Corps at the Crest - Pasadena
Saturday, July 8, 2023
Rose Bowl
Pasadena, CA
The drum corps tour schedule was kind of screwy this year, with corps driving down south then up north then down south again. I don't know how that's supposed to help with their gas expenses, but I think it had something to do with the unavailability of the Rose Bowl for whatever date. If so, I would like to make a suggestion to the Rose Bowl administrators: please save the original planned weekend dates and save the corps some money from now on. Bro did not feel like driving to Fresno for hours and sit in the heat then come back down right afterward so he could go to the Rose Bowl. They had not refunded his tickets once we found out that SCV wasn't marching this year. Thank goodness the folks for the Stanford show did give the refund.
Bro, V, Dodie, and Glenn met at my house so that we could carpool to the Rose Bowl. Tim was out this year because he had other plans. See? Another thing that the screwy schedule affected is thar I don't get to see Tim this year. Boooooo. The line to park was very slow, and Bro contemplated parking across the street from the lot. But then when we got to the front of the line, we were told that the machine wasn't working, so we got to park for free! Well, that's much nicer!
The gates were still not open at the time our information gave us, so we took our Rose Bowl selfie while we waited and then stood in the shade of the ticket booth.
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| The Cool Kids (at least I wished we were cool) |
I had a tough time at security because they told me to go through the metal detector with my bag even though I told them it would beep, and showed them through my clear bag that things would set it off. Then they took me aside to look through my bag as I walked through the detector again. It did not beep this time. Then they had issues with my camera because my lens extends. OK, first they had an issue just with the camera. Then they asked if it was a professional camera. Then they asked if I could take off the lens. Then they had to measure it to see how far it extended. I was highly irritated at this point. They were telling me that I could go back to my car to leave it in there, but I did not want to leave my camera in the car to get stolen. I asked if I could check it somewhere and they said no. Mind you, I saw people getting bags checked in at a stand earlier while we were waiting for the gates to open. I finally passed the stupid inspection and got back in line (yes, I had to go through the detector without my bag AGAIN!). Then there were a lot of people in line that didn't know how to get to the bar code on their phones. People, we've been doing digital tickets for how many years now? I don't know how complicated it might have been for these tickets because we had fancy printed ones for our fancy seats. Yes, we were spoiled last year, and don't want to go back to the seats among the masses. Anyway, I was livid and hot and didn't want to talk to any of my friends until I calmed down from the whole security experience. So for next year, someone needs to remind me to leave my camera at home if they see me carrying it in my clear bag to go to the Rose Bowl. Maybe I'll bring a big tablet and take pictures with it and obstruct everyone's view with that instead, because it's not listed on the prohibited items.
I checked the merchandise booths, and Mandarins was there! I didn't think I wanted anything, and since Dodie and I didn't want to buy any refreshments, we went up the escalators to the club level. There was some weird smell that V said smelled like a dead animal. Ah, yes, I remember that smell from when we used to go to Salton Sea. Blech. We got our wristbands and checked out the food before getting a table for all of us. The food they offered was crudites, mac and cheese balls, and pulled BBQ pork with cole slaw, similar to the previous year. I ordered a margarita at the bar, and the bartender asked if I wanted a particular flavor. I chose blood orange. It was yummy.
I left my friends at the table and sat in my seat for the show so that I could listen to the national anthem. Our seats were in the first row of the club level, Section 107, A 10-14, at the left 40-yard line.
The Star-Spangled Banner was beautifully sung a capella by Soprano Briana Fennel. Whoa, that high note was HIGH! I particularly love that she didn't add a bunch of embellishments. I saw her later in the restroom and told her that I really liked her performance.
The Freelancers Alumni Corps played a standstill performance. Songs included "Breaking Up is Hard to Do"; "Bridge Over Troubled Water", and "Macarthur Park".
VESSEL
"It was a dark and stormy (k)night..." OH! He jumped over the other guy's cymbal! I don't remember the trombones being there. Perhaps they hadn't been done with the 2nd piece yet the last time we saw them.
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| I like that flag |
This is how V saved her dessert plate.
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| Place cookies here |
IMPULSE
I heard that chord this time, but only because Bro brought it to my attention. Way to go, Guard!!! They did not have their tarps because the Rose Bowl doesn't allow them on their grass. But I guess it's OK that the sidelines are covered where the pits play.
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| Soloist for main "Top Gun" theme |
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| Cloud Flags |
GOLDEN EMPIRE
I see the color guard making snake-like motions with their necks now. I don't remember those tables or the pink flags with the yellow swirl. Bro reminded me of the bass guitar player that I like to watch.
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| My bass player |
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| Cymbal players on tables |
GOLD
The "Separate Ways" duet was really good! Ooh, they added a creepy ending. "A new set of hands will rule." So we're never totally free of having a puppetmaster. Scary.
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| His strings have a longer reach now. Are those supposed to be us? |
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| Kneel Before Puppetmaster |
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| The New Puppetmaster |
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| So Creepy |
<Intermission>
V thought she wated a snack until she saw the lines and crowds downstairs. So we just went back up the elevator and observed the crowd. They never put out any ice cream for dessert, and I'm blaming my brother. They did have brownies and cookies, though.
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| Staying away from riff raff |
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| The crowd below us |
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| View of Huntington Hospital |
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| Photo Op Typical Sherry Selfie where I barely got UCLA and the 100 logo in there |
ACADEMY
Glenn: "Are they going to run around like that for the whole show?" (Sun and Moon running around the circular stage)
My favorite flag of theirs is the last one with the eclipse. I like how the horns pointed their bells toward the soloist as they played, to bring attention to the soloist's high note. Bro said that they took out the costume change at the end, which I didn't even remember. Bro says that he thinks I'm right about the ballad being "And So It Goes", and that they got the program wrong last week. Their performance of the piece was especially pretty today.
I looked it up today, and we were right!
Corrected Repertoire: "Sol Et Luna" -- Sun & Moon and Fate Written in The Stars by R. E. Adamsons & F. E. Smith; And So It Goes by B. Joel; Rocket to The Moon by T. Bergersen
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| Sun and Moon |
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| Full Corps |
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| I like the cymbal work |
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| Horns pointed to soloist |
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| Sun and Moon Again |
BLUE KNIGHTS
Repertoire: "Unharnessed" -- Requiem by G. Verdi; Released by J. Ausdemore & J. Catherall; Break On Through (To the Other Side) by The Doors; Submission by L. Gilreath & J. Ausdemore; Absolution of Word by J. Ausdemore & J. Catherall; Fly Away by L. Kravitz; Freedom by P. Williams
I wonder if they'll do more with that harness thing as the season progresses. The obelisks were in their logo's dot formation! They also had dots on their final flags. Then the obelisks got tired and needed to lie down.
Glenn: "That girl sounds like Moana."
Sher: "Choose. Someone. Else!"
I love those electric blue flags. Great flag work!
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| Obelisks as Dots |
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| Dots Logo for Reference |
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| Love these flags! |
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| Before Being Unbound |
MANDARINS
The Mandarins are an example of why we need to bring hats back to drum corps. To heck with seeing the kids' faces. Trombones, hang your hats, here. They sound so good! Much better rifles today.
My favorite salute this season
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| Rifle Toss |
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| Love That Red |
PACIFIC CREST
It kinda looked weird without the beach tarp. Glenn noticed that one of the trombone players is also the second drum major. I didn't notice that they were moving from the field to their conducting stand. I figured out for myself that it is the dissonance of he music that I don't really like. I mean, I like occasional dissonance, but maybe it's just not the right chordal choices for my taste. I like the red flags with the gold accents.
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| Where's the Beach? |
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| Goddess is Tired |
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| Crest Formation |
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| Guard with Pretty Red Flags |
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| Another Crest Formation! I don't think I realized this was happening at the time I took the picture. |
BLUE DEVILS
I noticed this time that their extra clothes for the costume change are hanging behind the art pieces. Remember when I didn't like that I could see their closets in the Metamorph show? At least they're kind of hiding this time, but now I can't unsee it, so I don't like it again. They add the other layer of clothing after the ballad. Their solos are just WOW and I really liked the end of the Joni Mitchell song.
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| Hey! They formed one of those puzzle things! |
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| See how all of their rifles are in the same position? That's called "CLEAN". |
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| End Formation |
Encore
PACIFIC CREST
They played a piece of their show music. Wait. But I like some of this music. Is it from the show? I'm all confused now. Later on in the piece I heard he dissonance. It was from the middle of the show.
Ave Maria by Beibl -- hmmm...sounds like a new arrangement.
Scores
Open Class:
4) 56.70 -- Vessel
3) 59.15 -- Impulse
2) 60.85 -- Golden Empire
1) 65.75 -- Gold
World Class:
We have a tie!
4) 71.1 -- Academy and Pacific Crest
3) 72.45 -- Blue Knights
2) 78.05 -- Mandarins
1) 84.10 -- Blue Devils
BD is still the top in the nation, and Mandarins are in the top 6! WOW. I'm so happy for them!
I wanted to look at the Mandarins booth one more time to look at a dragon shirt with Dodie, but she already had that one. Then I saw that they had a shirt from last year's show, and MY BOYFRIEND'S FACE WAS ON THE SHIRT!! The line was long and I wondered if I should get it online, but my friends said they would wait for me. Then I saw other stuff, and bought a plush and a tank top. The plus is a Panda for the Mandarins: a PANDARIN! Bro was not surprised that I bought it mostly because of his name. They really need to sell some plush dragons.
I took a poll of the newbies. Glenn's favorite show was the Mandarins, and V's was the Blue Devils. V has always liked BD shows more than me, so I was not surprised. Now that Dodie understands the concept of BD's show, she likes it, but still not as much as the Mandarins show.
It took a while for us to get out of the lot. I was glad that I took the time to buy the shirt because we probably would have just waited in the car for a longer period of time.
So now we get to wait a month before seeing drum corps in person again. DCI will be broadcasting their Big, Loud, Live show again on August 10, so go see it! As of the day I write this, Pacific Crest has pulled ahead of the Academy and is 12th in the nation, Mandarins still 5th, and Blue Devils in 1st. We are very lucky to have the opportunity to see such great corps in our state! It's going to be an interesting Finals Week!
