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