Am I Blue

Western Corps Connection

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Wheelock Stadium - Riverside City College

Riverside, CA

Bro and I set off for RCC in the afternoon, and arrived early.  As we were walking in the parking structure, a guy pulled up a truck and asked us if we paid for parking.  No.  He laughed and said that he doesn't either, and never has, saying that the folks upstairs in line to pay "must be from Madison" and hadn't been here before.  I did see a guy in line with a City Sound shirt, so I don't know how true that is, but this could be his first show here, too.  We're pretty sure that they don't care about the parking situation on Sundays, because we've never seen any parking enforcement people there.  Save your money for food and souvenirs, people!  We briefly looked around for new merchandise but didn't see any because APPARENTLY we are blind (more about that later).

Bro was going to bring his own water bottle, but when he heard me say, "I'm going to get aguas frescas", he quickly changed his mind.  We got in line and he waited for the mango flavor to be available to have a mango/strawberry mix.  I got a cantaloupe/watermelon mix.  It was yummy.  I also wanted a hot dog for later because I didn't want to get into what would be eventually be a long time.  A group of people in front of me were standing around in the shade and wouldn't move away from the line even when they received what they ordered.  I was annoyed and told the guy in front of me to move up because they were just standing there.  Then a couple of the guys in the group realized that maybe they should have stood in line for food instead of standing around in a circle talking to the people whom were already eating theirs.  No, guys, you were not in line.  Go get in the back of this long one.  Thank you.  

Mmm...aguas frescas!

Rudy didn't get to the stadium in time for the Welcome, so I sat with Bro until he arrived.  Our seats were in row Q, seats 1-4, on the aisle, but not quite the top row.  The top row (row R) on the left side (facing the field) has desks.  I'm going to try for those next time.

The Star-Spangled Banner was sung a capella by Kim Lovett, whom was a RCC Marching Tiger.  Her rendition was nice and simple.   Great job, Kim!  Later in the evening, I saw her sitting near us in the stands and told her that I appreciated that she didn't go all crazy with it.  She said that she didn't believe in doing that because she respected the song too much for that.  Me, too!  

IMPULSE

The flag emoticons:

Blue :/

Yellow :D

Orange :|

Pink :)

I didn't catch the purple one.  Bro wondered about the lady in the blue dress walking around the field.  She was the brass judge.  I don't know why she wasn't wearing green, and we thought they weren't supposed to walk around the field quite yet, just on the sidelines.  There were times that she was REALLY close to the performers.  Maybe she'll stop getting so close once she gets hit.

Good job, Impulse, although I think you still need to show more energy.

Psychoanalytical Flags

I quickly found Rudy and brought him his ticket and wristband.  We saw him almost get to the gate right before they closed it.  We don't understand why they close the gate when the corps still has 3 minutes until the official start of competition.

INCOGNITO

The DM is a good conductor.  I liked watching him. 

Sher:  "I wonder how many times the rifle hits that tuba during the pre-show."

Bro:  "Every time."

Their drums are ombre.  "Above all, love each other deeply"....and then go to hell.  Bro pointed this out to me and I'm still wondering why they did the show in this order.  Why isn't it the other way around?  DARKNESS.

Ombre Drums

WATCHMEN

Go, Drums!  Bro:  "The best part of the show is its flags."  So, seriously.  It can't be helpful when the catapults face *each other*.  How is that going to kill the giant?  Stupid Stormcorpstroopers.

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Nice sound, but the brass needs some tuning.  The pas de deux is really cool when they are holding hands while doing a tandem one-handed cartwheel.

Dancing Man Flags

GOLD

Nice opening blast by the brass!  I only saw them use that front ramp once.  They look like they're going to stab the soloist on the ramp when they're pointing their sabers up like that.  Way too many drops by the color guard.

Drum Major with Gold Detail

<Intermission>

A SoundSport group called the Edmonton, Alberta Sabers Marching Band played a few selections.  Group members are ages 6-14 years old.  I could see their cuteness even from my vantage point on the way to the restrooms.

PACIFIC CREST

I love that drumline opener to the show. I also like the train horn sounds by the brass.  Good CG work.  

Rosie the Riveter Pose

MANDARINS

Nice flag work!  I like when the brass plays in sections with their mutes.  Rudy really liked the last movement.

Mandarins Flags in Final Piece

THE ACADEMY

Dude, there are butterflies on the wall!  That's where they've been all of this time.  I love those skeletons: they make me giggle.

Brides with Rifles

BLUE KNIGHTS

On Friday night, Rudy and I told Bro about the Paper Reeds (by R. Thompson) that we had to emulate when on choir retreat a long time ago.  Now whenever I say "Paper Reeds!", Bro knows what I mean.  I said it tonight when BK started their show and the corps members were lightly swaying.  CG girl pops up behind the mirror at the end (currently), too!  Shimmer!

Bro:  "Oh what a lovely Knight that would be....this show is getting more and more crazy."

I think this shot of her is better than yesterday's.

MADISON SCOUTS

About a week ago, Bro told me that he realized that when the recording starts counting the lashes ("1...2...3...4"), the same number of rifles is tossed.  I was listening to him when he said that and couldn't see what he was talking about until tonight. Yeah, I'm slow.  The brass carry Judas then drop him and then run after him.  I don't remember them dropping him before like they did tonight.  

Star Formation

BLUE DEVILS

The trumpets played beautifully during the ballad.  Their bass drum heads have a silhouette of a hand as if someone is trying to get out of them.  They have butterflies on their final flags.  The CG still does waves with their bodies even when the music is done and the audience is applauding.  I still don't like the pink dresses.

Ariel Dresses

Scores

Open Class:

5) 39.50 -- Incognito

4) 46.95 -- Impulse

3) 47.50 -- Watchmen

2) 52.95 -- Golden Empire

1) 54.45 -- Gold

World Class:

6) 60.25 -- PC

5) 62.65 -- Mandarins

4) 66.40 -- Academy

3) 67.05 -- BK

2) 69.85 -- Madison

1) 77.55 -- BD

Rudy really liked the Blue Devils show and wanted a shirt, so we went to the marketplace.  I looked at the shirt that he had purchased earlier, for Gold's Dia de Los Muertos show.  The skull design has drumsticks and music notes in it.  Cool!  I hadn't looked at the detail of the shirt before.  Then while they were walking, I saw the new Drum Corpse Bride shirt from The Academy.  I called them over to look at it, and Bro pointed out that the "A" glows in the dark.  COOL!  I had to buy it, of course.  The cashier lady told me that they were going to debut them at their home show later in the week, but decided to give a sneak preview to us.  Thank you!  Rudy bought a BD shirt with the ship on it.  

We said our goodbyes and Bro and I went back to my house and ate yummy peach preserves courtesy of Dodie.  :)  It's going to be a long 2 months until we get to see drum corps in person again.  Until then, I'll be that blue flag.  At least we have the internet and social media to whet our appetites. 

Thank you to Bro for driving everywhere in California, for getting tickets and making hotel arrangements, and for being such fun to be with during our drum corps road trip.  Love you, 1scvfan!