So I'm finally home after a long weekend.
Flew up to Sydney Thursday, all fine.
Friday, the band played the Hymn and Test Piece, and did the Hymn the best we'd ever done it. Test piece was also very good. Listened to a few of the A Grade bands, including the sister band to the one I'm in, at their first A Grade comp.
Saturday was the street march at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, right next to Homebush stadium where the 2000 Olympics were held. I had to do the inspection twice, once for the D Grade and for the A Grade as well, because two people were running late. It was pretty horrendous. The D Grade band came dead last, but the band never puts much of an emphasis on marching. I also had a look around the show, and bought a Warheads showbag! I also impressed myself by managing to not buy a showbag ironically, such as a Hannah Montana or Sesame Street one.
Sunday was the Own Choice and Stage March, and we performed early. Results were announced about two and a half hours later. We won the Own Choice, and didn't place lower than third in any of the other fields. The good news is, we won the own choice by a clear enough margin to take out the competition! So less than 18 months after forming, the band has won the title of best D Grade band in the Nation. We were pretty majorly stoked.
A Grade performed again in the evening, and performed an amazing piece called Earthquake that is simply amazing. There is a guy in the band, Angus, who plays cornet with D Grade, but is studying percussion at uni, and is a FREAK. He was simply brilliant to watch, and it was one hell of a performance. It was quite amusing, because he spent quite a long time setting up, causing annoyance in the audience. After, everyone was like, fair enough. It was great. The band didn't do too well, but considering it was their first competition as an A Grade band, we feel they acquitted themselves very admirably.
So last night there was a party, and I had a bottle of Cabernet Syrah that was very nice. But then people started giving me donations, and I got very drunk. Drunk enough that I was still extremely drunk at breakfast. And then I had to fly hungover, which wasn't overably pleasant. I'm still not feeling too well, although the litre odd of water that I've had in the past hour or so has helped immeasurably.
The best of all this is, I had a good weekend. A really good weekend actually. Last year I hated the weekend, as I didn't really know anyone and spent the whole time in my room moping. This year, I made the effort to talk to people and be social in general, and it payed off big time. I'm exhausted and glad to be home, but in a great mood, and glad to have made the effort.