justMike

I'm sure any venue will cost. I'm sure the Riverside costs. I'll also say that, for me personally, the mini corps has never performed in a better venue than that stage at the Riverside. But if you're going to set up the mini corps event more along the lines of SoundSport then it needs to be on a larger surface with the audience able to watch from stadium seating of some kind. Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

Would it be cheaper to set up an app for voting or to pay 5 guys in matching shirts to sit there for a couple of hours and give their opinions at the end? Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

You make a good point. Mini corps is now, and has always been, a great way to get folks exposed and involved in the hobby in a rather low cost way. To grow drum corps, as happened with CorpsVets. My personal experience in mini corps would suggest that DCA doesn't see it that way. Too bad to, because it's a great idea. Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

For all of the fluctuation in attendance, there are still fans of both venues that come to DCA for just that! Rather than rent bleachers, DCA would be better off moving the venue to a school gym. A basketball court is within the 30 yard x 20 yard guidelines set up by SoundSport, and would be consistent whether the show was in Rochester or Harrisburg, or Atlanta, or anywhere else. It would also be a whole lot cheaper than the Riverside Convention Center. Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

Yep. An app with one-phone-one-vote and a way to place everyone in your order of preference. I'm also all for the alignment with the SoundSport rules (even if I am one of the "good ol' types"), but now you're asking DCA to put a lot more effort into the venue than they have been inclined to in the past. Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

Moving a mini corps onto the field has actually happened twice as I recall. When the San Francisco Renegades first came east, they were here for the mini corps contest (which they won). The other corps was the Atlanta CorpVets who may have started in DCA as a brass ensemble, then to mini corps, then to class A, then open. Oh, and a quick word about the "good ole days." Next time you're talking to Gibbons or any of the other guys from the old T-Birds, ask 'em about marching the mini corps show on a dark parking lot in Scranton, or on the street in Allentown where the crowd was closer to me than the other contras in Ghost. Those days certainly were "ole" if not always "good." Not for nothin' I still think the phone app thing has some merit and might be worth pursuing. Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

I may be wrong but I thought I heard Fran announce the phone number just before Govenaires performance. I was talking to an old friend with the Skyliners Alumni at the mini corps show, and we were discussing that very thing to use for the Alumni Spectacular. You've got to admit it has the potential to lead to some wild and wooly standings when the music stops. In the end it would be about who was most entertaining and that what it's about anyway........, isn't it? Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

Actually aren't they already using some version of a phone voting app for the mini corps contest? As you describe it for your karaoke league, it seems like all that would be necessary. I mean it's not like you can do anything with the score sheets after the show anyway. A crowd vote will always be a popularity contest, but in a one-show season isn't that all there is? Sounds like a good idea. Mike Covell, Ghost Riders

...! Oh, and a Rochester Corps discussion wouldn't be complete without a shout out to the first DCA drum corps I marched with after discharge from the Air Force, the Rochester Phoenix. Mike Covell

Hi Keith! Long time bud! I was with the Crusaders on and off from 1988 'til the end, and you're right, a great bunch of folks. Still run into a lot of 'em DCA weekend. Lots of great memories but the one that comes to mind was the year we tied at finals with Steel City. We were posted next to Steel for retreat, and when it was announced, the two corps went for each other. What looked like a potential fight turned out to be a hug-fest and the two corps marched out together with the drums playing some exercise that both sections knew and the horns playing the scale in whole notes. Good times and great memories. Mike Covell

Every corps I marched with got beat by "the Cabs..."

I've also done this on a couple of occasions. On 3 DCA weekends even did 3 corps (Rochester Crusaders, Mighty St. Joes and Ghost Riders). Way too much work though, and I really don't think I did much justice to any of the corps I performed with those years. A lot of fun, but not very bright.

Thanks Ed. You're a good man......................, but you didn't hear it from me.

In 2010, Ghost Riders played Copeland's "Red Pony," A Hymnsong of Philip Bliss, and a medley from Elmer Bernstein's "Magnificent Seven." Was anyone entertained by that? The standing O that I could see from the stage suggested that a lot of folks thought it was pretty good. We entertained the crowd. We also came within 1.5 of beating Star that year. In 2011 Star came back with their Tchaikovsky show and thrashed everyone (rightly so, I might add). Was anyone entertained by that? The standing O began during their company front in "1812," and lasted until security threw everyone out (including one Ghost Rider tuba player who was convinced he had just seen the best drum corps show he was likely to see all weekend)! Please understand that I am not speaking for the Ghost Riders here. It's not my place to do that. I'm just a tuba player with a whole lot of shows under his belt, who thinks he's playing the best he has ever played in his life. I owe that to not only my instructors; Donnie certainly but all those who preceded him, but also to Star United, and Mass Brass, and Minni Brass, and the Golden Eagles, and the Erie T-Birds, and many, many more. I love being part of the entertainment certainly. A standing O gives me as much satisfaction as anyone who has ever performed. But it's the competition that makes us all better. Think of it this way; will Star be back with a better show next year? Sure. Will Ghost? You bet. Will it be for the standing O's? Absolutely. Will it be for anything else? Yup! Mike Covell Tuba - Ghost Riders

Shoot Keith, there was a time in the late 70's when you could go to Aquinas Stadium and watch nothing but local corps; the Greece Cadets, The Rochester Patriots, The Mighty Liberators, The Rochester Crusaders and Phoenix. As it turns out that really was a long time ago... Mike Covell Tuba - Ghost Riders

You're right Keith, so in the original spirit of the thread please remember: The Magnificent Yankees of Utica The Canadian Commanders The Chessmen The Salamanca Black Knights The Cornplanters The Brockport-Batavia Cavaliers (you may have to go back a ways to "remember" that one) ...and one more time please for a corps that really could have used it's own Survivor Support Group (lol), The Rochester Phoenix. Mike Covell

Sorry Eddy. Don't know what I was thinkin'.

At the risk of changing the direction of this thread, I really agree with your point here. When I was performing in mini corps, it occured to me that maybe DCA was really on to something. Here was the opportunity to actually "grow" a drum corps. regardless of the financial conditions, it's possible to come up with a musical unit of 21 people (or less) almost anywhere. Once the unit became established the locals could expand it as they could afford to and move out of the I&E realm and into class A and Open. A couple of units have started that way, and I know that the Renegades very first DCA performance was a mini corps at I&E because we were one of the corps they beat! Anyone who grew up in the hobby in the 60's knows that with few exceptions the corps of that time seldom numbered more than 24 - 28 horns, but there were these little drum corps everywhere. Western New Yorkers will tell you that "the thruway Circuit" was no joke as there were easily a dozen and a half locally competitive corps along that route. I'm not suggesting a complete roll-back to the 1960's, but quality and competitiveness of the mini corps activity would suggest that a lot of the old corps that are now gone could certainly return if there were a smaller venue operating locally. Then again I've been wrong before. Mike Covell, contra Ghost Riders St. Joes Rochester Crusaders Albion Grenadiers Rochester Phoenix USAF LAckland AFB

Look, enough about "our old man," and "your old man!" Honestly, I don't know when I've had as consistently great a time as I've had this year with Cru Tubas. That said, Fusion, you were the icing on the cake. I can't think of another musical event, hell, I can't think of another sporting event where one contestant will collectively go out of it's way to wait and cheer on a competitor. You went a long way toward letting those around you know that drum corps is a lot more than a final score. Best wishes for 2009 Fusion. Mike Covell 2008 Cru Tuba - Adult Supervision

"I enjoy seeing every tuba we own in someones hands!" Having all those tubas is one thing Brian. Knowing where the tuning slides are may turn out to be another thing entirely... Mike Covell Crusader Tuba (Contra) Adult Supervision

Again, one of the things that has made mini corps what it is is making do with what you've got. The Thunderbirds have, on at least one occasion, pulled someone out of the horn line to play percussion (Quads if memory serves me, and a #### nice job of it also), and Ghost Riders, in their very first performance in mini corps, used everyone in the corps for a percussion feature. You want more percussion, break guys out to play percussion; you want a horn feature, everyone blows a horn. Mike Covell - Contra

This subject comes up every year. In the end though, it's what you do with what you've got. The number is 21. Mike Covell - Contra

Hmmm, more Russian music (he strikes a contemplative pose)................................maybe...........if I can just keep the %$@&$ tuning slide in the horn (he sighs audibly).............maybe................. Mike Covell - Contra Rochester Crusaders, Mighty St. Joes, Ghost Riders, Rochester Phoenix, yada, yada, yada...

"After reading Gary's post I yearn even more to get back into drum corps. Much continued success and I hope the membership is bigger AND stronger for next year." Missed you there in the parking lot performance Keith. It may have been the loudest performance I've ever been a part of with the Crusaders. You need to find a way to get up here and sit in on at least one rehearsal for next year if you can. There's something very special happening here, and you don't want to miss it. Mike Covell - Contra Crusader Tuba Section, Adult Supervision (so to speak)

Ok, so what happened???