DCI Finals
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Lucas Oil Stadium
Indianapolis, IN
I noticed today that the dates on my other posts for this week were off by a day. I need to go back and fix those. I woke up in the morning and realized that I hadn't charged my camera batteries. Oh boy. Well, at least we had plenty of time before Finals would start so that I could charge them. Anyway, we decided to partake in the new Finals Week festivities, and walked to Georgia Street to experience Drumline Battle. We hadn't had any breakfast yet, and Starbucks was way crowded, so we found another coffee place called Bee Coffee. (They are still working on their website). Their flavors of drinks looked quite delicious and original. I ordered a HoneyBee Latte, and Bro and V ordered mango smoothies, which were quite yummy. My latte was fine, although after having a taste of the smoothies, I wanted something fruitier, but oh well. Next time. On the way back to Drumline Battle, we noticed that one of the kids from Center Grove HS left their backpack behind on the street corner. Bro and I stayed there in case someone came back for it, and V ran to catch up with Center Grove. APPARENTLY, it belongs to Will. You're welcome, Will! My sis-in-law is so very nice. Later on that day, she gave her free drink (soda/pop/coke/whatever region you're from) to one of the hungry vets sitting on the sidewalk.
I was still hungry, because Bee Coffee didn't really have anything substantial or protein-y for me to eat, when lo and behold, there's the Munchie Mobile! First of all, I didn't know that Indianapolis was lucky enough to have Jack in the Box out there, and second of all, they have a food truck?! Yay! What's more yay-deserving? They were offering free tacos and fries and shakes. Wow! So we each had a taco and took a picture by the Munchie Mobile, and ended up on their Facebook page. As we ate our tacos, we waited in what we thought was a designated place for a battle. It seemed that the only battle going on was in a kind of tight space, and we couldn't see much when we passed by, so we hoped that we would be able to catch the second phase or something because it was all staged, and they even had orange cones with air conditioning. I tweeted the DCI Orange Cone about it. Of course I did! Remember how I'm insane? Well, nobody ever came over to play for us, and we were very close to the port-a-potty, so we walked over to the mall and Bro won yet another plush from the claw machine at Tilt.
Then we went back to the festivities and watched Music City perform for a few miinutes. Had we known then that Music City would disband after Finals, we might have stayed longer. I get sad when a corps dissolves, and Music City had a lot of promise. Bummer.
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| Belt the Sloth (from The Croods) and Mango Smoothie |
We returned to the hotel and let V rest for a bit while Bro and I checked out Sound Sport in front of Lucas Oil Stadium. This is where they should have held the Drumline Battle because there was more space for an audience. Whatever we saw wasn't really our thing, so we went back to the hotel to get V and walked over to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. I had an apple martini, and was happy because it was a green drink, and the maraschino cherry made it all Vanguard themed. We returned to the hotel for a rest, and I changed into my new "Do You Hear the People Sing" shirt before leaving one last time this year for Lucas Oil.
Finals Time! Our seats were again in the SCV section. Bro got lucky this year because he was able to get tickets from them in their block on the day they went on sale. Usually, they sell out before he gets in touch with them. Our seats were in Section 442, Row 6, Seats 1-4. We had a little bit of glass in our view due to our proximity to the stairs.
The E-Sarn Drumline played for us. They were the Drumline Battle champs, which makes their trip from Thailand worth the while. We had seen them getting ready for the battle earlier, and I told fakeChun and his friend that they were really good.
Directors of the Year were announced: Open Class DOTY went to Chris Magonigal of Genesis, and World Class DOTY went to Fred Morrison of the Crossmen. Congratulations!
In-pact, "Indiana's Future" band played the theme from "Rocky" with special guest Al Chez. I didn't hear much of the kids because Al and the other soloist were so loud. Go, Al, Go! Also, they did a lot of set up with stands and we only heard one song, but that was actually enough for me.
Dan Potter, whom was emceeing all of the stuff prior to the competition, talked about DCIFinals.com and all if its features, including the Entrance Tunnel cam. I wondered how we would all be accessing that and watching the show at the same time, and Bro showed me the people in front of us watching the Entrance Tunnel thing on their tablet. I do think it is cool that they were able to broadcast Finals to a live audience on the web, and if I was at home, I would probably have paid for that AND watched the free Tunnel thing, AND been upset that I wasn't actually at the show.
As Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets entered the stadium for their exhibition performance, they showed the video of the corps members' reaction to their victory on the big screen. I thought that was really cool. Hey, when did the drum major get that cool SCV shield? We watched the show live for the last time, and it still hadn't gotten old for me. I think I've watched the show about 15 times this year, and I still love it. I like that the entire corps salutes after the drum major closes his salute. I could hear all of the solos just fine without the use of microphones. I love this corps.
Sponsor Recognition happened. Thanks, Sponsors!
BLUE STARS
Great job, drums! I like how the drums cut through the corps after the color guard soloist pushes her saber all the way into each of the voodoo doll guys.
SPIRIT
I like that horn line part of the Gershwin. Sure, I finally get the secret knock down, and I won't get to see their show anymore.
BLUE KNIGHTS
Nice sound, BK! I like the show better from up higher than I do closer to the field. I enjoy the way they spin the double flags at the end so that they're making circles. Even the tambourines are circles! "Circles!" Seriously, I can't stop saying that word from the narration every time I hear it.
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| That ball has the BK triangles all over it, like polka dots. |
BO CRU
V says that she saw a bird formation, like a phoenix. Oh, neat! I'll have to look for that when I watch the DVD. I smile every time I hear them play the bits of "Conquest".
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| "RISE" spelled in gray on the field |
MADISON
Pre-show chant ending: "75 years of Loud, Proud, and Pleasing the Crowd!" They have shirts with that phrase. I guess the people in back of us didn't know about the singing. They didn't know about a lot of stuff, actually, and I'm pretty sure that they had been in attendance on other nights. I don't know. I cried at this show again, and I missed seeing the guy run on the drums again.
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| No PellaPusher finals is complete without a Madison Fleur de Lis |
CAVALIERS
I didn't get to take a picture of the gear formation because it wasn't stationary for very long. The ladies in back of us called them "ninjas". See what I mean about them not knowing stuff?
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| Pyramid |
<Intermission>
There was a presentation by the US Army All-American Band, giving out a scholarship.
BLOO
I really like that Bluecoats sound. Oh, they make an American flag formation! Impressive color guard moves include one guy spinning the rifle while on his back on top of the moving bleachers. Are they playing those contras upside-down?!
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| Bloo on Bleachers |
PHREGIMENT
I never noticed the blood spurting out of the witch before. Was that there this whole time? I did catch the opening formation of the book page turning, though.
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| Mickey Wins! |
SCV
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| Get it? "Van"-GUARD (color guard) |
Out.F*c*ing.Standing. OK, lots of tears and sniffling around us. Also lots of people saying "Oh, my God!" after the first standing ovation. I loved seeing all of the people standing in the stadium on the big screen in the middle of the show. INCREDIBLE! V forgot to look for the really cool flag tosses behind the screens because she was busy looking at he corps on the field. I so didn't want that to be the last time to see this show. It's become my favorite SCV show ever. I have tears in my eyes as I type this 2 weeks later. TWO WEEKS. OK, let me go on now.
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| SCV Shield |
CADETS
The colors of the show reminded me that I hadn't checked into my Southwest flight. So I did that, thanks to their Android app. V likes the colors because they tell her how much is left in the show (they change with each act). I don't remember that last mellophone player being on top of te box and giving the horn to the color guard guy.
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| Cool Bendy Pole Things |
BD
Dang, those sopranos can play! I am torn between liking this show, wanting Crown to win, and wishing SCV would surprise everyone and take the whole damn thing.
CROWN
Oh, is this the "John" that BD and Crown have been tweeting each other about all this time? They'd been tweeting that they'd get these kids engaged by the end of the season, and I thought that it was about members of each corps. Someone in the stands held up a sign saying, "Yeah, Baybee!" The horns hurt my ears at one part due to their loudness, and we were all the way up in the 400 level. Wow.
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| Crown Spiral |
As the crowd waited for the finale to start, Steve Rondinaro and Dennis DeLucia had a discussion in front of the Founders Trophy. I don't know if that was for the live broadcast or for the DVD. Once they were done, Brandt Crocker spoke. "There comes a time when we name the year's best. This is the time. Let the finale begin!"
The corps marched in to a recording of "Summon the Heroes". I felt like Bob Costas should be present. As each corps was announced, they showed highlights of their show on the big board. Yay! SCV and BD get to be next to each other! I love that. I also loved that SCV was directly in front of our section. Shouldn't the Cadets' formation been the CG standing side by side, and not an "X"? I mean, I get the sideXside reference, but whatevs. Blue Knights' color guard skirts looked like little circle tarps. SCV didn't seem to have a lot of green feathers in their Aussies, so I guess that a lot of them will be back next year. Yay!
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| Right Half |
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| Left Half |
The Blue Devils drum major led all of the brass in "America the Beautiful". Then there was a video montage of the week's highlights.
SCORES & CAPTION AWARDS
12) 85.45 -- BLUE STARS
Jim Jones Leadership Award: Dean Patterson of Phantom Regiment
11) 86.40 -- SPIRIT OF ATLANTA
10) 87.75 -- BLUE KNIGHTS
Zengali Color Guard Award: Blue Devils
9) 90.10 -- MADISON SCOUTS
Visual Award: Carolina Crown
8) 90.40 -- BOSTON CRUSADERS
Jim Ott Brass Award: Carolina Crown
7) 90.50 -- CAVALIERS
Sanford Percussion Award: Cadets
6) 93.25 -- PHANTOM REGIMENT
Overall General Effect: Carolina Crown
5) 93.35 -- BLUECOATS
Long pause after this next score was announced.
4) 96.85 -- SANTA CLARA VANGUARD
3) 96.95 -- CADETS (Yes, by a tenth of a point. AUGH!)
Another very long pause after this next score was announced.
2) 98.05 -- BLUE DEVILS
And people were throwing babies everywhere while cheering their heads off.
1) 98.30 -- CAROLINA CROWN
One of the women behind us said, "Well, I'm all cranky now." I feel your pain, sister. But I'm really very happy for Crown getting their first world class title. They are the first corps to have won in both open and world class categories (not in the same year). Bro said that now he won't have to read about all of the whining of BD winning everything. Well, at least for a year. He'll just have to hear me whining about that goshdarn 0.10.
I thought it was cool to see the Blue Devils go to Carolina Crown and hug them. They've had quite a competitive summer, and they've been great sports the whole way. Bro thinks he might have seen a proposal on the field in the midst of everything.
Usually, Bro calls V at this time to tell her who won. I told him to call her even though she was sitting right next to him. He did not.
Congratulations, Carolina Crown! The field is yours!
Encore
CAROLINA CROWN
-- While they were in their huddle, they chanted "Shark Bait! Shark Bait!"
-- They sang their corps song: "Carolina In My Mind"
-- Full show, weird shakos off. Aw, I won't hear that treacly poem again like that? But it's been done in LEGO!
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| Crown Drums and Vocalists |
I need someone to do SCV's Les Miz show in LEGO. Bro, get on that, would ya?
Thank you to all of the corps for a great year of competition! To Vanguard, congratulations to SCVC for a terrific win, and to the A-corps, I will love this show forever. Thank you for making it a reality!
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| Vive Le Vanguard! |
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