HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Had an incredible breakfast that Gary’s mom cooked!
Today Americans are celebrating the 234th birthday of their nation. There are festivities all around the country. Parades, fairs, concerts, picnics, barbecues and fireworks! I was lucky enough to be able to go to Pasadena for one of the largest celebrations in the State of California: Americafest 2010. This annual event is held in and around the ROSE BOWL in Pasadena, a stadium that can seat 90.000 people at games! Wow!

Jennifer Langford – BD color guard ’09 – picked me up at Gary’s parents and was going to meet up with a bunch of BD guard members for lunch. Blue Devils had the day off at and around the stadium before their evening performance.
Talked to quite a few ’09 members who are marching again this year, before they all wandered off to the activities on the stadium grounds. Lots of food stands! The army trailer was a hit too! You could practice your shooting skills and even “fly” a helicopter! Had a good time with Samer (one of the trumpet players) firing a gun at some screen.

Good to see my fellow DEVILS FOOD food crew people I will be working with the next five weeks too! And not to forget: THE NEST, our home on wheels during tour. We upgraded quite a bit from last years, because we got the former staff bus to ride. Very nice and very comfortable!!! It sleeps 17!



The drumline had an early warm up because they had a gig right before the gates of the stadium opened. The drumline marched down the road to the gate. The crowd – which were camping out with little tents and barbecues on the grass – loved it! On the “stage” in front of the stadium the drummers played for the entering crowd. Very relaxed and very entertaining! Some of the kids coming by got the chance to bang on a few drums as well.

Also Brandon – a 12-year-old – who was at the System Blue clinic. He is an incredible talent. At the clinic he joined the snareline. He could play the entire opener (learnt from audio recordings), and played it extremely well. There’s some video footage of that too, which I will try and post here as well later. Great kid! Unbelievable how he manages to know the whole piece including the visuals!

To be continued.... Gotta go