Rochester Minis Reviews?

[AmFlag61]

Anyone who was there?

[kcbari]

It seems that Star United won again...that's all I've gleaned from some Facebook friends...

[camel lips]

Anyone who was there?

Wait till everyone sobers up tomorrow. You might get a couple of responses then.

[Bossop]

Wait till everyone sobers up tomorrow. You might get a couple of responses then.

Post #11

I just got back from Rochester, and since I haven't seen any mini-corps reviews, I'll give you my impressions from memory. Don't consider this to be a valid review, just some of my thoughts and opinions.

It was a large and enthusiastic crowd, and I am pleasantly surprised that they didn't charge anything for admission. DCA sold pins for $2.00 and asked for support from the audience, but I don't know if anyone would complain if buying a $2.00 pin would have been mandatory for admission. The show was certainly worth more than that.

The Springfield Marksmen made quite an impression on me. Two years ago, I thought one of the oldest alumni corps was dead. Never heard much about them and I am usually up on Alumni Corps news, especially in Massachusetts. Saw them earlier this year in a parade in Braintree, and they looked like they were hurting. At this show, they showed talent and poise, presenting a program of "serious" music- about a battle between French and English forces. I prefer mini-corps not to takes themselves too seriously and do more fun stuff. Their signature song of "I Believe" brought back many fond memories.

Sine Wave of Chicago was my biggest surprise and my most entertaining corps of the evening. Of course when I find a corps to be the most entertaining, that's a kiss of death placement wise. They played the music from Jersey Boys and the audience loved it. A most sincere and well deserved standing ovation. "Walk Like a Man", "Sherry..." had us all in the palm of their hands. I wish more corps would do stuff like that. I couldn't believe they finished seventh or eigth.

Freelancers- My second favorite corps in terms of entertainment value. Of course, again, that's a personal choice, like ice cream flavors. Big jazzy sound- reminded me of a Maynard Ferguson concert. Boy, do I wish I could play like their lead trumpet/director.

Vigilantes- Their schtick had a vamp of a drum major seducing the various members of this talented ensemble. My first response was to invite her back to party with my corps, but reality hit, and I remembered that this was just part of the act. CYO was never like this. The 2 snare drummers never stopped moving throughout the entire presentation, ala "Blast". A high energy and entertaining performance with very talented corps members. It looked like they had a great time with this show.

Skyliners- last year they were one of my pleasant surprises. I have always loved the Skyliner sound and their classic tunes. I've always been a Skyliner fan, even when I competed against them in in the 1960's. I must be frank and say that I was disappointed this year. They didn't sound like they were as prepared as they could have been, and slipped a notch from last year.

MinneBrass- Another light hearted entertaining approach. They did a T.V. thing, with a set with rabbit ears and familiar T.V. tunes of the past popping up. Clever and entertaining.

Golden Eagles- Frank Ponzo's screaming solos keeps the Latin oriented corps from Long Island constantly among the mini elites. Certainly consistent in terms of excellence.

Ghost Riders- Very clean and balanced in their "Casper" style show from "parts unknown". Showed that a corps can finish among the top without a lot of "screaming", though I do admit that I like the screaming. It's nice to have some variation. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Donny Allen looked like he really enjoyed directing this young group.

Mass Brass- Must tell you that I was rooting for this group. I have recently performed with almost every member of this corps with "Legends of Drum Corps" from Massachusetts, and I know they were disappointed in finishing so far out of first. They didn't dispute that Star United should have won, but they thought it should have been closer. I haven't looked at the sheets and don't really want to,but one member told me that 2 judges had them in third, and one had them in eigth. He couldn't understand the disparity, though it had no effect on the overall placement. Good solid performance in another Latin oriented show. Hot, searing solos, pulsing rhythms- well arranged quality show.

Star United- No one disputes Star becoming the only corps to win the mini title 5 straight years. The Erie Thunderbirds have won the title 6 times, but only 4 consecutively. Star can tie them overall with a sixth win next year. Technically excellent; well balanced, high level of difficulty, a superb sound- no weaknesses. Why did I like some of the other corps better? Just personal preference and my lack of musical sophistication. Shame on me, not on them. Should they change to something I like better? No! Unless they want to lose. Plus, one of the things that makes DCA special is different styles.

Overall- a great show, and one of DCA's great success stories.

[FPonzo]

Post #11

I just got back from Rochester, and since I haven't seen any mini-corps reviews, I'll give you my impressions from memory. Don't consider this to be a valid review, just some of my thoughts and opinions.

It was a large and enthusiastic crowd, and I am pleasantly surprised that they didn't charge anything for admission. DCA sold pins for $2.00 and asked for support from the audience, but I don't know if anyone would complain if buying a $2.00 pin would have been mandatory for admission. The show was certainly worth more than that.

The Springfield Marksmen made quite an impression on me. Two years ago, I thought one of the oldest alumni corps was dead. Never heard much about them and I am usually up on Alumni Corps news, especially in Massachusetts. Saw them earlier this year in a parade in Braintree, and they looked like they were hurting. At this show, they showed talent and poise, presenting a program of "serious" music- about a battle between French and English forces. I prefer mini-corps not to takes themselves too seriously and do more fun stuff. Their signature song of "I Believe" brought back many fond memories.

Sine Wave of Chicago was my biggest surprise and my most entertaining corps of the evening. Of course when I find a corps to be the most entertaining, that's a kiss of death placement wise. They played the music from Jersey Boys and the audience loved it. A most sincere and well deserved standing ovation. "Walk Like a Man", "Sherry..." had us all in the palm of their hands. I wish more corps would do stuff like that. I couldn't believe they finished seventh or eigth.

Freelancers- My second favorite corps in terms of entertainment value. Of course, again, that's a personal choice, like ice cream flavors. Big jazzy sound- reminded me of a Maynard Ferguson concert. Boy, do I wish I could play like their lead trumpet/director.

Vigilantes- Their schtick had a vamp of a drum major seducing the various members of this talented ensemble. My first response was to invite her back to party with my corps, but reality hit, and I remembered that this was just part of the act. CYO was never like this. The 2 snare drummers never stopped moving throughout the entire presentation, ala "Blast". A high energy and entertaining performance with very talented corps members. It looked like they had a great time with this show.

Skyliners- last year they were one of my pleasant surprises. I have always loved the Skyliner sound and their classic tunes. I've always been a Skyliner fan, even when I competed against them in in the 1960's. I must be frank and say that I was disappointed this year. They didn't sound like they were as prepared as they could have been, and slipped a notch from last year.

MinneBrass- Another light hearted entertaining approach. They did a T.V. thing, with a set with rabbit ears and familiar T.V. tunes of the past popping up. Clever and entertaining.

Golden Eagles- Frank Ponzo's screaming solos keeps the Latin oriented corps from Long Island constantly among the mini elites. Certainly consistent in terms of excellence.

Ghost Riders- Very clean and balanced in their "Casper" style show from "parts unknown". Showed that a corps can finish among the top without a lot of "screaming", though I do admit that I like the screaming. It's nice to have some variation. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing. Donny Allen looked like he really enjoyed directing this young group.

Mass Brass- Must tell you that I was rooting for this group. I have recently performed with almost every member of this corps with "Legends of Drum Corps" from Massachusetts, and I know they were disappointed in finishing so far out of first. They didn't dispute that Star United should have won, but they thought it should have been closer. I haven't looked at the sheets and don't really want to,but one member told me that 2 judges had them in third, and one had them in eigth. He couldn't understand the disparity, though it had no effect on the overall placement. Good solid performance in another Latin oriented show. Hot, searing solos, pulsing rhythms- well arranged quality show.

Star United- No one disputes Star becoming the only corps to win the mini title 5 straight years. The Erie Thunderbirds have won the title 6 times, but only 4 consecutively. Star can tie them overall with a sixth win next year. Technically excellent; well balanced, high level of difficulty, a superb sound- no weaknesses. Why did I like some of the other corps better? Just personal preference and my lack of musical sophistication. Shame on me, not on them. Should they change to something I like better? No! Unless they want to lose. Plus, one of the things that makes DCA special is different styles.

Overall- a great show, and one of DCA's great success stories.

Thanks for the GREAT review of all the mini corps.

And thank for your kind words about myself and the Golden Eagles.....we try to do what we can to get the crowd behind us each year, and it seemed to work again this year. Real nice to know that we are consistantly one of the crowd favorites!!!

Until next year.....

[vferrera]

Sine Wave of Chicago was my biggest surprise and my most entertaining corps of the evening. Of course when I find a corps to be the most entertaining, that's a kiss of death placement wise. They played the music from Jersey Boys and the audience loved it. A most sincere and well deserved standing ovation. "Walk Like a Man", "Sherry..." had us all in the palm of their hands. I wish more corps would do stuff like that. I couldn't believe they finished seventh or eigth.

Thanks for the kind words. I was one of the "siners." We had a great time and appreciated the crowd response.

I think the mini-corps format is a good one, especially because it is indoors. Even in a large exhibition hall, the acoustics were pretty good. I heard the crowd was 3000. Not bad.

I didn't get to see too many other minis except for the following:

MinneBrass - They did a "saturday morning cartoon theme." I recognized The Jetsons, Dick Tracy, Simpsons and Family Guy music. I thought they were pretty good although the theatrics were sometimes a bit cringe-worthy.

Mass Brass - Latin themed show. Very 90s Madison-esque. Awesome sops (I think they were playing on G bugles). Overall, my favorite.

Ghostriders - Western themed show complete with Trooper style uniforms. Very nice original opening statement by Donny Allen into The Red Pony. Closed with Magnificent 7/marlboro man theme. I wish they had done more with the Copland piece. Good visuals. Their conductor was not very serious and detracted from the overall package.

Star United - Best brass sound overall, better than most if not all DCI lines. Nearly perfect balance, intonation and tone quality. Also the best percussion. Most minis used a trap set, but SU had a real pit with keyboards and so forth. Typical "star" music - Pines of Rome, Granger, etc. I thought the trumpets kinda lost it in Pines. The Granger had an awesome trumpet solo backed by lush, dark mid and low voices. Best visuals by far - oohs and aahs for the counter-rotating boxes and so forth.

Score-wise, Star ran away with it (99.5). Everyone else got about what they deserved, except there were a few boos when Sinewave's score was announced and most people around me felt that Freelancers got royally screwed.

[DBYoung]

Thanks for the kind words. I was one of the "siners." We had a great time and appreciated the crowd response.

I'll echo Vince's comments. We had a great time performing that show and appreciated the crowd response. This was my first time attending DCA and all I can say is wow. What a great group of people. Nice to be around such a big group of drum corps crazies.

[Gary Matczak]

The Erie Thunderbirds have won the title 6 times, but only 4 consecutively.

five consecutive years?, no...................but,...........five consecutive appearances? YES!

[Cathie Wiener]

I'll echo Vince's comments. We had a great time performing that show and appreciated the crowd response. This was my first time attending DCA and all I can say is wow. What a great group of people. Nice to be around such a big group of drum corps crazies.

It's fun, right? Kind of gets in your system.

Anyway, I got to hear you guys from the side of stage while Freelancers were "on deck" and you guys were great. So much fun. I loved you guys and the crowd loved you. You guys have to come back!

P.S. If anyone can get Amoskeag Sound and Thunderbirds back here as well, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Latrobe's Finest]

I love the mini corps show! Unfortunately, my corps performed early in the Prelims show the next morning so I couldn't hang around for the entire competition. I watched the first few groups and then played warm-up lizard for a few minutes before going to bed.

Marksmen-Interesting show idea, nice performance. I didn't have the best seat (near the food) so I didn't get the best listen. I was able to move much closer to the stage for the next few corps.

Sine Wave- Very enjoyable show! Well done.

Freelancers- My favorite by far. Crowd pleaser-tons of fun! I couldn't believe the score from Judge 3 when I saw the recap the next day.

I think that's actually all I saw because I was tired from the long day (6 hour drive, I&E, etc.) so I walked across the skyway back to the hotel and noticed Star warming up outside. I went to listen to them for a few minutes.