that they are stuck with another poorly conceived show idea complete with massive props that add nothing of interest. As a long time Cadets fan, I will try to stay positive; however, last night did not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about their chances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobias Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) Wow, I really do not get the negativity towards the visual show design that is coming out. To me it is interesting, fresh, and different. And anyone saying they look like a 10-17 place corps, that is just ridiculous and stupid. There are several great visual moments. I am an alumni yes, I am biased yes. I also can be very hard on them. Last year at this point people were raving about the brass and percussion and all I could do was point out how dated and stale the drill looked. It may not bring a championship this year, but I think it has the potential to, and I also think it is a great step forward in design evolution for the corps. I agree with you. Don't over think too much on criticisms here. Lots of ex-competitors (their corps now folded), ex-staff and other corps homers. Go with your gut and I agree. The changes made them more modern, more competitive and they did a great job keeping enough ties to the past to not lose their identity. If anything, they've become the breath of fresh along with Bloo in the top tier. Good for them. Edited June 21, 2016 by Tobias 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellojay84 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) 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 organizati In total agreement.. as a Cadets Alum, I am more than a little disappointed with the direction they are going. So much tradition.... and it feels like they're leaving it behind. I just can't get "on board" with the black uniforms, not sure I understand the concept this year either.. why does there need to be a nearly naked boy? just throwing that out there.. the whole "stoned" thing? that now they are making a KILLING on with T-shirt sales (can't say that doesn't surprise me, I'm half tempted to buy one, just to have it) and I'm really sorry about this next comparison, but Awakening, looks like it would fit-in better at a BOA super regional, than on the field of DCI.. there's way too much "everyone on the platform!! ok, now everyone OFF the plaform!" goin on... just sayin. Edited June 21, 2016 by mellojay84 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 In total agreement.. as a Cadets Alum, I am more than a little disappointed with the direction they are going. So much tradition.... and it feels like they're leaving it behind. I just can't get "on board" with the black uniforms, not sure I understand the concept this year either.. why does there need to be a nearly naked boy? just throwing that out there.. the whole "stoned" thing? that now they are making a KILLING on with T-shirt sales (can't say that doesn't surprise me, I'm half tempted to buy one, just to have it) and I'm really sorry about this next comparison, but Awakening, looks like it would fit-in better at a BOA super regional, than on the field of DCI.. there's way too much "everyone on the platform!! ok, now everyone OFF the plaform!" goin on... just sayin. I definitely agree that they need to find a way to make getting on and off the platform a little more subtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cadet93 Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 "if anything Crown and BDs formulas are getting old" I do agree with this, and not out of bias. BDs show is ink with a new skin on it. Crown, I just don't see the growth potential over the course of the season, but they surprised me last year so we will see... Bloo is the corps that I think will blow me away. Will see on Thurs. I guess! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 2016 Cavaliers show is called Propaganda. To read George Dixon and Tobias on this Cadet thread seems to be the base of that title and the reaction of so many posters against it. Very interesting. History in the making. Thursday will begin to tell us what is opinion/propaganda and what is truth/reality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 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 YES. THIS x100!! The Cadets need to learn the art of subtlety. And I'm not just talking about the show theme, but the music itself. Last year, both aspects were offenders (design and music). We had the Cadets beating us over the head over and over with the number 10. AND ON TOP OF THAT they had the repetitive melody of Shostakovich being played over and over again in the opener to beat us in the head over and over. Last year was probably the biggest offender of Cadets losing the art of subtlety, but there are of course other examples (2014 closer, 2010, etc). I think that musically and visually, this show is MUCH better in terms of making everything much more subtle. The reduction of the overdone high velocity drill and the frantic-sounding music certainly helps that cause. Now it's up to the Cadets design team to see whether they can take the theme of Awakening and turn into something beyond just statues waking up and then going back to sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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