captcastile

Now that was funny!....a cymbal probably would be the only thing that would work between my knobby knees nowadays....

Spot on Don...Mass Brass, as John mentioned, is suffering from a small case of burnout. We chose to do Brass Choir to keep MB in the activity with the hope that eventually we can regenerate and be back next year. The travel cost for some of our members had a lot to do with our decision. Star United had nothing to do with our decision....hell, if we thought we had to beat them to be successful, we would have dropped out years ago. Let's see how this Brass Choir works out, could be the future. A lot less work, no music rights, no drill,(sounds like Mini Corps years ago)and you can still maintain excellence. could be the "poor man's" mini corps.....

Yes it's true Ray, Mass Brass has seen the Bud light... We're actually doing 3 Choirs, A "Boston Strong" set and a "Groovy Brass" set (couple of 70's tune that you should know) and last but not least, a Mass Brass Alumni set, played with not a single alumnus involved. Looking forward to seeing you

Now that.....would be very cool!

Agreed Frank, but for the most part we try to stay consistant with our music from year to year, with a couple of exceptions. Maybe it's time to change it up, who knows...

We don't need someone to tell us that, and no one ever has...that was an example...but don't tell us we were great and then give us a fair score, just justify the score whether it it be great, fair, or bad. Have the comments match the score and then we would have a better understanding of where we went wrong

Frank, although I totally understand where your coming from, the sheets don't make sense as far the Judges comments. How do you get comments like "great show", "aggressive charts" "very entertaining" and then get a score that doesn't back those comments up. If we got sheets that said "tempo problems" "weak show", Corps not able to sell show, then we would understand what we have to improve on and that would justify the score . We would much rather have constructive criticism. I believe tapes would provide us with this as the Judges could comment as they go along and point out weaknesses and strengths. It's really that simple

Donny, Will you stop being the voice of reason...your starting to scare me. Rick was a great kid, great horn player, loved everything about Mini's. The fact that he willed himself to live until the day of the show, tells you everything you need to know. I guess in the big picture some things aren't as important as they may seem when it comes to real life. What can we do to get Mini going in the right direction? Mike

Extremely well said! Where have you been this whole thread? The OP came across a little more harsh than intended, fact of the matter is, I did not see any other Corps other than Star because of the position we were on, so when the scores came down, my reaction was lets see what the sheets say, this is the only thing we have as a tool to help us fix things. Some people say it's the last show so what does it really matter? Well for us it's the ONLY show, any type of input would have helped us for next year, we got nothing. I did not and have not blamed the Judges for our score, I just think they should do more to inform us of our weakness as well as our strengths. There was no sour grapes here, I didn't see anyone so how could I say we got screwed? I still think a little more effort from the judges is needed. If people think we're wrong for trying to improve, then that's on them. Thanks for your input.

You are a complete MORON! We knew nothing of the Becky story, but if you had listened to Fran during the announcement of our corps you would have heard that a marching member of OUR corps died of cancer the very morning of the show. His wish was to make to the Mini's but fell a little short. You have no idea what we went through as a group to help Rick Hagey try to make it to the Annapolis, carrying his horn for him, giving him rides or assisting him anyway we could to make his last wish come true. Don't you ever pretend to tell us how we should act or express ourselves over an unfortunate story that we knew nothing about! Your just making #### up now...people matter...practice what you preach. You just made this whole thing personal you fool! Talk about an apology needed.... we wouldn't expect to get one from somebody who so callasly used a sick person as an example to put down another group...like I said earlier...your a real class act

Sour grapes my ###...not once was there a mention of our placement or our score, it is what it is. How dare we ask the Judges (paid Judges not volunteers)to give us more of an assessment of our show than a couple of comments scratched on a sheet of paper. I'd bet the store that you and some of the others that are ripping us aren't even involved in the mini's, because if you were, you would know exactly what I'm talking about. Every Mini out there, is there to have fun and put on the best show possible for the crowd, they all work hard, very hard to entertain the crowd, which I think we do a good job at. For some one like you to sit back and rip us for wanting to get better is a complete joke! While we're at it, I'd like to thank you for the private e-mail you sent to me, telling me to back off, to handle it differently...I did..and then you go off and take over the whole thread with YOUR opinions and rip anyone who doesn't agree...a true class act

Harrisburg ran the mini show up until their next to last show. Larry brought the mini's in to draw more people for the Sat. Night show and that couldn't save it. Should I be like you and say that nobody would pay to see "Alumni Corps"? Fact of the matter is, Drum Corps in general does not draw like it use to and most people can't afford to go see it. With the line-up that Larry use to put out year in and year out and the Show still couldn't survive....doesn't that tell you anything? Do you think the "Alumni Spectacular" would even exist if it were not sandwiched between the Semi's and the Finals of Championship weekend? My point is, that the majority of people would not pay to see any type of Drum Corps, not just Mini's

Exactly what rules were added to give one Corps an advantage over another? How many new rule proposals have been added? Since I've been doing Mini's (1998) the only rules I know of is 6-10 minutes of music, 21 members performing. They did modify to not count the Conductor as a performing member. What are the "many" that you are talking about? Why are you even commenting on this thread? By your own admission, you haven't been to a show since "2007" and pretty much everything you post about mini's is negative. Nobody would pay to see a Mini Show? What's your point? Did you go to Bridgeport a couple of weeks ago? Calling the crowd sparse would be an exageration. How's Harrisburg working out for ya? Drum Corps is hurting everwhere, with a few exceptions. Mini Corps is an added attraction to the Championship weekend, we get it,but are we so friggin wrong to ask for some feedback? Last time I checked, feedback was a good thing! Mass Brass was as close to the top as you get in the "Star" era and even then we were asking for feed back, not because we thought we beat Star or could beat Star ( which in my mind is virtually impossible), but to see what the judges thought about our performance. We already knew what the crowd thought, but to hear another voice is not a bad thing and could help the following year as far as tweaking this or that. No we don't play for the judges as another poster suggested may be happening, we play for ourselves and the crowd first and foremost! But thanks to the negativity from you and some of your cohorts, a simple question has taken on a life of its own which gives us the "feedback" we need to possibly fix the situation. So Thanks

Then why don't they use all this technology? Sounds like sour grapes? Clean your ears out. I'm not complaining about what the judges gave us for a score, I'm complaining about what the judges don't give us for input! I'm 100% sure that your not even in a Mini Corps, because if you were, you would understand exactly what I'm talking about. Ever hear of MCA Mr."Here We Go again"? That group tried for years to work with DCA to do something about or to broaden the Judges sheets, to no avail...but I'm sure you already knew that

Is it not time to hold the Mini Corps judges accountable for their scores? Why are they not taped with info that we can use for next year? The Mass Brass scoresheets said, "great job", "aggressive charts" ect...and oh yeh, here's your score "you suck". What's that all about? Not a shred of information that could help us for next year...nothing. Our scores have been declining the last couple of years and we're not sure why and have been giving "0" feedback from the judges. If the judges don't want to be there or it is a major incovenience for them, then maybe DCA should find people that do want to be there. How long would it take to comment or give us feedback, 1 minute or so.....considering the amount of time and effort everyone puts into their shows, I don't think that's too much to ask. Time for a change, time for the judges to show a little respect for the performers that have worked hard all year for this show. All the Mini Corps deserve better! People were asking "where have all the Mini Corps gone?" simple.....Corps were getting their ##### handed to them and no one told them why, add that to the time and expense it takes to get on the field or stage and there's your answer, it's not worth the trouble. Unless the Judges can clean up their act and show a little respect for the Corps that are competing, the numbers will only get worse.

The coolers have been retrieved, the Bari and the Bari player recovered, and Mike Cahills stool found....MIke himself is still missing...the irony of it all

Mass Brass is practicing at this moment OUTSIDE! No small hurricane is gonna stop us and no strong gust of wind will move the sops! That being said, the casualties so far have been...2 coolers, 1 baritone,1 baritone player and Mike Cahill's stool..with him still on it!

Exactly! Now we have to play with the mouthpiece all the way in...quite a different sound

Rochester is a little over a week away and haven't heard much about the Mini Corps show...Mass Brass will be there with a totally new book arranged by Key Poulin, still playing plenty of Latin Jazz,(Spanish Fantasy, Mask of Zorro and La Fiesta) but with a different texture and sound. Another change will be a mini 3 piece pit to enhance Keys' music. The arrangements are very current which in turn made us old guys change our style of playing, not easy after playing one way for 40 some odd years! All I can say is thank God for Bud Lite! Looking forward to the big weekend and I hope we can pull it off, because our main goal is still entertainment!

Donny, read your review, very impressive!

We're gonna miss ya man, lot of good times had by GE and MB!

I can hear DA running to the officials room right now!

Mass Brass is excited to announce that Key Poulan, currently of the SCV, will be programming the Mass Brass 2011 show. The Show that Key has put together is as follows: Opener: Spanish Fantasy (Chick Corea) Production: Flamenco Ballad: Zorro's Theme (from Mask of Zorro) Closer: LaFiesta (Chick Corea) This will be quite a change for MB, although we have always done Latin flavored charts, this will be a complete style change as we will be shifting from the 70's and 80's style to the new millenium. It's a good thing we're all young enough to handle this change.......

Not to mention that Mass Brass brought in a "Body Movement" girl at rehearsal yesterday! After she picked herself up from laughing so hard, we actually got a few things accomplished. Watch out for the "Groucho" move by the Sops...it rivals the "gut pull" from 05. The Sops will be doing accomplished Ballet moves while the rest of the Corps will actually be....... playing. You don't want to blink in Rochester, with our stealth moves we could be on and off the stage before you know it! The only thing that could slow us down is that we do have to play a little, but we're workin on that.

When did Erie get radio?