dckid80 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 (edited) Mini Corps is HUGE!!!!!!!! There might be 200 musicians in the whole world who make up this elite group of entertainers that graced Harrisburg on April 14th with their presence. We pass eachother in halls filled with respectful silence and exchange the kind of knowing glances that only those at the pinnacle of their respective endeavors are entitled to muster. Close to 200 fans paid upwards of $100 each and filled the ballroom at the Crowne Plaza to overflowing. Rumor had it that SRO tickets were being scalped for close to 3x that amount just yards from the state capital building. MCA patches, one of the hottest souvies ever sold in the the history of drum corps, were being resold on Ebay early this morning for $25-30 each!!!!!!! Appearing 3rd with Capital Brass! prevented me from seeing Steel City and Crossmen Xtreme, so I will need to rely on others to fill in those gaps. We did feel that this was our strongest performance to date in this young season. Improvement came in all areas over a strong showing in Bridgeport. The crowd seemed to enjoy our "big band" take on the festivities but I'll let others elaborate as appropriate. Next up was Amoskeag Sound, the Mini Corps affiliate of the Manchester Muchachos. This hearty group of New Englanders, though half the size of their competing brethren put out a big crowd pleasing sound. Some screaming trumpet work and a rocking version of Hava Nagila had the audience jumping. The addition of new percussion work since Bridgeport really helped to round out this show. They are our closest neighbors geographically and a fun bunch to talk to. Thanks for the help with our drum set. Great job guys, the Granite State should be proud!!!!!!!! The Lambertville Volunteers took the stage next, a full sized group wearing white polo shirts that made them look impressively larger. They played a controlled, yet vibrant book with some amazing trumpet work that just blew the crowd away!!!!!!!! We all knew that Caravan was coming at the end and the Volunteers delivered. Screech still has those amazing chops that make the upper register seem like a walk in the park for him while everyone else by comparison runs in the sand. Lots of fun guys and thanks for the education!!!! The Golden Eagles took the stage next and quite simply blew everyone away. They had everything you could ask for power, precision, showmanship and a flair that captured the full attention of the audience. There was a moment in the show where the mellophones played as pure a chord as you could possibly imagine and as the overtones resonanted throughout the room your fellow musicians got goosebumps for the 1st and only time during the show!!!!!!!! Great job Holly and Ralph, your CB! brothers are proud!!!!!!!! Ghost Riders set up while everyone was still buzzing about GE's performance but they were clearly up to the task at hand. I don't know where these guys are actually from but I have been around the activity long enough to recognize a Larry Kerchner chart when I hear one. If you are going to tackle the version of Pagliacci that the Bridgemen made famous('77-'78), you had better have a soloist up the to the task. GR clearly does!!!!!! Being new to this arena, I don't know the young man who doubles a conductor and lead screamer but he was as strong and pure in the upper register as anyone you could name in the history of the activity!!!!!! Monster chops, great job, loved it!!!!!!!!!!!! Mass Brass was up next and they clearly meant business. This is my 2nd time seeing them and their show is huge. I mean who else has the guts to take on Legend and Let it Be Me in the same show? Certainly BD and Spirit never did!!!!!!! Riddle me this Batman... how do they get 2 contras to sound like 12? I mean those guys pump out some serious volume!!!!!!! I love this kind of in your face drum corps music. To my new lady friends in the honor guard and that fun mellophone duo, thanks for your kind words and support, you honor us all with your presence!!! Great job guys!!!!!!!!! As for me, I took off before the scores were announced to get home last night ahead of this monster storm that is now slamming the Northeast. Post them if you must but they don't matter a hill of beans to this particpant and reviewer. Travel safe my friends and let's do this again real soon!!!!!!!!!!!! Edited April 15, 2007 by dckid80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FPonzo Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 (edited) Here are the scores in order of placement from the 1st MCA Invitational: 1 - 86.25 - West Sayville Golden Eagles 2 - 82.75 - Mass Brass (1 point penalty) 3 - 81.25 - Ghost Riders 4 - 79.75 - Amoskeag Sound 5 - 76.50 - Crossmen Xtreme 6 - 74.50 - Lambertville Volunteers Thank you to Five Star Brass for putting on such an amazing show, and especially Larry Hershman. This show has been in the works for exactly 1 year, and it finally came to reality over the weekend. All the staff should be commended for a show that was well run. On a personal note, I would like to thank all the fans out there that attended this show, and showed their support of the Golden Eagles. We really appreciate all of your kind words. Edited April 15, 2007 by FPonzo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twillms73 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Hey Frank, Tell the gang congrats. I wish I could of been there. Let me know the upcoming practice schedule. Hopefully I can come by the next time I'm up there. Memo to the drum corps world. Drum corps is alive and well on Long Island!! :) Here are the scores in order of placement from the 1st MCA Invitational:1 - 86.25 - West Sayville Golden Eagles 2 - 82.75 - Mass Brass (1 point penalty) 3 - 81.25 - Ghost Riders 4 - 79.75 - Amoskeag Sound 5 - 76.50 - Crossmen Xtreme 6 - 74.50 - Lambertville Volunteers Thank you to Five Star Brass for putting on such an amazing show, and especially Larry Hershman. This show has been in the works for exactly 1 year, and it finally came to reality over the weekend. All the staff should be commended for a show that was well run. On a personal note, I would like to thank all the fans out there that attended this show, and showed their support of the Golden Eagles. We really appreciate all of your kind words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brassman53 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Thanks for the review. It's much appreciated. We in the Volunteers had fun playing in front of such a receptive audience. Heard the Capital Brass warming up, and you guys really have a nice, polished, sound- excellent soloists and a tuba/contra player that was awesome. RCC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusioncorebusmgr Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 (edited) Thank you for you nice comments Brassman. We had fun doing the show. I saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones! The MCA show itself was very well organized. Nice job to those involved with the planning and execution. The only issue I had as a performer was that we were originally told we would receive a score for our performance. I saw a master sheet being passed around after the show when walking to dinner, and saw Capital Brass got a 1 point penalty :( , but no other score was shown . I guess at a minimum I would like to know what the 1 point penalty was for just in case we do this again. I did see the judges sheets and they were very helpful and made a lot of great suggestions for us. I am just wondering what the 1 point penalty was about -- was it the tuba we used, just don't know for sure? No one I talked to really knew. Some thought maybe "talking" during the performance was an issue...the tuba...just don't know. The evening Alumni show was very very good too. I loved watching the drum major from the Yankee Rebels --- boy he is good. I am sorry I don't know his name. All the performers were great! Great weekend. Hope everyone got home okay -- I-87 was bad North of Kingston --- lots of cars off the road. I-787 was even worse. Guess everyone put their plows away early b**bs Edited April 15, 2007 by fusioncorebusmgr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennsylvaniaDCHOF Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 The evening Alumni show was very very good too. I loved watching the drum major from the Yankee Rebels --- boy he is good. I am sorry I don't know his name. All the performers were great! That would be Phil Gentile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusioncorebusmgr Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 (edited) Of Course! Thank you. Thank you Phil...I enjoyed it! b**bs Edited April 15, 2007 by fusioncorebusmgr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpsBuff Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 I don't know the young man who doubles a conductor and lead screamer but he was as strong and pure in the upper register as anyone you could name in the history of the activity!!!!!! Monster chops, great job, loved it!!!!!!!!!!!! That would be Joey Pero of Empire Statesmen (and others) fame Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geneva Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 I don't know the young man who doubles a conductor and lead screamer but he was as strong and pure in the upper register as anyone you could name in the history of the activity!!!!!! Monster chops, great job, loved it!!!!!!!!!!!! dckid80 That would be Joey Pero of Empire Statesmen (and others) fame Right on with your assessment of Joey Pero! In the Ghost Riders, we all appreciate Joey's passion for good music and his awesome abilities. He is also one of the nicest persons you could hope to meet. By the way, all the arrangements are his creation. It was a pleasure for me play with such a dedicated group of individuals and have the experience of meeting so many drum corps enthusiasts at this event who have such a rich collective backgound in the activity. What a great audience to play for!! Long live mini-corps!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 The only issue I had as a performer was that we were originally told we would receive a score for our performance. I saw a master sheet being passed around after the show when walking to dinner, and saw Capital Brass got a 1 point penalty :( , but no other score was shown . I guess at a minimum I would like to know what the 1 point penalty was for just in case we do this again. I did see the judges sheets and they were very helpful and made a lot of great suggestions for us. I am just wondering what the 1 point penalty was about -- was it the tuba we used, just don't know for sure? No one I talked to really knew. Some thought maybe "talking" during the performance was an issue...the tuba...just don't know. overtime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.