Think Different- Cadets style

[chrisNAtlanta]

I was just about to post a quick transcript, but you beat me to it. :)

In any event, let's unpack this. I think using this prose in connection with the Cadets is both instructive and, for the most part, very accurate. The Cadets' staff, in their neverending pursuit of the "edge," certainly see things differently, don't respect the status quo, and have done a great deal to change the world of drum corps. However, to my mind the linchpin of the passage hinges on this line:

Here, I think, is the problem many people have with the Cadets. As I've described elsewhere, it's not merely that the Cadets are avant-garde--it's that they're absurd for the sake of being absurd, that their idea of change has remade the activity into something quite silly. Some of us are still smarting from 2005, when DCI proclaimed that the equivalent of an LSD hallucination was the best the activity had to offer. Sorry, but nothing doing.

And it would be one thing if this was just about the Cadets. But it's not. Somehow stuff like this is communicated in a vacuum, ignoring all that George Hopkins has done to remake the activity to his liking. To repeat: thanks in no small part to Hopkins's incessant demands over the last eight to ten years, it's impossible for a devoted drum corps fan to remain agnostic on the Cadets.

So to paraphrase the excerpted line: Do the Cadets push drum corps forward? I think it's more accurate to say they've pushed it sideways, well off the beaten path. Look, I don't mind uncharted territory; if this meant the activity is now in or headed towards a place of promise, then I wouldn't mind so much. But some of out here see the activity heading into quicksand. Which is a big reason why I find this video not just misleading, but manipulative.

Go watch DCI from 1974

Then watch Phantom Regiment's Spartacus's 1981, 1982

Then watch Garfield 1983-1985, 1987, 1989

Then watch Suncoast Sound 1985

Then watch Phantom 1987

Then watch SCV 1989 and Phantom 1989

Then watch STAR 1993

Then watch Cadets 2000

Then watch Cavies 2001/2002

Then watch Cadets 2005

These, and many other corps, we owe what you watch today as "what is drum corps".

Let's see what would have happened to DCI if these corps did not PUSH us forward to a new era......and what you see today in DCI. Somehow I dont think your history in DCI matches your assessment of the development of new and exciting ideas that stretch us all to imagine the unimaginable.

[boxingfred]

I remember Zingali and Mark when they joined The Cadets in 82 . We thought they were different and crazy. I remember helping The Cadets in 2005 and 2006. Some things never change. Marks a great guy. The Cadets are a great corps.

Edited December 15, 2006 by boxingfred

[boxingfred]

Go watch DCI from 1974

Then watch Phantom Regiment's Spartacus's 1981, 1982

Then watch Garfield 1983-1985, 1987, 1989

Then watch Suncoast Sound 1985

Then watch Phantom 1987

Then watch SCV 1989 and Phantom 1989

Then watch STAR 1993

Then watch Cadets 2000

Then watch Cavies 2001/2002

Then watch Cadets 2005

These, and many other corps, we owe what you watch today as "what is drum corps".

Let's see what would have happened to DCI if these corps did not PUSH us forward to a new era......and what you see today in DCI. Somehow I dont think your history in DCI matches your assessment of the development of new and exciting ideas that stretch us all to imagine the unimaginable.

You forgot SCV 1980 and a whole lot of Bridgemen!

[Slow Adam]

While on one hand I think the video comes off as a little pretentious, it's hard not to respect what he's done for the activity.

w/Stp: On both counts.

[Rusty]

Go watch DCI from 1974

Then watch Phantom Regiment's Spartacus's 1981, 1982

Then watch Garfield 1983-1985, 1987, 1989

Then watch Suncoast Sound 1985

Then watch Phantom 1987

Then watch SCV 1989 and Phantom 1989

Then watch STAR 1993

Then watch Cadets 2000

Then watch Cavies 2001/2002

Then watch Cadets 2005

These, and many other corps, we owe what you watch today as "what is drum corps".

Let's see what would have happened to DCI if these corps did not PUSH us forward to a new era......and what you see today in DCI. Somehow I dont think your history in DCI matches your assessment of the development of new and exciting ideas that stretch us all to imagine the unimaginable.

First off, as I said previously, "...I don't mind change, especially if it's innovative or amounts to progress." My position in that regard hasn't changed one iota. But there's a reason somebody in the stands at Camp Randall this year yelled, "Go BOA!" during the Cadets' show.

Secondly, the corps you name are fine examples of the evolution of the activity. But what has been happening the last six or so years is definitely not evolution, but a man with an agenda. As I said here, I would love to be able to say "To each his own." But due to George Hopkins's single-minded determination to remake the activity as he thinks it should be makes that impossible. To repeat: nobody passionate about drum corps can be agnostic on the Cadets.

[dbc03]

First off, as I said previously, "...I don't mind change, especially if it's innovative or amounts to progress." My position in that regard hasn't changed one iota. But there's a reason somebody in the stands at Camp Randall this year yelled, "Go BOA!" during the Cadets' show.

Secondly, the corps you name are fine examples of the evolution of the activity. But what has been happening the last six or so years is definitely not evolution, but a man with an agenda. As I said here, I would love to be able to say "To each his own." But due to George Hopkins's single-minded determination to remake the activity as he thinks it should be makes that impossible. To repeat: nobody passionate about drum corps can be agnostic on the Cadets.

I was unaware that George was forcing any corps other than the Cadets to do anything at all. Learn something new every day I suppose

[tubamann]

So........... DON'T MARCH = CAN'T HAVE AN OPINION

I GOT IT!!!!!!! <**>

No..i based my comments on the OP alone. He has been adamant about how awful the 2006 Cadets were, and how he thinks it is ok to be rude during their show because HE didn't like elements of the show. He bases his opinions on the fact that he attends two shows a year, and has become an expert on what is good and bad in the drumcorps activity despite the fact that he has never been in a corps or even understands the culture.

A wannabe.

Edited December 15, 2006 by tubamann

[MikeD]

First off, as I said previously, "...I don't mind change, especially if it's innovative or amounts to progress." My position in that regard hasn't changed one iota. But there's a reason somebody in the stands at Camp Randall this year yelled, "Go BOA!" during the Cadets' show.

Yes, the reason is that person decided to be an idiot and act in a boorish manner.

Secondly, the corps you name are fine examples of the evolution of the activity. But what has been happening the last six or so years is definitely not evolution, but a man with an agenda. As I said here, I would love to be able to say "To each his own." But due to George Hopkins's single-minded determination to remake the activity as he thinks it should be makes that impossible. To repeat: nobody passionate about drum corps can be agnostic on the Cadets.

The Cadet shows the past six years have all been so very different I don't see the above at all.

[tubamann]

While on one hand I think the video comes off as a little pretentious, it's hard not to respect what he's done for the activity.

Well-made.

Pretentious? I would say it is a well deserved "up yours" message to the Cadets critics.

Made me smile!

[WOOHOO]

First off, as I said previously, "...I don't mind change, especially if it's innovative or amounts to progress." My position in that regard hasn't changed one iota. But there's a reason somebody in the stands at Camp Randall this year yelled, "Go BOA!" during the Cadets' show.

Secondly, the corps you name are fine examples of the evolution of the activity. But what has been happening the last six or so years is definitely not evolution, but a man with an agenda. As I said here, I would love to be able to say "To each his own." But due to George Hopkins's single-minded determination to remake the activity as he thinks it should be makes that impossible. To repeat: nobody passionate about drum corps can be agnostic on the Cadets.

First off, The Cadets have no need to listen to people who yell stuff like "go BOA!" at shows. They have achieved too much to listen to the rantings of individuals.

Secondly, George Hopkins was not the only person who wanted to do the 2006 program. He has always been this way, it's just now that people are complaining about it now for some reason. I personally don't see much of a difference between the 2005 and 2006 program. I like them equally.