With flash flooding in the area throughout the evening, drum corps were forced inside for the DCI Central Indiana event in Muncie on Friday, June 26.
Eight corps filled Ball State University’s Emens Auditorium with sound as the groups—minus their color guard sections—displayed the best of their musical abilities for the entirety of the evening.
Members of the Crossmen kicked off the evening with excerpts from their 2015 show, “Above and Beyond,” finishing their performance with the corps’ signature arrangement of “Russian Christmas Music” as an added bonus.
Next on the stage, the Boston Crusaders played pieces from their “Game of Thrones”-inspired production, “Conquest.” According to drum major Chase Tucker, the 2015 program has been improving throughout the season, and although tonight’s show was off the football field, there was no lack of quality from the corps.
“It’s pretty different without the color guards and the props,” Tucker said. “Our music really speaks for itself, so it’s nice to get into a concert hall and play.”
The concert hall atmosphere is a perfect warm-up for the Crusaders as they get ready to play in a very special joint concert with the Blue Devils and the Boston Pops at Tanglewood on Monday, July 6.
Members of the Madison Scouts brought their drum feature to the stage, followed by a compilation of the corps’ 2015 show music. In an emotional end, the corps members came together to sing the chorus of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” A cappella. The piece brought the auditorium into a chilling silence, and later garnered massive applause.
The Blue Stars started things off with a favorite piece first performed by the corps a number of years ago, “La vie en Rose.” Later, the group brought out its percussionists to play pieces from their 2015 production, “Side Show.” A mid-show juggling performance brought audience members to their feet as the excitement built throughout the auditorium.
The Cavaliers played several pieces from their 2015 production, “Game On.” With a melodic but powerful finish, the brass section members ended with their familiar arrangement of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
It wasn’t long after the lights went down on the stage that the excitement started to flair. The monstrously loud and boisterous Carolina Crown brass line started by playing excerpts from “Inferno,” leading the audience into a frenzy on several different occasions. Students of the Music For All Summer Symposium Marching Band then joined the corps on-stage for a prepared encore performance that came together after the two groups rehearsed together all week.
“The music is challenging, and we were really surprised that it was the piece they were going to be doing with us,” Carolina Crown drum major Hunter Bown said about performing with the talented high school marching band students. “It’s been really, really fun. We were so excited they were here to do this with us.”
Due to the heavy rain coming down outside during the event, Bluecoats members and staff needed a chance to dry off. The Cadets stepped in during the wait with excerpts from their production “The Power of 10,” before leading into the group’s signature “Rocky Point Holiday.”
Ending the show, the Bluecoats finally made their way to the stage as the final corps of the evening. While playing two pieces form their 2015 production, audience members were shouting “BLOO” for the majority of the performance. As an encore, the Ohio corps played an excerpt from its 2008 show “The Boxer.” Fans yelled and cheered until the entire corps made it off the stage.
