For the 2025 Drum Corps International Summer Tour, Hurricanes’ production will tell the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, through musical inspirations such as My Chemical Romance’s “Welcome to the Black Parade.”
“We felt like that idea would provide us with a loose structure in terms of acts that would allow us to be a little bit less literal with our storytelling but also keep things within a conceptual realm that people would recognize like a super old trope with the four horsemen,” said program coordinator and battery percussion arranger Dan Schack.
The Connecticut corps’ 2025 program, aptly titled “The Black Parade,” consists of four acts, each pertaining to a theme from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a concept presented in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The themes of conquest, war, famine and death build the abstract foundations for the program’s creative facets.
The program’s music is primarily focused on the rhythmic intricacies related to the heavy metal and alternative rock genres. “Welcome to the Black Parade,” which Schack said was the nucleus song for the program, was the result of the desire to make a heavy metal show, an idea first brought up by front ensemble arranger and percussion caption head David Paradis.
The corps decided to utilize the musical strength of its ensemble to take on the rhythmic aspects associated with alternative rock genres. This theme is seen through the other pieces in the show’s repertoire, including “The Grotto” by Audiomachine, “Fallout” by Two Steps from Hell, and “Hi-Lo” by Evanescence.
The opening act centers on the idea of conquest, which Schack says will be heavily reliant on the color guard in order to create the show’s initial sense of darkness. The act will be highlighted by an overall pull to the focal points of the field, which the color guard will help lead as they, in a way, summon the demons that are imparting the apocalypse on the Earth.
The next sequence is based on the concept of war, which is mainly done by having opposing elements throughout the movement. For example, Schack highlighted two contrasting tempos that will help create musical disparity. The differing tempos, which Schack said will inevitably create a sense of syncopation, add to the sense of warring without necessarily being too literal with the idea.
Part three revolves around the idea of famine. The abstract illustration of the concept is primarily achieved through the “modalities and mechanics in the marching arts,” as Schack described. For instance, the performers might act weak and tired in order to create this sense of famine since it is generally a time of struggle after a war.
Finally, the program’s fourth installation focuses on the overarching concept of death.
“We wanted to look at this act as a culmination of what happens as you go through this process of an ending, whether it be the end of a life or the end of a civilization or the end of a relationship, this idea of an apocalypse or an ending,” Schack said.
He also noted the dualities of the concept of death by citing the tone of “Welcome to the Black Parade,” which ends in a way that acknowledges and celebrates the finality of life, as well as “accepting the inevitable end that we’re all going to meet,” as he described. He further acknowledged the overall theme of moments coming to an end, and how the corps wanted to illustrate that concept through its song choices.
“This is how things end,” he said. “They do end. Everything does. But, it doesn’t need to be sad. It doesn’t need to be down. It can still be uplifting as we come to terms with these different moments.”
The concept for the program, while primarily originated from heavy metal influences, was centered around the title of “Welcome to the Black Parade,” and how it directly relates to the drum corps activity and audiences’ connections to the arts. Moreover, the Hurricanes decided that the punk rock genre for the show played into the corps’ musical strengths.
In terms of the corps’ everyday operations, however, Schack noted the importance the Hurricanes corps plays in developing and educating high school musicians throughout their musical journeys.
“Having these local drum corps in these states is super critical to growing the activity as a whole,” he said. “The Hurricanes are serving as this beacon where students who are looking for more experience in the marching arts, specifically beyond their high school, can come and do a reasonable experience at a reasonable cost locally, and get a solid education, and then be pushed in terms of what their technical skills are and the demand of what they’re able to do and how fast they can do it.”
As the Hurricanes head into the 2025 DCI Tour, Schack noted that the corps — which finished fifth in the World Class division at the 2024 DCI All-Age World Championship with a final score of 86.800 — is only continuing to grow.
“What we’ve been excited about is growing our local high school scene,” Schack said, “and giving more opportunities to our members to push themselves.”
