SoCal's elite marching band is ready to rock the Rose Bowl

The marching bands are coming! More than a thousand young musicians from 11 elite drum and bugle corps from around the country are scheduled to descend on the Rose Bowl for a show Saturday evening.

Among them is the 150-member Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps from Southern California.  

Roughly 20 hours of practice go into each minute of performance time the Pacific Crest corps has on the field. 

"You take marching band, and you escalate it to a whole new level – physically, mentally – every single day, this is your life," said Matthew Distante, 16, a tuba player. The group tours each summer from June to August and will perform in Riverside Sunday, before heading to Arizona and then the Midwest.

Training for the tour starts in January with weekend camps once a month, ramping up to weekly practice in May and daily practices in June. Most of the band members, all under the age of 21, are from Southern California, but 12 percent are from other states -- including Washington, Arizona, Nevada -- and three students are from Japan. 

"Some people are familiar with travel ball or little league or club soccer, that's what we are for marching band kids," said Stuart Pompel, executive director of Pacific Crest. "They want to take their experience to the highest level in this activity and that's what we are."

In between gigs on the tour, corps members are outside in the heat all for all-day rehearsals. Last week they practiced at Diamond Bar High School in record-breaking temperatures. Each section practiced separately, perfecting the details of their routines -- note by note, step by step -- as instructors walked the field giving feedback. 

"There’s a lot of times when hope just disappears," said Distante, referring to practicing in 100+ degree weather. It's his first year in the group, and he says, music aside, it's the mostly physically challenging thing he's ever done. 

Practicing in the heat all summer, water is just as important as instruments.

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Priska Neely/KPCC

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Head drum major Sabrina Thomas, 20, has been with Pacific Crest for five years, and she says it does get easier. "Once we start on the road and we’re all stuck together on the bus together, we definitely create a sense of family and then stuff just gets easier from there," she said.

Nearly 500 young musicians audition for the 150 spots in the ensemble. Along with taking music abilities to the next level, Pacific Crest also has a mission to equip members with leadership skills that will serve them well long after they leave the corps. Thomas says she'd learned a lot about dedication. 

"I’ve learned that hard work definitely pays off," said Thomas who marched for four years playing mellophone and now helps to direct the band. "If you put hard work into it, you'll be glad with his results." 

Many of the band members look forward to bringing their improved technique back to high school bands or other school groups.

"The one thing that keeps me going -- I just think about what’ll happen at the end of the season," said Distante. "My goal is to get every small aspect of my show as perfect as possible."

Saturday's show at the Rose Bowl starts at 5:45. You can find ticket information here.