preview for kaysey because she is bored.

hours later, we stood at the gate anticipating our turn on the field. two days ago, we were doing parades at home. now we were three thousand miles away at a place where none of us had ever been in this capacity. wow. anyway- we took the field, and as the block made its way along the back of the field, george shouted for us to stop. huh? it turned out that he had prepared a statement to be read over the pa system thanking the vanguard and the blue devils for their support. this message was read at all of the california shows, and marks the only time anyone can remember the cadets' block actually stopping on its way to the field.

the show that night was just mediocre, even by early july standards. hopefully it was just west coast jitters. we were still about two points behind the blue devils, and the vanguard finished ahead of us that night, also. we made our way back to dublin for a full night on the floor. the next day had much in store for the corps.

july 7, 2001 is one of those days i will not forget. we woke up super early- we had to be in walnut creek by 9am to rehearse in the theatre where the cadets and the blue devils would do a concert later that afternoon. we pulled in to the little downtown area, unpacked all our equipment, warmed up a little bit, and headed inside. we had to wait in a little room for the blue devils to finish up their rehearsal, which was being broadcast over closed circuit television to us. when it was our turn, we took the stage, and ran through most of the show. george was trying desperately to get the right balances and placements of instruments. it was quite the task. the corps sounded great in that little room- we better...it would be full of devils' alumni in a few hours. we didn't come 3000 miles to suck in front of people who had never seen us.

the corps hiked back to our buses- must have been the better part of a mile. i ran into devin and matt. it was good to see them...it had been a while. anyway- we ate some lunch, strapped in to uniform, and headed back to the show. we waited in the stairwell for the blue devils to finish up. once it was our turn, we turned it on.

that performance was unbelieveable. we came to the blue devils' home, and performed just as well, and some say better, than they did. that was a major deal to us. there were two standing ovations at the end of our show. our staff was very happy. we were happy. there is nothing like the thrill of a crowd cheering and jumping up and down. the corps got out of uniform, then walked across the street to the park for a barbecue with our blue friends. we just ate ribs, and chilled in the sun and grass for a few hours before heading to diablo valley college for the real event of the day- the blue devils' home show.

[aside] gino cipriani was a member of the blue devils brass staff from 1990-1999. his return to concord was a homecoming of sorts for him. i suspect it was one of those 'look at me, i can succeed elsewhere.' type of things. also, the blue devils had only "lost" the brass caption at this show once- 1986 to the suncoast sound. a line piloted by frank williams. [aside]

gino knew right where to go for warmup. we formed the arch, and faced a brick building with an over hang. uh oh. i think all of the seattle cascades were there to witness this warmup. they got quite the show that evening. we played better in that warmup than we had earlier that afternoon. it was loud, it was intense, it was in tune, it was amazing. lets go. after moving to the gate, we could see that all ten of the blue devils' dci banners hanging from the press box. [lips firmly sealed. cough cough.] enough hype. lets go.

the field was turf, the crowd was loud, and we were prepared. they got quite a show that evening. better than the afternoon stage show.