DLR LotD 07/17/21

Disneyland Resort

Line of the Day

Saturday, July 17, 2021

"I can't feel my face." -- Mox, at The Salon

Happy Birthday, Disneyland!!!!!!

I've seen this several times.
This is the day I figured out what it was.
Duh.

Santa Clara Vanguard 2021 - "Wait For Me"

One more post for the drum corps stuff this year.  

We didn't go to Indianapolis this year, and neither did Vanguard.  But Vanguard did make an appearance via this video, and I finally watched it tonight.  

Thoughts from my initial viewing:

• Mikey!
• How did they keep those uniforms so clean?  Even with one performance, all of that dirt must have gotten somewhere.
• I hear some Asian influence in the music, which is beautiful and serene.
• Mmmm..shades of other shows.  Warm smiles.
• Those are cool drums!  Where are those from?  Is that from another show I'm not remembering?  Or maybe these were supposed to be in their 2020 show.
• Nice rifle catch!  Yes, I'm aware that there were likely multiple takes, but still, nice!
• WHERE did that hight note come from?!?!
• I didn't understand the design on the flags at first, but when they kept them still, I finally saw the V.  
• Ah, that ending.  Gorgeous.
• Crying now as I write this.  There really is No Place Like Santa Clara.

As I was writing this page, V was texting me and I told her that I had tears in my eyes because of SCV.  She asked if I had watched Galen Hooks' short film on which this is based.  So I did.  Now I'm crying again.

Until we meet again, Vanguard.  March On.

You can check out other (mostly unofficial) 2021 performances on YouTube, like Phantom Regiment's tribute to their 2003 show, "Harmonic Journey", which was the fan favorite. (Uh oh, I'm crying again).  I will not be posting about those, but I hope you peruse and enjoy!

Going Legit

Corps at the Crest

Saturday, July 31, 2021

Rose Bowl

Pasadena, CA 

This event started a bit later than previous ones at the Rose Bowl, so we decided to get dinner at Panera near my house.  I told everyone to meet us at my place, but Double N read my email incorrectly and went straight to Panera.  He's usually not late, so I wondered where he was as we sat and waited for him.  Well, perhaps I should also check my phone to se that he was already there!  That's OK, it's close by.  I had this yummy Strawberry and Poppyseed Chicken Salad.  Then I gave a bunch of it to Bro because it had a lot of stuff I couldn't eat.  But I'd still eat it again without all of the acidic stuff.

Bro didn't feel like driving, so I drove us to the Rose Bowl, where I had already been earlier in the day to see Dinosaurs.  We couldn't see them very well from where we lined up to enter the Rose Bowl, but here's one for you guys today, thanks to Linda.

That raptor is the precursor to today's Color Guard.
Who knew?

They parked us on the grass.  I paid to park on grass?  There weren't any official markers to show where I parked my car on the grass, so I made a mental note about the car's juxtaposition a couple of trees, trying to picture what they would look like in the dark.

Oh, cool.  They had much more food available for the event than I had anticipated.  I wasn't hungry but that's good for the people who were.  I got a bottle of water in case I got dehydrated.  By the time we got up to our seats very close to the top of the stairs, I was grateful to have the water but also anxious about drinking it because I didn't want to have to go down the stairs to go to the restroom only to come back up again.  So I told my friends that if I left to go to the restroom, I would sit at one of the seats closer to the bottom.  I never had to do that, but at least we had a plan.  Our seats were part of the Pacific Crest block because I had a couple of free ones to which I had added on.   The location might have been OK if the top gate was open because they had access to other restrooms there, but those steps were no joke. After we caught our breath and I didn't look so tired, we took a selfie.

We made it!

The Star-spangled Banner was performed by the Freelancers Alumni Corps. They then performed some other stuff.

• "Happy Days Are Here Again" sounded much better today.
• I liked the jazzy number more last week than I did today.
• "Sound of Silence": Double N knows this is the Disturbed version because he's a regular at Karaoke night.  It makes me miss the Mandarins.  Yup, that's a Mandarins shirt that Dodie is wearing in the pic above, so just an additional trigger.
• They played Malagonia and Bro told me it was "One More Time Chuck Corea".  Why isn't it "Chick"?  Bro doesn't know. The crowd really liked that one, especially the little kid a few rows down from us.  Bro looked for the piece online and played it for me, and also played "Malaguena" for me.  I texted Rudy about it, and he said that he misses one show and I gotta go and get legit. Bro said, "When I don't come, you guys make up names of songs."  Well, yeah.  Then we noticed that other people were looking up other versions of both songs on their phone. See how helpful it would be if we had a list of songs people play?  They weren't in the digital program, which was the same one from the other shows.  Even announcer Ryan T didn't tell us.  Free us from our ignorance, oh wise Bro!

GOLDEN EMPIRE

• Missing SCVC from hearing music from their "In Pieces" show.
• Missing SCV for that mellophone sustain.
• Vanguard alum a few rows in front of us were gave them a standing ovation.  They probably noticed their shows in the music, too.  Bro and I wondered who is on staff there, reviving some stuff from the Vanguard family.
• I told Bro about the really good rifle guy.  Rifle Guy did NOT let me down!

This picture is blurry when enlarged.
But look!  It's rifle guy mid-toss!

• Drums got to do their battery feature
• Dodie figured out that Edelweiss is actually "New World Symphony".  I informed Rudy. Bro was still trying to understand why we just made up names for stuff.  This is Golden Empire's corps song, so we tried to figure out when we saw them play it.  It was 2014, their first year.

GOLD

• The lights went out as they entered the stadium.  Ryan T said that under the black cloud that usually follws him, this was not his fault.  I mean, they have candles on the tables, they don't need light, right?  The lights turned on as they set up, though. (Is this deja vu for some of you?  That's because I wrote this on the report for the Ontario show because...well, because I'm rusty at this blogging thing!  I'll get it together someday.  But I reserve the right to remember anything I watched where my notes are wonky because I'm inebriated.  I have edited the other report.)
• "Kill the Lights" by the color guard.  We laughed at the irony of the song's title.
• "Night of La Reve"
• Knock, knock!  Aw, I'm missing Spirit of Atlanta.
• I sway my hips when they do.
• "When You Wish Upon A Star": glad Rudy wasn't there to pinch me.
  
  
  

PACIFIC CREST

• Yay! No tarp!  Bro aid it's because the Rose Bowl doesn't allow tarps on their field.  I would like for all stadiums to adopt this rule.
• I need to see "The Rocketeer" again.  I love that music!
• Trombone Choir: they did some kind of fanfare.  Double N said that if Tim would have been there, he would have said something about them not belonging there.  Aw, I miss Tim.
• "Insight" from PC's "Everglow" show
• "Ave Maria by Biebel
  
  
  

We never get to see the view of the Rose Bowl sign at night when we're here because of the location of our parking, but we got to see it on this night.

Also: Honda

We made the long trek down the stairs, and I was able to find the car.  I told Bro that it was by the trees. He saw a lot of trees.  I told him I knew which ones, and I was right!  

Well, that's it for the live drum corps for this year.  Sadness.  

I am looking forward to next year, DCI's 50th. 

Blackbird Fly

 So Cal Arena Showcase

Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Toyota Arena
Ontario, CA

I finagled things at work so that I could work from home this day, because I didn't want to deal with a farther drive to get to Ontario.  I had agreed to meet Rudy at a nearby movie theater because I didn't want him to pay the outrageous parking fee for his car.  Our meeting place was at Ontario Mills, and I went to the AMC.  He had texted me that he parked his car, and I couldn't remember what his car looked like.  So I called him and asked him where he was.  He said that he was parked next to a tree.  OK, Roo, there are many trees here.  Then he said he was going to wait for me at the curb of the theater, but I didn't see him there.  That's when I realized that he was at a different theater.  Duh, Sherry.   So I picked him up, we got gas so I wouldn't have to get it later unaccompanied in the darkness, and drove to the Toyota Arena.  Our parking was very close to the building itself, which was a good thing, because as we walked up to the arena, I saw the sign about clear bags.  I forgot to look for my clear bag earlier in the day, so we walked back to the car for me to get rid of my non-clear bag and just deal with a wallet, my keys, and my notebook/pen.  

The arena was nice and cool, such a respite from the heat outside.  I do miss watching drum corps in an indoor venue.  Our seats were on the right side of center, about 3/4 of the way up the stands.  At first, I wondered why we hadn't seen any drum corps events in this venue before, but when I saw how much space the first corps' pit was occupying, I realized that while the big corps would fit into the space, they wouldn't be able to do drill without marching all over each other.  Rudy and I took advantage of the little postcards they were distributing, and scanned the QR code for the program, which was helpful when I wrote the trip report from the Sunday event.  Alas, they did not list "Malagonia" or "Edelweiss" in any of the listed repertoire.

Tonight's event was MC'd by Dan Delgado of the Dan Delgado Sextet.  Their a combo of Dan on trumpet and lead singer, a saxophone player, an electric bass player, electric guitar player, keyboard player, and a drummer.  Dan said that when COVID happened, they couldn't do anything that had to do with marching anymore or any big ensemble work, so he put together this sextet.  Dan started out his drum corps career at 14 years old, marching in Pacific Crest in 1999 (Dracula!), and has done staff work with different corps.  So he was familiar with what goes on and I really appreciate that.  Also, the group is good!

DD6

Dan Delgado Sextet

I don't know names of songs, so here's what I know about the ones they played.

• "Hi dee hi dee hi dee ho"
• Jump Jivin'
• "I Wanna Be Like You" -- I knew this one immediately when Dan mentioned Louis Prima, because of Disney's "The Jungle Book".  Rudy did not know about this jazz legend contributing to the movie.  I also knew all of the words.
• "Just A Gigolo" -- OK, I know this one, too.  
• Something about "American" -- with dancers!  I think I might know one or two of them from my attending dances at the Pasadena Ballroom Association
• "Sing Sing Sing" -- Hey, I knew 3 of the song names!  Go, me!

Dancers

Golden Empire

• Not-Edelweiss happened.  We still don't know the name of this song.
• The kid in back of us loved the rainbow flags.  I loved to hear him voice his pleasure from his gut.  Kid knows how to use his diaphragm.

GE

DD6 played "Night Train".  I only know it's called that because Dan told us so.

Gold

Dan worked on the visual staff back when they were known as Hawthorne Gold.  He knows everyone!  

• "Blackbird" -- choir corps!  The kid in back of knew all of the words, and the song got in his head, so he sang it at other times during the night. That's some good parenting, teaching kids Beatles music.  :)

  

  Singing in the Dead of Night

  
  
• The front ensemble played a piece.  I think it was called "Etude", but that's way generic, so maybe I'm wrong.
• "Kill the Lights" -- performed by the color guard.  
• The battery played an interlude.
• "Speakeasy" show music.  It was fun to have all 14 of the contras come up to the front at the end of that.
• Gold's corps song, "When You Wish Upon A Star". Rudy pinched me because I didn't know what song they were about to play.  So I pinched him harder.  There was a lot of pain and giggling at the same time.  

Love those shiny gold drums!

DD6 played the theme from "Godfather".  I told you that those tables and candles reminded me of that movie.

Pacific Crest

Dan said that when he marched PC, they had white pants, which were unflattering.  I remember those!

• "The Rocketeer" -- nice guard work!  Did they just lick their symbols?
• PC Trombone Ensemble played "Donna Terra" and "Shenandoah"
• "In The Real World Now" featuring vocalist Ryan
• "Feeling Good" -- love that trumpet solo and big double purple/pink flags
  
  
  
• DD6 played Rihanna's "Umbrella" with the horn line -- they rehearsed that together just before the show started, and they sounded great!
  
  
  
• "Life on Mars"
• "Insight" from their 2019 Everglow show
• "Ave Maria"

I really enjoyed this showcase thing.  It was nice to see the performers do something other than the regular drum corps show, and now I want to book DD6 for an event somewhere.  Not that I have a big party to throw, but that would be fun!

Next Up:  Corps at the Crest

Driving Away

Ohmygosh, you guys.  The ordeal I just went through.  

I had a lovely dinner with my very good friends, food made by a spectacular and wonderfully accommodating chef, on a warm summer night in DTLA.  That's Downtown Los Angeles, to all of y'all country folk.  When I got back to my car in the underground parking lot, I opened the driver's door and in flew a HUGE BUG.  I quietly screamed behind my mask.  

The bug was flying around inside my car and was probably confused and didn't know how to get out.  It might have been a big moth, but I don't think they have those in DTLA.  Big cockroaches, yes.  With wings, though.  Now mind you, I’m not that squeamish about roaches, but I've only seen the ones with wings when I've been in the Philippines.  Or Texas.  I don't like the ones that fly because yikes!  Whatever it was, I wanted it out of my car.  I opened all of the doors to my car, hoping that I could guide it out of there. But I couldn't find it.  

I don’t know if it flew out when I was trying to open the doors but I didn't want to risk it surprising me again, so I closed the doors, turned on the car, and opened all of the windows and the sun roof.  I couldn't wait around to see it because I needed to get home and go to the bathroom, so off I went.

Mind you, this parking area had many, many levels, and as I wound around and around to get to the ground floor, I listened for that bug.  Nothing. When I finally exited the structure, I was aware that I was in DTLA and maybe shouldn't have all of my windows rolled down, but there weren't that many people walking around, so I risked it.  

As I drove on the freeway, air was whipping through the car, and my very long hair was whipping around, too, some getting in front of my face because I didn't stop to tie it back.   I kept trying to get it out of my face without driving recklessly and without letting my mask fall off, because you know what would happen?  That bug would probably surprise me again and I didn't want it to fly into my mouth mid-scream.  You know, because then I really would have caused an accident and I still needed to pee.

 I thought I could hear the bug flapping its wings and trying to fight against the wind.  Going 80 mph, I thought that it had to be taken by the air somehow, right?  No, I'm not crazy enough to think that I was outrunning the bug.  I just thought that the violence of the wind would throw it out of there.  I also don't know if what I heard was the bug or a couple of turtle-killing straws that some fast food person had forced into my hand against my will.  But I heard something back there, and it wasn't the drum corps music on my car stereo.  

When I finally got home, I opened all of the car doors again, but couldn't see the bug.  I forgot to look for the straws.  I just hoped that it didn't get tangled in my hair.  I looked in the mirror, and I looked like Witch Hazel from Looney Tunes.  Like, if I could dash away quickly, bobby pins would drop.  Bobby pins that clearly I wasn't wearing before.  But now I'm dreading that the bug is going to still be in my car when I leave in the morning.  Wish me luck!