Western Corps Connection 06/29/08

June, 29, 2008

Riverside Community College Wheelock Stadium

It was one of those typical So Cal days in late June -- really hot. So, of course, we had scheduled ourselves to watch drum corps. Outside. In the no shade. So we decided not to get to RCC too early, lest we melt.

Bro figured out this time how to get into the parking structure, so that the car could be in the shade, which, as Bro pointed out, would be oh-so-important for us when we would return to the car at 9:00 at night. Yeah, well, at least we could sit in the shade and mock the dude with the HUGE truck that decided to take up 3 parking spaces, sit around for a few minutes, and inexplicably leave the structure. Or maybe he decided to move it into a more obtrusive spot in the structure. I don't know. My leg was hurting, and I didn't know why.

We arrived at the drum corps souvie trailers, where I could not decide on what clothing to buy. I talked to a guy at the Academy trailer regarding the music for their show. He said that the show is about the two different styles of music that were developing at the same time in Vienna, which is why the dissonance happens. He's going to try to remember to bring a program from their home show on Friday for me, so that I can understand it a little more, since I couldn't findd the info on the website. They should also have their CD available by then, so I'm looking forward to it. I decided to get 2 PC shirts since I couldn't decide, and they were different styles. I'll probably get the SCV shirt next time. Or the BD shirt. Or both. Whatever. I'll have been paid by then. V then decided to wait in the very slow line for shaved ice while Bro purchased a mango slush in a different line, which took him all of 2 minutes.

Our seats were VERY close to the front of the stands, which did not make me happy, because we like to be able to see formations. But that's OK. At least we were surrounded by nice people, and I was able to get nice photos of people's faces.

The Star Spangled Banner was played by a trumpet soloist. I didn't get his name, sorry. After this, some lady walked by with a peacock feather on her head. V asked if I thought she had something to do with PC's Primality show. I certainly hope so. As usual, the announcer for this show talks way too much. Like at one point, we wanted to send each other Air Grams about how we can't stand this guy, and another one telling everyone to stop buying Air Grams so the dude would be quiet.

OK, the show.

Dream (no show info listed in program, nor on their website)

Good solos, especially the screaming sopranos. One of the sops also played instruments in the pit. CG did a good job, too. Lady in back of me: "These kids are good!" Some of them ain't kids age-wise anymore, woman. We were sitting so close that I could hear the annoying photographer say, "Smile, ladies!" to the CG.

Incognito "World of Incognitians" -- Original Music by Incognitus

They all wore masks, except for the drum major. She had worn her mask yesterday, according to V, but I don't know what happened. The program is funny because they don't even provide the names of the staff in there; they used aliases instead. So, of course, the announcer couldn't even specify the DM's name when asking her if her corps was ready. The woman behind me asked if they were going to play "Phantom." All I could think was "I don't know. It's a mystery!" from Shakespeare in Love. I like when all of the corps gathered in front to be loud. CG did a good job. They had big gold flags, which would probably look much prettier at night. I don't like being able to see their Incognito t-shirts under their jackets. Looks tacky to me. The corps needs to be more unison in their dance moves. This is the debut year for this corps, and they seem to have promise. They are part of The Music Life Foundation, which seems to be a good organization for budding musicians. Good luck, Incognito!

Yamato "Mythos" -- collection of compositions by J. Meehan (co-founder of Yamato)

It's weird that we're actually seeing them in June, because we usually have to wait until Finals week to see the Japanese and American counterparts play together. Apparently, they were reinstated this year by DCI, so maybe this is part of the deal. There wasn't any info in the program, so I didn't understand if the big tridents were supposed to make the CG guys into Triton or the devil. Their website shows that the show is about Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, so I'll pick Poseidon. I liked watching the marimba player on the left side because she was really into the music.

Blue Devils B -- "Flight" Repertoire: Taxi & Take Off, Through the Night, Turbulence/Turbine, Final Approach & Landing by J. Meehan & J. Mackey

Bro thought that if I had seen this yesterday, I would have said, "This is the B corps?!" They really did well. Oh! Wings! Because it's about flight! I like the blue/magenta/yellow flag. I also like the drum feature, especially the multi-tenors. Sounding good, BDB!

Velvet Knights -- "The Inferno" Repertoire: Music by J.S. Bach, Verdi, M. Jackson, F. Sinatra, G. Bizet, H. Berlioz, A. Dvorak, C. Matsen and R. Hinshaw

They started off by bringing the DM onto the field in New Orleans Jazz Funeral-style, carrying him on their shoulders. They all had cool Converse sneakers. I liked the "Strangers in the Night/Carmen" love song, and the CG leads did a good job with their wacky pas de deux. Loved seeing the whole corps dancing during "Thriller." The black roses in the teeth was a nice touch. The lead multi-tenor player looked scary, and I'm not sure if that was intentional, but he really looked like he could be one of those scary people from the old movies. Their sound was very good. They held up a "... to be continued ..." sign at the end. V said that yesterday, they also held up a sign saying "maybe." So ... maybe not? Or was that also a tribute to "Thriller"? Great show!

Mystikal -- "Progression" Repertoire: Harm's Way, Distance to the Sun, At the End of the Day, The Great Nothing, Thoughts, Part 2 by Spock's Beard

The CG uniforms, props, and insides of their skirts were so bright that V couldn't hear me. The CG had a vertical line drawn down the middle of each of their faces, which reminded me of Ross' quarter trick from "Friends." Ummm... people ... you shouldn't be afraid of catching your own rifle that YOU tossed! It's too bad that they lost 2 horns last week, because they're already small. They had more drums and CG than horns (only 7 now). This corps is always small, but they're also always ambitious. Now if we could get the CG to be more aggressive with their props, they could be much better.

Impulse -- "The Game" Repertoire: Three Worlds by J. Meehan

Wow. John Meehan was busy this year.

The CG started playing kids' games like hopscotch and London Bridge before competition started. I want to feed that CG guy some cake. WAY too bony. Their show is not finished. V doesn't get what the music has to do with games. Perhaps if they finished their show, we could understand. Why was that one CG gal wearing sunglasses and nobody else was? What makes her so special?

Gold -- "29,029 Feet -- Everest" Repertoire: Ice Fall, Valley of Silence, Death Zone, The Summit

I guess they don't want me to know who wrote this music. Too bad. They don't have the gold buttons on the corps uniforms anymore, and now have a blue braided sash instead. I liked all of the imagery with the climbing, especially when the CG was climbing on each other. I was afraid that someone would get accidentally strangled or hang themselves with the rope, though. I didn't see anyone in the CG that I had met a couple of years ago. Maybe they're in other corps now.

INTERMISSION

Rudy and Jeff had entered the stands somewhere between the corps above, but V and I wanted to get to the restroom before the line got long, and we succeeded. Then my new drum corps friend Mike called, so we went to meet up with him at the SCV souvie trailer. We also met his friend, whose son had just been given a free practice pad. Cool! We said hi to Rudy when we got back, and he later informed me via text that the guy in back of him was a blabbermouth know-it-all. I had been envious of Rudy's better seat placement until that bit of information.

Mandarins

They sounded much better than the day before! I liked the low brass/high brass contrast. They didn't have those blue/burnt orange flags yesterday. You know that I would have remembered that. I don't know what those hangy things are in the pit, but I LIKE 'em! I like the smile on that CG guy. Very nice horn sound.

Pacific Crest

Those feathers are growing on me. I mean, not literally growing, but I'm starting to actually like them. i remembered to cheer for Maria this time. I like those bright yellow flags, and I really like their sound. Go, marimbas, go! The primal guttural sounds coming from the corps are cool, too.

At this point, someone looking very much like Kenji appeared on the steps by Bro. He was wearing a Vanguard shirt, and was with a blonde woman. This totally distracted us as we wondered if it was our 1999 SCV Championship winning friend from the Best Year (in our drum corps fandom) Ever.

The Academy

Hmmm... I didn't enjoy their sound that much today. I kept wondering what was wrong, because it sounded a lot muddier than last night. Perhaps we were close enough now to hear the errors, I don't know. I hope that they can improve by Saturday, when the brass judge is added.

They also didn't do that cymbal headchopper move.

What happened? I was disappointed, because I was really looking forward to Rudy freaking out about the music, and he didn't.

Santa Clara Vanguard

Finish your show!!!! Or do what Bro says and play the first part backwards once you're done with the normal way. I liked seeing the cymbals going all nuts at one point. I missed taking a picture of the Kodak moment, and this was probably my best chance. Oh well. I like those white flags a lot.

Blue Devils

VERY nice! AWESOME music, visuals, everything. Or what Rudy said: "That was sick." In a good way. I like when the guys hold up their foot before catching their rifle. I really do like this show.

While the scores were being tabulated, Bro yelled, "Kenji!" and the guy turned around, so we went up to him to catch up. It was nice to see him, and I took a pic of him and girlfriend Liz to send to Angela, his high-school sweetheart. In turn, he'll get a link to Ang's pic with new baby Tyler.

SCORES

All-Age

68.0 Dream

Open

55.60 Mystikal

56.40 Incognito

61.30 Gold

64.10 Yamato

66.60 Velvet Knights

74.50 Blue Devils B

World

68.90 Academy

70.00 Mandarins

72.60 Pacific Crest

80.20 Santa Clara Vanguard

82.20 Blue Devils

Encore

BD was told "the field is yours," and the man behind Bro said, "Do they get to take the field home, too?" Cute.

The pit ensemble played a really cool piece that featured the marimbas, drum kit and tympani. Then the bass lead yelled, "Blue Devils Contra Line: Bring It Down, Baby!" and the corps did their F-tuning thing. Yay! F-tuning! They then played excerpts from their show. I was disappointed that they didn't play the whole thing, and I would have loved to hear them play their anthem, since PC had done much more the night before. Rudy got all confused when I kept saying what PC did, and I had to explain to him that the encores are pre-set, so it's not always the winner from that night's show. We saw Mike and I introduced him to the guys, then made our way home.

Drum Corps mania has surely begun. I'm having withdrawals from not seeing a show for 5 days. Tonight should be fun at the Rose Bowl!