The official ChiefSalsa Mummers 2012 thread

[ChiefSalsa]

I will post more as the time passes....maybe.

To be honest, I don't miss this website at all. I also got rid of FB and am happier without it.


The 2012 Order of March for the string bands, with theme names(descriptions will be in the DN on the 29th) and last year's finish in parenthesis:

1. Duffy (13) "All Decked Out"
2. Fralinger (4) "Stars Over Scotland"
3. Broomall (17) "Tin Can Alley"
4. Aqua (11) "Hay Fever"
5. South Philadelphia (3) "A Tune Full of Sugar"
6. Polish American (8) "We Salute"
7. Uptown (9) "Jest For the Pun of It"
8. Ferko (2) "The Carnival Comes to Town"
9. Quaker City (1) "A Toys Night Out"
10. Avalon (5) "Avalon in Wonderland" NOTE: This is the band me and Adam Lang march in.
11. Greater Kensington (10) "Haunted Harmonies"
12. Greater Overbrook (14) "Fire Fightin' Follies"
13. Trilby (16) "Hoodoo Voodoo...We do!"
14. Pennsport (15) "Make a Wish"
15. Durning (12) "We're Wheelie Motorvated"
16. Hegeman (7) "Ya'll Don't Know DIXIE"
17. Woodland (6) "It's a Jungle Out There"


Again, I will post more later. Tons of info to discuss.

[ChiefSalsa]

In case anyone cares, my band, Avalon, is doing an Alice In Wonderland theme. Although Alice has been touched on in the string bands a few times, this is the first full fledged Alice theme in 23 years.

[CHIOSSO]

yo, good to see you online chief.

[MarketStEl]

Hey, Chief, a friend of mine recalled running into me at the Two Street Serenade the last time I saw you, which IIRC was two weeks before Activant laid me off.

Won't see you this year, as I will be in DC on New Year's, so have an extra one for me.

[ChiefSalsa]

Sandy,

My dear friend, you led me into the perfect post.

The parade will be live streamed this year on the Internet. The whole damned thing.

Here is the link:

2012 Mummers Parade Streaming Video - WPHL


I will post the times when the string bands will be scheduled to be in front of the judges (aka, on TV) later this week.


Hopefully, all Mum fans outside of the area can log on and watch.

[Malloy]

I will post more as the time passes....maybe.

That's why you look at it every day

To be honest, I don't miss this website at all. I also got rid of FB and am happier without it.

The 2012 Order of March for the string bands, with theme names(descriptions will be in the DN on the 29th) and last year's finish in parenthesis:

1. Duffy (13) "All Decked Out"
2. Fralinger (4) "Stars Over Scotland"
3. Broomall (17) "Tin Can Alley"
4. Aqua (11) "Hay Fever"
5. South Philadelphia (3) "A Tune Full of Sugar"
6. Polish American (8) "We Salute"
7. Uptown (9) "Jest For the Pun of It"
8. Ferko (2) "The Carnival Comes to Town"
9. Quaker City (1) "A Toys Night Out"
10. Avalon (5) "Avalon in Wonderland" NOTE: This is the band me and Adam Lang march in.
11. Greater Kensington (10) "Haunted Harmonies"
12. Greater Overbrook (14) "Fire Fightin' Follies"
13. Trilby (16) "Hoodoo Voodoo...We do!"
14. Pennsport (15) "Make a Wish"
15. Durning (12) "We're Wheelie Motorvated"
16. Hegeman (7) "Ya'll Don't Know DIXIE"
17. Woodland (6) "It's a Jungle Out There"

Again, I will post more later. Tons of info to discuss.

[ChiefSalsa]

Malloy,

Ummm, yes. If someone posts a question or comment, I would need to read it to reply.

I will most likely drop out of here sometime after New Year's.

[ChiefSalsa]

I hope to post the drill sites and drill times (as well as TV times) for string bands some time today.

I can tell you Avalon is scheduled to "step off" Oregon Avenue at 11:20 AM. That means we will drill at Shunk at 11:25. You can add 15 minutes + and - to each band in the Order of March to figure out times for other bands.

We are scheduled to be on TV at 2:40 PM. This is an approximate time, as it is hard to keep an accurate schedule.

If anyone would like to witness a full string band drill, you are welcome to come to see Avalon early New Year's morning.

We will be driling at Holy Spirit church, located at 1845 Hartranft Street from 8:30 to 10 AM. We will be in full costume and make-up and will be using all our props.

SIDE NOTE: Traffic is usually terrible down there on parade day anyway. Add that the NFL has scheduled an Eagles game and I would recommend using other forms of transportation. If you must use a car, come down the "back way" via the Penrose Diner.


A couple of things to know for newbies:

The Broad Street subway is the best way to traverse the whole parade route---and in my opinion, the only sensible way to get to the Eagles game, if you are going. If you want the best Mum experience, I highly suggest you take the Broad Street train to Oregon.

All the string bands enter the parade at Marconi Plaza, off Oregon. To hear random music and to take photos of us, Marconi is the best place to go. We are not the Amish, we love to have our picture taken. Come up to any of us in a suit you like and ask for a photo, you will get a yes.

I will post the drill sites later, my guess is they are the same as last year: Shunk, Wolf, Washington, UArts and the Union League (the last one, without props).

If you want to see the full drills, your best bet at getting a good view is at Washington or the Union League. The first two sites and UArts are usually packed.



More info later...hopefully.

[mixiboi]

Sandy,

The parade will be live streamed this year on the Internet. The whole damned thing.

Here is the link:

2012 Mummers Parade Streaming Video - WPHL

About time that this thing gets the attention of the entire internet..Tho I am fearful what will come out of it afterwards when it gets to youtube....

[ChiefSalsa]

Mix,

Tons of old string band performances on YouTube. Great stuff!

Here is last year's winners, Quaker City:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlm8Kz3g9j0

As far as the bad stuff, well, that is mostly the Comics. We are working on getting them to clean up their act. People who hates Mummers really don't need an excuse to do so---though they should move to Utah if they want clean NYD living.

[mixiboi]

Well hopefully it goes without a hitch, the whole internet will be watching this year...

[ChiefSalsa]

Going to see my band leaders today. I hope to get more info on the parade route and other info.

The DN pull out section is a great source. I was told it was coming out on Thursday, but Friday seems more logical.

[raider.adam]

Broad Street Media LLC - Hee's Ready to Strut

Jack Hee is the Avalon String Band Captain.

[annie]

Besides going to Washington, do you all have any other tips for those who have never been to watch the Mummers before?

[raider.adam]

I will post the drill sites later, my guess is they are the same as last year: Shunk, Wolf, Washington, UArts and the Union League (the last one, without props).

If you want to see the full drills, your best bet at getting a good view is at Washington or the Union League. The first two sites and UArts are usually packed.

Except, as you mentioned, Union League doesn't do props.

Besides going to Washington, do you all have any other tips for those who have never been to watch the Mummers before?

Personally, I always played it by ear. Granted I was coming from North Philly, but I would take the subway to City Hall and walk down Broad taking everything in, usually running into people I knew and eventually finding a spot at one of the drill spots. If you don't want to head to South Philly (Methodist Hospital at Ritner St. is always a great spot... lots of people and fans), I always liked the drill spot at Pine St.

Here is a list of order for everyone:

http://c526532.r32.cf0.rackcdn.com/2...2012-19-11.pdf

[Matthew]

I thought it would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison between the Traditional String Bands that I grew up playing in, versus the 'modernist' String Bands that we see today. Take a look at the differences.

Traditional String Band Themes:

Hegeman 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdy4jK9qaa0

Trilby 1972
Philadelphia Mummers Parade 1972- Trilby String Band - YouTube

Polish American 1973 (apologies for the video quality in the first 30 seconds, but the rest is great)
1973 Polish American String Band - Party Time Dance Favorites - YouTube

Notice with the Traditional String Bands:

* The STRONG and UNIFIED strum and rhythm of the BANJOS! It's like a loco-motor.
* Every song is recognizable and the crowd sings along.
* No dancers! The band ITSELF is the feature. They didn't need non-player 'add-ons'.
* If they danced, they danced as a band and did it with much more fun. Even the crowd danced along.
* The bells drove the tempo and gave the band a very consistent sound.
* Costumes spoke for themselves. They didn't need spray-painted 'props'.

On the other hand, compare these Modernist String Band Themes*:

Avalon 2007
Avalon String Band: 2007 - YouTube

Quaker City 2007
Quaker City String Band: 2007 - YouTube

Fralinger 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGZJM...eature=related

(* These bands are NOT to be singled-out! They are simply TYPICAL of the overall modernist trend. Nearly all bands do the same thing these days.)

Notice the salient 'revisions' over the years:

* String Bands don't 'march-on' anymore. They 'rush' at you in some kind of a disorganized gaggle. (French impressionism???)
* The sound is equally weak and confounding.
* In doing away with the drill and steps, we now are inundated with twinkle-toed 'professional' dancers who dominate the view from the front, hence concealing the String Band. (What are they hiding??? I want to see the band, ... not some no-instrument-playing dancer.)
* Songs are so chopped-up in deference to endless boring 'rifts'. (What the heck are they playing???)
* Banjos are solos and not really part of the band anymore. String Bands are now Balkanized into 'sections'.
* The spray-painted plywood 'props' actually diminish (not enhance) the band's appearance. (It's a shame to see all that money spent on a suit, only to have it watered-down with some backyard club-house-looking behemoth that dwarfs the band.)
* In short, today there are so many self-induced distractions, that they have diluted and weakened the authentic string band sound and performance.

... Bring back the Traditional String Band sound!

[BarryG]

What does it mean that the Union League is "no props?" Embarrassed to admit I've never been to a mummers parade but rectifying that this year... Should I go else where to make sure I see the props?

[Matthew]

Barry

What this means is, at the Union League (Broad and Chestnut) the big plywood 'props' that each band has supporting their theme are hurried ahead of the band. So, the performance there is only the band, hence - 'no props'.

Why are they hurried forward at this point in the Parade? ... Answer: to stage at City Hall in preparation for the judged performance.

As I've noted above, I think 'props' are just that: a prop. They serve no useful value. They are distractive. And they actually de-value the overall Mummers Parade.

It's time to get back to Traditional Mummery!

[mixiboi]

Props look good on camera.

[Matthew]

Props look good on camera.

Not half as good or unique as the old headpieces. See the Youtube video comparisons and look at the 1970s era costumes.