ESSOP4

Dark horse...

Cicero: Empire 89.70 Hurricanes 89.35 White Sabres 68.30 Excelsior 63.15 ES Brass,Percussion Hurc CG, Visual, Effect

This is terrible news; Gerry and I were the best of friends and spent so many years together in the Guelph Royalaires and Niagara Regionnaires. We always shared rooms at DCA and had such great times together. Gerry's passion was always drum corps and it showed. After the Regionnaires, Gerry went to MSJ, of which he always talked fondly. I carried on competing, but we always crossed paths at many DCA shows. Gerry was always a solid player, on both soprano and mellophone; the kind of guy any corps would love to have in their line. Please post any arrangements when they become available. I can't believe this has happened... RIP my old friend, I will miss you.

Hey Judge, From one 60 yr old marchin' brother to another (from anotha mother...) Happy Birthday. Enjoy! Ge-off Canada

Hey Gordo, I'll be down there on the Sunday. Save me a lead spot, bud! From one fifty-something to another (lol) B)

Empire Statesmen – OK, this is our first opportunity to review the corps that (sans newborn children) we’d actually be in this season. We attended three camps in the winter; therefore, we have some familiarity with the book. And, we saw a LOT of familiar faces out there. So, this review may be a bit biased. Now that the proper disclaimers are out of the way… We can sum up “Maynard Ferguson, Statesmen Style” in one word: FAN-TASTIC! And I put the hyphen in on purpose, because if you’re a drum corps fan, it’s for you. Over the last four years of being either in the crowd or on the field at Kingston, we feel certain in saying that Empire owns the crowd at Dietz Stadium. The energy level ES put out was phenomenal, and the energy the crowd returned was equally high. All the tunes have been past corps-fan favorites, with the exception of the “Taps”, so it’s hard to say whether one actually stands out. We enjoyed the arrangement of “Maria” best, but the solo work of Joe Pero in “People” was outstanding. (How can one person play so many notes?) Of course, playing MF music absolutely requires tons of soprano/trumpet talent, and Statesmen displayed that in spades. The six guys up on the big riser at the end of the show (would’ve been seven with Jeff Gibbens missing) make quite the statement. The riser itself is an interesting device, because it features performers – both visual (with Bethany spinning the big gold flag tossed up to her) and musical – quite stunningly. The new, younger percussion section is holding its own out there with the veteran brass line, especially during its feature in the middle of “Birdland”. The guard has a bit more work to do to match the other two sections. The guard is mostly new this year, and the talent level might not be quite as good as in prior years. There are other issues with marching, mostly in the form maintenance department. There are some inconsistencies between individual members as well. These are small, but important, things. However, they are also things that can be fixed rather easily. (It just takes an enormous amount of work.) If they get fixed, Statesmen might actually pull off an upset in Roch-cha-cha. Dale, Thanks for the review; nice to know the corps is doing so well. Miss my Statesmen family... see you guys in Roch-cha-cha (and in 2008??) B) Good luck to all the corps in Rochester!

PTBers, A pleasure to meet you, Scott and Disco Bob. I am definitely looking forward to burnin' though some more charts with the band and enjoyin' some good ol' Baltimore hospitality when we come down there in March. This past weekend was great and Donnie, that arrangement of Rhythm is outstanding. 8va's Ge-off B)

Mark, Elaine's and my prayers are with you my brother. Get well soon. You and I have plenty of double Gs to play yet. Next camp in Canada my wife has promised to make a big batch of butter tarts for ya (lol). Geoff and Elaine Adeney PTB

Warburton 7S4 Donnie Allen suggested this for me and it turned out to be a great choice. I was using a Warburton 4S4 until then. Thanks for the suggestion, Donnie! Ge-off