Madrigals make magical music at Warriors match

The Chase Center, the home of the Warriors, is a behemoth of a building, and on the night of Jan. 5, it was packed with apprehensive spectators. A hush fell over the crowd as the conductor raised her hands. “The Star-Spangled Banner,” in perfect harmony, rang out over the speakers. Actual firecrackers went off as the lyrics “bursting in air” were sung. The piece closed out with a high note, and the crowd cheered wildly at the performance. The CVHS Madrigals had done it again.

“I have been a Warriors fan since I was little and watched them win so many titles over the years. Before we sang, we were allowed to watch a few players start their warmups on the court while we were watching from Court side seats,” said Kayden Shih, a junior in Madrigals. 

With an 18,000-person capacity in packed stands, this is probably one of the largest audiences the Madrigals had sung for. “The event felt more real the closer we got to actually performing, so I was definitely both anxious and excited,” said Ash Ahmad a senior Madrigal. 

“The excitement of what we were about to do was far more overpowering than any fear of messing up,” said senior Maizy Dangler.

The Madrigals did very well and the microphones were balanced properly so none of the parts were too loud.

 “I think we did amazing. Out of all of our national anthems that one was one of the best run-throughs,” said senior Allie Otteson.  

“There were no complications,” said Ahmad, “but we did not practice with the firecrackers during the sound check.” The pyrotechnics were a spectacular surprise and punctuated the message of the song.

 “I think we nailed it,” said Shih.

Off the court, however, it was a different story. 

“I’ll admit, the Warriors did not treat us as nicely as we expected them to,” said Dangler. “We were thrown behind a curtain as a makeshift holding area for two hours, had to hunt down water, and buy our own snacks at vending machines we found by the bathrooms.” 

Most of the Madrigals shared this sentiment. After the national anthem, they went up six flights of stairs to their nosebleed seats. 

“The top seats we had to pay $50 for. I was hanging onto the rail for dear life,” said Otteson. The total cost, about $4,000, was covered by a parent. 

The Warriors ended up losing to the Kings, but that didn’t stop it from being a great experience. 

“It’s sad they lost, but I did like seeing everything. I play basketball, myself, so I like seeing what’s happening,” said Otteson.  

“Honestly, the performance itself was the best part of the evening. It was just so amazing!” said Dangler. “We were in a stadium with good acoustics, we were well-miced, and literal pyro came out of the basketball hoops! It was magical!”