Gary Matczak

To kinda put this in context of the 100 point scale in the earlier days,..........here are some of Erie's scores in the 70's and early 80's for DCA finals: 1973 - 11th place - 59.90 1974 - 10th place - 54.64 1975 - 9th place - 68.03 1976 - 8th place - 73.60 1977 - 9th place - 75.75 1979 - 8th place - 67.95 1980 - 9th place - 68.70 1981 - 9th place - 58.90 Now mind you on today's 50 point scale a score of 70 then might get you an 85 today,......so again tics or not, it is all relative,..........or something,.....

All in one place,........ Ghost Riders Star United Freelancers Impact of Orlando Rocketeers High Country Brass Opus 7 Minne Brass Renegades Erie Thunderbirds Thunder Brigade

yup...........plus the difference between a 100 point scale then, and essentially a 50 point scale today,.................

price lowered to $500.00

looks like the alumni show is general admission,...........? Lower center is sold out for prelims and finals,..........but there are great seats available to the left and the right,............ticket sales seem kinda slow,..............?

Sold!!!!!!!!!!!

I must say as a traditionalist, I really did enjoy the Scouts bone solo and soli the other night here in Erie,........nice job!

A newer, much younger version of the Erie Thunderbirds have plans to be there,.............look forward to seeing you Donny,............

Awesome........... memory is cloudy,............I will get with my sister and try and zero in on the year,.......had to be late 80's early 90's tho,............ somewhere between say 87 -94,................Scouts battery rehearsed in the vacant lot next to our flat,.........Cavies brass was in the radiator shop lot across the street,............

Hey Eric,...............talked to the wedge yesterday, glad to hear you are planning to come on up,...........and I know why,........wink, wink,...............looking forward to seeing you bud,............I am on the lookout for you guys too,..............

yo Other Mike,....long time no connect! seriously tho,.............seems to me the last several year the Scouts have re-tooled the week between SA Texas and Atlanta,.......only to see their scores stall instead of improve,...............As a Scouts fan since 75 when I sat on the RCA championship field here in Erie with Alf and Fran Wateska where Alf was recording the show,............My alligience has never wavered,...........I just don't get the reason for the heavy duty tweaking in the more recent years,............

gotta share this after reading your post,.............about 20 years ago, my sister and I bought a 2 unit flat,......she lived downstairs and I live up,........It was litterally one block from this stadium,...........we lived for show day, as all the buses, trucks, cookies etc. were litteraly right out front, back, side, etc.,............one year on a downpour day we cooked off about 300 burgers and dogs for the cavaliers and scouts as they were on our lawn, porch, etc,...............they used our bathroom, showers, living room, etc,...........I would love to somehow, someday, connect with the young lads that we shared our homes with, just to laugh and re-tell the stories of that day,...........so very special to us,...............you simply cannot replace that memory

After seeing some early season vids, I too was somehat disapointed with what I saw last night,................

Hey Brigand,............sorry that again our paths did not cross,....... I have some simple comments about the event, and corps that I had the opportunity to view from my seat. no offence to the earlier performers, I was many duties to tend to prior to the show, and for the first half up until intermission. Weather - couldn't get much better for the performers and the fans. After seeing horiffic forecasts during the lead up to the show, the cool, crisp, clear conditions were perfect!!!! Venue - Epic, and tho I live here in Erie, I have not been to too many places in my nearlly 50 years of attending shows that are as acoustically pleasing, and fan friendly, you can't get much closer to the action than Veterans Stadium here in Erie. The closest comparrison I can even think of at this moment is the old DCA championship venue in Rochester - St. Thomas Aquinas Stadium Crusaders - LOVE the uniforms, what an awesome look, as an Edgar Poe fan, I was really struck by the interpretation, and while I am a DC traditionalist, I couldn't help loving the girl on violin and how appropriate it felt in the scoring - BEAUTIFUL!!! Troopers - True Americana, thank you, thank you, thank you, fans on their feet cheering their brains out for tha last two minutes, I cried tears of joy. Fred Morris (who got his start as an Erie THunderbird) knows has to get to Joe Lunchbucket, and the traditional drum corps fan, I actually lost my breath, and colapsed into my seat after that performance. WOW! Blue Knights - Holy Crap! what a sound! Battery was FANTASTIC, non stop action from the entire corps, there was no more paint to peel off the walls, JIMINY CHRISTMAS that was loud and clean to my ears. Scouts - I wished I could have gotten more out of Fanfare for the New, excelent balance between the relatively small battery with the rest of the corps, pit (rhythm section) felt so close to a jazz bass, piano and drums, trombone feature and soli was pretty sweet, even tho I still am not comfortable with the whole bone thing, solo sops were ###### good, and grabbed me and the other traditionalists that were in the house. Kenton and corps to the extreme - Great show fellas!, I did my best to congratulate each member as they left the stadium, the boy scouts swung pretty friggin' hard!

Excellent dialog, and many great points made on this thread from many perspectives, and most are quite valid,............to me, the major issue in scoring today is that there is a general scenario that if you compete, and complete your show without penalties, it is virtually impossible to score less than a 50,............so basically all corps compete on a 50 point scale not 100,............so every set of scores seem compressed in that regard,......other than that it is all relative,............

Is this the Rich High School stadium?

Hey Gary, How goes it? Don't know anything about tickets,......... but I had heard through the grapevine that the show was being moved from UB,.............?

two sets left

In talking with Dave Fite yesterday, I know Steel City will be there,.............

Make an offer

Seems to me that one point in either direction on your 2 points per week stuff is a 50% swing, that is really not that predictable, especially when it comes to placements, remember, it is rank, then rate...............glad you made it all the way up to Jersey to see the show tho,...................

still available,.............

I might reverse your statement, tho you may have a closer feel for the environment there than I,...............I might say: "Tennessee has not been too kind to drum corps over the years" IMO

bump,.......................still available,....................

When I first met a member of the Jokers, it at DCI in Montreal,................at that time they had uniforms exactly like the Bridgemen,.........hence the name "Jokers",.............true story