Lightning, Lightning, Go Away!

Drums Along The Rockies -- Denver

Invesco Field at Mile High

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Bro & Sher 1 mile above sea level

Bro and I walked to The Delectable Egg for breakfast, which was just a couple of blocks away from our hotel.  We decided to walk around the city to be tourist-y, and took the free shuttle up 16th Street to get to the State Capitol building.  There, we took a picture on the steps, where there is a marker showing that we were one mile above sea level. 

We then walked over to the US Mint, which was closed for the weekend.  Afterward, we returned to the hotel and I blogged about the previous day's activities before we went to lunch at Appaloosa Grill, which was yummy.  Mmmm....Truffle Fries.  Then we checked out the clock tower that was near our hotel, and returned to the hotel to relax.  We checked out the pool, which was outside on a rooftop, and I liked that there was a lap section.  The guy working there told us to check out the fitness room, and that there was a basketball court.  Ooh!  We shot some hoops and I wouldn't leave until I hit a 3-pointer.  I'm so out of practice that I had to take granny shots to even get close to the hoop from that range.  My arms are still sore as I type this.

We were thinking of walking to a drumline competition at Invesco then walking back, but we felt raindrops and decided to just wait until the actual show.  I'm glad that we didn't actually walk to the stadium, because from the drive we took, it seemed like it would have been a long walk...and then if it had rained on us, I'm sure I would have been quite unhappy.  

Drumline Competition

I was quite pleased with the seats that Bro had bought for us:  on the right 40-yard line, on Club Level (3rd level), 18 rows up in the level.  The best part about it was that we were covered by the tier above us, so even if it rained, we wouldn't need the ponchos that I brought.  It seems that we didn't miss the entire drumline competition, as the last part of it took place before the actual show.  Competing lines were from area high schools: Legacy,  Cherry Creek and Arapahoe.  Congratulations to Legacy High School on your win!  The presentation of the colors was by different servicepeople from the Armed Forces, with the Star-Spangled Banner played by a guest soloist, whose name, I think, was Dr. Andy Smart.  The announcer's sound system was horrid and none of us in our row could really be clear on what was actually being said.  Then it came time for the actual competition.

HIGH COUNTRY BRASS

Peace Flags

Hey, the drum major is OK, so I guess yesterday's fall wasn't a big deal.  The CG had a lot of drops, starting with the very first solo rifle toss.  Today, I liked the soprano soloists more than the low brass ones.  There were more corps members grooving this time.  The CG added a spoken line of "All you need is love!!!"  That's new.

The women sitting in back of us were talking during this corps' entire show, and I was going nuts.  Bro assured me that they would stop talking.  I was ready to ask them if they were going to ever stop talking, because if not, maybe they could refund me the money that we paid for the seats.  Thank goodness that Bro was right.  They didn't talk during any more of the shows.

GOLD

Finally got the tenors in the shot!

The announcer said that they were from San Diego, but the big board showed that they were from Torrance.  The amplifiers used for the narration worked much better than that for the actual announcer.  I would rather that it was the other way around, since this narration bugs me.  The horns sounded great, except for a little bit of the ballad.  The mello duet was mic'd, but I'm not sure that it needed to be.  This must have been their biggest stadium to play in to date.  I was really proud of them for doing so well, probably because I remember how small they used to be.

REVOLUTION

Plane Flags

Before the show started, a dude sitting nearby said that the CG "look like they're wardens in a federal prison."  The CG was having problems with their unison moves.  I like that at the end, the person holding the actual city flag gets to wave theirs while the others stay still.

CASCADES

Boxed

While they were setting up the pit, the cymbals marched out.  That was weird.  Bro figured it out and explained that they had come in through the wrong tunnel and needed to go back with the corps proper, which had some trouble getting the boxes out of the tunnel. 

They started their show, and midway through, they stopped.  It had begun to rain and we were under a severe lightning storm warning. It is not good to be holding metal poles and instruments in an open field in a lightning storm.  Did you know that?  ;)  So we were on a rain delay of 15 minutes.  Bro and I went inside to get refreshments, as this would be an early intermission and they probably wouldn't have the scheduled one anymore.  

Then we saw this in the sky, and they let the Cascades back into the stadium to warm up while letting the field dry off a little bit.  It's also not good for people to be running around on a wet field.  More on that later. APPARENTLY, the sound people had figured out that they needed to fix the announcer's system, because it was fine by the end of intermission.

The Cascades' show has some scary narration.  I think that the lead CG took one of The Academy's discarded wings, because I don't remember her having that white cloth the day before.  I like that before the eye flags are revealed, they have 2 of them peek out of the middle box.

Box at end of show

ACADEMY

! Flags

The corps walked onto the field and the guy next to me said, "Those are snazzy uniforms!"  He and his companions were completely blown away by this show.  The other guy said, "That's now one of my most favorite shows ever."  Nice!  Very strong soprano solo at the beginning.  I really, really like this show.  And now the Little Fugue is in my head as I type this.  I pointed out the ! formation to Bro, and he showed me the other one.  APPARENTLY, they're done at the same time, with one upside down.  That would match their cool flags!  

Here, finally, is a shot of the cool new CG uniform with the matching flag.  Bro is impressed by my total 180 on my opinion of the shiny pants.  ;)

SCV

Bottledance Position at Beginning

Weird Leg Position

The first guy running fell on the wet field (I told you it was bad), so I was worried, but everything else went OK.  All of the high tosses were caught: yay!  The horns sounded better than yesterday, but I still need to hear them more at the Forte.  I finally saw the triple 6 formation.  Bro pointed out that they only had 4 tenors in the drumline.  I wondered what would happen if a cymbal player was injured.  That would ruin the cool Viper stuff at the end.  I was going to yell, but didn't hear anyone else around me at that moment.  Someone did yell about a beat after I would have, so now I'm confused.  

PHREGIMENT

My favorite flags

The announcers all say that they are "Drum Corps' classical music identity."  I get that.  The show was beautiful, and I got my emotion back during Elsa.  I got chills at the sight of Juliet coming up the middle of the field at the end.  Yes, I've seen that before.  I was just glad to feel something again.  

Phregiment 

CADETS

Wow!  This was my first time to see their show in person, and I love it.  I love all of the red vs. white, all of the separation and mixtures of the colors, and the different characterizations of the Angels vs. the Demons.  They even have black drums vs. white drums, and a drum battle during the percussion feature.  The entire corps has poles at one point, and the angels discard them neatly by placing them in a row, while the demons just throw them aside carelessly.  Bro said that the week before, he saw the thrown poles almost hit the BD pit, whom were at the side of the field.  Hmm...  Well, they're devils, too.  They should know how demons are going to act.  Here's a look at just one difference:  these formations are done on the field simultaneously.

Angels in Wing Formation

Demons in Pitchfork Formation

BD

Cool Black/White sticks

Some of the solos were not really in tune, but at least those were short solos.  I just noticed tonight that the asterisks placed around the house at the end resemble flowers along the walkway.  They had to position the boxes horizontally in order to get them through the tunnel.

BLUE KNIGHTS

BK Beginning of Show

I like how the gal tosses the saber, it comes down, and she makes it spin a little bit more horizontally before she catches it.  Good sound, BK!  

They did the instant encore, same as last night, with a piece from their show, followed by their singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You."  Bro was happy again.

Their drumline played as the corps left the field.  I would have liked it if they kept playing while the leaders entered the field, but, alas, I am not in charge.

SCORES

All-Age

55.05 -- High Country Brass

Open

71.90 -- Gold

72.90 -- Revolution

World

66.15 -- Cascades

73.75 -- Academy

77.25 -- Blue Knights

79.20 -- SCV

79.55 -- Phregiment

82.20 -- BD

82.75 -- Cadets

Due to the rain delay and people not moving quickly out of the parking lot, Bro and I were exhausted by the time we returned to the hotel.  We had also encountered heavy traffic on 14th Street, due to the very active bar scene on that street.  We woke up early this morning to catch our flights, and I took a nap for about 3 hours once I got home.

I'll have to wait until August until my next drum corps show.  Or maybe I'll watch one of the shows online.  Until then, good luck to the corps, and safe travels to you!  See you in Indy!