Renegades Reloaded Rehearsal
Dennis Mancini, Snare
Imaginary music is echoing
from an imaginary foggy Turkish steam room
in one corner of my head. Meanwhile, random
exits on the freeway whiz buy with no
indication of our rehearsal site known as
Foothill Jr. College. After an unintended
excursion I arrive about an hour early in the
parking lot behind the stadium. I quickly
volunteer a small donation for the required
parking pass and hobble out to the field to
throw down some notes with our center snare
and work out some cobwebs.
It's been a couple of weeks since the full corps
has been together. Not that it is a bad thing,
but it can take a few hours together before a
good grove kicks in and the bar we have raised
not so very long ago can be reached and raised
yet again.
It's very obvious by now the corps' evil plans
have begun to take shape. Several highly
talented people have joined the corps during
the time off. Some awesome stars that have
performed with the corps last year, and others
from the Sacramento area and Southern
California. Now with all sections filled in the
horn line, the low voices from our enlarged
10-man contra line can wail with confidence
as the screams from the soprano line screech
higher and louder. What a great sound people
are producing. More on that later, maybe.
Before setting up we stretch on the field in a
circle while a high stack of Krispy Kreme
boxes wait to be devoured. The most hearty
run a lap around the track earning first class
service in the donut line.
Headed up by the legendary percussion man
Dave Dilullo, the drum line set up on one
corner of the track. Kent Cater stood nearby
coaching the bass drum line while Lee
Rudnicki bounced back and forth across the
field between the horn line, pit and the battery.
Most of his comments were repeated several
times about the importance of playing clean
and "this bar is now 8 counts instead of 4" and
vice versa while he flipped his cell phone on,
pressed it tightly to his ear and made random
announcements to the horn staff.
One thing about having Dave working the line
is you can really tell where the bar is set. He
was making a lot of faces during the morning
session but as the day unfolded he worked his
magic on the line and he began to like what he
was hearing.
The new evil ending was finally distilled and
brought together combined with the horns and
percussion. To put it mildly it rocks, but in a
most evil way. Imagine all the Renegades
walking into a San Francisco techno club and
entering the dance floor. You know how
people there don't dance...they just stand in
place and feel the music while their heads
sway up and down to the groove. Yup,
something like that, but on evil steroids.
Lunch was off site at a popular sandwich
franchise for once a couple miles away on one
of the oldest highways on the West coast
known as the El Camino Real. You can't find a
more diverse conversation when four evil
snare cats swap stories about Brazilian
beachfront property, gymnastics judging, recent
promotions and worthless stock options plus a
lively tit-for-tat anti-spam comedy session.
After lunch more ensemble time was spent
with the horns working the ending drill while
we spent quality time cleaning 9r2.
During dinner while hanging out on the track
more large amounts of red Gatorade was
consumed. Only after a good gush was it
possible to tune snares and hype on the past
season and what's to come.
The truth why farm animals can't understand
drum major commands? It's simply because they don't want to. For
those who commute from the City the rooster
crowing away in the early part of rehearsal is
not imaginary, but a weak diversion planted by
disgruntled local residents. They probably
share a strong belief that evil is not good on
Sundays. On a more positive note a local cheer
leading squad practice on the back 50 had the
corps even more distracted as they conspired
to recruit a possible new member.
What's with the rubber duck squeaky toy
masquerading as a Chihuahua or a very skinny
Other Snapettes Miniature Pony Drill Team
rookie member attempting to disrupt volunteer
judges cassette tape recording for most of the
afternoon? To be more clear, tied to the
podium was as an unidentified small animal (I
will refer to as 'Taxi') not more than 7 inches
high making annoying sounds usually reserved
for the bathtub.
(Evil clouds darken sky for a
moment) LisaLisaMoMeesa, I'm pretty sure I
heard you comment that you wanted to lick its
face more than once. I can assure you that I
saw it doing something with its tongue even a
squeaky toy shouldn't try. Hrm? (Evil clouds
clear to reveal good view of red sky)
The final run-through reached a whole new
level by raising the bar even more and stunned
the staff with our newfound level of
performance. One small example the Contra
line worked the field like a trampoline for the
final moment in the show inspiring the entire
corps to join in the cause. Not to mention our
wonderful color guard introducing an eye
catching rifle toss in front of the snare line
while we smacked through the most difficult
licks in the show during the war section in 9r2
also known to insiders as "letter X." Wow!
I was so tired at the end I could have ripped a
sprinkler head from the ground in search of
some form of H2O, for the lame duck of God.
Luckily I was saved by more illusions of
imaginary Turkish steam room music pumping
between my ears as I gulped down what was
left in my precious red Gatorade and spiked an
unsuspecting school trash can with a four pack
of empty plastic bottles.
If the corps keeps on making gains like this
weekend until DCA the fans will be feeling
very evil in a very good way.
Check out the Renegade website for the latest.
Thanks,
Dennis Mancini
AKA The Snapettes Mom
Renegades 03 Snare
Imaginary music is echoing
from an imaginary foggy Turkish steam room
in one corner of my head. Meanwhile, random
exits on the freeway whiz buy with no
indication of our rehearsal site known as
Foothill Jr. College. After an unintended
excursion I arrive about an hour early in the
parking lot behind the stadium. I quickly
volunteer a small donation for the required
parking pass and hobble out to the field to
throw down some notes with our center snare
and work out some cobwebs.