Cadets of Bergen County 1995 Semifinals

[@johnny3gud685]

I'm not sure if I can adequately explain how much this specific recording means to me. I have been searching for it for YEARS with no luck until now. This was the exact show - this exact run, this exact recording - that introduced me to DCI. My high school band director had the 1995 semifinals recording on VHS. He showed us this performance, and we were completely blown away. None of us had ever seen anything like this. Most of us, myself included, had never even heard of DCI and assumed that marching band stopped after high school. The mellophone runs in the opener made our jaws drop. The fact that the show had a loose narrative that told something of a story without words was revolutionary to us. The quality of performance was unlike anything we had ever seen. My high school band even ended up performing a show based on this one my junior year. This was my very first DCI experience, and it altered the course of my life. I cannot stress this enough - I MEMORIZED this exact recording. I haven't seen this in at least a decade, but the familiar beats are all still here. The finals performance just isn't the same, and - in my opinion - has inferior camerawork and audio quality. At least once per week for the past fifteen years, I have caught myself with one of the movements from this performance stuck in my head, usually the opener. I just love that energy. At times, I have hummed and drummed this entire show to myself on long drives or during the dull hours of the early afternoon. No other performance in DCI history has stuck with me like this one. It just hits different. When I first saw this performance, my grandfather - a World War II veteran - was in the grueling decline of the final year of his life. He wasn't there a year later. This show takes me back to that very specific time in my life and makes me feel something that no other show does, or ever could. And now, with the Cadets gone, this really hits different than it ever did before. I cried twice watching this, HARD. Thank you for uploading this. I am very well aware that this is the most bizarrely specific thing that someone could ever be seeking or be moved to tears by, but I assure you that I have been looking for this specific recording for a very long time, and I am touched deeply by finally getting to see it again. I was never a Cadet, nor did I ever even march DCI, but if I may be so bold... FHNSAB.

[@adamblom6868]

Grew up in Bergen County, and my father would always talk about the “Garfield Cadets” in the 80’s which evolved into all its other names, and all along I never got to see them in person, even though I was in the marching band for four years…it’s beautiful to see them now…my fave is Cadets 2011. This 1995 is such a great blend of broadway/1970’s style March, modern day DCI, and super creative…R.I.P. Cadets…I’ll miss those classic marching band uniforms ❤️

[@jamesreynolds2746]

Saw this live that year late in the season and was blown away then!! Still blown away = timeless!

[@TheDigitalFunk]

This wqs my introductory year for dci... the top 4 are still my favorite shows from the past 30 years ❤❤❤❤❤

[@MS-df2fk]

Competed against the Cadets in 95 and the way our schedules were even when we were at the same show (or same housing site twice) we never got the chance to see them live.. that said I love this show. We beat them this year but I was still intimidated every time we were around them. The members did a good job playing into the hardcore don't f with me band geek trope 🤓 Gotta say some of the camera angles in this recording are awful