euphononium Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 (edited) It seemed to be a rather large crowd, but definitely not the most I've seen there. I was a bit thrown off at first sight because the last time I performed there, the upper section was still condemned..haha, so I was remembering that bottom section being PACKED and thinking wow, there's a much smaller crowd here tonight! Edited August 9, 2010 by euphononium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanInChicago Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Lot of love for Allentown. Since the J Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown was missing funnel cakes, ice cream, and one of its 3 large concession stands was closed this past weekend, the orderly single-file line at the snow cone stand was colossal. But there was snow cone fulfillment: For Friday, it was a Root Beer Snow Cone, then on Saturday, a Pineapple Snow Cone. It's actually a Hawaiian Ice stand, but you know how the dialect shifts between soda and pop language here. I only can handle the $3.50 mediums, because the towering mountains of colored ice on the large $5.50 versions would make you giddier than handling a fistful of unredeemed Skee-ball tickets. Top Ten Most Memorable Moments in Allentown 1. Drum. Corps. Outdoors. 2. The reaction from a talkative fan behind me during Friday's National Anthem, when the lone Trooper's trumpeter bobbled a few notes. The fan's one-word commentary, "Loser." 3. On Friday night, after the first two shows, I asked an usher to please not let people pass him by during the shows, and he replied "but security said we could let people slide in during the first two programs." 4. It was great to see all the World Class corps, spread out over two nights. There's plenty of time to rest and site-see between the two events. 5. Phantom Regiment's foreshadowing of a Lucas Oil tunnel entrance and exit. 6. The green John Deere tractor zipping from one endzone to the other -- OK, it was further back on the jogging track -- DURING the Troopers show. (It turned out to be a quiet off-field medical emergency.) 7. The Bridgemen Alumni starting their exhibition "on a dissonant G7 chord" stated loudly over the public address system. 8. Saturday morning yard sales on route 145. At one sale, the man and wife were asking $15 for an old Allentown Economy Pretzel Company tin. But at another sale, a widower was asking 25 cents for the same item. I see that TSA attached one of those pesky 'searched' tags on the American Tourister. 9. Turnpike standstills on Friday afternoon. But this year, it was only a 50-minute delay on 476 North just before the Quakertown exit. 10. Now and then, you heard a judge's comment from the press box. During Crown's ballad, one judge remarked, "Exceptional." See you in Indy. I spent $1 each way for the megabus from Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsFreak Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Love Allentown. Awesome crowd! Corps are in 'Final week mode' Mango Italian ice Perfect weather We got there 1.5 hours before the show so we could find a good parking spot so no problem for us. It was nice to see Bones again... The not so great things: Warm up area seemed to be too close to stadium, kept hearing drumlines during corps shows. Diesel smell ?!?! Not sure where it came from we had diesel fumes in section Q. We are planning on going back to Mecca Allentown next year. I find the Championship week too expensive for me and Allentown is second best to DCI Finals. But I think I will try to find seats in the lower sections of stadium. Just my .02 cents Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistolpete Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 It was a large crowd but last year may have been slightly larger. The weather was warm but not as humid as in the past. The warmup area in Cedar Creek Park must be moved 200 yards back. The first 3 rows of the upper deck are unsold seats but DCI Event Staff Security did not prevent people from sitting there-much to the annoyance of those of us who bought our tickets the day they went on sale. J. Birney Crum would be an even better venue if there wasn't an 8 lane running track around the field. The second place score for the Cavaliers on Friday night was delayed due to Crown receiving a large, extended ovation after their score was announced. Saturday's fan favorites were the Madison Scouts. All in all, a well run event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old drmmjr Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Love Allentown.Awesome crowd! Corps are in 'Final week mode' Mango Italian ice Perfect weather We got there 1.5 hours before the show so we could find a good parking spot so no problem for us. It was nice to see Bones again... The not so great things: Warm up area seemed to be too close to stadium, kept hearing drumlines during corps shows. Diesel smell ?!?! Not sure where it came from we had diesel fumes in section Q. We are planning on going back to Mecca Allentown next year. I find the Championship week too expensive for me and Allentown is second best to DCI Finals. But I think I will try to find seats in the lower sections of stadium. Just my .02 cents Marc We were also in Section Q (row 11)and noticed the fumes on Saturday. It didn't seem as bad on Friday but by the end of the show on Sat,we were ready to get out of there. The fumes were horrific by the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyboy Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Oh yea, the concessions. When we got to the stadium my girlfriend stood in line while I used the bathroom at the bottom of the hill, when I came out she hadn't moved, we waited five more minutes with out moving then gave up. Up top I got in line before intermission, the line didn't move one bit. We talked to old corps mates for ten minutes and the line didn't move. We went to our seats. Intermission was 17 minutes. The kids of the folks next to us came back after the first corps on after intermission. They said they were in line 1 hour. I almost offered that kid $20 to get me some food but I survived. We brough our own food and drinks Saturday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liahona Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 (edited) Lot of love for Allentown.Top Ten Most Memorable Moments in Allentown 2. The reaction from a talkative fan behind me during Friday's National Anthem, when the lone Trooper's trumpeter bobbled a few notes. The fan's one-word commentary, "Loser." PRICELESS...I should be ashamed at laughing at this....I missed everyone until CC due to traffic coming from Manhattan... Edited August 10, 2010 by Liahona Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Flores Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 The only issue with Allentown is the roughly 60 or so dollars I spent on Turnpike fees coming into, leaving and coming back through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. And that hill from the lower entrance, I almost felt like my heart was fixin' to explode. Other ta those 2 things, The weather was near perfect and I had a great time in A'town (and the Casino in Bethlehem) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triple Forte Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 Being in Allentown this weekend, to me it appeared that the crowd was larger than prevuous years. This is a good thing ! I 'm curious to know if this is due to increased enthusiasm, or are some eastern people substituting Allentown to see all of the corps , rather than incurring the much higher cost across the board of attending finals in Indianapolis ? This was the 13th year in a row I attended the A-Town shows.....and it was great. Weather...perfect....crowd...larger than the recent past. Never saw the concession lines that long before in Allentown....crazy. Allentown.....the best regional show by far. Also....after seven seasons in a row......I opted to go to England this summer for two weeks instead of DCI Finals week. I will be watching the quarter finals at a nearby movie house and the semi's from home on the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old drmmjr Posted August 10, 2010 Share Posted August 10, 2010 The only issue with Allentown is the roughly 60 or so dollars I spent on Turnpike fees coming into, leaving and coming back through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. And that hill from the lower entrance, I almost felt like my heart was fixin' to explode. Other ta those 2 things, The weather was near perfect and I had a great time in A'town (and the Casino in Bethlehem) I hope you had better luck at the casino then we did. It was packed after the shows on both nights too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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