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Not a review of the performances, but I figured I'd put this here anyway.....

Finally regaining some semblance of energy after a looooooong ride home from Rochester (two days..... Rochester to Scranton, spent the night there, then the rest of the way home today)...so some thoughts from my weekend at DCA's...apologies in advance for this being a bit long:

First of all... once again, THANK YOU to all of you who came by to greet Barbara. It was her first trip to DCA's since 2006, and she was really thrilled to see so many of her drum corps friends again.

And a HUGE "thanks" to my sister and brother-in-law for their help with Barbara on Saturday, and to Christina Mavroudis for her help on Sunday. Mav, you are the best... and Barbara and I cherish our friendship with you and Ed!!

On our way into Rochester last Thursday, Barbara and I passed through the town of Pittsford, which we had never seen before. What a pretty little town, with shops and restaurants along the Erie Canal. Next year, we're gonna try to spend some time hanging out there.

Also on the "places we've never been in Rochester until this year" list, we had dinner Friday evening at Mario's, on Monroe Ave. just outside the city limits... the restaurant is billed as an Italian steakhouse. It was excellent. If you like Italian food, or steaks, or both, I would highly recommend this place.

We found a Panera Bread location on Monroe Ave., not far from our hotel. Made several trips there during the weekend for iced tea, some breakfast items and a quick dinner before the show Sunday. I am trying to remember what life was like before Panera. :tongue:

After dinner Friday night, we made it over to the convention center in time for the last six mini-corps performances. From our viewing area, the four of us (Barbara, me, my sister and brother-in-law) unanimously agreed that the Ghost Riders were our favorite of the night....taking nothing at all away from any of the other performances, which were all solid. But Friday's performance was the best I've ever heard from the Ghost Riders. Star United deserved the win.... that horn line is scary clean.... but we had the Ghost Riders in solo second and much, much closer in score to Star than was reflected in the final results.

In future years, I do hope Star United.... as good as they are..... will consider playing music that is more familiar to a mini-corps audience. Star's repertoire this year left me scratching my head a bit, even though the corps performed the heck out of their program...I mean, those guys can flat-out play with the best of 'em. But I worry that Star might be losing the crowd to some degree.... the standing ovation they received Friday night was more of the respectful kind, not the "throwing babies" variety. Perhaps a dose of "classical music that you know"....combined with that world-class performance level... would help Star United get more fans on their side.

It is interesting how your vantage point at a drum corps show can affect your opinion on a given corps' performance. One example....at Saturday's prelims, several of us in the press box, viewing the field from about the 30-yard line upstairs, had the Kilties in Finals over the CorpsVets. But other folks who had viewed the prelims from other vantage points closer to the 50-yard line disagreed with our assessment. That's why I'm not a judge, I guess... and thank God for that!!! :tongue:

After the Saturday show several people complimented me on my announcing work at prelims... but truth be told, I kinda sucked Saturday, IMO!!! Made more mistakes than I had made in a while. Any time I work a show...especially on championship weekend.... I have several benchmarks I try to meet, and I fell short Saturday...never quite felt comfortable all day....not sure why. Oh well....stuff happens. Anyhow...I had a much better show Sunday at finals.

I hereby proclaim Drum Corps Planet head honcho John Donovan as "The Best Guy In The Entire World." Why? Two words: MOON PIES!!!!!! :worthy:

I wish we could have made it to the Alumni show Sunday, because that is a lot of fun to watch....but we were both wiped out from Saturday and needed some rest. Maybe next year.

One of the things you see at DCA shows that you don't see at DCI shows: Corps entering the field to their street beat. And no one does that better than the Hawthorne Caballeros, IMO. The honor guard out front, the three drum majors swinging their arms in unison as they lead the corps onto the field to that time-honored beat.... man, that is just great to watch!!!!

Memo to the Class A corps who are struggling to play and march their shows: Take a good, long look at the DVD of the Govenaires from this year. THAT is how to program a show for a small corps. Great staging...honest to God, from upstairs this corps sometimes looks twice the size it actually is, thanks to the outstanding staging....achievable music and visual, and a solid performance and execution level across the board. It's a winning combination. And when you throw in the Govies' knack for REALLY having fun out on the field, you have one terrific drum corps.

My favorite corps of the weekend... from a sheer fun and audience-appeal standpoint.... was the Empire Statesmen. I'm sure Vince Bruni was smiling from above as his corps gave the fans their money's worth, and then some, at both prelims and finals. I know a bunch of folks here on DCP don't care for all the props, special effects and over-the-top glitz and glitter that the Statesmen are known for.... but I absolutely LOVE it, right down to Joey Pero's outrageous silver shoes!!!! All that stuff helps make the Statesmen one of the most unique and refreshing corps in the history of drum corps, IMO, and I hope they never change their "give the paying customers a show" mindset. That is Mr. B's legacy.

Finally....

The Reading Buccaneers' winning performance on Sunday night was nothing short of breathtaking....arguably the best performance in the history of the Buccaneers, and on the very short list of best performances by any all-age corps, ever. Absolutely flawless. Congratulations to the Buccaneers on their history-making run of the past five seasons... they are a class act all the way, and a wonderful representative for the all-age drum corps activity. Sooner or later... next year, whenever... the Bucs will lose a drum corps contest. And the corps that beats them will be one absolutely outstanding corps.... because that is what the Buccaneers are, right now.

OK....time to decompress from "drum corps fantasy camp" and get back into the real world.... Barbara and I have some busy months ahead of us, with several "real life" issues to work on. We hope to be back on the drum corps trail for the alumni-corps concerts next spring, and the competition season next summer... but after all the stuff going on in our world the past few years, I've learned to not too look too far ahead.

Here's to a great 2010 for all of you!

Fran

Edited by Fran Haring
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Memo to the Class A corps who are struggling to play and march their shows: Take a good, long look at the DVD of the Govenaires from this year. THAT is how to program a show for a small corps. Great staging...honest to God, from upstairs this corps sometimes looks twice the size it actually is, thanks to the outstanding staging....achievable music and visual, and a solid performance and execution level across the board. It's a winning combination. And when you throw in the Govies' knack for REALLY having fun out on the field, you have one terrific drum corps.

Fran, I'm really sure The Govenaires will really appreciate the nice comments! I will pass the word along to them (unless they have already read this)

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Not a review of the performances, but I figured I'd put this here anyway.....

Finally regaining some semblance of energy after a looooooong ride home from Rochester (two days..... Rochester to Scranton, spent the night there, then the rest of the way home today)...so some thoughts from my weekend at DCA's...apologies in advance for this being a bit long:

First of all... once again, THANK YOU to all of you who came by to greet Barbara. It was her first trip to DCA's since 2006, and she was really thrilled to see so many of her drum corps friends again.

And a HUGE "thanks" to my sister and brother-in-law for their help with Barbara on Saturday, and to Christina Mavroudis for her help on Sunday. Mav, you are the best... and Barbara and I cherish our friendship with you and Ed!!

On our way into Rochester last Thursday, Barbara and I passed through the town of Pittsford, which we had never seen before. What a pretty little town, with shops and restaurants along the Erie Canal. Next year, we're gonna try to spend some time hanging out there.

Also on the "places we've never been in Rochester until this year" list, we had dinner Friday evening at Mario's, on Monroe Ave. just outside the city limits... the restaurant is billed as an Italian steakhouse. It was excellent. If you like Italian food, or steaks, or both, I would highly recommend this place.

We found a Panera Bread location on Monroe Ave., not far from our hotel. Made several trips there during the weekend for iced tea, some breakfast items and a quick dinner before the show Sunday. I am trying to remember what life was like before Panera. :tongue:

After dinner Friday night, we made it over to the convention center in time for the last six mini-corps performances. From our viewing area, the four of us (Barbara, me, my sister and brother-in-law) unanimously agreed that the Ghost Riders were our favorite of the night....taking nothing at all away from any of the other performances, which were all solid. But Friday's performance was the best I've ever heard from the Ghost Riders. Star United deserved the win.... that horn line is scary clean.... but we had the Ghost Riders in solo second and much, much closer in score to Star than was reflected in the final results.

In future years, I do hope Star United.... as good as they are..... will consider playing music that is more familiar to a mini-corps audience. Star's repertoire this year left me scratching my head a bit, even though the corps performed the heck out of their program...I mean, those guys can flat-out play with the best of 'em. But I worry that Star might be losing the crowd to some degree.... the standing ovation they received Friday night was more of the respectful kind, not the "throwing babies" variety. Perhaps a dose of "classical music that you know"....combined with that world-class performance level... would help Star United get more fans on their side.

It is interesting how your vantage point at a drum corps show can affect your opinion on a given corps' performance. One example....at Saturday's prelims, several of us in the press box, viewing the field from about the 30-yard line upstairs, had the Kilties in Finals over the CorpsVets. But other folks who had viewed the prelims from other vantage points closer to the 50-yard line disagreed with our assessment. That's why I'm not a judge, I guess... and thank God for that!!! :tongue:

After the Saturday show several people complimented me on my announcing work at prelims... but truth be told, I kinda sucked Saturday, IMO!!! Made more mistakes than I had made in a while. Any time I work a show...especially on championship weekend.... I have several benchmarks I try to meet, and I fell short Saturday...never quite felt comfortable all day....not sure why. Oh well....stuff happens. Anyhow...I had a much better show Sunday at finals.

I hereby proclaim Drum Corps Planet head honcho John Donovan as "The Best Guy In The Entire World." Why? Two words: MOON PIES!!!!!! :worthy:

I wish we could have made it to the Alumni show Sunday, because that is a lot of fun to watch....but we were both wiped out from Saturday and needed some rest. Maybe next year.

One of the things you see at DCA shows that you don't see at DCI shows: Corps entering the field to their street beat. And no one does that better than the Hawthorne Caballeros, IMO. The honor guard out front, the three drum majors swinging their arms in unison as they lead the corps onto the field to that time-honored beat.... man, that is just great to watch!!!!

Memo to the Class A corps who are struggling to play and march their shows: Take a good, long look at the DVD of the Govenaires from this year. THAT is how to program a show for a small corps. Great staging...honest to God, from upstairs this corps sometimes looks twice the size it actually is, thanks to the outstanding staging....achievable music and visual, and a solid performance and execution level across the board. It's a winning combination. And when you throw in the Govies' knack for REALLY having fun out on the field, you have one terrific drum corps.

My favorite corps of the weekend... from a sheer fun and audience-appeal standpoint.... was the Empire Statesmen. I'm sure Vince Bruni was smiling from above as his corps gave the fans their money's worth, and then some, at both prelims and finals. I know a bunch of folks here on DCP don't care for all the props, special effects and over-the-top glitz and glitter that the Statesmen are known for.... but I absolutely LOVE it, right down to Joey Pero's outrageous silver shoes!!!! All that stuff helps make the Statesmen one of the most unique and refreshing corps in the history of drum corps, IMO, and I hope they never change their "give the paying customers a show" mindset. That is Mr. B's legacy.

Finally....

The Reading Buccaneers' winning performance on Sunday night was nothing short of breathtaking....arguably the best performance in the history of the Buccaneers, and on the very short list of best performances by any all-age corps, ever. Absolutely flawless. Congratulations to the Buccaneers on their history-making run of the past five seasons... they are a class act all the way, and a wonderful representative for the all-age drum corps activity. Sooner or later... next year, whenever... the Bucs will lose a drum corps contest. And the corps that beats them will be one absolutely outstanding corps.... because that is what the Buccaneers are, right now.

OK....time to decompress from "drum corps fantasy camp" and get back into the real world.... Barbara and I have some busy months ahead of us, with several "real life" issues to work on. We hope to be back on the drum corps trail for the alumni-corps concerts next spring, and the competition season next summer... but after all the stuff going on in our world the past few years, I've learned to not too look too far ahead.

Here's to a great 2010 for all of you!

Fran

Fran,

I had the pleasure of watching Empire's Prelim performance with you instead of in the Staff Viewing Area (long story, don't ask)...

You are a Passionate and Knowledgable Lover of Drum Corps Entertainment.

They should let you do a narration - or at least put a microphone on you like on "Inside the NFL" - every corps should experience that.

YOU are One with the fan.

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Memo to the Class A corps who are struggling to play and march their shows: Take a good, long look at the DVD of the Govenaires from this year. THAT is how to program a show for a small corps. Great staging...honest to God, from upstairs this corps sometimes looks twice the size it actually is, thanks to the outstanding staging....achievable music and visual, and a solid performance and execution level across the board. It's a winning combination. And when you throw in the Govies' knack for REALLY having fun out on the field, you have one terrific drum corps.

Fran, I'm really sure The Govenaires will really appreciate the nice comments! I will pass the word along to them (unless they have already read this)

WOW, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH Fran!!!

It was great seeing Fran and Barbara back in Rochester this weekend! Wish I was able to chat longer.........

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Fran your work as always is among the two best this acitivty has. but that shirt Sunday...that thing is illegal in 17 states

as for Pittsford...agreed. found it by accident Saturday...wonderful little town

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WOW, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH Fran!!!

It was great seeing Fran and Barbara back in Rochester this weekend! Wish I was able to chat longer.........

Amber, I just kept counting the horn line and kept coming up with the same number.

And I ain't gonna post it because no one who wasn't there would believe me. :tongue: Proof that if a corps covers the parts they can put on an entertaining show.

Always lok forward to the Govies. And the person at the souvie stand Sat and Sun is a great ambassador for your group. We had a great time talking to him and my wife still has her beads. :worthy: If he remembers my wife was the lady in the wheelchair and we both got "Get on the Bus" shirts.

PS to Fran: Comment of the night came when you had problems with the mic during Finals. "Turn down the shirt. Turn up the mic!!". :tongue:

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PS to Fran: Comment of the night came when you had problems with the mic during Finals. "Turn down the shirt. Turn up the mic!!". :tongue:

LOL!!!

Seriously, I gotta apologize to the folks with Star United for keeping them waiting so long while we worked on the microphone issue. I thank them for hanging in there, and for their wonderful tribute to the Buccaneers' trumpet player who had passed away Friday. Star is without a doubt a class act, and I'm very glad they are part of DCA's championship weekend!

Fran

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Wish I was able to chat longer.........

That's OK, Amber..... between marching with the Govies and being the DCA Central coordinator, it's not like you have nothing to do...... LOL

Fran

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as for Pittsford...agreed. found it by accident Saturday...wonderful little town

Yeah...on our way in Thursday, we saw a bunch of cars ahead of us making a right turn...... we found out it was the turn into the area in Pittsford with all the shops and so forth, along the canal. There were dozens of people walking around the area. Reminded me a bit of Peddler's Village in PA.

Fran

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