Cadets 2016

[DrumManTx]

Hard to believe we've only finished one week of the season.

Looking forward to week two starting tonight - hope the thunderstorms hold off.

That was a long week. O.o

[Lance]

Cadets could go a long way in really connecting their show to greek/roman mythology. Really create the landscape of a Roman garden full of statues that come to life one fateful night. Not some generic marble picnic table covers for props... They look super cheap. Roman and Greek Columns/Architecture and of course Roman/Greek statues.

The stage REALLY needs to be be decorated with Roman Architecture. Ancient Ruin Style and Columns! Stuff like that Will really sell this statue thing even more.

I've said the same thing since my first indy review

where else besides ancient greece and rome are there a bunch of life sized statues, beside a museum (which could also be a fun take on this)?

it needs laurel leaves, columns, classical draping, etc. get it out there, even if it's subtle. and if you're afraid of the show getting misinterpreted as being set 1000 years ago, then make stylized versions of those classical-type pieces. the cake and cupcake aren't enough.

in the grand scheme, these are small things, I know, but i think they'd be helpful.

[FTNK]

Here's my detailed take after having a few (admittedly not live) takes on the show.

I might say some critical things, so trigger warning.

So, I actually like the black and white uniforms. They may look like LD Bell, but LD Bell looks great. The only problem is the plumes--mixed black and white makes them look dirty (like actually covered in grey dust) from afar. Guard uniforms are a huge misfire. I don't know how they could do them different...maybe some blue? It might even be better to go pure white--more of an abstract look, and I haven't seen many statues that a marbled blue, grey, white and brown.

I like the opening music with the trombones on the cake. I like all the, dissonant moments in the show, but then again Re:write of Spring is one of my all-time favorites and I like Messiaen so your mileage my vary. Nitpick: I wish the tbones and French horns were silver, which would match standard drum corps color schemes as well as the visual palette of the uniforms and entire show. After that the brass do some poses on the cake which are cluttered, uncoordinated and don't read from afar because they're so closely bunched. The guard dances and crawls on the ground. There are 33(!) seconds of zero sound from the corps. Huge pacing issue.

Then the violin comes in...I know it is live but it doesn't sound real. The brass do some very sloppy looking poses. 13 more seconds of silence or near-silence (I think there is a soft synthesizer drone near the end) before the low brass enters. Is the trumpet mic'd? Because it is 2x louder than the low brass. This music isn't very fast and is a slow build. When we get to the first real FF impact point, the show has been going on for 2 minutes already. It reminds me of 2006 (sorry but not sorry to bring it up, but that show exists and I marched it) where the original preshow was all pit and then a mp build into White Rabbit/The Garden. George and Marc changed that majorly and put in the 2006 preshow because it just took forever to reach a main impact point--reminds me of grading undergraduate essays

Moving on, I think the arrangement of the Respighi pieces is nice. I would rather seen the horn feature on mellos marching backward slides at 7 to 5 like Star '91, but I guess that's just how I was raised. The drill is...just ok. One of the things I have always loved about The Cadets is the huge amount of field coverage they have, which set them apart from a lot of corps. Smaller step sizes and less velocity. Overall it just seems a little generic.

More solos and beadsheets/shamwows which I'm not sure can be cleaned effectively. The dissonance in the ballad is nice. Brass poses/body movement seem random I don't understand/like the brass running onto the platforms, it seems random and uncoordinated. Overall I actually like the platforms/stage, which gives an interesting and different spatial dimension.

Wine-Dark Sea is powerful and the brass and very strong and loud. I don't know jack percussion but it seems they can play. Electronic "stings" from here to the end seem very unnecessary, sound bad, and knowing Cadets' track rewill be intensely overpowering. In the last quadrangular push the guard is all behind the back hash, not the most effective staging. Instead of sprinting to an epic field-spanning final set, there are two curvilinear lines from the side 1 20 to the side 2 45. Maybe the new ending will change that.

Concluding thoughts: Very strong music in both writing and performance. Several pacing issues. Guard doesn't seem to add a lot at this point, and needs color, which is apparently on the way. Use of props, especially the front stages, is better than expected; electronics are a weak point. In terms of visual I think they are in a tough spot; there is enough run-and-gun to require a lot cleaning, but the 'neu-schule' staging and body need even more time and effort. Look at Bluecoats, Crown, and BD--they are far ahead in both design integration and execution. It's a rebuilding year, with a new approach and system, and they have a lot of work to do, but I hope the members dig in and savor the process.

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[yogitom]

I don't owe you or anyone else an explanation of my thoughts.

It is common knowledge how poorly many many volunteers and some paid folks have been treated while on tour over the years.

Again, it is all about how you treat people that you come into contact with daily.

Sorry to say but I've got to back up drummergirl on this one. Just from my own personal experience. I volunteered for Cadets in 2012 (Christmas show) for 2 weeks as a driver. The experience was not a pleasant one to say the least. I joined the tour the night of 7/14 at DCI Minneapolis. Things started off badly and only went downhill from there. I was picked up at the airport and the driver proceeded to get lost for about an hour on the way back to the stadium. Once we got there she just dropped me off, didn't introduce me to anyone and didn't give me any direction as to who I was supposed to see. I finally meet up with the gentleman who was in charge of the drivers after the show was over. All volunteers were to be given a pass to get into the shows and a t-shirt denoting you were with the Cadets. I have yet to receive any of these items from any member of the Cadets staff. The Admin group, which was made up of very young former members, were extremely rude and hid out in their camper all day. I asked numerous times when I would receive the pass so I could get into the shows, only to be met with indifference and outright ignoring me. After 5 days I finally got a pass from one of the other volunteers, a doctor from Texas who was on the Cadets BOD, who had an extra. Finally, the day I left tour, which was after the Atlanta show, not 1 person connected with the Cadets said goodbye to me or thanked me for volunteering. I will say, that the only person connected to the Cadets who treated me in any kind of civil way was George Hopkins. The few times I was actually in an area where he was, he was extremely nice and spoke to me civilly. I could list a few more bad experiences, but this post is long enough and i got my point across. I still follow the Cadets and they are my favorite corp. But it would have to be proven to me that things have changed dramatically before I would volunteer again.

[xandandl]

Cadets 72.400 (2.35 behind No-Coats)

I was there. I thought the spread should have been much larger. Music staff I spoke with as they entered critique were definitely furious. Viz staff members I spoke with were all smiles...?

Coats are benefitting from all those Cadet alums on visual staff and their attention to detail. Just watch how Coats comes down the slides, every hand and arm is exact to the rest of the ensemble doing the same. Later in speaking with their DMs individually, they cited the change in Coats practice and focus approach once Fanning, Crowley, Ambrose, Angelo, Lloyd Ferguson, and the other four came on board to join John VanderK.; it's continue to grow the longer they stay.

Crossmen can certainly teach some higher placing guards how to use color with black and white unis; those streamers and flags were most powerful and beautiful. Funny, from the box seating I had, the "F" on the unis came across as a "P".

Love Crusaders show and Phantom's music alot. Both need more GE moments. BAC needs to get those mellophones in their feature out from behind those windmills but embracing them; it's the mellophones who should be featured.

PR wasn't bad after a day off in Philly to see sights, etc.

Already raining in Western NJ as I write this on the way out of Allentown enroute to Clifton.

Edited July 1, 2016 by xandandl

[drummergirl]

It's funny you mention that about the vis staff. I saw a photo this morning of the Bluecoats and thought how Cadet like they looked. lt is a show that the Cadets should have been able to do and be innovative. (Hope that sounds the way I intended it.)

[FTNK]

Mike Fanning was my tuba vis tech and is GREAT

[2000Cadet]

Mike Fanning was my tuba vis tech and is GREAT

He was my seat partner. Dude is one of the coolest persons I could've ever met.

[BlueStainGlass]

This thread is better than reality TV.

Or should be put onto reality TV. I can see it now!

Computer chair directors argue by day but now they are meeting face to face and living together. New reality TV show coming this summer "DCP fans uncensored"

[xandandl]

It's funny you mention that about the vis staff. I saw a photo this morning of the Bluecoats and thought how Cadet like they looked. lt is a show that the Cadets should have been able to do and be innovative. (Hope that sounds the way I intended it.)

Do you remember in the Power of Ten, when the guard and hornline held the platforms with those ten yard lines at the center of the field and the various horn players ran up and back down and cross to the next platform from backfield to front sideline?

Now look at Coats take the slides put them within those same back to front sidelines yardlines and watch them do the same manuever, They admit they stole it and tweaked it. Third such copy from Cadets, 3 equally from BD, and several from Crown. It's the way Coats has tweaked them and the energy and cleanliness they put to them that makes it so engaging. Plus a show that is light and bright in a drum corps season that is black, dark and oh so serious. yuk!