6am Sunday morning, the day of days, the day we have worked and strived for, the deadline we could not move! This is it this is FINALS!
The morning was bright and sunny, and after a short wait for Ian Mac to fetch Amy’s horn case, how did she forget that! And a quick phone call to Darren to make sure he was out of bed this time, we set off. We arrived in Crawley at 7:30 ish, the race to board the coach was lost by little Pip who managed to leave half her knees in the road after a tumble, having picked her up and dusted her off, we were away!
The morale was high and there was an air of anticipation, the journey was fairly uneventful, Bob took the opportunity to take his usual 3 o’clock nap at the early time of 10am, only rising to part take in flapjacks! News filtered through that the truck had arrived at Burton safely, as had the missing Contra player Mark who had decided at the last minute to travel in his parent’s car!
The afternoon saw us perform an exhibition, an un-judged show, there cant be many corps that has marched their first show on finals day, for many it was their first marched show ever, how many corps have put out a seven man snare line all rookies accept Jamie! However the result was a phenomenal success. They looked great, sounded great and performed their hearts out.
I have said before that Drum Corps creates unforgettable memories, and for those of us privileged to be at the warm up, before the final’s performance, that was one such occasion. The performance levels where through the roof and the expected standard was blown away. Smiles all round.
Despite Finals being a few weeks early this year, the pre show speeches took place in the usual wet, dark and windy conditions! Darren mention to the Legion Star members that this was the moment they had talked about for 2 years, this was it. And as we stepped off and rounded the corner to see the floodlit stadium and the crowd, You could visibly see, they finally understood this was their moment!
Despite the fact that it poured with rain, another great show was performed, the Colour Guard in particular battle the elements, in what was their first experience of outdoor competition, superbly well, a great credit to Nat, Matt, and Carla. The other really impressive performance came from the Bass Drum Line, which only 24 hours early had lost Sam from the line with a fractured foot. Their show was quickly re-learnt for 3 drums, and a faultless performance at Finals followed, well done to the lads and Ian for making it happen.
Retreat saw the fastest drummer competition finals, the only corps to have a finalist in both age groups, well done to Connor and Rob for two great performances, it was also great to see the entire horn line play perfect day and the anthem in the massed ensemble.
After the problems of 2006, it was an amazing sight to see the corps back on the field, there were times at the end of last year when that did not seem possible. Getting together with Legion Star has been a breath of fresh air, I would like to thank Darren and everyone at Star for making this a really memorable season.
When you travel home from finals you are left with your memories, memories you keep for life and friendships forged that you will never break. I for one will take many happy memories and new friends from this year, as I am sure will everyone who has been involved, if we are looking for success then surely that is it!
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