The Cadets 2023

[DAYGO]

Love the changes they made for last nights show.  Keep RISING, Cadets! 

[arabica]

10 hours ago, ykw said:

If only The Cadets had $100 grand lying around to blow on props and tarps, perhaps that might be rewarded with a couple extra points of GE.

Reminds me of a quote from the movie The Right Stuff about the Mercury Seven astronauts, "No bucks, no Buck Rogers."

 

I can’t express the amount of cringe I felt typing my post: that ANY corps has to dump tens of thousands of dollars on props/set design (and let’s just say no to tarps) to be competitive in the current era is disturbing.

But also, Cadets had this figured out as early as 2005 with a simple door. And Crown ‘13 won it all with a simple park bench. This edition of Cadets feels to me like shades of 2019/2018/2016, where the component pieces don’t quite make a unified whole. But I know the members are going to perform the hell out of it.

Impatiently waiting for when old is new again, and we have a field free of props and compulsory trombone glissandos.

[arabica]

2 hours ago, DAYGO said:

Love the changes they made for last nights show.  Keep RISING, Cadets! 

What changes!?

[Tim K]

On 7/11/2023 at 8:36 PM, arabica said:

Huge and long-time Cadets fan here, and loved what they produced last year, but I'm not seeing it either. I'm not feeling connected to the theme, the visual design is problematic from uniform to props to movement to drill/staging, and the music design suffers as a result: as wonderful as the brass or percussion writing may be independently, the flow and integration simply feels off...to me, it comes off forced, constrained, and chunky due to certain visual decisions.

I'm curious, what were you told about the props and what they are supposed to represent/add? They're baffling, and yes, seem low-effort.

In 2023, we KNOW effective and competitively-designed props cannot just be wooden platforms [...with glittery wrapping paper tubes??] clunkily moved two or three times with seemingly no connection to the theme. They need to be intentional, integrated, interactive, and seamlessly restaged.

These unfortunately are not that.

I saw the props up close and personal. They passed me as they were moved to the stadium and I saw them being put on the truck. They are not as cheaply made or cheesey as you describe and they do add color. They may need to be used differently, and perhaps they have made changes, and something else may be needed. I’m not a huge fan of the uniforms, but they work. I still think we’ll see them in the 5-7 category. It will be interesting to see how they fare at Little Rock tomorrow night and at Broken Arrow next week.

[KVG_DC]

I'm not entirely sure what they're supposed to be.  Like Crown's round table wedges becoming "pizza slices with bites out of them" that I can't unsee now it seems like Cadets have gone with "Mac and Cheese with uncooked spaghetti stuck in them."  And ... as good as the show is, I just can't unsee that in the props unless I have another way of seeing what they're supposed to be. 

That said, there's times the curves compliment the drill in ways that start to be interesting, its just the poles seem ... odd.

[Eric M. Buckman]

On 7/9/2023 at 11:30 PM, Restless said:

And BD won brass last year by playing the least amount of minutes out of literally everyone. Maybe you can crank the numbers on that one next? 

LOL, if you plan on challenging someone, then please make sure you A. do your homework, B. research it for yourself.  so...

DEVS 2022

INTRO 1:43 seconds of Battery

1:43 Brass enters till 2:47. That would be nearly 1 Minute of Brass again the majority of the Crops

Drums are in at 2:47 until the Solo Alto Trumpet at 3:19 Only 30 seconds of Battery

at 3:30 seconds Brass enters  with Low/Moderate demand drill.

Low Brass enters around 3:30 and then Upper and Mid voices around 3:48

But that is 3:19 till 4:11 when dress again are in and brass out. that is almost a full minute. 

from 4:11 till 4:20. 9 seconds of drums

then brass is back in  at 4:20 till 4:51 seconds when Narrative begins for roughly 20 seconds

at 5:10 Back Field Pit and Brass, then Front Field Duet of Moon River with Full Hornline

till 7:14 Ovation from the crowd... that is nearly 2 minutes of Brass interaction

7:14 Backfield Moon River MM Low demand 

7:43 Narrative Battery Drum Feature Body Movement by Brass till 

9:13. so yeah almost 1:30 of Drum Feature 

9:13 Brass enters  Lor/Moderate Demand drill

till: 10:43 Pit 

11:07 Brass til Full Corps till ending at 12:02 roughly.  

So,  you might want to rethink your statement about their playing the least amount.  And they do it quite well when they do it.  The vehicle they have relative to their performance strategy is also completely different, but they play and complete MM in traditional Devils format.  not in 30 seconds snippets for the largest membership  with, so I stand by my argument.  Devs may not have the highest of demand drills, but the Color Guard is spot on the Battery is in the game and does their part more than adequately and is always in the hunt for a Drum Title.  And their BRASS play and play quite well, regularly within the context of the show.  out of their 12 minute performance, there is about only 3 minutes of pure drums, which cannot be said for this years Cadets iteration, which was my point about how little the Brass plays, and the amount of Body Movement  there  is without any voice from the Brass...you simply cannot do well if the single largest section of the corps is not doing what they are intended.  Might as well hide the color guard the entire show and feature them for 3 minutes.  

There are too large of chasms when Cadets Brass does. not participate in the over all arching them of Marching Music...you can dance all you want, but that has nothing to do with scores...you don't get points for simply body movement. And yes, that would mean the judging still embodies 1994 era.  Oh by the way,  6th place Madison 1994 put on the field exactly as it was, would probably out fair current 6th place in 2023...LOL

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Eric M. Buckman

[DAYGO]

3 hours ago, arabica said:

What changes!?

The 4th movement.  Almost all new drill, choreo guard book sequence and the introduction of a certain character.  

[Chief Guns]

9 minutes ago, Eric M. Buckman said:

LOL, if you plan on challenging someone, then please make sure you A. do your homework, B. research it for yourself.  so...

DEVS 2022

INTRO 1:43 seconds of Battery

1:43 Brass enters till 2:47. That would be nearly 1 Minute of Brass again the majority of the Crops

Drums are in at 2:47 until the Solo Alto Trumpet at 3:19 Only 30 seconds of Battery

at 3:30 seconds Brass enters  with Low/Moderate demand drill.

Low Brass enters around 3:30 and then Upper and Mid voices around 3:48

But that is 3:19 till 4:11 when dress again are in and brass out. that is almost a full minute. 

from 4:11 till 4:20. 9 seconds of drums

then brass is back in  at 4:20 till 4:51 seconds when Narrative begins for roughly 20 seconds

at 5:10 Back Field Pit and Brass, then Front Field Duet of Moon River with Full Hornline

till 7:14 Ovation from the crowd... that is nearly 2 minutes of Brass interaction

7:14 Backfield Moon River MM Low demand 

7:43 Narrative Battery Drum Feature Body Movement by Brass till 

9:13. so yeah almost 1:30 of Drum Feature 

9:13 Brass enters  Lor/Moderate Demand drill

till: 10:43 Pit 

11:07 Brass til Full Corps till ending at 12:02 roughly.  

So,  you might want to rethink your statement about their playing the least amount.  And they do it quite well when they do it.  The vehicle they have relative to their performance strategy is also completely different, but they play and complete MM in traditional Devils format.  not in 30 seconds snippets for the largest membership  with, so I stand by my argument.  Devs may not have the highest of demand drills, but the Color Guard is spot on the Battery is in the game and does their part more than adequately and is always in the hunt for a Drum Title.  And their BRASS play and play quite well, regularly within the context of the show.  out of their 12 minute performance, there is about only 3 minutes of pure drums, which cannot be said for this years Cadets iteration, which was my point about how little the Brass plays, and the amount of Body Movement  there  is without any voice from the Brass...you simply cannot do well if the single largest section of the corps is not doing what they are intended.  Might as well hide the color guard the entire show and feature them for 3 minutes.  

There are too large of chasms when Cadets Brass does. not participate in the over all arching them of Marching Music...you can dance all you want, but that has nothing to do with scores...you don't get points for simply body movement. And yes, that would mean the judging still embodies 1994 era.  Oh by the way,  6th place Madison 1994 put on the field exactly as it was, would probably out fair current 6th place in 2023...LOL

 

Good Lord Eric he is down!!!........stop punching him! For the love of God somebody throw in the towel!!!

[MBo1974]

3 hours ago, KVG_DC said:

I'm not entirely sure what they're supposed to be.  Like Crown's round table wedges becoming "pizza slices with bites out of them" that I can't unsee now it seems like Cadets have gone with "Mac and Cheese with uncooked spaghetti stuck in them."  And ... as good as the show is, I just can't unsee that in the props unless I have another way of seeing what they're supposed to be. 

That said, there's times the curves compliment the drill in ways that start to be interesting, its just the poles seem ... odd.

You have not noticed the covers on the wedges and how they perfectly fit into the theme?

[KVG_DC]

1 minute ago, MBo1974 said:

You have not noticed the covers on the wedges and how they perfectly fit into the theme?

Apparently not!  Been watching high cam of late.  I'll do a multi and see if I can pick it up.

I'll surely see it live in Annapolis later on!