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Diners, Drum Corps, and Drives 2015 Edition


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I had initially considered going to the Bristol show, then up to the Beanpot on the 4th. My youngest had just arrived in New England with the Cabs. 4 generations of my family have marched the Beanpot, so it was hard leaving to go back to PA. My oldest had committed to our local community band for their 4th concert however, and in respect of that we decided to come home. Bristol was still an option if we wanted to get home at 3 AM instead of 10PM. Having been to the show before, I knew that good seats were impossible, and the view from the lawn seat section was not so good.

We traveled about 2hrs down 95 to Stratford, and stopped for dinner at Ubertis fish market. We came across this place on our 2002 Vacation when we followed BD in Bridgeport and spent the 4th in Boston. Since then we always try to stop here if we are in the area. RI style clam chowder, a clam cake, more fried clams, and of course...lobster roll, including one to bring home to my wife. We agreed the lobster rolls were the best of the trip.

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After one more stop for desert in Newtown on the way to 84, we finished the 3 more hours with some sky appreciation and listened to the BD show a "few" (like 8?) more times. We celebrated when we got the Bristol scores. As a side note, my daughters college professor judged percussion both nights. It was cool to see that Cadets must have had a great performance in Bristol as they overtook high percussion. I think it's great for the activity when placements are close enough that on any given night a good performance can determine outcomes.

The fireworks along the way again took me back to some great memories of trips past.

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Based on the weather forecast today, it looks like things may have worked out for the best. As nice as it was travelling with my daughter, I look forward to substituting her for my wife, (the 2nd biggest BD fan in our family, maybe even tied for 1st?), for the next leg of the trip. We leave in the morning for NJ to watch BD, then to the Clifton show, and then on to Tanglewood Monday.

Happy 4th to all, here's a couple throwback pix of my girls from 2002 at the Bridgeport parade and in Boston. Sweet Blue Devil umbrellas!

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A quick July 4th update...

Kinda sorry we missed my girl and the Cabs in Lynn...They also did parades in Bristol and Wakefield, (a wicked lawng one) today. Still had enough gas in the tank for a great run tonight I hear.

I was proud to hear the Cabs came in 2nd tonight at the Beanpawt:

Cadets 82.3

Cabs 81.3

Crown 81.1

More Cadets 78.2

Xmen 73.4

Hurcs 71.175...whats with the .175? :thumbdown:

Troop 71.6

Surf 61.4

Congrats to Cadets for taking 1st AND 4th, WOW

:worthy: :worthy::worthy::worthy::worthy:

In case you missed it, there was a live webcast of the Boston Pops July 4th Fireworks Extravanganza tonight, and BAC performed in it. VERY COOL!!!! I decided to compare it to a DCI Live webcast:

WAYS IT WAS THE SAME

Great performers and energetic audience

screen freezes and some intermittent video quality glitches

WAYS IT WAS DIFFERENT

it was free

the amplification and sound mix was excellent

apparently the Pops secured all the required copyrights that enable them to DVR the live performance!

Here's the link: watch 1812 and Stars and Stripes...amazing moment for BAC, HAPPY 75th!

The whole show will be up soon,but 1812 is up right now.

http://bostonpopsjuly4th.org/

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no one reviews like Truman!

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My wife was like a kid on Christmas morning, giddy in anticipation. She had the cooler and car packed before I could even get my elctronics together. We found the Champs in the quaint little NJ town of New Providence. They were just starting their chill after brunch rehearsal schedule after driving most of the night from their Boston Free Day. It was hot and sunny. We decided on a little brunch of our own at the diner about 1/2 mile from the school. The wife declared the almond crusted croissant french toast with fresh blueberries and rasberries "the best french toast she has ever had" 5 stars for the Prestige Diner.

The battery was running basics on the field behind the stadium, the brass was just finishing visual and warming up at one end and guard at the orher. The brass finished their warm up reading and playing through 1812 in small groups...giving us goosebumps thinking about tomorrow night. We also noticed Scojo had arrived and he was with the battery.

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It was another day of big chunks. My wife sat mesmerized. She enjoyed the kpop a lot more live than on the interwebs. The big crowd of local bandos did also, along with the rest of the show. I started to feel a little concern for tonight when the staff mentioned more than once that the corps seemed a little lethargic compared to the levels of performance in Foxboro. I also must have jinxed the soloists with my comments the other day because I picked up a couple minor hiccups. I started to think about what a tough spot BD was in tonight, Cadets home show on a day in between a free day and Tanglewood. Any angst was quickly dissipated with their strong run through. Really solid, especially the brass. The 90 minutes really flew by, especially knowing it would be 3 weeks before we would be seeing anymore BD rehearsals!

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Next up...An American Tradition at a memorable venue!

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Truman, once again a fantastic review of your drum corps travels. :thumbup:

And you're killin' me with all the photos of that great New England seafood!!! LOL

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I am not sure how many times we have seen drum corps in Clifton. So many that a lot of the memories kind of jumble together. I recall watching Paul Rennick warming up the PR snares in front of the apartments along 46. There was a year when my girls and a bunch of my bandos did a music is cool clinic with the Cadets. I remember tearing up a little when my youngest played Cadillac in a semi circle with them. We saw our girls perform with Cabs here. One memory that sticks out was when We drove the 6 hours round trip one night at the last minute just to watch the BD battery warm up in the lot. I remember them giving Scojo a birthday gift that night.

We usually get dinner at the Chinese place across the street from the stadium...great fried rice and egg rolls! Since there are no clam shacks in Clifton, lol, we stuck with the tradition. Excellent as always! It was a warm a clear night, perfect for a show. We watched some warm ups and decided to check out BD battery . It was cool that they were in the same spot as 99. We went in at INT. Great seats lower left 45. What's with the sideline recording mics?

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What a difference from Gillette:

Quick scan of tix and in... No bag check, in and out as u want with ticket

$2 pretzels and dogs, $4 burger, $2 soda and water

Bleacher seats pretty well packed in, not much leg room.

Next up...some show thoughts and pix.

Here's a little BD lot clip:

http://youtu.be/u2hwg-0bgzI

Edited by truman
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Truman, once again a fantastic review of your drum corps travels. :thumbup:

And you're killin' me with all the photos of that great New England seafood!!! LOL

Thank you sir! If I lived in NE I would have to get my own lobster trap to survive! Edited by truman
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