Cadets 2020

[MikeRapp]

40 minutes ago, 2000Cadet said:

Now hold on a minute. We can all agree that some of the designs "he" put on the field were sub par over the last decade or so, but this is also the same person that allowed "Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door", "We Are The Future", "Stonehenge", "Celebration....", "The American West", just to name a few. I do not think you can say with absolute certainty that Cadets "lacked were caption heads who had the experience and responsibility to stand up and say, No way this corps is putting this show on the field, not on my watch" because those same people led captions in shows that also won captions and won championships. 

All I know is, in the last decade, there have been far far too many cringeworthy Cadets shows. In fact, I would say of the corps that we would all classify as top tier corps, Cadets have had by far the worst track record in show design over at least the past decade.

I don’t want to spend any more time on this forum arguing or dissecting. I want to just love a Cadets show again. 

[2000Cadet]

7 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

All I know is, in the last decade, there have been far far too many cringeworthy Cadets shows. In fact, I would say of the corps that we would all classify as top tier corps, Cadets have had by far the worst track record in show design over at least the past decade.

I don’t want to spend any more time on this forum arguing or dissecting. I want to just love a Cadets show again. 

Yes, I'll definitely give you that. But I now look forward to at least a chance of seeing them possibly having a much better show design with this "new" seasoned staff. I hope to not eat my words again. 

Edited September 4, 2019 by 2000Cadet

[ranintothedoor]

On 9/3/2019 at 12:10 AM, DCIKnowItAll said:

The fact is they can’t design a show and they can’t attract the talent.  These changes don’t solve their real issues.

 

My best student ran up to me yesterday and said, "DID YOU SEE THE NEWS?!? I'm doing Cadets and that's it."  He had been considering Crown and Jersey Surf.

Bocook, Sacktig, and Aungst have a bigger following than you might give them credit for... 🙂 

[ranintothedoor]

14 hours ago, chaddyt said:

From a competitive standpoint, I think we'll have to wait and see.  Design is name of the game now, and that is something many of these folks excelled in... back in the 90s.  And while I would love to see a return to that type of drum corps, 9th place groups don't get to dictate the course of the activity.  They're going to need to do more than just zag to get back into medal contention.

I know you're talking about competition here, but dictating the course of the activity probably shouldn't be a goal for this year (imo).  Recently, my students have been gaga over Madison, Seattle Cascades, Phantom... all of whom presented very traditional shows this year.  9th place with a fantastic show is better for recruiting (from what I've seen on the ground) than a corps medaling with a dense art-piece.  

[garfield]

10 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

 

I don’t want to spend any more time on this forum arguing or dissecting. I want to just love a Cadets show again. 

I'm just wondering what you expect to do on a forum board besides argue and dissect?  

You can love a Cadets show again while never logging on here again.  But, generally, if you hang around here, eventually you're going to need to defend a position on something.

(/sarcasm)

 

 

[Tad_MMA]

9 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

All I know is, in the last decade, there have been far far too many cringeworthy Cadets shows. In fact, I would say of the corps that we would all classify as top tier corps, Cadets have had by far the worst track record in show design over at least the past decade.

I don’t want to spend any more time on this forum arguing or dissecting. I want to just love a Cadets show again. 

I feel you, Dawg. I really do. In the 80s and 90s, the Cadets' field entrances would give me chills. I just knew the audience was going to be wowed. Enter Century 21, and this $hit happened:

2001: Juxtaperformance: (noun) (vulgar slang); "We have no idea what to do, so let's just grab unrelated tunes with no transitions and give it a 'clever' title."

2002: A pale reenactment of the 1995 greatness. "We matter more, because New Jersey is close to the World Trade Center."

2003: "Our Favorite Things?" Santa Clara's/Madison's favorite things. Then "Rocky Point Holiday" which stopped dead halfway through.

2004: Jethro Tull. I (literally) fell asleep at the Indy regional. That was a theme chosen more for a corps trying desperately to make Finals.

2005: Zone/Door: Without the performance level, that would have been hopeless.

2006: Zone Part 2. See above. Yipes. Remember the atonal (accidental) singer?

2007/08: So much narration that my head almost exploded.

2010: The stupidest concept sadly involving a corps member: "Little Geoffrey." Totally forgettable show with a great drill.

2012: A very high DCI muckety-muck said to me, and I quote: "Only George Hopkins can completely phukk up a Christmas show."

2013: Musically stellar; visually an absolute mess with those giant whateverthehells.

2014: A talented corps interrupted with lifeless music and narration. Sadly, their last good color guard.

2015: That uniform.

2016: "Clash of the Corps" was a national embarrassment for the 82 y.o. corps. I will go to my death convinced that this was the last straw for Hopkins.

2017: Leonard Bernstein's "Mess."

2018: Made me remember how great -- and missed -- 1993 was.

2019: Sadly, I thought, "Thank God they aren't at the Akron T.O.C."

I wonder how much alumni support they've lost. I really hope the best for them.

 

[Tad_MMA]

And to reply with a positive vibe:

1985: I start here, as it was my first year seeing live shows. This is my paradigm for a drum corps show.

1986: Most powerful and visually dirty show ever (until Phantom '08). Terrific music.

1987: Wow. Just wow. Even though Hopkins elevated himself to Program Coordinator, he met w/ M. Cesario (already at Phantom) who gave him the opening and closing.

1988: Underrated. The musicianship was stunning. Performing after Madison was a curse for anyone.

1989: Awesome July; disappointing August because it was so watered down. Highly entertaining, though, with an amazing guard.

1990: First time since they won that they recycled material. I didn't like that, but the show was great fun. (The reverse Z-pull makes for an interesting, yet simple, backstory!)

1991: First third is amazing. Then it lost energy. Guard, though. WOW!

1992: Saw their first show, and they were god-awful. Three more days in August, and they would have won. There's not a bad moment in this show.

1993: In. Your. FACE! Wow.

1994: This was the WSS show Hopkins wanted to do in 1984. Just watch the awesome Guard.

1995: One of my favorite shows, front to back.

1996: Their best guard (mmmmaybe 1991, but still).

1997: Amazing drill, (too) hard music. Wonderful stuff.

1998: One of their cleanest efforts. Wonderful score.

1999: Mixed review. It's a 50/50 love/not like.

2000: Their most crowd-friendly. Fun, fun, fun!

See, there's much to love. Just not lately.

[MikeRapp]

33 minutes ago, garfield said:

I'm just wondering what you expect to do on a forum board besides argue and dissect?  

You can love a Cadets show again while never logging on here again.  But, generally, if you hang around here, eventually you're going to need to defend a position on something.

(/sarcasm)

 

 

The continual drama around Cadets is for me, at best, tiresome. I rarely even visited the Cadets thread for the past 18 months. It just seems like it’s been forever since non-Cadets loyalists were cheering them on, due to a variety of factors.

The Cadets show concepts have sucked for so long. 

 

[kdaddy]

51 minutes ago, Tad_MMA said:

2017: Leonard Bernstein's "Mess."

I lol'd at this - excellent work

[Tad_MMA]

3 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

I lol'd at this - excellent work

My pun, or the show? 😁