From Sunbursts to Spirals to Spinning

DCI West

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Stanford Stadium

Palo Alto, CA

We had hotel breakfast and relaxed in the hotel room before going shopping at REI at a huge shopping center.  Bro didn't find what he was looking for, so we got back on the road to Cupertino.  Our hotel is across the street from Apple Park, the Hilton Garden Inn.  

We walked around the strip mall adjacent to the hotel, and decided on eating at a Scottish pub called Duke of Edinburgh.  The restaurant was built in Scotland and then brought over to the USA, and the interior does look like an authentic pub.  Bro has been on the quest for a Fish and Chips dish that tastes just like what we grew up knowing, and this one came very close for him.  There was a ton of shrimp on my Caesar salad, and I couldn't even finish the half-order that I requested, which I ate with a vegetable samosa.  We enjoyed our lunch and our beers.

Cheers with Beers

We enjoyed the comfort of our hotel room prior to leaving for Stanford, which was about 20 minutes away.  They have done some construction since we were here last year, and added roundabouts.  We were also coming from a different direction than I'm used to, so I was extra confused.  It's a good thing I wasn't driving.  We were able to find a parking spot in the lot, so we didn't have to park on wood chips, which is always a plus.  I bought a tank top with a dragon from the Mandarins booth, and am still considering getting the scarab tank top from the Blue Knights.  I went to the Troopers booth because I wanted to look at their smaller items, and the lady there was pushing their fold-up fans, which could also be used as frisbees, or just to scare the dog when you open them up.  I decided to get one, and Bro asked me if it was to scare his dog.  No, silly.  To scare mom or other people!

Our seats were in the top row, Section 214, Row 32, Seats 2-3, on the left 40-yard line.  I liked that I was able to stand whenever I wanted to without blocking anyone's view.  We were also at the top of the stairs, so there wasn't anyone sitting in front of us.  Also, we had a ledge in back of us, but I was afraid to put anything small there, lest the object fall to its death to the ground below.  They did not open the concession stands at our section, but at least there were hawkers selling water and lemonade (Stanford Stadium does not allow people to bring their own liquids, although I realized later that I could have brought my empty Hydroflask and filled it there).

Exhibition Performances

Alisal from Salinas, CA 

Voice of DCI Brandt Crocker pronounced it Sal-EYE-nas, which made all of the locals giggle.

Freelancers Alumni Corps

The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by Blue Devils tuba player Adrian.  Great job!  I love that they had a tuba player instead of the usual trumpet player.

Competition

BLUE DEVILS B

The acoustics in this stadium are much better than at yesterday's venue.  Great horn sound, including the solos.  I really like the arrangement of Elfman's "Dead Man's Party".   I also like the way the color guard uses their skirts to show off the yellow while they dance.  The show is not yet done.  I wonder what their props will eventually look like.  They seem to be frames for screens or something.

VANGUARD CADETS

Still no actual uniforms.  I love that opening fortissimo horn hit.  I need to memorize that dance.  Ouch, those flag drops were loud when they fell on the platform.

We're-just-going-to-wear-these-for-now uniforms

BLUE DEVILS C

Those cymbals are so little that they're like the ones the monkeys use!  The song from "Grease" that they use is "Hand Jive" during the transition into "Sugar Sugar".

I also have pictures of after the little guy fell,
but didn't think it would be cool to post them here.

<Intermission>

Concessions never opened, at least not at our level.  Weird.

TROOPERS

I didn't see the boot or the Troop's sword symbol this time, but I did notice the formations of arrows pointing west.  I wonder if one of those is what I previously thought was a boot.  

Troopers' Signature Sunburst

Go West, Young Man

After the Reverse Sunburst

11

MANDARINS

Oh, the premise is that this is what Shostakovich envisioned after hearing Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring".  The arrangement of the Doxology is amazing!  I like the color guard duet throughout.  I still don't understand the cheesy glowing cube thing, though.  One of these days, I might figure out why those two folks are on stilts.

Getting ready to dance to her death

The black uniforms look really good on the field

Final formation

ACADEMY

"I think, therefore I am."  I didn't notice yesterday that the people talking were actually there.  I guess I was busy looking on the field.  I explained "O Captain, My Captain" to Bro later, because he didn't understand why they weren't all doing that at the same time from the very beginning of that part.  He explained to me that the recitation of the numbers is the Fibonacci sequence.  Bro is not crazy about this show.  I'm just "meh" about it.  

BLUE KNIGHTS

When the color guard adds the sheer part to their pants, they shimmer like beetles.  I really like that effect.  I love their arrangement of "Rite of Spring", performed wonderfully by their horn section.  What is with the static in their sound system?  

An Egyptian Staff?  I don't know.  

Tossing a rifle, while balancing on a pyramid,
wearing shimmery pants

Spiral

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD

The color guard has uniforms now.  Are the drum majors ninjas? The pit members have their mouths covered by the same type of thing as the drum majors, to show the theme of Babylon, wherein the storyline is for the corps members to find another way to communicate since they do not all speak the same language.  Bro figured that the horn players couldn't wear the same thing since they need to actually play their instruments.  They're playing and getting spun around on their towers, and...wow.  Those snares!  Bro wants Miss O to learn the dance so he can post it.  He said this show looks really good in the big stadium.  Show is not yet finished, and they didn't play the closing number at all.

Spinning and Playing

Mid backflip

Color Guard

BLUE DEVILS

The color guard guys are only wearing the front half of a shirt.  Is that because they get hot?  Is that a thing?  Nobody hair dances like the BD guard.  Awesome trombone solo during "Natural Woman".  Eek!  That feedback!

It's like the painting!

Encore

Yay, an encore!  And it's VANGUARD!  

• Canyon
• The closing piece from their show!  It sounds amazing.  I guess they don't want to be moving those props all over the place before they're ready, because the music makes it sound like the field drill is going to be intense.
• Send In The Clowns

Scores

Open Class:

3) 37.75 -- Blue Devils C

2) 54.55 -- Vanguard Cadets

1) 56.10 -- Blue Devils B

World Class:

6) 60.10 -- Troopers

5) 63.20 -- Academy

4) 64.75 -- Mandarins

3) 67.05 -- Blue Knights

2) 72.10 -- Blue Devils

1) 72.70 -- Santa Clara Vanguard!!!!!

Not since 2007 has SCV scored higher than BD.  We are happy Vanguard fans today!

When we got back to the hotel, Bro saw that SCV's uniforms are, indeed, cream-colored, although they are different from what we saw yesterday.  I'm not sure we saw the new uniform today because we were far from the field.  

The recaps show that this is going to be a close competition between BD and SCV, and they have the top two scores nationwide from all of the shows last night.  Way to go, WEST!

Next up:  Moonlight Classic