Santa Clarita, meet Vanguard

 Gold Showcase

Thursday, July 9, 2026

College of the Canyons

Santa Clarita, CA

Unlike the week before, I took the day off from work so I could take my time getting ready to go to Bro's house.  We picked up Dodie on the way, who proceeded to lock herself out of her house.  We waited until she could get a key from her neighbor so that she wouldn't have to bug them late at night.  Bro drove us to Santa Clarita, and there was a bit of traffic because it was rush hour.  When we arrived there, the people in the car in front of us kept stopping to talk to people, which was annoying because we just wanted to park our car and do drum corps stuff.  I almost lost my mind by the 4th time they stopped to talk to somebody, probably about where they should park.  It was nice to have a parking structure to be in the shade.  One of the drum lines was practicing there, too, so it was quite loud in the structure.  

Bus parking was next to the structure, and Bro showed us how Mandarins' trailer had been repurposed for the Academy's use.

While we were looking at the souvenir booths, I heard a lady saying, "Oh, no.  They're coming in the wrong way."  She was talking about the Bluecoats' trailers.  Somehow they managed, but they did need to do some extra maneuvering.  I wish that I had noticed how cool their trucks were before they completely passed, but I did get a little bit.  In the dark blue section, they have photos of their past shows, so I was trying to figure out which ones were depicted.

We got our wristbands (we actually had to show our tickets this time), and I also bought a program that was good for the rest of the So Cal shows.  Bro went ahead to the seats while Dodie and I checked out the concessions.  I got a hot dog and chips, and the hot dog was kinda sad.  I described it later as the ones from "Everything Everywhere All At Once" -- not plump and juicy.  But I was grateful for food, and the volunteers were nice.  

Our seats were on the right 40-yard line in the Super Premium Regular Section D, Row 28, seats 13-15, bench-style seating with no back support.  We were grateful to be in the shade of the press box.  The judges were in the section next to us, at the top of the section.  I was jealous of their desks.  

Hello, Santa Clarita!

The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by a brass ensemble from Gold.  Thank you for the live music!  I liked this rendition better than the one from last week.  

BLUE DEVILS C

Repertoire: "Metallic" -- Foundry by J. Mackey; Metallic Figures by K. Day; Nothing Else Matters by Metallica; Idol (from Oshi no Ko) by Ayase 

I miss the little kids.  That little boy from the other night that was conducting BD should be in BD-C.  Maybe he's in BD Junior, I don't know.  Anyway, they have pyramids and orange (copper?) sleeves.  Great job, trumpet / mellophone duet!  Lots of rifle drops, but it's early in the season.  That flag looks like chocolate swirled with not-ice-creamy swirls.  Like a disappointing kind of dessert.  

Slappin' the Bass

GOLDEN EMPIRE

The color guard now has pink accents and flags with color, and pink rifles.  Ooh, they moved the speed bags!  We didn't see the drum break last time; I guess them sleeping or dying or whatever at the end last time was actually the end of the show.  Bro has expectations because he's familiar with the show now.  "Not good ones."  Ouch.

Pink Rifle Ripple

Evidence of movement

Time to Sleep

BLUE DEVILS C

Repertoire: "Mise En Place" -- Everything in Its Right Place by Radiohead; Fly With Me by

I. Maalouf;  Alone in a Crowd by Jeff Beal; Come What May (from "Moulin Rouge!") by 

D. Baerwald & K. Gilbert; Rush by Seatbelts; Closing Time by D. Wilson (Semisonic)

They have yellow sleeves.  The sleeve color is what distinguishes the A, B, and C corps.  Not that I'll remember the next day which is which.  They have tables and they wear aprons for the first part of the show.  Bro:  "What am I looking at?"  I wasn't sure.  I thought maybe it was a chef's hat, but I honestly didn't know.  Or a cowboy hat?  But why?  By the end of the show, I decided the brass players had Big Stick sleeves, and now I want a Big Stick popsicle. 

TOO.  MANY.  MOVIE.  QUOTES!  

Cute apron with their logo

Plates on Flags, Plates on Hands

THE ACADEMY

Dodie said she liked their harem pants.  I told her that what she was seeing was not part of the pant, but was actually attached to their sleeves.  They are nice, though.The color guard needs to do more with those silver rings.  I wish they either had color on them or some fabric or something, because they don't show up very well on the field.  The trumpets playing through the black sheet holes are highlighting the saber-swallowing color guard, I guess, because they're still not doing anything for me. Dodie cried during the ballad. Told you she would like this show!

Hey, those drummers in back aren't using sticks.

Favorite moment

Headstand through Hoop?  No problem.

PACIFIC CREST

Yay!  The show is more complete now that the centerpiece bud thing opened.  This show is so pretty!  Dodie loved it.  I got a shirt before today's show because I really like the colors.  The music was really well done.  I need to watch the marimbas during "Moonlight Sonata" next time because I realized too late that they were the ones making that gorgeous music so nice.

Fly!  Be Free!

Leaf Loveliness

Closed

Open!

<Intermission>

I went to the restroom and saw the concession line was really long, so I'm glad I ate earlier.  I hope those volunteers got the hang of the Square pay system by then.  Dodie bought a PC shirt.  

BLUE DEVILS

Probably my favorite uniform on them in a while.  I like the colors on the pants.  Don't be surprised if I say that every time I see them.  A helicopter hovered over us during the show.  Bro wondered if it was planned.  I told him that something similar happened during BD's show at the Rose Bowl last year, and we were even more suspicious then because the helicopter was blue.  Maybe some rich fan just likes to watch them from above.  Maybe they do that instead of using drones to record themselves.  Whatever the reason, it was very distracting.  I love the low brass with their fast fingers!  Right on, BD!  So good.

Cool Drums and Cool Pants

Balancing and Spinning at the same time

Love those flag poses

So here, he looks like he's wearing the huge prop like their wings...

But here, he's behind the prop.
So, is that because the wax melted off?
I'm overthinking this show.

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD

Repertoire: "With Reckless Abandon" -- Remains (from All Quiet on the Western Front) by 

V. Bertelmann; Baiana by Barbatuques; Visit Me (from "ZeroZeroZero") by Mogwai; Predator (from "Voices at the End") by J. Psathas; Addis Ababa (from "Ciudades") by G. Lago; Requiem (from "Autómata") by Z. M. de la Riva; Can You Hear the Music (from "Oppenheimer)" by L. Göransson

YEAH!!!  SO AWESOME!  There are jump ropes.  They jump while they're playing.  They're crazy!  That's some soprano screaming right there!  Oh my goodness, those drums.  Color Guard is doing so well, too.  Vanguard, you've done it again!  I think they're still going to add stuff, though. Thanks for continuing the No Big Props to Push Around The Field thing.  I love that keeps the field so open to all kinds of corps movement.  What can I say?  I'm a drill girl.  

At the beginning, just a normal drum corps show...
the old school, REALLY loud kind.

V!

Contra Feature

Wait a minute.  They're not using their right hands.

Ropes, ropes, everywhere!

Yay!  SCV Bass drum cadence!

GOLD

Repertoire: "Luminous" -- Particle VIII (The Light Before the Rain) by T. Adams; Without Warning! by S. Melillo; Someone Like You by F. Wildhorn; Urban Dances by R. Danielpour & Z. Mácal; Sun by T. Bergersen

Their uniforms are gold.  I remember when their instruments were gold.  I liked that, but it would probably be too much for this show.  The flautist makes sounds like Tinkerbell, so I'm going to call her "Tink" from now on.  Oh, no, don't mess up my "Someone Like You"!  What were those sirens for?

BLUECOATS

Bro now believes me about the wah wah pedal thing, which I now understand is called the "Leslie speaker".  It causes a doppler effect, which I can't explain except that it makes a cool sound, like it's whirring around.  Their music is so well done.  I wasn't as excited during this show as I was with it last time.  Maybe because Vanguard is here.  Cool drum major helmets -- the traditional style, but metallic teal and I don't even want to talk about the color of the plume because that's what ruined it for me.

One of the stickers I got from the Bluecoats'
 souvenir booth was of this contraption.

Teeter Totters

Playing to the Salmon Sashimi

Joyful

Encore

Gold performed their show music, along with something that sounded like the music from Space Mountain.  The alumni were called down later to join them while they played their corps song, "When You Wish Upon A Star".   

Scores

OPEN CLASS

4) 61.70 -- Blue Devils C

3) 63.00 -- Golden Empire

2) 66.15 -- Gold

1) 68.75 -- Blue Devils B

WORLD CLASS

5) 71.65 -- Academy

4) 71.80 -- Pacific Crest

3) 82.95 -- Santa Clara Vanguard

2) 84.30 -- Blue Devils

1) 85.30 -- Bluecoats

Going home wasn't too bad.  I do like this venue.  I also like that the place reminds me of Rockapella, because they performed in their Performing Arts Center.  :)   

Next up:  Western Corps Connection

 

Food and Appliances

 MidCal Showcase

Thursday, July 2, 2026

Adolfo Camarillo High School - Carl Thomps on Field

Camarillo, CA

We interrupt all of the non-posting of Sherry's overseas adventures to bring you Drum Corps Season!  There is entirely too much going on, but I figured I should really post before Finals comes around.

MidCal Showcase this year was nowhere near the middle of California, either lengthwise or widthwise.  For those of you unfamiliar with our beautiful state, Camarillo is 51 miles northwest of Los Angeles, kind of near the coast.  But whatever.  It's "mid" somewhere, I guess.

Why are the "s" and "o" so far apart?

Bro decided about a week before the show that he was going, and asked me if I wanted to join him and the niece.  Sure!  I had to move my 1 day/week telework day to do it, which was a new thing for me because we just went back to work 4 days/week as of July 1st.  Fortunately, my boss is just as irritated as me with this new mandate, so he was OK with it, and laughed when I told him.   The show was supposed to start at 7:30 pm, so we had time to get a quick dinner from Subway before heading out to Camarillo.  When we arrived near the place, we wondered why we saw people walking to the campus when we didn't seem to be near the school yet.  It turns out that people probably didn't want to lose their parking spaces when they walked to the nearby grocery store, because there wasn't any parking available in the lot, nor on the street next to the school.  So, like many others, we ended up parking in a nearby residential area.  I wonder if the neighbors get really irritated when there are events at the school.  I was especially irritated because of the incline of the driveway to get to the campus entrance.  You know how I love hills!  Not.  We followed other people who seemed to know where they were going, and arrived at the spectator entrance to the stadium.  The person with the wristbands asked Bro how many tickets we had, and he said 3.  They gave us the wristbands, but never actually checked his tickets.  So...did we even need to pay?  

They didn't really have much of anything ready for concessions, so I was glad we ate beforehand.  We checked out the souvenir stands, and I contemplated what to get from the Bluecoats to support them for coming out to California this year.  I'm not really fond of their color schemes, so I didn't get their California Tour shirt, and decided to think some more.  I had more shows to see on the schedule, so I had time.  The Academy had a dress and xylophone vest from their "Drum Corps Bride" show on display.  Display only, not for buying, otherwise the niece might have acquired a new color guard dress tonight.

How has it been 10 years since this show?!

We went inside the stadium, which was bleacher seating.  I don't know why they put seats directly behind huge light poles, but we did not sit there.  We wanted to sit near the corps because this was an exhibition performance, and we knew they would get to watch each others' shows, which is cool.  We ended up sitting across the aisle from the Blues:  Bluecoats and Blue Devils.  They were very friendly with each other, and very appreciative of all the corps.  Later, Bro heard them say that they needed a picture of the Mandarins.  Mandarins is not performing this year (sadness!), but many of their corps members joined the other corps, probably mostly Vanguard and Blue Devils if they're from Northern California.  Bro called our area the "Bluecoats / Blue Devils Reunion stairs" because people kept seeing each other and hugging in the aisle next to us.  

So glad that guy didn't drop his ice cream on us.

Bloo / BD Reunion Stairs

For those unfamiliar with my methods, I post repertoire of the corps I see for the first time, and do not do so when I see the show again.   So y'all just need to memorize.  

The announcer welcomed us to "Caro Mio".  Does he not know how to pronounce the name of this place?   Or is he Italian and really loves it here?

The Star-Spangled Banner was performed by a French horn duet from the Bluecoats.

GOLDEN EMPIRE

Repertoire:  "Set in Motion" - Newton's Cradle by L. Einaudi, Free Running by R. Buckley, Movement by Hozier; Windsprints by R. L. Saucedo

They needed to inflate the big silver balls before the show for them to stay smooth and shiny, and their device is near the pit.  Nice, full sound throughout.  Big balls, small balls.  I like the pendulum part.  I thought those hanging small balls would do something, or they were speed bags for boxing, but they nope.  They all die at the end.  Or something.  I know this show isn't finished, but will they wake up and play again?

Prop Inflation

Nice Extension!

Shiny, inflated balls

Between shows, the niece and I tried to figure out the props that we saw on the side of the track.  At one point, I thought there were bicycles in a show, then Bro informed me that what I was looking at was tenor drums on their side.  Duh, Sher.  Like you've never seen that before.  This is what marching withdrawal does to me.

THE ACADEMY

Repertoire:  "In the Center of the Ring" -- Scene 1: The Greatest Show by B. Pasek & J. Paul; Scene 2: Millionaire by A.R. Rahman; Scene 3: Never Enough by B. Pasek & J. Paul; Scene 4: The Greatest Show on Earth: Ghost Love Score by T. Holopainen & M. Hietala

Ooh, "The Greatest Showman"!  Dodie is going to like this show.  She was very excited to share the music with me after she saw the movie.  Wait.  Your opener has a contra feature?  YEAH!!  I think they're going to build a circus tent over those poles.  The color guard has these props that are some rings stuck together.  Fun stuff with the tenors playing from behind a black cloth wall, as the color guard holds their drums.  The trumpets did their thing, too, but it wasn't as cool.  I wish the sound effects weren't so much, though.  Also for Golden Empire.  Bloo and BD folks were singing along to "Never Enough".  Pretty pink sparkly flags during this song.  The show isn't done yet.  Well, none of these shows will really be done until finals, but there was definitely a song missing.

That wall has arms!

That guy is upside down!

Who is in the center of that ring?

PACIFIC CREST

Repertoire:  "Irresistible" -- The Great Refusal  by C.M. Self; Moth by V. Cuong; Moonlight Sonata by L.van Beethoven; Goodnight Moon by E. Whitacre; Everything In Its Right Place by Radiohead; Heaven (Butterflies) by J. Collier

They have capes!  They also have some orange thing in the front of their blue uniform where a tie would go, which I didn't really like.  It turned out to be the fastener for the cape, which looked like wings when they did certain poses.  What is that flower bud-looking prop?  Is it going to open someday?  There are also big leaf props.  Very nice use of dynamics.  Aw, it's a lot like old school drum corps without the crazy synthesizer sounds.  They did have birds tweeting at the beginning, but it wasn't overbearing, and reminded me of the SCV show "Force of Nature".  The show isn't done yet, so I'm thinking the soloist will be playing from that leaf on which they're positioned.

That better open up someday.

Just hangin' out on my leaf.

BLUECOATS

Repertoire: "Gravity and Grace" -- Familiarity by Punch Brothers; The Wheel Has Come Full Circle by E. Galperine; Don't Look Down by C. Cerrone; fullmoon by R. Sakamoto; Ritual Being by P. Le Boeuf; God Only Knows by The Beach Boys; Inhale Exhale by A. Meredith; Hot Saturn by Sungazer; I've Seen All Good People by Yes

Ah, yes.  This show has the props we saw on the sidelines that I thought looked like salmon sushi.  The niece figured it was bacon.  It was neither.  At least I don't think so.  Bro thought something was air conditioners.  They were not.  So, what is this show, if it's not about food and appliances?!  

I like those drums!

I like the effects of their pants as they run across the field.  Mind you, the uniforms are a bit dizzying to me, but they're better than the last couple of years.  Bro got a bucket hat with that pattern sometime between shows.  He thought that he saw another bucket hat, too, but it turned out to be reversible, so two hats in one!  Nice!  

I like the pretty teal/white flags.  Oh, those are teeter totters, not food.  Oops, someone almost fell on his ramp.

Play Time

Cool effect of the spinning amplifier thing, but I could have done without the other sound enhancements.   Bass drum ensemble: YES!!

BLUE DEVILS

Repertoire: "Zei" -- Mishima by P. Glass; Turbine by J. Mackey; I Just Had to Hear Your Voice by A. Rich & J.J. Friedman; Nevesk by T. Reedy;  Assembly by D. Glyde; By Three They Come by R. Amon; Escape by H. Zimmer; Posterity by L. Goransson; Triumph of Time by P. Graham

Wings.  Bro asked me if I thought their wings would be the same size by Finals.  Nope.  They'll be bigger.  Very nice show.  I like the teal of their sleeves, and I really like the flash of teal that shows at the lower legs as they walk.  I also like the pink drums.

I really like the color scheme.

There was a kid in front of us, about 4 years old, conducting when BD was on the field.  He had a mini BD rifle, and I overheard his parents telling him that whomever he wanted to see would be busy with their corps duties, so they might not see them tonight.  Aw, I hope he got to see his older sibling or whomever it was.  He was so excited to be there!  

Future BD Drum Major

I feel like he's being sacrificed.
Oh, yeah, Icarus.

No scores because this was an exhibition show, but there were judges present to offer their critique to the corps.  I wish that it could have been like the show we went to in Oxnard (?) when each corps also performed their encores.  Alas, that was not to be this evening. 

We walked back to the car and there seemed to be a bottleneck of some sort in the parking lot.  Somebody didn't know that they needed to get close to the gate in order for it to open so they could drive out.  Good there was some student there to tell them to move forward.  

I thought Bluecoats performed the best show tonight, but my favorite show was probably Academy's show because I liked the singing from the people in the corps next to us.  :)

Next up:  Gold Showcase