What I Did This Weekend

My opinions - offended by what I say? Meh, move along then.

Instead of going over every show that was amazing (or not), I'm just going to give a rundown of the weekend. Isn't that what I do every year? I'm too lazy to look back. I've had little sleep and my brain is overwhelmed by all the groups that used versions of Radiohead's Creep and Metallica for strings, there were a lot. (I totally made that up. It's essentially a classical version of Nothing Else Matters. Classy.)

I was also overwhelmed at the number of Texas guards and even more impressed at how many made it to finals. I'm going to say at least 10 made finals. And we heard this all weekend:

The stars at night
Are big and bright
(clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the heart of Texas!

Minnesota did well too. Irondale made finals in A Class with their sports-themed show and MBI (Minnesota Brass, Inc.) made finals in Open Class.

My top shows were (ha! So I am giving a run down, but it's a small list):
Black Watch - A sight to experience in person, really.
Trumbull HS - Tearjerker and beautiful. Wish I had seen it more than once.
Carmel HS - These girls are amazing. Connect the dots!
Delazure - One of the Creep shows...with Mime faces.
Beatrix - All the way from the Netherlands bringing the story of Anne Frank to the floor.

My most WOW and DID YOU SEE THAT!? List:

Zydeco
Braddock Independent
Vanguard
Fantasia
James Logan

And not for fun, but to show that I didn't like everything I saw there and I'm not afraid to admit it to the interwebs:

South Shore - I know it was a crowd favorite but I have no idea why it won.
Onyx - I get that you're World Class level, but please, don't make the show alienate the audience by your concept.

That's all I can remember or that stuck out to me as big-time hot dog guards*.

Thursday, I watched 9 1/2 hours of Winterguard at three different locations.

Friday, I watched 9 hours of Winterguard with A Class finals that night.

Saturday, I watched 10 hours of Winterguard with it being Finals for both Open and World Class groups.

That's a lot of guard in a short amount of time, but I loved it. Til next year...

*Hot dog guard is a group you don't like or want to see again and you get something to eat, like a hot dog.