My trip to the Rose Parade

[randomnoise]

Monday night, I decided to go to the Rose Parade. Went on eBay and bought tickets in the grandstands at 155 Orange Grove (near the start of the Parade).

The parade starts at 8am, but you have to be there before they close down the streets - so got there at 4:30am and parked. Then slept for a couple of hours in the car. I woke up at 7am and heard a strange sound - musicians warming up in minor thirds. I thought to myself, "it couldn't be..."

But it was.

I got out of the car and took two steps and saw the Vanguard buses and heard the horns warming up on their combination of Bb and G horns. Said hello to George Brown, director of the SCV Cadets, who looked extremely spiffy in his SCV Director outfit.

I was so excited I went right over and stood in front of the horn line. Scott Pierson (who was the main man putting the hornline together) popped out of the line to say hello. There were so many old friends there that I did not see them all, as I was interrupting their warmup. I waved to Renegade Contrabass Rich Skare (who was playing sop for this gig) and to many other pals - like John Bermudez, who flew in from the East Coast for the gig.

But I was so excited, I missed seeing many of the Renegades folks. So I will say hello now to all the Renegades past and present that were there - you guys are awesome!

I had to get out of there because Tim Andriese (former Bari, DM and Brass staffer) was giving me that icy SCV glare (well, I WAS interrupting his warmup). So I headed to the grandstands, found my seat, and watched things get started. My seat was in the middle of about 1,000 extremely hyped Michigan fans. They were great folks to hang out with.

The first band in the parade was the U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band. They warmed up and played an impromptu concert to the many appreciative folks in the stands. Nothing like a little Semper Fidelis to wake you up!!

The parade started right on time, and soon enough, SCV was heard coming down the street playing "If You Believe". I have to tell you - it got me. I started tearing up, and had trouble speaking.

SCV looked great and sounded even better. I was able to hear them play all three tunes - If You Believe, Henry V and Procession of the Nobles. It was great. BIG sound - nice and full. In tune with a great quality. Drums had the sound that only drum corps seem to have.

They were the only unit in the parade with rifles - and it added a nice touch to the look of the guard. The horns and drums had plenty of what looked like current members. I didn't really get a chance to count, but in looking at the pics, seems like there were about 125 brass. Drum line looked like a good sized line fronted by 13 snares.

The flags followed up, looking beautiful and clean. It may have been me, but the guard looked like they were mostly Alumni. All in all a marvelous showing - exactly what you would expect from the Vanguard.

It was over far too quickly! Thanks so much to the SCV organization for representing us with style and grace.

There were many other highlights - including...

A flyover by the Stealth Bomber. How cool is that!! Everyone in the place was stunned.

Riverside City College. Wow. Easily the best band in the Parade, and that is saying a lot. Better than Michigan State, and they have a reputation for being the best there is!

The floats - they look great on TV, but are overwhelming in person - so beautiful. Had a chance to get up close and touch them - the detail is simply amazing. My fave - the Rain Bird or the Little Old Lady from Pasadena.

The guy cleaning up horse manure was a show in himself. Talk about pride in your work - he had more moves than Cavies' guard!! Absolutely hilarious.

As far as the bands, they were all excellent. There were two or three HS bands that kicked my butt with their sound - even one with a Steel Drum section!!. The best were:

- Columbus North High School "Sound of North", Columbus, Indiana

- Owasso High School, Pride of Owasso Marching Band, Owasso, Oklahoma

- Central-Carroll High School Band "Marching Pride", Carrollton, Georgia

NOTE: I listen for brass player stuff - good playing is tops with me. But I repeat - all the bands were great.

There was a band from Mexico that was really good - great hats. I didn't even know they had marching bands!

Most entertaining band? A toss-up between Michigan (who were walking cheerleaders) and the LA Unified Honor Band playing the music of Jennifer Lopez and chanting - they ruled.

The most surprising thing was how much fun it was to watch the parade - I highly recommend it. With a theme of Music, Music, Music, the 2004 Tournament of Roses Parade was definitely the place for me on New Year's Day.

I have posted some of my pictures from the parade - enjoy.

If you can ever swing it, go to this parade someday - you'll love it.

PS Just checked the TiVo - GREAT coverage on HGTV - the recording has over 3 minutes showing the corps playing all three tunes AND negotiating the infamous 105 degree turn onto Colorado Avenue.

Edited January 3, 2004 by randomnoise

[SCVAlumTofRGuy]

Chris,

Thanks for posting those pics; I've added them to my collection. Our performance yesterday was incredible; every time we did our horn pop on Henry 5th the spectators' eyes got as big as dinner plates just before we gave 'em the big whammy. We left the spectators seated (trapped? :P ) underneath the 210 freeway overpass fairly well deaf, as Scott & Dan wanted us to really let it all hang out on "Henry" when we got there.

Thanks again!

Morgan

[FrankBeMe]

Excellent Chris! ^OO^ ^OO^

I just noticed something in the pictures that I didn't while I was watching it on HGTV---the band that had all the steel drums...their sign saying Cambridge--they had the lettering designed just like the Bridgemen.

And the flyover....on TV it looked like the B-2, F-117 and F-22 flew over as soon as the Air Force Acedemy Band started the turn. That was very impressive--a definate man moment with all that fire power!!!!

Edited January 3, 2004 by FrankBeMe

[aldoc]

Chris..thanks for sharing the peerade pics!

..the view from the stands looked great.. this time. B)

[Ryan H. Turner]

Hey Chris!! AWESOME PICS!!! And being a 9-time "marcher" in the parade, I have to say I appreciate your vantage point on those pics from "the other side" of the street. Most pics I've ever seen are from the perspective of the "TV side". Looks like you were on Orange Grove just south of the turn. And thank you for your awesome shot of the TofR Band. Hope you liked them...they've always prided themselves as trying to be the best band in the parade.

And man...you brought back some cool memories. I had NO idea that Tim Andriese was still around. Tim and I were drum majors in 1987 (he SCV me VK) and our corps practically toured together all of 1987. I had some schtick that I did during retreats that he played along with, and Tim and I were great friends. Lost contact with him...great to hear he's still around!! He was THE BEST DM ever!

[trumpet195]

Mr. Turner,

I marched the parade and thought u might think it was interesting that I got to march with Pee Wee (a little VK history) !

[Eddie]

Thanks so much for the pics. I was in the blcok with Riverside during that parade. This was my first time marching in the parade, and I got to tell you, I had a blast!! So hearing your good words on Riverside Comm. College brought a smile to my face. There are a lot of corps being represented in that parade block.

Which one was I? 3rd row, the only silver baritone in the line.

In-n-Out afterwords ROCKED!!!!!