Scranton Ramblings

[Fran Haring]

OK... once again not a full review, and I'm sure W will have more in-depth coverage, but just some thoughts on the Scranton DCA show and the corps in it:

Good-sized crowd... bigger than I remember it being at times in recent years... and mostly enthusiastic, too.

For a while, the weather radar was showing the possibility of a pretty ugly storm, but fortunately it just kind of went away after a brief period of light rain.

From my "doing my job" perspective, a terrific PA system. I wish I could bring it to Clifton with me next weekend. The Clifton PA system is....uhhhh... always an adventure, shall we say. LOL.

It seems every year, this Scranton weekend is the time when the all-age corps really find another gear. The big programming changes have been made, any new members have been plugged into the shows, the corps have done a lot of cleaning at their in-season camp weekends, and the performance levels are up. This certainly was the case this year.

Buccaneers and Caballeros are getting close to "hitting on all cylinders" territory. Two different styles of shows...both of them with a lot of audience appeal this year, and from my field-level view, both corps had good runs at this show. The rest of the stretch run is gonna be very interesting. Two heavyweights, two great organizations, duking it out... again. A good thing!!!

Cadets2... I tell you what, if the corps ahead of them leave the door open a crack, C2 could very well walk right through it and steal the whole thing. This season's edition is the best C2 corps by far... a solid DCA product with music that is easy to "get." From the recaps, it looks like the brass section needs more work if Cadets2 hope to catch the frontrunners.

Fusion Core... it sounded like they had a few glitches with their electronic sound effects that lessened the impact of the show by a tad... but overall, I think Fusion was a bit underscored at this contest. A fun show, for sure, and a corps with a huge upside.

White Sabers... what a cool corps and cool show!!! Once again, a clinic on how to design a show for a smaller corps. Just about everything's in the right place at the right time, and the energy level is top-notch. The Sabers are in against a few much larger corps in Open Class this year, and are more than holding their own.

If the Bushwackers can combine the execution level from their Scranton performance with the energy level from their Downingtown performance, while completing the work of adding several more horn players to the ranks, they are going to finish strong this season.

The Skyliners are greatly improved from last season... it's like night and day, really... but unfortunately for them, there are several corps still ahead of them in the battle for the last few Open Class finalist spots. It's a numbers game from here on out. Regardless of where they place this season... Sky's on the move in the right direction.

Just my two cents, of course. After inflation, worth about a half of one cent.

Edited August 17, 2015 by Fran Haring

[Fred Windish]

Thanks for your impressions, Fran!

I agree, Skyliners were one of the big stories of the evening. I truly got the impression "You know what? This corps, in this day, is really 'gonna climb if it keeps doing what it's doing!" Spoke with a few Sky parents in the grandstand, all positive and excited about having this option in their community.

You missed one detail, my friend. Where did you dine before and after?

[Fran Haring]

Thanks for your impressions, Fran!

I agree, Skyliners were one of the big stories of the evening. I truly got the impression "You know what? This corps, in this day, is really 'gonna climb if it keeps doing what it's doing!" Spoke with a few Sky parents in the grandstand, all positive and excited about having this option in their community.

You missed one detail, my friend. Where did you dine before and after?

LOL!!!! Panera before... Glider Diner after.

Panera for healthier stuff... the Glider for stuff not quite as healthy.

Friday night, Brenda and I went to the Arena Bar and Grill in Wilkes-Barre, for the second year in a row. Great pub grub at this place... the burgers are awesome, and a huge lineup of craft beers!!!