Ace Holleran

I might just have to enter.... then you won't come in last, Lee. Hmmm, Downfall of Paris or The Three Camps? Decisions, decisons.

If Lee does it, I might have to haul my rope drum up there ....

Is there a hangout Friday after the show? I guess the old Hilton is not the place. I'll be on the sidelines, looking forward to seeing old friends. Mayhaps a Yacco's or three. Definitely the Chicken Lounge. Ace

I wouldn't dare to "rank" DCA corps next to DCI. The "juniors," in general, play more demanding books ... and practice a helluva lot more than any age-neutral corps. However, having covered DCA Finals for the last ten years for DC World, I can tell you that the overall talent level, show quality and demand on players has risen exponentially in this period. I can honestly say that shows that won in the 90s would be lucky to place 5th or 6th today. Bucs' show last year was simply sublime. Renegades in '04 enertained me as much as ANY DCI corps has ever done. Minnesota's drum line is to die for, year in and year out. Bushwackers can play and march as cleanly as anyone. Empire can fill a srtadium, brass-wise. Try to get to Rochester... you'll see what I mean.

Had the pleasure to emcee D II/III shows in New London and Bridgeport the last two weeks. I'm the first to admit that I haven't spent enough time following these divisions ... and the first to admit I was verrrry impressed with what I saw and heard. So much so, that I am going to write about it in an upcoming DC World article. Loved: Vision Elite's EWF tribute. Raiders' pit. Raiders' pit. Raiders' pit. Can I say it enough--and without a dm in Bpt. Flowing, musical, clean. CLEAN! Newark soloists. Surf's "Can-can." A hoot and a half. ECJ mega-pit and simply awesome Charlie Poole perc book. Spartans' lean precision, unity of theme, brass cohesion and overall visual performance. See the paper for more. Best of luck to all in Mad-town.

To accede to the great Ponzo.... Cabs smaller than before, but still awesome, with an almost all-new show, including killer Vesti la Giubba. Still doing full drill. Brumpitatious indeed. Now, pleeze bring back Cherry Pink (or Cha-Cha or Siboney or Les Toreadors) for an encore. Yes, Barnum poobahs killed the show because of the poor performances in 2004.

It truly was a great show. Bigger Scout House on Canada Day. Alliance brass soooo sweet. Spartans nice 'n clean for second show of season. With props to my PCP buddies aside (yes, they are better every year), the Bridgemen absolutely rocked. And only their second performance! Massive, ballsy, GE-laden fun from the Jordanaires. Try to see this corps. On the other hand, I am not happy with the only Barnum show being an all-alumni event. We need a competition in the Park City. PCP will be doing their second annual DCI II-III event on 7/29; it was a really nice event last year. But this ain't enough, what with a fabulous stadium and a built-in audience. I will step on toes here, and probably p*ss a bunch of people off. Watch the feathers fly, dudes. I have already spoken to Bridgeport and Barnum people on this. My first volley will be a letter to Mayor Fabrizi, the Barnum folks and Gil Silva. I figure after over 15 years of volunteering for the BF I have some small right to vent -- and provide solutions. Stay tuned. On the alumni thread, I have been asked by DCA to emcee the Rochester alumni show, which will be my privelege for the third straight year. Looking forward to it. Ace Holleran

The site is back up http://www.holleran.org/denniswalk/ Thanks for your interest Here's Dinny:

It's the right link, however my hosting company seems to be experiencing a hiccough right now--I can't access my holleran.org email either. www.holleran.org/denniswalk/ The idea is to contribute funds to Team Dennis for an Autism Walkathon on June 4. Once the site is back up, try the link again (maybe Fri.evening), and you will see a photo, plus lionks to the Team Dennis site. Thanks to all of you for stopping by and reading.

I don't want to clog up this board, but this time it matters. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of you through the years--especially on the sidelines at Allentown. I'm sure I have written about some characters who lurk on DCP, too. After marching in the 60s and a professional music career in the 70s and 80s, I "rediscovered" drum corps in 1991, through the good graces of the kind and generous Kerry Knodle, pit tech for Phantom Regiment. I had already embarked upon a career in writing, so I faxed an article about my "epiphany" to Steve Vickers (another kind soul) at Drum Corps World. I have been writing for the magazine ever since. I specialize in DCA, whose Finals I have had the privilege of covering for the last decade or so. I cannot begin to enumerate the number of wonderful people, devoted knuckleheads and bizarre devotees I have met in the last 16 seasons. Old friendships have been rekindled; new ones forged. The skinny: My son, Dennis, is 11. He is a beautiful child. And he is autistic. Big-time autistic. He is happy, healthy ... and will always need assisted living. No dates, no proms, no driving, no independence--things we take for granted. I am reaching out to everyone in this amazing activity to see if they can help. Just go to my website to participate. Feel free to email me directly at ace@holleran.org for any details. Thanks for reading--over the years and right now. In the spirit,

Ream rocks. Ace Holleran

Uh, oh. I'd better get my kiss### pen out to write my show report! Jeff's right, though. I've gotta tone stuff down for publication. Drum corps people are soooo touchy! Jeff, don't let the smart### mail get you down. People are always going to respond with bile to frank, pointed remarks.