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.