Drum corps for the California primary

"I'll see if I can put together a post featuring California corps for tonight" closed out Drum corps for the New Jersey Primary.  It turned out to be a bigger task than I expected, and it was a large enough undertaking that I separated the California corps from the New Jersey corps already!

Before I share the corps' performances, I will add to the analysis in the previous entry.  I forgot North Dakota, where the Democrats are holding a caucus.  FiveThirtyEight notes that Sanders is favored.  Added to expected wins in both South Dakota and Montana, and Sanders will at least break even in numbers of states tonight, although he'll likely be way behind Clinton in delegates, both on the night and certainly for the primary season.  As I wrote, I'm now ready for Hillary and I'll be taking my Bernie magnet off Pearl tomorrow.

Now that I've dispensed with the political analysis, it's time to present the corps so my readers can enjoy the marching music.  I begin with last year's DCI champions, the Blue Devils.


The encore performance above probably won't be taken down (the video of Carolina Crown's victory run from three years ago is still up), but just in case, here's the official clip.

Concord, CA – 1ST PLACE 97.650
George Zingali Best Color Guard Award, Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award, John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award

The story of "Ink" was stories, exploring children’s storybook characters popping out on a drum corps field. Electronic sounds of typing and a pen scratching on paper accompanied numerous characters who brought a child’s imagination to life. Keep an eye out for the “Z” in the “A b C” and “X y Z” drill forms which is backward, as a child might have drawn it. There are dozens of little details like that throughout this production, all which helped the Devils ink their 17th DCI title.
...
“Dark Forest” by Dave Glyde © The Blue Devils; “Opening Title” from Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim © Rilting Music Inc. C/O Hal Leonard Music Publishing; “The Giant Attack” from Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim © WB Music Corp OBO Rilting Music, Inc.; “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party” by Gordon L. Goodwin © Wingood Music Productions Inc.; “Children Will Listen” from Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim © Rilting Music Inc. C/O Hal Leonard Music Publishing; “The Last Midnight” from Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim © WB Music Corp OBO Rilting Music, Inc.

Now the other great California drum corps, the Santa Clara Vanguard with a show that fits this blog, The Spark of Invention.


In case that gets taken down, here's the official clip of the show.

Santa Clara, CA – 5TH PLACE 93.850

The genius of Nikola Tesla was fed through the prop Tesla Coils that turned on "The Spark of Invention." Check out the color guard’s use of flashlights as sparks and costumes printed with x-rays of each performers’ respective genders. In the closing number, the coils, uniform sashes, and flagpoles were lit with battery-powered LEDs, creating possibly the most photographed moment of the year. The fully illuminated corps members left streaks of light in their wake as they marched at top speed to the finish.
...
“Concerto For Piano And Orchestra” by John Corigliano © G. Schirmer, Inc.; “Invention No. 13 in A Minor” by J.S. Bach, Arr. J.D. Shaw © J.D. Shaw; “Pure Imagination” by Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley © Taradam Music, Inc.; “Virus Attack” from Virtuality by Amin Bhatia © Amin Bhatia Music

Yay, Tesla coils and a Theramin!

Follow over the jump for the rest of the California corps.

The Blue Devils may have won World Class, but the Vanguard Cadets, part of the SCV organization, won Open Class.  I present their performance in last year's World Class SemiFinals.


Continuing with feeder corps of the headliners, here is Blue Devils B with their 2015 show 'Prismatic.'


Next, the first of two World Class corps from California that aren't part of the BD or SCV organizations, the Mandarins.


Now the fourth World Class corps from California and the sixth to be in World Class Quarterfinals, Pacific Crest.


And now the last California , Gold's performance at the Open Class finals.


Finally, California had a competitive senior corps, the Renegades.  Unfortunately, it seems that after this year's Chinese New Year parade in San Francisco, they stopped performing.  Darn, I liked them.  Here is the run-through before their last appearance at DCA in 2012.


Ten videos about eight corps--I told you that it was a big task to cover the California corps!