Drum corps on the West Coast could not be any hotter than it is right now. Two of the most tightly contested jousting matches in all of DCI are happening out in California. 

Between the Blue Devils and Santa Clara duking it out on top and the Mandarins making a push to catch the Blue Knights, the 2018 season is rapidly heating up.

Everything will pick up again once the corps see each other at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, on Saturday, June 30. Drum Corps At The Rose Bowl will determine the next week of these stories as each corps attempts to establish itself higher than the other.

Watch Drum Corps At The Rose Bowl  LIVE on FloMarching

Saturday, June 30 | 5 PM PT

The Blue Devils and Santa Clara have faced off three times this season and BD currently holds a 2-1 advantage. The margins of victory, either way, have been razor thin. Blue Devils won the MidCal Champions Showcase on June 22 by only 0.600. A majority of that difference was gained by a 0.500 edge in GE that the Blue Devils had over SCV. The Blue Devils had a 0.100 edge in Visual but Santa Clara tied them in Music.

Meanwhile, at the same competition, the Blue Knights established themselves with a strong 66.650. Mandarins were a full 3.700 behind them. Blue Knights had a strong lead in GE (1.700), Visual (0.750), and in Music (1.250). 

At DCI West, things began to change for everyone.

Santa Clara was able to overcome the Blue Devils by 0.600 overall for the win. The big swing came in the GE caption where SCV went from being 0.500 down, to 0.400 up. The visual caption again was close with BD holding the tight 0.050 edge. Santa Clara was able to open a small gap in music by outscoring BD by 0.250 points. 

Looking at the Blue Knights and Mandarins race, Mandarins were able to close the gaps in GE, Visual, and Music. General Effect went from a 1.700 gap down to a 1.100 margin. The spread in Visual went from 0.750 to 0.150, and in Music from a 1.250 to 1.050—shaving off 1.400 points in less than 24 hours.

In the latest contest on June 24, just 48 hours later, the scores continued to rearrange standings. BD was able to jump back into first place. However, the 0.250 overall score gap between them and SCV was once again paper thin. 

Blue Devils and Santa Clara were separated by only 0.100 in GE with BD getting the edge. BD made its move in the visual caption. It was able to sweep all but one of the Visual sub-captions which equated to a 0.300 margin of victory. SCV closed the gap in Sacramento in Music by taking the caption by 0.150. 

The Mandarins, however, made a massive jump. The overall gap was 1.400 coming off their last show. However, after the Moonlight Classic contest, the overall gap was narrowed down to just 0.600. That means that in less than one week, the Blue Knights' initial lead of 3.700 points has been whittled down from 3.100 points to just 0.600.

Where are the Mandarins making up all this ground?

The Mandarins were actually able to pass BK in the GE caption by 0.100 and in Visual by 0.300. However, the Blue Knights still held a strong 1.000 advantage in Music over the Mandarins.

What you are seeing is corps adjusting and judges rewarding rapid improvements. If these early season contests are an indicator of the rest of the season, the Blue Devils and SCV are destined to see who has the better show any given night. Meanwhile, Mandarins are pacing themselves for a strong run into finals and maybe even into single-digit placement after 2018 is said and done. Both would be a first in the corps’ history.

Stay tuned on Saturday, June 30, beginning at 5 PM PT to see how the next round of competition plays out in Pasadena, CA.