My ten favorite "Cadet" shows of all time

[dccorpsfan]

"Cries of 'East, east, east'..."

[DKracing]

I haven't seen enough to do a "top ten" but I can say that Cadets 04 was my favorite show musically that year... Aside from my own that is :)

[StuStu]

Late getting to the party on this thread, but the greatest Cadet show is pretty easy in my mind.

1983.

After that, it's extremely difficult to narrow it down given the amazing variety and quality of performances this corps produced over the years.

But in 1983, they marched among the Gods and changed the world.

[shaq9195]

Here's my top 10. Lots of great shows to choose from!

1. 1989. Ok, maybe not their best execution, and I'm sure this is in part due to my first "Live" finals experience, but wow, this show was so full of emotion. It's a show that still resonates to this day. Powerful hornline, fantastic, emotive color guard and terrific drill.

2. 1987 - Appalachian Spring. The front/dissolve/front is an all time classic.

3. 1992 - Tame the Perilous Skies. Another show chock full of emotion. Not quite clean enough to win, but wow - a great ride.

4. 1995 - The patriotic show done right. The ending is sheer goose bumps (actually, both endings they tried that summer)

5. 1997 - Sparke's Celebration - just what the title suggested, a pure celebration of drum corps and the Cadets doing difficult at an extreme. A celebration of achievement.

6. 1984 - WSS. The one all others' WSS attempts measure against (and fail).

7. 1993 - When Kings go Off to War. Another amazing Holsinger show, chock full of demand, and another amazing color guard.

8. 1996 - The show dragged in the middle a tad, but this was a show also chocked full of pure fun. Tenderland was great, Red Pony was joyful, and "Beef!" was pure fun.

9. 2000 - The second half of this show would have this show much further up this list.

10. 2005 - Say what you will, I loved the 2005 Cadets, apart from the drumspeak. If the ending had been as stron as this year's ending (don't get me started on the rest of 2006), this show, too would be further up the list. One of the best ballads of all time.

Honorable Mentions: 2001, 1982

Harvey

The funny thing is we actually had about 4 different endings that year. The beggining of the year we had a very fast ending. That was incredible. We had 2 down endings. And the ending we did Finals night.

[Scout]

1. 1984

2. 1983

3. 1992

4. 1989

5. 1994

6. 1987

7. 1982

8. 1985

9. 1990

10. 1993

Edited September 5, 2007 by Scout

[Will]

1992 - WOW The whole package was incredible. Their best guard IMHO

1991 - AWESOME! Again, the color guard was unbelievable and the opener is my favorite

1993 - What an amazing GE package.. and again, the color guard!

1997 - Pure drum corps. Enough said. (oh and yes, again, LOVE the guard!)

1985 - That opener just about kills me every time. Such power and precision. Amazing!

1989 - The best version of this show ever.

1990 - A great tribute to Bernstein. Awesome drill and color guard!

1983 - My birth year! LOVE IT!

2004 - loved the music and the guard was incredible

1998- WOW WOW WOW

[jcn8]

10. 1994 – Despite WSS being so grossly over played in drum corps, I have to give this show its props. The energy and performance levels were so high, one couldn’t help but to be sucked into enjoying this show. Too bad it had to go up against a BD show that was flat out phenomenal (and my all time favorite show).

9. 1989 – IMO, a grossly underrated show. They took a deeply moving, 2 ½ hour musical and packed all of the raw emotion into a 10 and a half minute show. Wow.

8. 1996 – Beef! I just loved this show. Certainly not totally clean, but very enjoyable from start to finish.

7. 1992 – A great precursor to the even better 1993 show.

6. 1990 – My first time attending Championships and I was in total awe. I remember thinking, can it get any better than this? Little did I know it could… and The Cadets did.

5. 1987 – Second to Holsinger, The Cadets and Copeland work so well together.

4. 2001 – Benjamin Britten and Van Morrison in the same show? But, it worked beautifully, go figure. Moondance totally rocked. Great show.

3. 2000 – Pure fun and impeccable precision. Listening to the CD and how insanely excited the crowd is at various points in this show (and remembering being there to observe it) constantly reminds me of the beauty of a great drum corps show. This show completely connected with the audience on ever possible level; it is a true testament to how fascinating and enjoyable drum corps can really be.

2. 2005 – Controversial, but phenomenal nonetheless. Listening to or watching the haunting Bjork ballad still gives me goose bumps. My all-time favorite ballad. And that guard… wow!

1. 1993 – One of my all time favorite shows. I will forever be in awe of Star’s 1993 show, but I can fully comprehend and accept The Cadets winning the Championship with this absolutely brilliant show. Yes, ~G~, The Cadets and Holsinger fit like a glove. More please.

Okay, Stonehenge is missing from my list. I feel like a leper and I’m almost ashamed to publicly admit it, but here goes… Hello, my name is John and I just can’t connect with this show. They say that’s always the hardest step in recovery. I so want to embrace it and I can fully appreciate the incredible drill, guard, and the musicianship, but I simply can’t get into this show. I’m frustrated because I know so many people who hold it in such high regard and I desperately want to be moved by this show the way it moves them, but there’s a disconnect. I’ll revisit it from time to time to see if I can happen upon an Ah Ha! moment, but to date it just hasn’t happened. :(

[yabetterbelieveit]

Well, this will be tough... but here goes.

2002

From what I hear the best horn line, by far, on finals night. Who can argue with patriotism, especially right after 9/11.

2002

Blisteringly fast music and drill. They came back from 10th to second. Go Holsinger!

2000

Beautiful show all around. I think the unrecognizable music hurt them in the end, but otherwise a perfect show to use as an example of drum corps.

1998

Beautiful visuals with catchier music than 2000. I think this show set some of the pace for the next 3-4 years of drum corps, especially visually.

1987

No further explanation needed.

1990

I think sometimes people forget this show. Visually just plain clean, and the reverse z-pull was a great twist on tradition.

2005

Innovation. I think out of the last 4 years this show is singlehandedly what the drum corps community should be expecting in the future. Truly a masterpiece, and with minimal narration. Oh, and did I mention clean? Deserved all the captions.

1983

This one started it all... the beginning of the threepeat. Another completely innovative show. Truly did set the pace for the rest of drum corps history.

1989

Innovative and emotional. That guard rocked the house, and I don't think those mellos sounded too shabby either. This show will always be my favorite, seeing as its the only show to give me chills every time I listen to it. Something just clicked finals night and luckily DCI caught it on tape and recording. I've always said not even a week more of practice and they would have won.

1984

Ahh, the classic. The first and maybe the only show to win with WSS, and so rightfully so. That hornline was incredibly talented and pushed that show through finals. I think it showed the beginning of their domination to this day more than 83. The WSS everyone else tries to measure up to!

Edited September 5, 2007 by yabetterbelieveit

[IllianaLancerContra]

I have 3 -

1. 1987 - App. Spring

2. 1977 (this show rocks in the old-school, east coast corps way)

3. 1984 - Best WSS ever (or should I say yet, we are due for someone to do it again soon), IMHO

Edited September 5, 2007 by IllianaLancerContra