Rochester Day 4
Sunday was the day we had been looking forward to ever since the Renegades Open House last December -- the DCA World Championship Finals competition.
As has been tradition, the day of finals began with our patch ceremony. Those members who march Finals with the corps receive a patch with the year inscribed on it. We generally sew (or iron on, in my case) the patches onto the sleeve of our corps jackets, as Richard models for us here. Much to my surprise, I was also given a corps patch for my work as the corps photographer this year, for which I am very grateful. I have every patch given out by the corps (except 2002 when I couldn't march due to health issues), so it was nice to continue adding to the collection.
After grabbing a quick brunch in the hotel restaurant, it was off to the practice field for the final time this year. My photos of this rehearsal came out a bit better since the weather held out on us. We had to deal with a little bit of rain, but nothing like we saw on Saturday. The rehearsal went well and ended with a fantastic run-through. We were ready for finals!
We had a couple of hours back at the hotel for our dinner break, then it was off to the stadium. I spent Saturday's warmup time with the pit, so I decided I would check out the other sections on Sunday. Luckily the hornline, drumline, and colorguard were all warming up on various portions of a very large field. I found the drumline signing each other's drum heads as a memento from this season. Walking over to the hornline, I found Anne spraying glitter into the hair of various horn players. Yes, it was indeed Finals night. :-)
I once again ended up help moving pit equipment to the stadium and on the field. Unfortunately that meant watching the show from around the 15 yard line, but that's all right. You can't really evaluate marching very well from ground level at the 15 yard line, but the music sounded great! I heard a couple minor issues including a bit of phasing (although it's hard to tell if that is actual phasing or just the difference between horns 10 yards away from you and 60 yards away). Many people later told me that they had their best show of the year, which is exactly what you want -- the corps peaking at Finals.
DCA Retreat is always a blast. Even though I didn't march in the show, I did march in with the corps at Retreat! We marched into the stadium Olympic style with each corps forming one file. We were flanked on one side by Minnesota Brass Inc. and by the CorpsVets on the other. We chatted a bit with some of the CV guys -- they were very cool. We were lined up for quite a while before entering the field. Baritone player Poodle used his "megaphone" to lead an all-corps yell of "CHARGE!!!" whenever we moved a few feet forward. Once we got on the field, the bass line stacked their drums into a reverse pyramid (biggest drum on top) and we draped a California state flag over the drums. Some soprano players dressed up in bee costumes.
We had 2 points in penalties and dropped one spot from Satuday down into 8th place. But that wasn't going to keep us from having a good time after the show. We performed our traditional post-Finals concert to a very enthusiastic crowd. This concert has always been my favorite one of the year -- playing to a screaming crowd without having to worry about judges and making mistakes. Just play loud! I had a great seat -- front and center, right in front of the drumline. (Unfortunately without earplugs -- those rim shots are piercing from only a few feet away.) DCA I&E snare champion (and former Renegade) Scott McCoy jumped into the line for the drumline warmup exercises. The corps was having a blast playing through the show for the last time ever. After the corps finished, the Mini Corps decided to perform their I&E show sans drums. (Mini Corps drummer Rich Duarte switched back to his traditional lead soprano spot for this concert.)
What a fantastic way to end the season. This Renegades corps more than any other will be remembered for facing adversity and blowing through it. To have only one snare drummer at a rehearsal at the end of May, and then to still have such a strong finish in the top 10 at DCA... Well, I think this bodes well for 2007. :-)
As has been tradition, the day of finals began with our patch ceremony. Those members who march Finals with the corps receive a patch with the year inscribed on it. We generally sew (or iron on, in my case) the patches onto the sleeve of our corps jackets, as Richard models for us here. Much to my surprise, I was also given a corps patch for my work as the corps photographer this year, for which I am very grateful. I have every patch given out by the corps (except 2002 when I couldn't march due to health issues), so it was nice to continue adding to the collection.
After grabbing a quick brunch in the hotel restaurant, it was off to the practice field for the final time this year. My photos of this rehearsal came out a bit better since the weather held out on us. We had to deal with a little bit of rain, but nothing like we saw on Saturday. The rehearsal went well and ended with a fantastic run-through. We were ready for finals!
We had a couple of hours back at the hotel for our dinner break, then it was off to the stadium. I spent Saturday's warmup time with the pit, so I decided I would check out the other sections on Sunday. Luckily the hornline, drumline, and colorguard were all warming up on various portions of a very large field. I found the drumline signing each other's drum heads as a memento from this season. Walking over to the hornline, I found Anne spraying glitter into the hair of various horn players. Yes, it was indeed Finals night. :-)
I once again ended up help moving pit equipment to the stadium and on the field. Unfortunately that meant watching the show from around the 15 yard line, but that's all right. You can't really evaluate marching very well from ground level at the 15 yard line, but the music sounded great! I heard a couple minor issues including a bit of phasing (although it's hard to tell if that is actual phasing or just the difference between horns 10 yards away from you and 60 yards away). Many people later told me that they had their best show of the year, which is exactly what you want -- the corps peaking at Finals.
DCA Retreat is always a blast. Even though I didn't march in the show, I did march in with the corps at Retreat! We marched into the stadium Olympic style with each corps forming one file. We were flanked on one side by Minnesota Brass Inc. and by the CorpsVets on the other. We chatted a bit with some of the CV guys -- they were very cool. We were lined up for quite a while before entering the field. Baritone player Poodle used his "megaphone" to lead an all-corps yell of "CHARGE!!!" whenever we moved a few feet forward. Once we got on the field, the bass line stacked their drums into a reverse pyramid (biggest drum on top) and we draped a California state flag over the drums. Some soprano players dressed up in bee costumes.
We had 2 points in penalties and dropped one spot from Satuday down into 8th place. But that wasn't going to keep us from having a good time after the show. We performed our traditional post-Finals concert to a very enthusiastic crowd. This concert has always been my favorite one of the year -- playing to a screaming crowd without having to worry about judges and making mistakes. Just play loud! I had a great seat -- front and center, right in front of the drumline. (Unfortunately without earplugs -- those rim shots are piercing from only a few feet away.) DCA I&E snare champion (and former Renegade) Scott McCoy jumped into the line for the drumline warmup exercises. The corps was having a blast playing through the show for the last time ever. After the corps finished, the Mini Corps decided to perform their I&E show sans drums. (Mini Corps drummer Rich Duarte switched back to his traditional lead soprano spot for this concert.)
What a fantastic way to end the season. This Renegades corps more than any other will be remembered for facing adversity and blowing through it. To have only one snare drummer at a rehearsal at the end of May, and then to still have such a strong finish in the top 10 at DCA... Well, I think this bodes well for 2007. :-)