PASADENA — During the 2025 Drum Corps International Tour, a rare West Coast visit from the Boston Crusaders proved just how valuable a successful California swing can be for building mid-season momentum. Flashing forward to 2026, the Bluecoats are capitalizing on that exact same blueprint, capping a dominant weekend in Southern California to wrap up an undefeated, five-show sweep of the Golden State in their first tour of California since 2009.
On Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, one of the marquee venues on the DCI Tour schedule, the Bluecoats met the stadium’s massive scale with a sweeping performance of its production, “Gravity and Grace.” The corps perfectly captured the Southern California atmosphere, letting the strains of The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” echo out to the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains.
“Energy. This crowd was amazing, absolutely electric,” Bluecoats drum major Tony Gamez said. “This stadium is the first time I’ve ever performed in it, first ever time seeing it, and this was literally amazing.”
1. Bluecoats » 87.575
2. Blue Devils » 86.675
3. Santa Clara Vanguard » 84.650
The Bluecoats preserved their flawless early-season record on Saturday, leaning on a half-point advantage in General Effect to anchor a winning score of 87.575.
“Couldn’t be more thankful. Thankful to God. Thankful for the opportunities that He has given me and this drum corps,” Gamez said. “We’re amazed with everything we’re doing, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Blue Devils held serve in second place but made up significant ground on the Bluecoats in just 24 hours. After finishing 1.5 points behind on Friday in Walnut, the Concord corps stormed back in Pasadena, narrowing the gap to just nine-tenths of a point. Outright victories in the Visual Analysis and Brass captions fueled the charge, helping the Blue Devils secure a final score of 86.675, a massive 1.425-point improvement from the night before.
“The crowd was electric, I absolutely loved the energy. I could feel the corps feeding off the crowd,” Blue Devils drum major Gabriel Jarata said. “This venue is amazing. The sound of the corps is amplified by the structure of the Rose Bowl. I loved it.”
Santa Clara Vanguard, finishing third, engineered a similar story by riding a 0.95-point day-over-day increase to an 84.650 overall. Vanguard’s historically strong percussion section made one of the loudest statements of the evening in Pasadena, leaping into first place in the caption to edge out the Bluecoats by two-tenths of a point, a complete reversal of Friday night’s results.
4. Pacific Crest » 76.225
5. The Academy » 74.600
6. Seattle Cascades » 70.075
Pacific Crest closed out its home-state stand with plenty of momentum, riding a wave of local support at the Rose Bowl for its production, “Irresistible.” The corps backed up the crowd’s energy on the scoresheets, leaning on strong marks in the General Effect and Visual captions to secure an overall score of 76.225. That mark represents a massive 2.125-point improvement over the day before — the largest single-day surge of any corps at the event.
The Academy has put together a remarkable July surge of its own. After launching its tour with a 68.300 in Sacramento, the Tempe corps is already knocking on the door of the 75-point threshold just over a week later, finishing with a 74.600. The Academy’s primary strength on the scoresheets was once again found in the Music captions, where they held a three-tenths advantage in Brass and a one-tenth edge from one of two Music Analysis judges over Pacific Crest.
“We’ve taught the corps well. They know their show like the back of their thumb… I’m impressed with the energy and the tenacity of this group,” Academy drum major Sebastian Cisneros Ortega said.
The Academy will now hit the road on its way back home to Arizona for the upcoming Drums Across the Desert event on Monday in Mesa.
“It’s going to be a great boost to morale,” Ortega said. “It’s going to be a great experience having the whole state of Arizona at Mesa Community College cheering us on.”
Meanwhile, the Seattle Cascades have reaped the rewards of their competitive growth since leaving the Pacific Northwest. The corps concluded its West Coast leg on Saturday night with a score of 70.075, officially crossing the 70-point milestone for the first time in 2026.
“I think up until this point, we were all pushing through a lot of rehearsal days,” Seattle Cascades drum major Madison Landis said. “Today was definitely the best trip we’ve had so far performing at the Rose Bowl. We had a lot of hype around the show. We were all really excited to perform here.”
1. Blue Devils B » 71.125
2. Gold » 68.275
Like its World Class counterpart, Blue Devils B put together a statement performance at the Rose Bowl, preserving its undefeated streak while shattering the 70-point ceiling for the first time this season. Although Gold had closed the gap to within 1.5 points on Friday night, the Concord corps responded aggressively on Saturday. Making a clean sweep of the caption, Blue Devils B’s score of 72.125 represented a massive 1.825-point day-over-day improvement — the highest growth of any Open Class ensemble in the stadium.
“I think today’s show was excellent. It was super fun. I’m super excited,” Blue Devils B drum major Mason Merritt said. “I’m here with my family… and I’m glad to keep going.”
Following the weekend’s action, Blue Devils B will take a brief hiatus from the competitive schedule before traveling to the Midwest for August’s DCI Open Class World Championships in Dayton, Ohio.
Meanwhile, runner-up Gold (68.275) found its greatest competitive leverage in the Music captions. The San Diego-based corps finished just two-tenths of a point behind BDB from one of two Music Analysis judges. After Sunday’s upcoming SoCal Classic, the two West Coast heavyweights will not face off again until World Championships Week in August, leaving it anyone’s guess how the leaderboard may shift as Gold takes its production southwest into Texas this coming week.
3. Impulse » 66.400
4. Golden Empire » 64.100
5. Blue Devils C » 63.750
Impulse comfortably locked down the third-place position with a 66.400, making its biggest waves in Visual Proficiency. The Buena Park ensemble outperformed Gold by three-tenths of a point to secure second place in that individual sub-caption.
Meanwhile, Golden Empire’s color guard continues to turn heads, even as the corps finished in fourth place overall with a score of 64.100 on Saturday. While Blue Devils B managed to edge out the Riverside ensemble by a single tenth of a point to take the overall caption, it marked the first time all season the Concord corps was able to top Golden Empire’s guard.
“This is my fourth season,” Golden Empire color guard captain Desiree Espinoza said. “This year we have so many veterans that came back and wanted to push ourselves so much, and I feel like we definitely are proving that this year.”
While Golden Empire’s guard has been the talk of the tour thus far, the corps’ percussion section also turned in a standout performance in Pasadena. The drum line captured second place in the caption, finishing a tenth of a point ahead of Gold.
Rounding out the Open Class competition was Blue Devils C with a final score of 63.750, representing an impressive point-and-a-half improvement over the night before. BDC’s output in the General Effect captions was particularly strong, edging out Golden Empire by a half-point overall (25.900 to 25.400) keeping things razor-thin heading into the final event of the regionally-touring corps’ seasons on Sunday.
All five of Saturday’s Open Class competitors will next head to the SoCal Classic in Buena Park, California. The hometown showcase will mark the conclusion of the 2026 summer seasons for Impulse, Golden Empire, and Blue Devils C.
The World Class field, on the other hand, has officially wrapped up its highly-anticipated California run. The Seattle Cascades, The Academy, Pacific Crest, and the Bluecoats will now trek east to Mesa, Arizona, for Monday’s Drums Across the Desert event. Meanwhile, Santa Clara Vanguard and the Blue Devils will bypass the Arizona stop, heading straight to the Lone Star State to prepare for high-profile matchups at DCI Denton presented by Stanbury Uniforms on July 16 and DCI Houston presented by Fruhauf Uniforms on July 17.
“It’s bittersweet really. We love California — We’re the Concord Blue Devils, and we don’t get that name for no reason,” Gabriel Jarata said. “We’re definitely gearing up for the Midwest tour, and we’re ready to kick some butt.”
