Views of Towers in Vista

Corps at the Crest - San Diego

Friday, June 28, 2019

Rancho Buena Vista High School

Vista, CA

There just can't be a normal day for us in the month of June, so let's start this one with the fact that my car wouldn't work.  I haven't even had it for a year yet, and I bought it brand new.  But we needed to get going and I couldn't wait for a tow truck or whatever, so I called Honda Care while Bro and I were on the road to pick up Rudy.  They told me they would send a tow truck to bring it to my dealer, and later my dad said that they were able to give the battery a jump.  I'll need to bring it in to see if they need to replace my battery.  Well, that was a relief.

On the way, we saw a bus, and it had a card in front that showed DCI.  I couldn't figure out who was on the bus because we didn't see any other identifier, and the labels on the other buses were not within my line of sight.  We picked up Rudy and his niece, Jasmine, and made our way to Vista.  We saw a car with a metal silhouette of a color guard holding a flag, and they also had a Mandarins decal on the window, so we knew we were amidst our people.  We parked on the street, thanks to a covered "No Parking" sign. I guess they do this for their big events?  We shopped just for a few minutes, and I welcomed the folks at the Genesis booth to California.  I told them that I usually only see them at Finals, so this was a treat for us.  

Our seats were on the left 35-40 yard lines, section B, row Z, seats 15-18.  We had a place behind us to put our stuff, and I was happy.  Since this is a new venue for us, I wasn't sure how my seat selection would work out, and I was pleased.  The bench seats were comfortably spaced, and I was able to see OK, but not great, when the tall gentleman sat in front of me.  Luckily for me, I could stand up without obstructing anyone's view.  We also had a beautiful view of the surrounding area.

Nice view, with props peeking out over the buildings on the left

The Star-Spangled Banner was sung a cappella by a woman, but I did not catch her name. She did a nice job, but I always wonder why they can't get anyone from one of the corps to do this.

INCOGNITO

Repertoire: "The Muse" -- Resistance; Starlight; Hysteria, all by Muse

I'm pretty sure that the drum major's middle name is "Banana", because both Bro and I heard the same thing.  Nice unison flag sequence during the first piece when they form a square perimeter around the corps.  Rudy said that the brass sound bigger than they look.  I like the last flag with the touch of sparkle.

Incognito

IMPULSE

Repertoire: "The Greatest Heroes" -- Incredits 2; Spider-Man: Homecoming, both by M. Giacchino

New uniforms!  They're all in black now, but the drum major was wearing a LOT of yellow.  Their equipment trailer couldn't make it, so they borrowed from Watchmen, Incognito, and Rancho Buena Vista in order to perform today, as stated by announcer Ryan, "in true drum corps fashion".  The marching community is a bunch of givers!

Bro: "Are they going to fix the tuning?"

Sher:  "Fix it?!  Nah, we just play as it is!"  

They were probably just happy to have instruments.

Nice high rifle toss and catch, Violet!  The tenor solo was good, and I thought, "Oh, that's why he has the one black set of drums."  Then I remembered that they were borrowing equipment from more than one source.  When the telephone rings, you answer the call!  That's what a hero does.

Yellow is an exclamation point color

WATCHMEN

Repertoire: "Gods of the Nile" -- Ra: The Father of Gods; Ma'at: The Goddess of Truth and Harmony: Monthu: The God of War; Osiris: The God of Living, all by P. Rendon, M. Barragan, and B. Johnson

Some of the CG members were wearing long bright blue poncho thingies with hoods.  Rudy thought they looked like burkas.  Whatever they were, they looked like they were ready for rain. The female color guard members had their hair in braids, with their long braids hanging down, and a bun on top.  Very nice, and they hair dance, probably an influence from their BD collaborators.  Nice brass solos.

VESSEL

Repertoire:  "Here, There, and Everywhere" -- Super 8 by M. Giacchino; Phoenix (from "War of the Worlds") by P. Graham; Rewrite the Stars (from "The Greatest Showman") by B. Pasek & J. Paul; The Lost Labyrinth by K. Houben 

Someone is wearing a mask, and even when Rudy told me, I didn't see it until the very end.  How long were they wearing that?  Their pants remind me of the ones that Vanguard Cadets are wearing this year.  I love the shimmery flags and the pale blues.  They are a lot bigger than when they were City Sound, and they are a lot better, too.  

Vessel

GOLD

Repertoire:  "The Pursuit of Happiness" -- Rat Race; Love, Love, Love, Love, Love; Money; Happiness Found, all original music by S. Director

They have tarps.  I have a negative history with Gold and tarps, so Rudy laughs when I point them out.  They already tripped on them at the beginning of the show.  Sigh.  The tarps were of a road, and their backdrop is a skyline, and some of the building lights spell out "happines$".  Bro predicts that those will light up one of these days.  I hope they go to Finals this year, because they have a good chance of winning, especially due to SCVC and BDB staying close to home this year.  The horn players carried briefcases, and Rudy said it was "Deal or No Deal".  Bro picked suitcase #12.  So when they're carrying those things, they also play their instruments one-handed.  Neat.  I like the blue color guard uniforms.  The color guard spun modified rifles that looked like $, and they also carried big diamond props.  Good trumpet quartet!  They made a heart out of their briefcases.  Good brass section all around.  Drums were shiny, shiny gold.  They are getting fancy!

Heart of Briefcases

GOLDEN EMPIRE

They now have their corps uniforms, which is why I didn't recognize them when they first entered the stadium.  I told Rudy that their show is "Icarus", and that they were going to climb too close to the sun, what with their tall white box ladders.  I like that the corps uniform fringe makes them look like they have wings. I also like the flags with the one feather.

Climbing to the Sun

Feather Flags

<Intermission>

I met a lady while in line for the restroom whose kid is in Genesis, and the kid's coach works with the Cavaliers, so she was doubly glad to be here.  I said hi to our fellow SCV fan, Ray, and we talked about minds being blown away by SCV's show again this year, as well as our anticipation to see BK's show because they are always unique and I don't know what's going on, but I like it.  

It's like the Cavies are paying tribute to SCV
While Mandarins show that their towers are very high

SCV Tower Points

GENESIS

Repertoire: "From the Ground Up" -- I. Organic Forest, Original Music by K. Poulan, D. Marvin, D. Bryan, & S. Glyde; II. Bulldozers and the Height of Industry, Original Music by K. Poulan, D.Marvin, D. Bryan, & S. Glyde;  III. Needing to Right the Wrong: The Sound of War

by S. Sundfor; IV. Working in Harmony: The Corinthian Song by McKay; Original Music
by K. Poulan, D. Marvin, D. Bryan, & S. Glyde

Can Poulan, Marvin, Bryan and Glyde just form a band so that I don't have to write all of that?  Preferably with a short name, like "Composers, Inc." or whatever.

Great brass opening!  They have ladders with screens to hide behind, and to keep their equipment inside.  They make a bridge between them at the end, upon one of them a CG member tosses up a rifle at the end of a ripple and didn't actually catch it, but let it fall behind her.  I don't know if that was on purpose or not, but way to sell it, sister!  Interesting arrangement of Bach's Jesu, Joy, although it is not credited.  The focus was on the battery, and I quite liked it.  Was I imagining it?  That wall of horns is awesome!  They literally were banging on a kitchen sink at the end of the show.  What?  

Genesis

TROOPERS

Logo

They have tarps now.  Is that supposed to be their sunburst?  Ah, the red practice flags are now a rainbow of colors, like Fruit Stripe gum.  I said there would be yellow, right?  It's in there!  Maybe not as prominent as I predicted, but it's still there.  I really like that ballad, starting with the pretty mellophone solo.  Bro didn't like the way the uniforms showed up in these lights, and like them better with better stadium lights to do them justice.

Troop Triangle

Troop Drums

Mmmm....gum

MANDARINS
Rudy likes the flames and the crazy rifle moves.  I like all of their tribal movements.  Guard was ON FIRE today! Awesome job, 'Rins.

Fiery Flags

Battery attacking the Intruder

Rifle Toss

Wait.  They caught those with their FEET?!?

BLUE KNIGHTS
Repertoire: "I Remember Everything": Sudden Throw by O. Arnalds; Liquid by J. Bocook, K. Shah, & M. Jackson; Hurt by T. Reznor; Lonely World by M. Sumney

Celebrating their history, BK has elements of their other shows in different portions.  At one point, Bro knew where the music was going, and said, "They just put together 5 of their shows!"  Even the flags are hearkening back to the old days as they look hand-painted, which was a tradition for quite a while before everyone got fancy and computer-generated designs.  The drums have a black dot to signify their corps symbol, and those reflective props?  Those represent the ones from the later years, as do their sparkly uniforms.  I love it.  Great horn sound!

Blue Knights under a pretty sky

SANTA CLARA VANGUARD
Sher, to Rudy:  "You're not ready for this."  Rudy giggled with happiness.  He was still on a high from "Babylon".  Mike didn't quite get to his high note tonight, but they still sounded outstanding, and we taught Rudy the name "Leobardo".  We are not worthy, Leo!

Trumpet Solo

We Are SCV!

CAVALIERS
I love that brass sound sooo much, and I"m glad that Rudy finally got to witness it in person!  I like the call and response between the horns and the battery. It's just not a Cavies show without rifles being flung over the rest of the corps.  I like that announcer Ryan said that the Cavies were leaving "to their traditional drum cadence".  I mostly like it because I like their drum cadence.

Cavaliers Drums Pointing at Horns

Just Hanging Out on the Train Trestle

PACIFIC CREST
Repertoire: "Everglow" -- Awakening: Original Music by B. Kerr Green, J. Zuniga, & Ezekiel Lanser; Adventure: Ready Player One by A. Silvestri; Longing: Meta by B. Kerr Green, J. Zuniga, & Ezekiel Lanser; Trials: View From Olympus by J. Psathas; Heartbreak: Chinatown
by J. Goldsmith; Rebirth: Insight - Haywyre by M. S. Vogt; Acceptance: Edward Scissorhands by D. Elfman; Departure: Edward Scissorhands by D. Elfman

They have big triangles that light up, and they're on wheels, so they move them around.  One of the sides of one of the triangles didn't work, though.  I hope they carry extra light bulbs or whatever they need.  The corps uniforms are black and white, a nice contrast to the big lit up props, and Bro predicts that those will light up, too.  The drum wraps kinda make me dizzy, and I like it!  They're marching 9 cymbals.  NINE. I love the white color guard uniforms.  They're very classy and flowy.  I like the shade of blue on the opening flags, and the beautiful iridescent flags add a nice effect.  Very nice show!

PC Unlit

We needed to leave because of other stuff going on at home (I told you that nothing was normal about June), so we had to look up the scores.

Open Class

6) 38.30 -- Incognito
5) ??.?? -- Impulse (not posted on DCI site at the time I'm writing this)
4) 44.70 -- Watchmen
3) 48.55 -- Vessel
2) 50.50 -- Golden Empire
1) 54.95 -- Gold

World Class

7) 57.40 -- Genesis
6) 62.15 -- Pacific Crest
5) 63.05 -- Troopers
4) 70.05 -- Mandarins
3) 71.50 -- Blue Knights
2) 74.80 -- Cavaliers
1) 77.00 -- Santa Clara Vanguard

Next up:  Corps at the Crest / Rose Bowl