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Twenty years today, The Cadets dropped the sequel to their championship The Zone show. There was no tour kickoff event, just a random show in Alabama. [I was really sick that day in rehearsal but Gino said I had to march so I did, I felt sooo bad on the bus ride].

I've written about this year a little bit, safe to say it was a mess, and the show design was just part of it. One of our supervets said it was the hardest summer of his life. We were totally hated! Crowds never really cheered for us. Alumni said we were the worst Cadets ever (worse finish since 1991).

The show was probably about 8 years ahead of its time. Things that have become commonplace: A lot of props, especially ones that are moved by members. Vocals. Themed uniforms. Electronic dance music (by The Propellorheads). Jumping off props (visual staff went to Bluecoats and took this idea with them for Tilt).

There are also a lot of things that later shows DON'T do very much: Having a full-on singer, seemlessly blending between pieces (we never gave the audience a chance to clap), a lot of drill that formed recognizable objects, and a really wild idea: the extended silent drill at the beginning. That was supposed to be the drill from the 2005 closer with the pit and singer singing "History Repeating" over it. [edit: that was the original beginning, before it was scrapped in July in favor of a repeat of 2005 opening]. Turns out it's impossible to march in step at 192 bpm while music is being played at 144 bpm.

And the big one: CAMP. Alice in Wonderland in the 60s, with the Red Queen in a dominatrix outfit? Flower power guard costumes (look a lot like Bluecoats "Garden of Love"). A twenty year old man in a bunny costume. Live vocals by guard members on the field with wireless mics as they did everything else. [edit: Marc Sylvester loved people yelling things back, said it was "like Rocky Horror"]

Honestly I'm just wondering what others think of this weird-ass, basically unsuccessful show. Hey, at least the opener and closer had a lot of run and gun! And the closer was Bernstein!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k-EtRrCnLA

Honestly though, I kinda wish Cadets had stayed on the weird, pop-influenced world of 2005 and 2006 (Bjork music, electronic music, costumes, etc). Imagine if they had became a sortof Bluecoats genre-redefiner. But 2007 seemed like a step back, like 2000 or 1998 with talking.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

One thing about drum corps that bothers me is that it's a lot of brass ff and sometimes lacking musical nuance. There's also this fetishization of "the loudest," "G bugles were louder," every Madison Scouts show, etc.

I believe moments of quiet, dynamic contrast, and silence in music can be just as impactful, or moreso, than fortissimo. So what are your favorite moments of dynamic shaping, restraint and control?

For me: obviously all of Star 1993.

One of my all time drum corps moments was watching Crown in Atlanta in 2009. When everything fades out and you have just the synth celesta playing "Somewhere" :https://youtu.be/ImxQCBUKzdI?si=iGh3-Cmbn62WjW1H&t=581

It got to that point and baby you could hear a PIN DROP. Everyone was so invested and intently watching. You could hear the air conditioning whooshing. Such a moment!

Crown 2009 beginning "The Tender Land" is an amazing display of totally exposed pp brass playing, and then it builds:

https://youtu.be/ImxQCBUKzdI?si=HaYPxSvUpDVJWWxi&t=6

Cadets 2005 "Liquid" https://youtu.be/GR02Fm3e3eI?si=uH88jjax0cLcPd24&t=139 the shaping and it's all while marching insanely fast drill

Cadets 2006 "White Rabbit/The Garden" Controlled at 192 bpm. https://youtu.be/2k-EtRrCnLA?si=Ddl-UmOo_BZwg_ka&t=85

2004 Cavaliers: The "Goldeneye" opening, and the whistling when the circle is going through the block.