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Mini Corps 2016


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I need to learn to read, obviously . . . . "Pootsmen?"

No worries! And I've been wondering about the Pootsmen too.

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I attended a bit less than half of Sound Sport in Indy, catching a few teams/corps near the middle and then the last few as well. It was indoors due to rain. No group that I saw perform sounded as good as the best competitors in DCA mini corps competition, although a few might have scored in the 80s. Some of them did have some interesting visual ideas.

What made the event worthwhile for me was hearing the Bridgemen give their final, final performance (following their show the previous night at Semis, which I had not seen at the time): the full corps playing standstill in that small space was awesome, if ear-splitting. They were joined for "In the Stone" by Jersey Surf, and they played it twice!

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Ok I will go there. I am speaking for myself and not Doug, who is the director.

To begin, it isn't about placement, but maybe about respect. We are tired of doing what we had to do to compete at the level we were at. It was very difficult and hopefully some things will be cleared up. It became not as much fun to compete at that level because of many of the reasons below.

Some facts to answer some of the early questions in this thread.

1.) Ghost Riders were born from the St. Joe's Alumni members in the mid 90's to compete as a mini corps by Doug Mellenthine and Rod and Larry Keppel. They played Georgia in 2000 with Kenny Ace Petersen playing the solo.

2.) They have competed in 20 consecutive years, entertaining thousands of fans

3.) As the St. Joe's members began to fade out, Ghost Riders re-invented themselves with an alliance with the Rochester Crusaders

4.) When the Crusaders folded, some of these members went to the White Sabers and became staff. We changed from G bugles to Bb/F brass

5.) The Ghost Riders have shared members with the White Sabers for over 5 years. The performers in Ghost Riders were also performers and staff for White Sabers. We also had many members that were in Bridgemen Alumni. Trying to get all together at one time began being tedious and frustrating for Doug and me.

6.) Those guys would travel back from Scranton, Reading, and other shows after a full weekend with White Sabers to practice with Ghost Riders, who were taking things as serious as Sabers were as far as performance goes. They would drive to Batavia for a 4 O Clock rehearsal Sunday afternoon after working their tails off all weekend. (Me included many times)

7.) Friday night of DCA was putting all those guys on stage after rehearsing all day with WS, hotel check in, etc. to perform with GR.

8.) DCA week is usually band camps for many of our members so we couldn't even rehearse until after 9 PM

9.) I took a job as a band director that is a considerable distance from Ghost Rider Central (in Parts Unknown) so it was difficult to travel back to rehearsals.

10.) We are tired of many things but basically we are just tired.

The White Sabers are even more formidable this year as they have been in the past few years. Most of us are enjoying this experience as we are not rushing around to practice, and I am sure this weekend will be more enjoyable and less stressful for all. The shared members have said they are happy to not have to get ready to perform Friday night as most of us are.

The Ghost Riders are still as they have been (membership wise) and do many performances and parades in Western New York. GR still runs a BHOF event in the spring as well. We needed a year off DCA competition. Let's face it, competition is competition. We competed at the highest level of mini corps. Who knows if there is a return to DCA, Sound Sport or anything else. We just wont be there this year.

DA ( speaking for me, not Doug)

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Ok I will go there. I am speaking for myself and not Doug, who is the director.

To begin, it isn't about placement, but maybe about respect. We are tired of doing what we had to do to compete at the level we were at. It was very difficult and hopefully some things will be cleared up. It became not as much fun to compete at that level because of many of the reasons below.

Some facts to answer some of the early questions in this thread.

1.) Ghost Riders were born from the St. Joe's Alumni members in the mid 90's to compete as a mini corps by Doug Mellenthine and Rod and Larry Keppel. They played Georgia in 2000 with Kenny Ace Petersen playing the solo.

2.) They have competed in 20 consecutive years, entertaining thousands of fans

3.) As the St. Joe's members began to fade out, Ghost Riders re-invented themselves with an alliance with the Rochester Crusaders

4.) When the Crusaders folded, some of these members went to the White Sabers and became staff. We changed from G bugles to Bb/F brass

5.) The Ghost Riders have shared members with the White Sabers for over 5 years. The performers in Ghost Riders were also performers and staff for White Sabers. We also had many members that were in Bridgemen Alumni. Trying to get all together at one time began being tedious and frustrating for Doug and me.

6.) Those guys would travel back from Scranton, Reading, and other shows after a full weekend with White Sabers to practice with Ghost Riders, who were taking things as serious as Sabers were as far as performance goes. They would drive to Batavia for a 4 O Clock rehearsal Sunday afternoon after working their tails off all weekend. (Me included many times)

7.) Friday night of DCA was putting all those guys on stage after rehearsing all day with WS, hotel check in, etc. to perform with GR.

8.) DCA week is usually band camps for many of our members so we couldn't even rehearse until after 9 PM

9.) I took a job as a band director that is a considerable distance from Ghost Rider Central (in Parts Unknown) so it was difficult to travel back to rehearsals.

10.) We are tired of many things but basically we are just tired.

The White Sabers are even more formidable this year as they have been in the past few years. Most of us are enjoying this experience as we are not rushing around to practice, and I am sure this weekend will be more enjoyable and less stressful for all. The shared members have said they are happy to not have to get ready to perform Friday night as most of us are.

The Ghost Riders are still as they have been (membership wise) and do many performances and parades in Western New York. GR still runs a BHOF event in the spring as well. We needed a year off DCA competition. Let's face it, competition is competition. We competed at the highest level of mini corps. Who knows if there is a return to DCA, Sound Sport or anything else. We just wont be there this year.

DA ( speaking for me, not Doug)

Thanks for sharing this view inside the Ghost Riders. I've enjoyed your performances very much the past three years (the last two of which I saw live; the first on DCA's now-defunct video). As I said last year about the mini corps competition, I thought your take on the "William Tell Overture" was tremendous!

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I attended a bit less than half of Sound Sport in Indy, catching a few teams/corps near the middle and then the last few as well. It was indoors due to rain. No group that I saw perform sounded as good as the best competitors in DCA mini corps competition, although a few might have scored in the 80s. Some of them did have some interesting visual ideas.

What made the event worthwhile for me was hearing the Bridgemen give their final, final performance (following their show the previous night at Semis, which I had not seen at the time): the full corps playing standstill in that small space was awesome, if ear-splitting. They were joined for "In the Stone" by Jersey Surf, and they played it twice!

That was great!
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I have looked through DCA's website and through some of the threads on here, but haven't seen it...does anyone know what time the mini corps performances begin? We have a long trek to get into town and I hate to rush through check in, drop stuff in room and race off to mini corps without at least a few minutes to try and recharge.

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I'd also like to know what the Mini Corps schedule is. I'm seeing all the I&E schedules on DCA's site but no schedule for Mini Corps. I'm guessing it starts at 8:30 or later just because all the I&E schedules show that scores/awards are available at 8:30.

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Random mini corps question, specifically as regards the Ghost Riders:

Why does CorpsReps list one of that mini corps' standard repertoire items in the early 2000s as:

"Georgia on My Mind (from Taxi!)"

Is that "Taxi" the TV show with Judd Hirsch? "Taxi" the Harry Chapin song? Some other taxi? And whichever it is, what does it have to do with the Hoagy Carmichael song?

Interesting question. I'm guessing they just mean it's the Taxi arrangement of Georgia on My Mind, based on this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7BnZBqAWx8E

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