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The Cavaliers 2023


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5 hours ago, craiga said:

I agree with you.  Having taught both indoor guards and winter drum lines, I get the whole facial expression/emoting thing to connect with judges and fans.  I doubt however if it is possible to emote effectively at Allentown, San Antonio,  or Indy. On the other hand,  Headwear helps with uniformity and visual clarity, imho.

I agree. It's easier to see forms as well

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On 6/3/2023 at 12:48 PM, craiga said:

I agree with you.  Having taught both indoor guards and winter drum lines, I get the whole facial expression/emoting thing to connect with judges and fans.  I doubt however if it is possible to emote effectively at Allentown, San Antonio,  or Indy. On the other hand,  Headwear helps with uniformity and visual clarity, imho.

The band I work with went without traditional uniforms and headwear for a couple of years. I thought the kids looked short and you certainly can’t see faces in the Lucas oil pressbox.

They’ve since gone back to a traditional uniform and it gives the kids a much taller and slimmer look from up high.

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I was excited when they revealed their look for 2022.  I thought the half skirt was maybe a bit too Blue Devilish, but it had enough nods to the Cavalier’s traditional look that I was onboard with it.  About midway through the season I was done with it.  Other than the fake watch on the left gauntlet it did nothing to compliment the show.  The show was so bland visually(sorry, it was) that I couldn’t help but wonder if the traditional white aussies could have elevated the design.  I’m all for seeing the performers expressions when the performance is what brings out the emotion.  When facial expressions are programmed into the performance it looks fake to me.  Seeing pictures of the guard this season with big smiles during practice is kinda cringe for me.  

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I'd rather see smiles than growls and grunts. Growling and grunting in drum corps should be banned. 

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1 hour ago, alextiger said:

I was excited when they revealed their look for 2022.  I thought the half skirt was maybe a bit too Blue Devilish, but it had enough nods to the Cavalier’s traditional look that I was onboard with it.  About midway through the season I was done with it.  Other than the fake watch on the left gauntlet it did nothing to compliment the show.  The show was so bland visually(sorry, it was) that I couldn’t help but wonder if the traditional white aussies could have elevated the design.  I’m all for seeing the performers expressions when the performance is what brings out the emotion.  When facial expressions are programmed into the performance it looks fake to me.  Seeing pictures of the guard this season with big smiles during practice is kinda cringe for me.  

That's fair and I actually liked the uniforms from last season. But it just doesn't beat that traditional cavies look. 

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I liked last year’s uniform too, I just don’t think it worked well on the field.  One of the big complaints about last years show was how most of the visuals were between the sidelines and the front hash marks.  While I agree with that, they did actually use almost the all the field at times.  But whenever they were backfield they faded into the green of the turf. Especially when facing the back stands

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2 minutes ago, alextiger said:

I liked last year’s uniform too, I just don’t think it worked well on the field.  One of the big complaints about last years show was how most of the visuals were between the sidelines and the front hash marks.  While I agree with that, they did actually use almost the all the field at times.  But whenever they were backfield they faded into the green of the turf. Especially when facing the back stands

That's definitely fair. I had my issues with it to that, frankly, frustrated me. 

I clearly don't know any of the facts, but it felt like the staff was kinda going through the motions. Some weird decision making... the hornline, for 9th place, rocked. I don't have a lot of issues there, but I still felt like the attitude from even the music staff was "good enough". I really hated typing that too..... it's almost like they wanted to leave the corps for another gig. And I get that... you gotta go where you feel is right, but you still have to give your 110%. I could be completely wrong, but business is business.

Visual staff was disappointing for me. I felt like they banked on the uniform to boost GE and visual score. However, there was a lack of teaching fundamentals. Teaching how to guide, proper step size from set to set, and just general attitude. You basically nailed it with the design flaws and I'll add that the drill was... eh. I might be still spoiled with Michael Gaines work, but The Cavaliers are known for crazy drill. I want amazing drill again. 

I might be a bit harsh on the former staff, but they really frustrated and disappointed me last season. The Cavaliers have created a new staff this season with a mixture of old and new faces. I will ALWAYS support The Cavaliers no matter what and even if I'm the only Cavies fan in the stands come Tomball... so be it. I will still cheer louder than everyone around me. 

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On 6/5/2023 at 5:06 PM, Hook'emCavies said:

That's definitely fair. I had my issues with it to that, frankly, frustrated me. 

I clearly don't know any of the facts, but it felt like the staff was kinda going through the motions. Some weird decision making... the hornline, for 9th place, rocked. I don't have a lot of issues there, but I still felt like the attitude from even the music staff was "good enough". I really hated typing that too..... it's almost like they wanted to leave the corps for another gig. And I get that... you gotta go where you feel is right, but you still have to give your 110%. I could be completely wrong, but business is business.

Visual staff was disappointing for me. I felt like they banked on the uniform to boost GE and visual score. However, there was a lack of teaching fundamentals. Teaching how to guide, proper step size from set to set, and just general attitude. You basically nailed it with the design flaws and I'll add that the drill was... eh. I might be still spoiled with Michael Gaines work, but The Cavaliers are known for crazy drill. I want amazing drill again. 

I might be a bit harsh on the former staff, but they really frustrated and disappointed me last season. The Cavaliers have created a new staff this season with a mixture of old and new faces. I will ALWAYS support The Cavaliers no matter what and even if I'm the only Cavies fan in the stands come Tomball... so be it. I will still cheer louder than everyone around me. 

I agree completely.  The visual problems with the Cavaliers have been building for the last few competitive season.  I think everything just imploded last season. 2022 was the first time since 2015 that they didn’t end the show by breaking formation and rushing the sideline. It was a pitch perfect end for the propaganda show, but after that it just seemed like lazy writing (although I didn’t mind it as much in 2019).  The guard unfortunately made up for that last year by ending almost every section of the show by throwing down their equipment and posing dramatically. 
 

when I saw “Live from the Rose” I thought it was great for a shorten exhibition season. A show that seemed more about having fun and playing to the crowd than putting a well thought out, detailed concept on the field .   It was extremely frustrating to see that lack of design carry over to 2022.   The designers seemed like they just had a piece of music they wanted to use use (sign of the times) and just backwards engineered a show around it by throwing in some time references here and there and calling it a day. 
 

I agree that the brass was under scored all season and I think that goes back to the visual.  GE is king in DCI, and a lack of GE visual can drag other captions down.  The guard added almost nothing to the show visually. There were so many bad choices in the guard design.  
 

there is a lot more that can be said about what went wrong the last few years and last year specifically but I have always loved the Cavaliers and I don’t like being negative so I’m going to end it here with some more positive remarks.  My issues are with the staff not the members and I think they performed last year at such a high level of achievement that they were able to elevate the show beyond what was designed for them.  The guard in particular were able to take a poorly designed guard book and make it more than what they were given.  I’m excited to see what the corps brings to the field this year.  I have no concerns about the brass and percussion and I think visual has no where to go but up

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1 hour ago, alextiger said:

I agree completely.  The visual problems with the Cavaliers have been building for the last few competitive season.  I think everything just imploded last season. 2022 was the first time since 2015 that they didn’t end the show by breaking formation and rushing the sideline. It was a pitch perfect end for the propaganda show, but after that it just seemed like lazy writing (although I didn’t mind it as much in 2019).  The guard unfortunately made up for that last year by ending almost every section of the show by throwing down their equipment and posing dramatically. 
 

when I saw “Live from the Rose” I thought it was great for a shorten exhibition season. A show that seemed more about having fun and playing to the crowd than putting a well thought out, detailed concept on the field .   It was extremely frustrating to see that lack of design carry over to 2022.   The designers seemed like they just had a piece of music they wanted to use use (sign of the times) and just backwards engineered a show around it by throwing in some time references here and there and calling it a day. 
 

I agree that the brass was under scored all season and I think that goes back to the visual.  GE is king in DCI, and a lack of GE visual can drag other captions down.  The guard added almost nothing to the show visually. There were so many bad choices in the guard design.  
 

there is a lot more that can be said about what went wrong the last few years and last year specifically but I have always loved the Cavaliers and I don’t like being negative so I’m going to end it here with some more positive remarks.  My issues are with the staff not the members and I think they performed last year at such a high level of achievement that they were able to elevate the show beyond what was designed for them.  The guard in particular were able to take a poorly designed guard book and make it more than what they were given.  I’m excited to see what the corps brings to the field this year.  I have no concerns about the brass and percussion and I think visual has no where to go but up

At least I'm not the only one that felt that way. It really brought me down last season. I REALLY enjoyed what the corps brought us from 2016 to 2019. They were back on the rise as the most improved finalist corps in 2016, a sorta turn your brain off 2017 show that actually had some neat visuals at times, but needed some brass work, 2018 showed that the hornline just needed some direction from the leadership stand point (lots of cool historical easter eggs from that show that I really enjoyed, but I get the small drop in score), and to a completely freaking awesome 2019 program that.... well, proved a theory I had when I was in high school and I  kinda lost some reputation points. 

In a concert setting we are accustomed to starting a performance with a march, a lyrical piece, and then a more difficult piece to close things out like Blue Shades, Angel's in the Architecture, Second Suite in F, and so on. Anyways, a buddy of mine once asked me what I think we should end with... and I said our lyrical piece. Why? Tuning was solid for a high school ensemble, the audience reacted well to it, and the ensemble could hold long sustaining notes. They shrugged me off, but it's good to see The Cavaliers in 2019 proved that lyrical moments can make you cheer nonstop. 

I'm hoping for leadership to stay firm, focused, and turn these boys into the Green Machine that we know and cheer hard for.

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11 hours ago, Hook'emCavies said:

At least I'm not the only one that felt that way. It really brought me down last season. I REALLY enjoyed what the corps brought us from 2016 to 2019. They were back on the rise as the most improved finalist corps in 2016, a sorta turn your brain off 2017 show that actually had some neat visuals at times, but needed some brass work, 2018 showed that the hornline just needed some direction from the leadership stand point (lots of cool historical easter eggs from that show that I really enjoyed, but I get the small drop in score), and to a completely freaking awesome 2019 program that.... well, proved a theory I had when I was in high school and I  kinda lost some reputation points. 

In a concert setting we are accustomed to starting a performance with a march, a lyrical piece, and then a more difficult piece to close things out like Blue Shades, Angel's in the Architecture, Second Suite in F, and so on. Anyways, a buddy of mine once asked me what I think we should end with... and I said our lyrical piece. Why? Tuning was solid for a high school ensemble, the audience reacted well to it, and the ensemble could hold long sustaining notes. They shrugged me off, but it's good to see The Cavaliers in 2019 proved that lyrical moments can make you cheer nonstop. 

I'm hoping for leadership to stay firm, focused, and turn these boys into the Green Machine that we know and cheer hard for.

I'm going to try and forget last year as well as 2012's 15 Minutes of Shame; there were a ton of missed visual opportunities, and the drill was pretty bad and condensed; the same writer wrote a wonderful drill for Avon last year, I believe, so there was obviously some staff drama going on there.

I don't buy the Covid excuses, it was all on the staff.

THIS year is completely different. I am sorry that they lost a wonderful brass staff, but they got a great staff coming in, the guard numbers are much better, and the percussion has only gotten better. There's a lot of talent in this current corps, and I believe they're going to be back in the top 5 this year.

I don't know much about the visual people, but the music side and the show design will be much better fleshed out this go around.

 

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