Playing Checkers on the Field

 Mid-Cal Champions Showcase

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Bulldog Stadium at Cal State Fresno

Fresno, CA

Following up a 4th of July that started with a comedy of errors, this day wasn't much better.  Our fire alarm started beeping and hurting Coda's ears.  There was no smoke.  No one was cooking.  I turned off my TV, but it sounded again.  I finally turned off the alarm, and it didn't beep anymore, but it was weird.  I really just wanted to get dressed in case a fire actually occurred, but Dad was trying to investigate and talk to me about it as I was in my bathrobe and not much else.  So I pretty much kicked him out of my bedroom so I could put on clothes.  I finished packing up my stuff into the car and said goodbye to everyone in the house, and drove to Bro's place.  

We had about a 2.5 hour drive to Fresno, and checked into our hotel.  Bro said that we would have no problem remembering our room number, because it was almost like our home address where we grew up.  We relaxed for a little bit while Bro looked for a place for us to eat dinner.  We could see a fire truck parked in the hotel lot.  Bro found out that the firefighters were housed in our hotel while their station was being built.  I don't know if it's a new station or if they're remodeling an old one.  Perhaps I should talk to one of them about my fire alarm.

Bro chose Mochuela, which is a tapas restaurant situated in the lobby of a hotel.  There was a huge bar, and there were owls everywhere for decoration.  Yes, "mochuela" means "little owl".  Did I get any photos of these owls?  Nope.  But I did get a photo of the chandelier made of what looks like gold dining ware, but it's probably not metal because it would be really heavy.

Please don't fall on us.

I ordered wine: Pazo Cilleiro Albarino from Rias Biaxas, Spain.  The server said that was her favorite because it is very light and refreshing.  Bro chose a cocktail:  Bourbon Raspberry Sour.  We both enjoyed our drinks.

To Vanguard!

 The food we ordered was also delicious:

Pork Belly Skewers
Harissa glaze, grilled pineapple,
pickled veggies

Empanadas de Elote
Roasted corn, Oaxaca cheese,
jalapeno, red onion, paprika,
cilantro lime creme

Moroccan Street Tacos
Sliced flank steak,
 roasted black bean corn salsa, 
pickled red onion, cilantro lime chimichurri

Bacon-wrapped Dates
Toasted almonds, goat cheese stuffing

Everything was going so well until I reached for a bacon-wrapped date and when I brought it back to my plate, I knocked over my wine glass and it broke, wine spilling all over the place, onto our clothes, into my bag, and onto the floor.  I wasn't even drunk!  Mortified, I apologized a lot to our server and helped find the pieces of glass.  I swear, we cannot have a drum corps trip without some kind of thing going wrong, usually involving eating.  We laughed and laughed.  Bro gave them a nice tip while I took my bag to the bathroom to make sure I didn't have any glass in there to cut me when I reached in to get something.  I didn't find any at that time, but did find a piece later on when I fully cleaned my bag at the hotel.  Thank goodness I didn't cut my hand while I was at the event!

We arrived at Bulldog Stadium, and Bro was directed to park on the grass.  We walked to the marketplace and I bought a pair of Blue Knights basketball shorts.  So I guess it's the year of buying drum corps shorts.  I wanted to take a picture of this because it was like they were welcoming Vanguard.

The entrance to our seats was up a hill, and from that hill, there was a view of some of the corps warming up on the baseball field.  

Our seats were in row 54, at the top of the stadium, section 11, seats 10-11, on the 50-yard line.  The field had a lot of logos on it.

View of Field

I like the bulldog the most.

The Star-Spangled Banner was played by Austin Barry on trumpet.  He is a Blue Devils alum and current BD-B staff.  

Bro has already decided that he does not like the way the announcer reads aloud.

VANGUARD CADETS

Repertoire: "Somewhere New" (music selections not yet available)

NICE dynamic contrast in "Johanna" (from Sweeney Todd). Bro thinks the corps would look better without the headbands, because they are inconsistent, some wider than others, not all placed on the same part of the head.  I like the snare feature on the platforms.  They almost hit someone when they brought the platform upstage at the beginning.  The show is not finished yet.

Playing near the V on the field

Bro, annoyed about the announcer: "If everything is dramatic, nothing is dramatic."  

I could not stop giggling.

He then asked me if this was a full sentence:

I don't think it is.

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Good work, rifles!  Nice horn trio.  Their show is still not done.  My only photo that came out from this show makes it look like the color guard members are sleeping, but I assure you that they weren't.

Maybe sleepy, but not sleeping

GOLD

Bro:  "Do you think that guy has learned how to play the piano yet?"

Sis: "No."

I was wrong!  He fake-played 3 notes.

Play those keys!

They got their flags, and I like the ombre, especially the big blue/white ones at the end.  

Nice sound!

Costume Change!

But then the show was not done.

BLUE DEVILS B

Repertoire: "I AM" --  I AM an Individual; I AM Part of a Family; I AM Flawed;  I AM Powerful, all original music by J. Meehan, S. Clark, and C. Tantavirojn

As they were rolling their props into the stadium, I thought they had oil barrels, and that the show was about oil  It was not.   The barrels broke apart into 3 sections, and they made them into little stands/platforms.  

Bro: "They're checkers!"

He wanted to play with them in the end zone.

King me!

We like the fact that they're wearing shakos.  Bro noticed that their uniforms perfectly matched the logo on the field.

It's as if they planned for the stadium.

Their music was well-played, and their show is finished.  Color guard uniforms and flags aren't ready yet, though.

<Intermission>

40 minutes long.  This is what happens when shows aren't finished and the corps don't wait until their scheduled start time.  Also, sometimes it's in the schedule that way, I guess so the judges can eat or whatever.

ACADEMY

Bro likes the dynamics in "Anthem", because it builds and builds, and then they play softly.  We both think that they should feature that song a little more, because we really like the music from "Chess".  I did not catch the "W" in the negative space near the end of "Oompa Loompa".  Wait.  Everyone has a hat now, but Willy doesn't?  Oh, he gets one later.  The color guard member doing handstamps on the ramp is now on the field, but it's harder to see her because she kind of blends in with the design on the ramp.  Great energy, Academy!

Has anyone seen my hat?

See the sideways W on the flags?

Gray in front of gray

MANDARINS

I can hear the Depeche Mode at the very beginning, now that I remember to listen for it.  ACK! That big rack almost hit the drummer.  Freaks me out every time.  My boyfriend didn't have to run to play his contra anymore, so they must have filled that hole in the hornline.  He has a lot more energy and breath support now for the final push.  

Those used to be all gray, no blue.

The Squat

BLUE KNIGHTS

Repertoire: "Vibe" -- Neglected Space by I. Heap; Wailers by B. McFerrin; Don't Worry Be Happy by B. McFerrin; She by L. Mvula; Locked Out of Heaven by B. Mars, P. Lawrence, & A. Levine

Their platforms do not fit into the checkerboard.  They do make me want to eat ube-flavored polvoron, though.  

Not the right color for checkers, either.

From our angle, the shoulder of the drum major's uniform looks like an owl.  

Mochuela

Ooh, I like how the neon color guard uniforms pop against the indigo platforms!

Girl, you're standing on my polvoron.

I really like the look of this show.  Their flags look like a throwback to when they had hand-drawn flags.  I like the blue to white ombre on the shakos, which look like the new shorts I bought!  

The horns sound good, but need some cleaning to be more in unison.  I'm a little sad that we won't see them until Finals, because I'd like to see this show multiple times before then.

SCV

I don't remember the props forming arcs in groups of 2 at the beginning of the show, around the perimeter of the field.  Ooh, they have their flags!  All of them are very pretty, and I would like one of each, please.  They gave us more tonight, but it's still not done.  AUGH.  I heard a couple of intonation missteps by the soloists, but the ensemble sounds great.  Those drums are hella cool and got another feature in the added stuff.  They also added some electronoic ambient sounds.  Nice single-handed rifle catch on the left side during the horn sectional feature.

Looks like the drum major has her
own umbrella and chairs.

Blow those horns!

BLUE DEVILS

OK, I figured out why I don't like their "Moon River".  I do not need all of the extra stuff that they add.  To me, the beauty of the song is its simplicity.  

That blue thing that two of the color guard members are holding: WHAT?!??!  I kept thinking it would do something later.  This is what I felt they were thinking: "I am going to carry this very carefully and march very slowly to get on the platform.  Then I'm going to roll it like a small bedroll.  Then I'm going to put it down.  Then I'm going to pick it up again and hold it like a baby.  Then 3 of my friends will also hold one each and show it prominently to everyone."  BUT WHAT IS IT?!!?!  

Bro explained to me that it represents art pieces where the color blue is featured in different eras.  So it confuses me the way modern art usually confuses me, like I was confused by their Dada show.

That rotating line was not straight ever.  Not even when they were on the 50.  If that's on purpose, then yuck.  I like the formation of the platforms at the end, as it looks like a river, especially with the flags spinning, making it look like flowing water.

The show is growing on me, but I just can't with the Moon River.  There seemed to be some phasing issues, maybe due to the amplification.  The piccolo trumpet solo sounded off, like there were some intonation issues.  This is Bro's "Towelie Show".  Watch "South Park" to help you understand.

The blue thing and the brass

River

   Scores

Open Class:

4) 49.90 -- Golden Empire

3) 56.40 -- Vanguard Cadets

2) 60.90 -- Blue Devils B

1) 61.10 -- Gold

World Class:

5) 65.35 -- Academy

4) 68.30 -- Blue Knights

3) 71.30 -- Mandarins

2) 75.90 -- Santa Clara Vanguard

1) 77.60 -- Blue Devils

We went to the marketplace and I saw a Blue Knights shirt for Double N but will need to get it at Finals because they were about to close.  We went back to our hotel and parked near the fire truck, hoping our car would still be there in the morning.

We have a couple of free days before the next show.

Next up:  Moonlight Classic