2018 Drum Corps Associates World Championships Finals Competition - Williamsport, Pennsylvania

[JimF-LowBari]

22 minutes ago, MikeD said:

Did a little Google search. Looks like the ELA Sport company did a pretty large renovation of the stadium, but upgrading the home stands was not part of the project. There were earlier reno plans created that were turned down due to excessive costs. The visitor stands look like they have railings in a couple of photos I saw, and they WERE part of the approved project.

You would think that with a team called the "Millionaires" they could have afforded the home stand reno too!       

BigW knows the history better but that millionaires tag goes back when the area was doing a lot better. Back to lumbering days maybe?

Personally I'm surprised no railing is legal in a newer stadium. Don't think this stadium is that old or was just redone from scratch.

Edited September 3, 2018 by JimF-LowBari

[BigW]

17 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

BigW knows the history better but that millionaires tag goes back when the area was doing a lot better. Back to lumbering days maybe?

Personally I'm surprised no railing is legal in a newer stadium. Don't think this stadium is that old or was just redone from scratch.

Yes, the "Millionaires"  goes back to the lumber industry times in the late 19th century, and they claim the town had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world. They have a rather pretty historic district:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaire's_Row_Historic_District

[BigW]

22 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Personally I'm surprised no railing is legal in a newer stadium. Don't think this stadium is that old or was just redone from scratch.

The stadium is definitely pre-1980, The stadium hosted a DCA contest circa 1981-1982 that Westshore had the distinct pleasure of winning and frankly, the post contest concert was a lot of fun.

 

When it was built, the whole HS facility was so bleeping nice and out of this world the PA General Assembly passed the "Taj Mahal Law" in reaction to the whole thing because of the cost. People would refer to it as the "Taj Mahal" for years afterwards.

 

https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania_Act_34_(1973)

 

I can tell you without reservation that when we used the facility for showers and rehearsal that day, it was one of the top 2 places we'd ever rehearsed at in the six years I was with Westshore, the other being the Rochester Institute of Technology. One of the few places that had hot water, that in itself made it notable.

 

 

[Jeff Ream]

I will again state what happened between the lines both days was great stuff

[BigW]

2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

Caught that and laughed 

The one guy on keyboard was really down with his inner Thomas Dolby throughout the show as well, especially for finals.

[BigW]

2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

Just read there were snakes in the warmup area. Darn trolls I mean staff members posting stuff

Jeff, they're not Trolls, according to RB, they're "Snitches".

[JimF-LowBari]

19 minutes ago, BigW said:

The stadium is definitely pre-1980, The stadium hosted a DCA contest circa 1981-1982 that Westshore had the distinct pleasure of winning and frankly, the post contest concert was a lot of fun.

 

When it was built, the whole HS facility was so bleeping nice and out of this world the PA General Assembly passed the "Taj Mahal Law" in reaction to the whole thing because of the cost. People would refer to it as the "Taj Mahal" for years afterwards.

 

https://ballotpedia.org/Pennsylvania_Act_34_(1973)

 

I can tell you without reservation that when we used the facility for showers and rehearsal that day, it was one of the top 2 places we'd ever rehearsed at in the six years I was with Westshore, the other being the Rochester Institute of Technology. One of the few places that had hot water, that in itself made it notable.

 

 

Ok I was thinking it was the stadium that was Taj Mahal and not the school. Got confused with Central Dauphins new high school which the locals called Taj Mahal after they got the new tax bills.

Pre 1980 probably means I was there for a football game 1973. That year got out of school early so band could go to Williamsport and State College for away games. Just remember places were big and SC band was huge.

[BigW]

11 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

1. While I had the pleasure of being briefly introduced to Kevin at a diner in Rochester two years ago, this morning at the Alumni Spectacular was the first time I ever found him in the stands, despite our having been in attendance simultaneously at probably a dozen or more shows by now. Nice to see the master at work in his studio!

2. About two-thirds of the way through tonight's show, I heard a few remarks from the person sitting almost right behind me that prompted me to turn and ask, "By any chance, is your name Jeff Ream?" Chances were good!

3. Before the retreat, I happened to run into Big W again. He told me that he thought Govenaires had been overtaken by Carolina Gold. I told him that I thought his assessment from Prelims--that Bushwackers might very well pass Caballeros--had come true. What I didn't tell him is that I also thought Caballeros were stronger than White Sabers, and that was puzzling me mightily. The obvious solution, that Bushwackers would jump not one spot but two, didn't occur to me! (And notice how close they got to Fusion!)

4. I also told Big W that my favorite performance of the evening came from Cadets², so their move up to second was gratifying.

A Pleasure to meet you! And I ran into Jonesy from Westshore at Finals which was GREAT.

 

Carolina Gold stepped it up way, way high from prelims, especially in Brass, all respect. The A corps that particularly impressed me (that wasn't Cadence ) was Sky on both days. I just had an impression of overall balance between all the elements, and everyone working to create a rather tight and masterful performance.

 

The show for me this year that really reached to me as a fan and spoke to me was CV's. For the last 3 seasons running, my personal favorite didn't win. That being said, the Bucs had all the bases covered, DID have great moments, it just didn't speak to me on that inner/personal level. I guess the way to win it now is to do something that's not my fave...

[BigW]

4 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Ok I was thinking it was the stadium that was Taj Mahal and not the school. Got confused with Central Dauphins new high school which the locals called Taj Mahal after they got the new tax bills.

Pre 1980 probably means I was there for a football game 1973. That year got out of school early so band could go to Williamsport and State College for away games. Just remember places were big and SC band was huge.

Oh, it was the whole, massive college-style camps, Jim. I think our collective jaws hit the floor when we went through the area then inside for showers. I think a couple of the guys did say something to the effect that the term "Taj Mahal" was accurate as we walked around stupefied.

[BigW]

11 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Yeah that was weird. And not having been online much the past couple days, I wasn't even sure what the complaints were about; surely I wasn't the only one confused. I imagine Buell telling the audience that there had been complaints encouraged some of them to go find them!

Sometimes, a little bit of diplomacy and taking the high road will work wonders. Man, don't throw filet wrapped in bacon to the starving online tigers. Ever.