Chief Guns

Guess I am getting laughed at too. Because I can't name one of her songs either.

Appreciate the endorsement, but i think I am too old school for this kinder gentle world we live in now lol. Three times during my military career I had a chance to push boots (RDC/Drill Instructor) at boot camp. Three times I said no way lol. My wife asked me why not, I told her because the first time one of those 18-year-olds mouths off or eye balls me, they are going thru the bulkhead, and my career is over LMAO.

I have always wanted to hear the judges tape for BD Felliniesque.

The Mandarins check all the boxes you laid out. Mandarins have the staff and it starts with 2023 Director of the Year J.W. Koester who has sat at the top of the mountain as a DCI Championship Director. Mandarins also have a top six finish (2023) and over the last few years have shown they can throw a few punches with the big dawgs in multiple captions, a few notables include beating Crown in brass, beating BD in music analysis QF night, and last year at the SA regional beat BAC in one of the visual captions. Also, Mandarins brass and guard finished above SCV a few times this season as well. They also beat Vanguard a few times early on in 2024, beat PR at finals in 2023, even beat the Cadets a few times that season. And I believe Color Guard has finished top five 2 of the last 3 seasons. Obviously, things can change, staff, talent etc. But until further notice, Mandarins have to be in the driver's seat as the next first-time DCI World Champion.

In 2024, Mt. Sac did two shows, Friday night was strictly for band kids only, then Saturday night was for general public. My son said the Friday night show getting to perform in front of the band kids, he said the performers felt like rock stars. During the Mandarins opener (Vieux Carre) when they drop the props for the opening hit, he said they nearly had an ensemble tear because the bando kids lost their **** and was screaming/cheering so loud, the ensemble couldn't hear each other lol. Bando kids definitely bring the energy.

Levi's is a nice stadium no doubt. Drum corps shows there? Not so much in my opinion. 1. Planes fly DIRECTLY over the stadium on takeoff from San Jose Airport, so any quiet moment in a drum corps show will be ruined by a 737 outbound for DFW lol. 2. The echo is horrible! Niners percussion unit "Niner Noise" played at the end of the 1st quarter of a game me and my son went to.........the echo of the last notes played by the drumline finally stopped at the two minute warning in the 4th quarter LMAO. 3. And Levi's is extremely expensive. You want a bottled water, be prepared to harvest your organs in the basement underneath the stadium to pay for it lol.

See you in October lol

Crown's show in 2014 was my favorite of the summer. But favorite doesn't always equal best. Because unless there was some alien drum corps coming from outer space, nothing on this planet was beating Felliniesque. To this day, never seen a on field performance and execution like Fellini. Spirit had one of my favorite shows this year, didn't even make finals.

SoFi Stadium (aka Levi's Stadium South) is a really nice stadium. Sorry brother but as a Niners fan, I had to get that dig in there as us Niners fans take over SoFi every year lol. It's an extra home game for us lol.

The ballad from "As Dreams Are Made On" might be one of the most underrated ballads over the last decade.

Metamorph is a close second for me. I knew Metamorph would win, but it was kind of a slow burn and was undeniable by finals. That 40 trumpet feature.......chefs kiss. Fellini on the other hand was a 1st rd KO lol. Heck, I don't even think we made it to round one in 2014, Fellini wiped out the competition at the weigh-ins LMAO.

Felliniesque is the greatest performance I have ever seen hands down no debate. Never in my life have I heard so many "ooh's and ah's from a DCI crowd lol. Still remember seeing Fellini in Glendora CA late June for the first time live, people in the crowd shaking their heads in amazement lol, some were picking their jaws up off the bleachers lol, one guy said, "Well it's June 28th, and the DCI season is officially over, because nothing on earth is beating that!" The reactions that Felliniesque got from the crowd reminded me of when I took my wife to one of those Cirque du Soleil shows and seeing/hearing the people's response to the wild things the performers were doing. Saw Fellini again the following night at RCC, good Lord!!!!! I think that's why RCC has been under construction all these years. BD turned that stadium into rubble lol.

BDs closer! Flag work was next level.

Put me in the minority club as well. Loved BD this year!

And I will be sitting in the crowd eating popcorn and laughing when someone walks up on-stage slaps the host back to factory settings when he cracks a joke about corps "insert name" not having a great design or lacking GE in their shows.

Appreciate the shout out! Much love and respect to you! I love this activity, and I was here decades before my son marched, and God willing I will be here in the decades to come.

Definitely excited for year two of Pulse Percussion in Sac-Town. We saw a huge improvement in drums in 2025. As the Mandarins talent continues to get better each year, coupled with the Pulse crew being rockstars in the WGI community, I expect them to take another step forward in the percussion caption in 2026.

Well now that BD has a 4th place finish, someone flapping their gums about "what they allegedly heard" has become the fastest way to get a bunch of likes by some people who are naive enough to listen to their nonsense.

Then we take Mr. French dude and put him in the spinners so we can hear him yell repeatedly "Je me chie dessus!" Lol.

Make it top 7. Mandarins have moved into Texas for winter camps the last few years.

I agree with you. The next 5-10 years for the Mandarins will be exciting to follow.

So with a few days to process another amazing and record breaking season for the Mandarins, what do you want to see them do next as they continue their upward trajectory?

Who is next in line to win their first WC championship? Mandarins....................

Actually I don't want the haters to stop talking. I think it's awesome that BD lives rent free in their heads to the point that they can't keep BD out of their mouths, and just celebrate the corps that earned their medals and placement. When you can finish 4th and it's considered a down year, that just speaks to how bad*** BD is and their level of dominance over the years. And alot of the stuff the haters are saying is just regurgitated stuff that has been said year after year. It's just finally the haters get to stick their chest out and yell to the heavens that their annual BD prediction was correct.............for the first time since "Good Times" and "Welcome Back Kotter" went off the air. LMAO.