Day 72

Date: July 25, 2011

Time: 11:25pm (CST)

Playing on iTunes: "All of the Lights" by Kanye West

Location: Dallas, TX

Recent Trip: 280 miles

Merry Christmas!! From the CPit. Today is Christmas...in July.You can see below that the pit got very festive with the holiday. We also did a secret santa throughout the pit. That was very fun this morning waking up to presents in our pit circle! I got a water gun, a car freshener, and a box of Sour Patch Kids - my favorite!!

Today was another hot but short rehearsal day. We were housing at our sound guy, Gerry Miller's, high school that he teaches at. Wakeland high school in Frisco, TX. It was great to be at a high school that we have some sort of connection with. Because (as you can see with Iris above) the kids from the high school got us Gatorade to drink during a water break! We love getting gifts. Especially on Christmas!!

Slowly but surely the show is getting better and better and as close to perfect as possible. When not rehearsing large sections, we're being very picky about certain spots throughout the show. At this point in the season, we cannot let any little mistakes go. The pit has to be perfect at all times. J.J. and Mike are being sure to let us know whenever we are slipping and have to keep our minds focused, Everyone seems to be doing well for being 72 days into tour. Let's keep the motivation and energy going!!

After a great ensemble rehearsal, we were given some amazing food for dinner. One of the ladies from the food truck made us taco lasagna!! There was also a side of rice and corn. I absolutely loved it. It tasted amazing with the perfect combination of taco (salad) and lasagna.

Tonight was not the most important show that we've had lately but it definitely is a great opportunity to make sure that all the small recent changes we have gotten, get a chance to present themselves in a performance. I know that I've had trouble getting the changes on the first try and when you're in a performance you're in a zone where you don't think and just go. And when you're used to a zone for the past 2 months there's a great chance you'll play the old part and not the new part. So with these smaller shows, it's great to have a less taxing opportunity to get these changes in. The show tonight was very well executed, I thought. The corps as a whole was very clean and had a great performance! We are definitely getting better everyday as you can see below!

DCI Dallas

1) The Cadets - 90.70
2) Santa Clara Vanguard - 87.00
3) Bluecoats - 86.90
4) Blue Stars - 83.90
5) Glassmen - 80.30

CPit Spotlight 2011 "XMAS Edition"

CPit Spotlight "Christmas Edition" is happy to feature Kelsey Adams! A fellow vibe player like myself, she's a 20-year old music student coming from Nicholson, GA. This is her second year in the Cadets pit. She currently attends Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University as a Music Education and Performance major concentration in percussion. Kelsey began taking piano lessons when she was five and then started percussion in fifth grade. Both of her parents are band directors so marching band and drum corps have been a big part of her life ever since she could say "the Cadets". I asked Kelsey what she'd like to do for a career: "Ideally, I would love to get a performing gig somewhere as a professional musician, but I also would love to teach. Being a high school music instructor would be great, but I’ve also thought a lot about being a special education music teacher." As far as her goals for this season, she'd love to be a part of the best fron ensemble in DCI and "have a crap ton of fun doing it!!" You can't miss Kelsey in the Cadets pit playing vibes with her huge smile as well as very welcoming personality!

P.S. I was Kelsey's secret santa! Shhh...

Thought of the Day: "Great efforts spring naturally from a great attitude."