I Like The Shimmery Everything

 Corps at the Crest 

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Rose Bowl

Pasadena, CA

Dodie and Glenn met at my house so we could carpool to the Rose Bowl.  I followed directions today and drove past our usual parking lot entrance because the guy told us to keep going.  So we still ended up in lot K, but closer to the golf course...but not that much closer than we usually park, which didn't matter because we get there early enough not to have to walk very far anyway.  We got in a long line, and we were told that they were opening up Gate F, so we could go farther to a shorter line, or stay in the long line.  We opted for the former.  Dodie couldn't get through security because she had a Hydro Flask and they only allow empty plastic bottles, or sealed plastic bottles of water.  Glenn pointed out the family in front of me put the mom's not-clear backpack into the dad's clear backpack and thought they would be fine.  The bag did get manually searched, unlike my only-clear bag, which was fine because I told myself not to bring my camera or anything else they would scrutinize.  Don't tell me I don't learn from the past.  So Dodie needed to go check her flask in with the other bags to be checked (not checked for security, but like a coat check where you don't get it back until you leave).  You know what they had for us when we got into the gate?  QR codes for programs.  What a freaking concept.  I, of course, thought it was just an ad for something and promptly put in my bag without looking at it and didn't realize it had the performance order and the QR code for the program.  Glenn showed me later when we sat down, and then I never took my own out of the bag and just consulted him the rest of the night.  I mean, he was looking at it anyway, so thanks, Double N!

So Glenn and I shopped, and I bought a teal Pacific Crest bucket hat that I had seen in their online store.  I contemplated getting the Sweeney Todd shirt for Gold, and the lady at the booth took off her sunglasses to reveal a nasty bruise around her eye, taking up a quarter of her face.  She told us what happened and we wished her well.  Glenn saw that Blue Knights had a new tech polo shirt, but they didn't have his size.  So I asked about it, and they said they had some in the trailer, and they could go get it later.  He said he would come back after the show and they said they'd have it by then.  We found Dodie and I went to the Boston booth to get a whale tank top from their 2023 show.  The guy at the cashier said it was really hot but he was glad to be in California, as they hadn't been here for a really long time.  He wasn't talking about DCI Championships in 2007, but a time before that which I don't remember at all.  Maybe he meant him personally, and not the corps.  We also went to the Academy booth so that Dodie could get her A-CAT-emy shirt, and I got a London Fog Latte shirt and a pretty pen, which I used for today's show notes.

We went to the entrance to our seats, and only the elevators were functioning, so no escalators this time.  We got our wristbands and were also told to go to the opposite side from which we are accustomed to sitting.  Our seats were in Section 104, row B, seats 5-7, on the right 30-yard line.  We got our food, which this time was cheeseburger sliders, mac and cheese, fried dumplings with chicken inside, and veggies standing in ranch dressing in a cute little shot-glass sized cup.   Everything was yummy, much better than last year.  

My plate.
I don't know why we have to pay for water.

When I got to the dessert later, they had cookies and brownies.  I stared for a while.  A man came up next to me and said that the brownies looked really complicated.  I agreed, as they kind of looked like cake with a bunch of stuff on top.  So I opted for 2 different kinds of cookies instead.  

The Star-Spangled Banner was sung live by soprano vocalist Brianna.  She can still sing that high note!  Thanks for a beautiful rendition again, Brianna!  I listened to it while I was still inside, having just picked up my cookies.

Hi, Ryan Turner!  Good to hear your voice announcing the show!

FREELANCERS

Repertoire:  "The Magic of the Moment" -- Give It One  by M. Ferguson; Believe in You  by A. Marshall; Momento Magico by (not listed in program)

This year's show was a tribute to the 2002 Freelancers mini-corps, so you'd think I'd be able to look up the composer of the last song that way, but no.  They didn't play any of these songs that year.  Or at least I don't think so.  I guess the tribute was that they were playing on G bugles, which was cool.

Nice that they have chairs to sit on.

Then this blue helicopter hovered over the Rose Bowl for several minutes.  I wondered if someone from the BD organization was in it.  They didn't do anything but hover for a while and it was weird because it didn't look like any of our law enforcement choppers.  I mean, you could be less intrusive and just use a drone, buddy.

BLUE DEVILS C

I like seeing them do what the big corps do.  It's kind of difficult to describe, but they do look like mini BD.  Good job on the "As Time Goes By" duet!  

Casablanca Fans

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Music was better today.  I like that contra feature, as well as the bass drums.

Love these colors

Basses!

Full Corps

IMPULSE

Oh!  We're supposed to look up to see dragons!  This is the 3rd time I've watched the show, and I just got that because Dodie told me they were doing music from "How To Train Your Dragon".  I'm a little slow.  So the rockers are the viking ships?  Or are we in the clouds?  They caught the frisbee!  Yay!  The show needs more dragons, though.  Maybe then I would have gotten the theme quicker without reading, you know, a PROGRAM.  I'm not bitter.  Dodie was excited to see the show again, but was disappointed when two guys sat in front of us because she had to kind of contort herself to get unobscured pictures.  Then they left!  So they were there just for that corps, and to annoy her.  UGH.

Looking Up

Yellow Rifles

BLUE DEVILS B

They did a different song for their sound check, and didn't need extra time to fix their electronics.  Six is a lot of cymbals, right?  Toss the rifle really high, catch it, then let it drop to between your legs so that you can catch it with your lower leg.  Fancy.  Dance Break!  Dude behind us said they sounded better today. I agree.

Showing off the Zoom on my camera

GOLD

Oh, there is another side to those big screens with different pictures.  I didn't notice the other couple of times.  The other screens were of a pie shop and an attic room.  They need to clean up their music as it is still muddy.

S:  I like this show.  People die and stuff.

Pie Shop Screens

Straight Razor Dancing  

People Dying

Sweeney

Pie Filling

<Intermission>

I ate more mac and chees and veggies.  The offerings at the bar were boring, so I didn't get any kind of cocktail this time.

CASCADES

They still didn't use the colors on their props,  I didn't think it was that windy, but I don't know what it's like at field level.  Their music was much better, and they had very nice solos.  Glenn pointed out that the guy on the cymbal rack on the left side was really getting into it during "Love Song" and his hair was bouncing.  Cute!

ACADEMY

Very nice euphonium (baritone?) / mello duet.  Great percussion feature with front ensemble and battery.  Nice reacton from the crowd when the umbrellas opened up.  At the end of the show, the flags and the uniform change magically turn the fog to a clear sunrise.

Fog is coming in

I love double flags

Duet

BLUE KNIGHTS

Hmmm... I don't remember any talking during this show before.  Maybe I heard the drips yesterday?  Their music was a little muddy today, but the oboe solo was really pretty.  Dodie doesn't understand why they would use so much of that color.  I will not tell you what she said it looked like, but the description was not flattering.

Drip

Pretty Blue Flags

MANDARINS

G:  I like the shimmery drums.

S:  I like the shimmery everything.

Great music tonight!  Hey!  Did that thing light up before?  I don't remember seeing that (when one of the props is vertical and the soloist pops up).

Shimmery Everything

Shimmery Drums

See the person hanging from the pole?

Is that lit up?

PACIFIC CREST

Even though I prefer the live announcer, I do like that a woman starts to introduce the corps, and it ends up with a demonic voice saying "PACIFIC CREST".  There's an apple in the tree now.  Oh, they have two cross formations.  Um, but they didn't have crosses in Eden, did they?  Is this a Paradise Lost thing that I don't know about, because I didn't read it?  They're beating up those snakes.  The more I see this show, the more I like it!  Great show, PC!  I like that drill!  

Eek!  There's also a snake now.

Mellophone Soloist

Half Star

Logo

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD

Wow.  That's a drum corps!  I was on the edge of my seat trying to capture all of the drill formations and the musical riffs.  The horns, the spinning, the drums, the corps-reography, everything!  Wow, that front ensemble -- the marimbas!  I was overwhelmed.  I loved hearing the crowd "ooh" and "aah" and "whoa" at the quiet moments as well as the big ones.  

I love the absence of big props

We'll just build our own prop right here

Guys, help me get these things off my arms!

V

Ah, that feels so much better!

Company Front

Ending formation

BOSTON CRUSADERS

They spelled "BOOM"!  I love those rifles.  OK, let's throw them over the drum line, then!  The twirlers were juggling 3 batons.  I love the dynamic contrasts in the horns.  The guys in front of us were taken aback many times.  At one point a lady in back of us just yelled, "WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!"  We laughed, as there is just so much to see and hear and it's all just crazy good.  The guy hit the huge bass drum with a huge mallet toward the end.

D:  Oh!  It exploded!  

Contra Front

Contra Butts

Look up!  Are there dragons?

I just like this formation.

BLUE DEVILS

I know this isn't the same violinist from their "Ghostlight" show, but they sure know how to find them.  Go, Guard!  Glenn said that the drum major was the one playing the soprano sax solo.  I really love their rendition of "Uninvited".  

Show Start

Google Photos made this for me.

Encore
Pacific Crest played the Shostakovich piece from their show, as well as their corps song, "Ave Maria".

I don't know why the color guard turned around to face the crowd after the Ave Maria.  Were they trying to tell us to clap?  Or they just wanted to make sure we were seeing their faces and not just their backs?  Because the drummers didn't turn around like that.  

SCORES

Open Class

5) 56.90 -- Blue Devils C

4) 63.40 -- Golden Empire

3) 65.05 -- Impulse

2) 68.20 -- Gold

1) 73.45 -- Blue Devils B

World Class

8) 69.25 -- Cascades

7) 73.25 -- Academy

6) 74.55 -- Pacific Crest

5) 78.05 -- Blue Knights

4) 81.05 -- Mandarins

3) 85.00 -- Santa Clara Vanguard

2) 85.25 -- Blue Devils B

1) 86.75 -- Boston Crusaders

Congrats, Boston!!  I'm so glad that they came out to California this year so that my friends could see them.  

Since Glenn needed to go back to the Blue Knights booth, I decided to buy the Gold shirt while I waited.  It's the straight razor!  By the time I went to the Blue Knights booth, the guy still needed to get Glenn's shirt.  As we waited for him, I bought some stickers.  The guy was going to give them to me for free as a thank you for waiting, but I told him that I couldn't take money from the corps.  We both said our thank yous in Tagalog and after Glenn finally bought his shirt, we went to the car.  We sat there for a while because traffic was at a stand still.  One driver tried to back out of his space even though the cars had moved maybe one foot, and then got so mad at the other driver for not letting him in that he parked his car, got out of the car, and stormed over to the other car to yell at the driver.  Dude, calm down.  We just saw a cool show and Boston was so good.  You don't need to ruin the evening with your impatience.  I just wanted to get away from that mess, so I was glad that the cars parked behind me had left so I could back up and go to another exit.  

So that's it for the So Cal drum corps shows for me this year.  My next posts about drum corps will be from back East.  Until then, I'll probably have "Uninvited" in my head at least once a day.