Western Corps Connection
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Riverside Community College - Wheelock Stadium
Riverside, CA
My voice is in such bad shape from coughing and yelling, and I'm so tired that I ignored my alarm and slept in instead of going to choir and singing. Bro and V had spent the night, so off we walked to Starbucks for breakfast. We then went to the mall for Bro to get more shoes. He didn't want to be stepped on in the stands and getting his awesome SCV shoes messed up, so he bought the same non-personalized kind. We had lunch at T Burgers and Bro and V were happy to get Orange Bang. Then we rested for a little while before heading out to Riverside.
It took a long time to park because they were slow at taking the money for the parking fee. We finally got to our space, and shopped around a bit. I managed to avoid the lady at the Academy trailer that wants me to buy bunny ears. I bought a white tank top from SCV. V and I stood in the very slow line to get aguas frescas. It was so slow that I opted not to also order food and ate V's kettlecorn instead. I tried to leave Rudy's ticket at will call but they wouldn't do it, but Rudy ended up arriving in time, so all was good. Honestly, how hard is it to include my tickets, in an envelope, with your alphabetized ticket orders? Lame.
V and I were in line to enter the stands when the Star-Spangled Banner was sung by the same gal as on Friday night, Kim Lovett. Our seats were in Section 4, Row O, Seats 12-18, on the left 35-40 yard lines. In attendance with our trio were Rudy and his niece Jaclyn, whom was attending her first drum corps show, Glenn, and Glenn's mom, Marie, whom was also attending her first drum corps show. Welcome, ladies!
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| I would wear this if they sold it. Mandarins CG uniform |
INCOGNITO
They sounded better today. They have fans now. Did they have those before? Oops, she dropped the rifle, though. Nice trio intro to the fanfare.
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| It's hot. May I borrow your fan? |
Jaclyn told Rudy: "Uncle Rudy, I love this already." She hadn't even seen more than one corps yet. How awesome is that?!
GOLDEN EMPIRE
CG guy caught the high rifle toss, but not the saber. They all had a lot of flag drops today. The little diamond formations that I noticed yesterday group together to form bigger diamonds.
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| Mountain of Miiners |
WATCHMEN
Some guy on their staff (or maybe he's the corps director) was wearing a Viking hat with the horns and everything. Hey, The Academy needs to borrow that for their show! Nice solo for the ballad.
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| Battle |
GOLD
Bro thought he heard announcer Ryan say "Drum major, is your garden ready?" I was not paying attention. BTW, Hi, Ryan! I've missed you during the other shows. The other guy sounded a lot like him, but he's just not Ryan.
V has joined our club of Folks Who Don't Like Gold's Uniforms. Why do they have those rain sticks if the amps overpower them? Then the synthesizer keeps going with the rain sound after they've put them down. Unnecessary. I think the show is done now. They sound more confident, at least. The flower flags don't look as nice in the bright sunlight. Rudy and Glenn discussed some portion of the show that Bro and I haven't noticed: four groups of little trees growing. Nope. Doesn't sound familiar.
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| Rain Sticks |
IMPULSE
Nice Spartacus solo! The CG gal caught the high toss, but missed the saber. She gave a nice smile, anyway, which is how you're supposed to do it, so OWN IT, girl! The brass players also gave a cute smile after the Also Sprach when they change from their Neanderthal posture to the company front regular posture.
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| Rifles of Fire |
<Intermission>
PACIFIC CREST
"Find your voice." Then the sopranos start playing. I like that. Pretty color guard work. I like the grace note into the big blast that comes right after the high saber toss. The contra players get to dance with the CG. I really like this show. Except for the narration, even though it makes sense with it. I just don't like any talking in my drum corps shows.
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| PC Drum Major |
MANDARINS
I love all of the little moves they make during each syllable of "Crazy, crazy". I love that they keep in character throughout the show. It is no surprise that the Mandarins got 3rd place last night at the Rose Bowl. They are awesome this year.
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| I like the way his uniform is swept by the wind |
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| Rifle Toss |
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| Ink CG Trio |
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| CG Watching the Drums Do Their Thang |
THE ACADEMY
Nice mello solo. I didn't notice the face paint on the bunnies before. Or did I? Their music sounded better today.
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| Be vewy vewy quiet. We're hunting wabbits. |
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| He tosses the rifle from up on the podium... |
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| ...then jumps down and catches it in AIM pose. WOW. |
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| Kill The Wabbit |
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| Carmen Hip Check |
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| Marimba Madness |
PHANTOM REGIMENT
Bro's comment on the now half-zipped white robes: "Let me show you my legs and my crotch." Rudy and I said even worse things about them before they started their performance. Let's just say that it was gross.
I like the way they give a big blast after the bass drum ensemble feature. The rifles and the sabers were better, but they're still having issues with the flags. It's not so much when they raise or toss the flags as it is when they bring them down: that should also be in unison, not haphazard. Or in a planned ripple. But the way they're doing it is just random.
I like the way they give a big blast after the bass drum ensemble feature. The rifles and the sabers were better, but they're still having issues with the flags. It's not so much when they raise or toss the flags as it is when they bring them down: that should also be in unison, not haphazard. Or in a planned ripple. But the way they're doing it is just random.
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| Phregiment Snares |
BLUE KNIGHTS
Glenn, about the "i" prop: "That's Impulse upside-down."
Rudy likes it now that he stopped thinking about it. I love the moments of silence in the last piece.
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| I mean, what is going ON here? |
SANTA CLARA VANGUARD
V: "Your bestie is cute!"
OK, they changed something. When Stone is being rolled across the field, the props used to be flat on the field while the CG did whatever on top of them. Now the props are vertical, and it seems more effective with that last rifle toss that always makes me fear for Stone's life as it passes him. VANGUAAAAAAAARD!!!!!! I may have been the only one to get it right, but I did it!
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| Toss Those Rifles! |
BLUE DEVILS
I forgot that this would be the first time Rudy would see BD's show this year. I think this was Marie's favorite because I saw her stand up and applaud during the performance. Of course, she may have done that earlier and I wasn't paying attention. They now have reflective sheets on one side of the stairs, but I can still see inside their closets. Geez with that high note! Those white flags will probably be some other color before we see them at Finals week. The bass drums got new drum heads, so I wonder if the flags will be similar.
There was no encore. So I still haven't seen a BD encore this year. Later that evening, I saw that SCV had dedicated tonight's show to Art Velarde, a drummer that died in an accident on the way home from camp, a month prior to the 1999 season opener. They had a black band on their Vanguard stars. Art's nephew now drums for SCV. So cool that they kept the talent in the SCV Family.
Scores
Open Class:
5) 42.65 - Incognito
4) 45.00 - Impulse
3) 48.00 - Watchmen
2) 53.35 - GE
1) 53.85 - Gold
World Class:
7) 63.60 - PC
6) 66.05 - Academy
5) 67.60 - Mandarins
4) 70.20 - BK
3) 70.30 - Phregiment
2) 75.05 - SCV
1) 76.10 - BD
The next morning, I read twitter and saw SCV sending thoughts and prayers to Phantom Regiment. Phregiment staff's bus rolled over on the highway overnight, causing a fatality to the bus driver, and injuries to eight staff. I send my condolences to the Phantom Phamily and hope they can bounce back quickly. They did not compete at tonight's show in Mesa, AZ. SCV paid a beautiful tribute to Phregiment during the encore by playing Phregiment's corps song, "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral".
It will be a long six weeks until we see Ouroboros at a live show again. Bro and I will be in drum corps withdrawal, so bear with us as we talk DCI to each other while friends and family look at each other with "whatever they're talking about" on their faces.
Next up: So Cal Classic
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| Drums and Stairs |
There was no encore. So I still haven't seen a BD encore this year. Later that evening, I saw that SCV had dedicated tonight's show to Art Velarde, a drummer that died in an accident on the way home from camp, a month prior to the 1999 season opener. They had a black band on their Vanguard stars. Art's nephew now drums for SCV. So cool that they kept the talent in the SCV Family.
Scores
Open Class:
5) 42.65 - Incognito
4) 45.00 - Impulse
3) 48.00 - Watchmen
2) 53.35 - GE
1) 53.85 - Gold
World Class:
7) 63.60 - PC
6) 66.05 - Academy
5) 67.60 - Mandarins
4) 70.20 - BK
3) 70.30 - Phregiment
2) 75.05 - SCV
1) 76.10 - BD
The next morning, I read twitter and saw SCV sending thoughts and prayers to Phantom Regiment. Phregiment staff's bus rolled over on the highway overnight, causing a fatality to the bus driver, and injuries to eight staff. I send my condolences to the Phantom Phamily and hope they can bounce back quickly. They did not compete at tonight's show in Mesa, AZ. SCV paid a beautiful tribute to Phregiment during the encore by playing Phregiment's corps song, "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral".
It will be a long six weeks until we see Ouroboros at a live show again. Bro and I will be in drum corps withdrawal, so bear with us as we talk DCI to each other while friends and family look at each other with "whatever they're talking about" on their faces.
Next up: So Cal Classic
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