PASADENA — 14 of the last 16 DCI World Champions have appeared in California at some point in their championship season.
While it’s yet to be seen if 2025’s champion will follow suit, initial success in California has the Boston Crusaders holding an early inside track in search of a first-ever gold medal.
Appearing in California for the first time since 2012, Boston Crusaders completed a stretch of seven undefeated competitions in the west by taking top marks at the Drum Corps at the Rose Bowl event, Saturday July 12.
For the Crusaders, whose oldest current members would have been toddlers the last time the New England corps performed at the iconic Rose Bowl during the 2007 DCI World Championships Finals, taking the field in Pasadena was a moment to remember.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Boston Crusaders drum major Wes Booker said. “Seeing thousands of people in the stands was life changing. We walked on the field and they roared.”
1. Boston Crusaders » 86.750
2. Blue Devils » 85.250
3. Santa Clara Vanguard » 85.000
4. Mandarins » 81.050
The Crusaders have been neck-and-neck with Blue Devils during the corps’ early-season California stint, and earned an advantage of 1.5 points Saturday over the Concord, California corps.
The two corps have now met head-to-head four times on the young season, and while all four have been won by the Crusaders, the two had yet to be separated by more than a point prior to Saturday.
“We’ve been working a lot on consistency in rehearsals and bringing our A-game to every single performance,” Booker said. “And that one showed up tonight for sure.”
Blue Devils fended off Santa Clara Vanguard for second place thanks largely to strong scores in Visual captions. The gap of 0.25 between the two was slightly smaller than a margin of 0.45 points just one day earlier. While Blue Devils topped the charts in Visual Analysis, Vanguard scored ahead of the Concord corps in overall Music.
Mandarins — who broke 80 points for the first time this season Friday in Walnut, California — maintained a positive trajectory while earning fourth across the scoresheets.
“That was electric,” Mandarins drum major Maya McBrayer said. “We haven’t been to the Rose Bowl for a couple of years now, and it’s very special coming back. I’m from Texas, so I was just in awe of the crowd here, how energetic everything is.”
5. Blue Knights » 78.050
6. Pacific Crest » 74.550
7. The Academy » 73.250
8. Seattle Cascades » 69.250
Blue Knights held a solid lead over Pacific Crest thanks especially to standout scores in General Effect. Blue Knights scores are pacing substantially ahead of where they were a year ago; On July 13, 2024, the Denver corps earned a tally of 75.150, nearly three points shy of the corps’ July 12, 2025 output.
Pacific Crest and The Academy were closely-contested for the second night in a row, after being separated by 1.35 points at Friday’s Walnut event. Saturday, Pacific Crest’s advantage was 1.3, buoyed by a noticeable lead in the Visual captions; the Southern California corps also outscored Blue Knights in Color Guard.
“We had one of the best runs that we’ve had all season,” said Pacific Crest drum major Justine Nava. Especially being our ‘home show’ it felt very different, very electric.”
The Academy scored as high as sixth in Visual Analysis and Brass.
The Seattle Cascades rounded out Saturday’s World Class leaderboard with a score of 69.250, as the corps pulled within a point of the 70-point milestone.
1. Blue Devils B » 73.450
2. Gold » 68.200
Blue Devils B has posted strong finishes to date, and continued its momentum with an impressive score of 73.450 on Saturday.
The Concord, California corps swept all captions among Open Class corps.
“I could definitely feel the energy coming off the field,” Blue Devils B drum major Abigail Bumanleg said. “Especially from this audience here, they were really hyping us up. I think all of our members really felt that energy.”
Gold, which notched second place Saturday and continued climbing toward 70 points, will appear at one more California event on Sunday in Buena Park, before continuing its nationwide 2025 tour in Texas in the coming week.
“Every single year at the Rose Bowl is the most hyped show of the year,” said Gold drum major Charlie Ly. “It’s the most energy coming from the performance and the audience. It couldn’t have been better.”
3. Impulse » 65.050
4. Golden Empire » 63.400
5. Blue Devils C » 56.900
Impulse and Golden Empire continued a hotly-contested series of events. Prior to Saturday, the two were separated by less than a point during four separate meetings. Impulse’s strong scores in General Effect helped widen the lead to 1.65 points.
“I think tonight’s show was successful,” Impulse drum major Neo Guillory said. “We’d been struggling with tempo, but we started to get it more under control and had a great performance.”
Impulse also impressively took second in the Open Class Color Guard caption while Golden Empire scored ahead in Visual Proficiency and Percussion.
“We had a lot of energy on that field,” Golden Empire drum major Clara Ledesma said. “We all came super prepared and ready to show what we’ve got.”
Blue Devils C took fifth place in the Open Class standings at Saturday’s event, scoring 56.900.
The Freelancers Alumni also appeared under the SoundSport heading, performing in exhibition.
Many of tonight’s Open Class corps will complete their 2025 tours at Sunday’s event in Buena Park, California. As for the event’s World Class contingent, all eight corps are set to depart California and begin making their way toward marquee DCI Tour events in and around Texas in the coming week.
