Gary Matczak Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) The Open House was a great beginning, and something to built on! Ed Colean IV, Rob Chase, Ken Berlin, Ed Coleman V (and his PIPE staff) all did a great job of welcoming everyone as they came in, laying out the plan, and getting the eager group into sections. It was neat to see the bunch of drum corps veterans showing some of the younger brass players the G bugles,........... Ken Berlin worked the hornline through an awesome warm-up arrangement of "America the Beautiful" and had the hornline of about 24 sounding impressive in a short amount to time. I am impressed with Kenny's skills in writing, teaching AND conducting,.....................and he oozes energy in a subtle way,............that was fun to watch. Ed Coleman V and his boys Brandon Maxwell and Max Meyer immediately started filling the heads of the new percussionists with their style and technique standards. These three guys are a lot alike, in that they really know how to teach with a smile,.................real good communicators,...................and had their groups playing through their warm up and scale packages as you would expect,.,...........these guys demand a certain style of dicipline and attension, and do a real nice job teaching in their soft spoken sorta manner. After a couple hours of playing, everyone got back together and Rob spoke further to the group of 60 or so about the plan, and then adjourned the group to socialize, and enjoy food and drink in the school lobby,........... Special thanks to Tom, Nick and Rick for all the extra effort in spending time organizing all the equipment over the last month or so, to get ready for this first ever Open House,.................... loading, unloading, checking, tuning, repairing, loading, unloading,..............you know the drill,.................. Edited December 7, 2008 by Gary Matczak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted December 7, 2008 Author Share Posted December 7, 2008 (edited) Just a quick shout out to the Pittsburgh crew,...............sorry we did not join you at Clancy's..............Nick was not feeling 100%, and was driving the truck,.......... we needed to folow him back to the warehouse on the westside to get it inside, and him out,............Thanks for making the treck north,..............and see you soon! Edited December 7, 2008 by Gary Matczak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloSop420 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Just a quick shout out to the Pittsburgh crew,...............sorry we did not join you at Clancy's..............Nick was not feeling 100%, and was driving the truck,.......... we needed to folow him back to the warehouse on the westside to get it inside, and him out,............Thanks for making the treck north,..............and see you soon! Even though I was not 100%, I was there. I struggled to play, but, I was there. The open house yesterday was a successful beginning for the THUNDER. Due to the weather, and other circumstances, we were still fortunate enough to have a decent-sized hornline. (all parts were covered, especially the Lead Sop line) I know that the next rehearsal will bring more joining members. We are going to take it one step at a time. I am actually impressed with the interest already. Finally, Erie will have a field corps again. You have to realize how exciting this is for us Drum Corps nuts in NW Pennsylvania. I like NY and all, but, now I don't have to drive 3-5 hours, one way, to get my "Drum Corps Fix!" I urge anyone In the tri-state area who is interested in getting on the field, to come check us out. No BS...........you won't be disappointed. Our entire staff has winning records in DCA and in the LMBA circuit. They know how to get things done. I am extremely excited. .......Finally, and best of all, my wife says I can do it, so..................I'M IN!!!!!!!!!!!! I am Nick I don't make excuses...................I'm there! I play Soprano too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanciD Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 This is really exciting to read through.... Thanx for sharing your journey with all of us!! Best of luck and I can't wait to see what you folks present to us!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pgh Guy2 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Hey Gary, The Cheez man put a little sauce on the nachos and Clancey's was just fine...Thank you....The people from Pittsburgh had a fun day and are looking forward to the next rehearsal.....I'm excited that competitive drumcorps is coming back to Erie with a positive committment toward excellence.... Pgh Guy Bari 2 Extraordinaire John G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloSop420 Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 This is really exciting to read through.... Thanx for sharing your journey with all of us!! Best of luck and I can't wait to see what you folks present to us!!! TY Nanci for your kind comment. I, myself, try to make any thread that I get on, worth reading. This thread is a special one though......cuz..........we're gonna have a Field Corps in Erie. The only difference this year is that we won't be able to hang out in the Smoking area, slamming beers until our favorite Corps come on the field. I remember having 50 yd line seats at either Pre-Lims, or Finals.....I can't remember 'cause I was just as "HAMMERED" as you were last year. I spent 98% of the time hangin' out with NanciD & company.......and I had fun. I'll also miss getting $1.00 Labatt's Blue at the Bodaga across the street from the Stadium. I always have fun w/you Nanci. I'll miss that this summer though. It's that time again. Time to get on the field and march with my home-town Drum Corps. The best thing about this whole thing is that.........................WE WON'T SUK!!! Now that's cool. Win or lose, it's gonna be fun. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbalaya Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Glad to hear about the weekend AND your continued involvement Nick. It's also good to know that yinz will be following the first law of performance: "Do Good; Don't Suck"!!!!!! Joe (I know Nick) TY Nanci for your kind comment. I, myself, try to make any thread that I get on, worth reading. This thread is a special one though......cuz..........we're gonna have a Field Corps in Erie. The only difference this year is that we won't be able to hang out in the Smoking area, slamming beers until our favorite Corps come on the field. I remember having 50 yd line seats at either Pre-Lims, or Finals.....I can't remember 'cause I was just as "HAMMERED" as you were last year. I spent 98% of the time hangin' out with NanciD & company.......and I had fun. I'll also miss getting $1.00 Labatt's Blue at the Bodaga across the street from the Stadium. I always have fun w/you Nanci. I'll miss that this summer though. It's that time again. Time to get on the field and march with my home-town Drum Corps. The best thing about this whole thing is that.........................WE WON'T SUK!!! Now that's cool. Win or lose, it's gonna be fun.Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 You can find a couple photos here from the Open House Temporary Website We will be launching the new look for the website in the coming days,............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iloveto8va Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Next Practice: Sunday January 25, 11-5 at East High School Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloSop420 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Next Practice: Sunday January 25, 11-5 at East High School I'll bring my horn. I have no drum...................just some drum sticks I found. They're hangin' on my wall. I also have a "Tenor Head." I wanna learn to play drum someday. (since I hang out with the drumline) Drummers can be strange...............not me though. I am Nick I play Sop I'm good sometimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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