Saturday was when most of the band had solos. Breakfast didn't start until 7, though, so everyone was down to get breakfast then and trying to leave by about 7:30 for the games. The milk? Nasty. I did have some pancakes too, however. We got our car loaded (well, and the drums back on the truck), added Dan-o, and headed to the games. Dan got us to the less crowded parking lot quite handily. I was impressed. Then we found where they had set up the tent, dropped stuff off, and went to find out where the heck we needed to check in for solos. After we found that, we had to find out where they would be soloing :) It was kind of nice because all of the drumming judges were right in a row, so we could watch everyone else solo. I videoed Matt's solo, but I did take some pics of him warming up and rehearsing beforehand.
Sara was also warming up - accompanied by Mike and Ross
Do you know how hard it is to get a good picture of him while playing?
He is either looking down...
or has his eyes shut.
When he finally opens his eyes - he's looking off to the side.
He tells me this is why he wears sunglasses when soloing - so the judge can't tell :)
Wahoo! eyes open!
Matt was accompanied by Justin.
Glenn warming up with one of his tenors - so I snapped a shot. I'm like the paparazzi :)
Here he goes again.... sigh.
Matt's G2 MSR solo - judge: Blair Brown of SFU
Pleasanton did things interestingly. Grade 3 competed first, then 2, then 1, and then 4. Odd. The band competed in MSR on Saturday - so Matt played with them (he's not fully on the medly yet). I opted to go shopping while they flashed. After they flashed, they had lunch. I went with fair food on Saturday, once I got around to eating that is. Bigger games have way more vendors - so there's actually something you don't necessarily see at every other games. Only problem? So much walking! At least most of the vendors were indoors. That was nice. I purchased nothing, though. There was one shop with some cool jewelry, though. And another with amber jewelry that was reasonably priced. They didn't have the ring I liked in my size, though :( But they did have a business card, so I picked up one of those. The Welsh Baker was there, too. They were at Salt Lake and Payson this year. I finally tried a sample and loved it. I went back Sunday to make my purchases from him. Mmm Welsh cakes.
Oh right, results. Dan-o took first in G2 snare. Matt took 2nd. He was pleased. It was his first time not being beaten by small children (as he likes to put it). There were four competitors. Logan Taylor, who used to be in the same grade as Matt, is now a grade 1 - and he beat Mikey lol. The band took 4th - but it was a three-way tie for 2nd that came down to ensemble preference. Neither band (G3 or G4) placed either day. However, they both played really well. These are the kinds of things that happen when you travel out of state to a large games. Competition gets stiffer.
After the competition, they have the bands go get their picture taken - it's like marching band competitions all over again.
Getting situated
Nice picture
Be silly!
In the afternoon, the Grade 3 got to play for drum majors. They told me it was at the track, so after finding food (a spicier than anticipated - and with much more broccoli than I would prefer) chicken teriyaki bowl and fries... because I was craving fries, I went to the track where they were doing athletics. After my lunch and seeing no way there could be drum majors there, I wandered off looking for a different entrance to the track, where I ran into Andrew :) It was entertaining. First, he comes up and molests my belly. Then he tells me he had just finished tuning Desert Skye, but since he'd had a few drinks it went something like this: Sounds great! Wait, let me get my tuner to make sure :) (This exchange is more funny in person....) Anyway, so I walked with him back to where LA was warming up and I eventually found where Wasatch was waiting to go on for drum majors, which is also where LA's drum corps ended up.
I as amused by the sporran coat racks - hence the butt shot.
Wasatch Grade 3 playing for the drum major competition
Our friend and world champion, Jason Paguio
A bit of the drum major competition, because it's much more fun in video than still frame.
Since the track was also where closing massed bands was, I opted to stay until then. Ugh, so much standing. The LA Scots and the Marine Corps Band, San Diego played together - like LA did in Vegas. It was pretty cool, because I'm a nerd like that. There are videos of that too, but this post is already long :) But really, the grandstand show took ages and I was so ready for massed bands. But their chief rode into the show in a pretty sweet 1930 something Rolls Royce :)
Our friend from White Peaks, Julia came down to solo as well. She ended up in the rank just to my right at massed bands, so I snapped a few shots. (Yes, they're kinda creeper like being from below, but that was the only way I could get full body shots being next to the fence).
As a side note - I always thought that kilt would look swanky with a red shirt. I'm glad Julia did it :)
Saturday night, we ended up walking to dinner at Fuddruckers. We went with Mikey, Dan-o, Nick, and Janna. We also ended up meeting up with Mike Page. It was a party :) Other than that, nothing too exciting happened that night. At least, not that I remember :)
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