Following the Olympic Retreat at Western Beat at Cheltenham on Sunday 10th June the combined brass lines of Concord, Kidsgrove Scouts and The Senators remained on the contest field for an open rehearsal of Perfect Day, the Lou Reed classic that has been chosen as the 'anthem' for DCUK 2007.

"Four to six million people in South-Africa live on the edge of society: "At the borderline". These people are housed living in bad conditions in hovels with corrugated iron roofs in the townships. The Field Band Foundation has set its goals for the last ten years for the children of these neighbourhoods to give them chances for a better future through dance, show and music. In part 5 we sit down with the Board of Directors of the Foundation and review our visit with the field band of Macassar." Written by Geert Vanmaeckelberghe, translation: Hans Kloppert.

"The weather looked good as I left home for the first DCUK show of 2007, the organisations 28th consecutive season of competitions. The past winter had seen the DCUK undergo some radical changes, streamlining itself and doing away with much of the bureaucracy and 'red tape' that had hindered its growth in recent years, so today's show really felt like the start of a new era." A report by Andy Hewlett.

The centre section of the stand in the Sparta Stadium (800 setas) has been sold out for the DCE European Championships, to beld on September 29th, 2007. In other sections of the main stand there are still plenty of seats available.

Tez Smith, caption head brass of The Kidsgrove Scouts, will join the Madison Scouts horn staff for the summer. After working extremely hard this year with The Kidsgrove Scouts Tez will fly out to the Madison Scouts on July 4th.

Drum Corps United Kingdom has to advise that the venue for the upcoming Avon Alive Show scheduled for this coming Sunday (10th June) has had to relocate to an alternative venue. This move was necessary due to operational reasons with our original stadium in Bath.

Contests held by drum corps organisations in Europe satisfying conditions set by DCE can be regarded as 'certified' from now on. In order to comply, the contest must be judged on the basis of the DCE judging manual and the performances of the corps must be assessed by DCE certified judges.

Drum Corps International has opened a new online home. With the re-launching of DCI.org, DCI hopes to provide their website visitors with a new and engaging way to find information and experience multimedia on the web.

In part 4 of the 'At the Borderline' series we will get to know more about the South African Field Band from Soweto and we will feature the longtime exchange programme that the Field Band Foundation has with the Norwegian Musikkorps Verbond (NMF) and Pioneer drum & bugle corps from Milwaukee (USA). Part 4 also includes a touching story of a musician who dreams of publishing the story of his life in a book. Written by Geert Vanmaeckelberghe, translation by Hans Kloppert.

Southern Aurora and Legion Star, are pleased to announce a partnership that will see the two corps come together to perform and compete as one unit for 2007 the summer season.

From March 16th through March 26th a delegation of Vlamo (Belgium) toured through South-Africa. In this series - of which we are presenting part 3 today - we learn more about the tasks of the National Coordinator and get to know what motivates some of the sponsors to support the Field Band Foundation. Written by Geert Vanmaeckelberghe, translation by Hans Kloppert.

The drum corps community idrumcorps.com has launched a new, user driven content website: 'Dig It!' Everything on Dig It! is submitted by drum corps fans themselves.

The British Youth Band Association welcomes The Phoenix Youth Band from Dublin - Ireland into membership. The band has enjoyed a successful and varied career, both on and off the competition field.

From March 16th through March 26th 2007, a delegation of Vlamo (Belgium) travelled to South Africa. A series written by Geert Vanmaeckelberghe. Translation: Hans Kloppert. In this episode: the fieldband of Witbank.

Showband USA from Hellemmes - France has announced a new sponsorship with the prestigious brand of sticks and mallets Vic Firth, thanks to Neil Larrivee from the United States.

Drum Corps Europe has a new sponsor: Show & Marching Music. Just like DCE, this Zwolle-based company is active in other European countries besides the Netherlands.

Drum Corps Europe will be placing judges' comments from DCE and DCN contests online. The judging team's new digital recording system makes this method of distribution possible.

From march 16 through March 26, 2007, a delegation of VLAMO (BE) travelled to South Africa. Geert Vanmaeckelberghe (President Artistic Committee Drum, Percussion, Pipebands and Showbands), Filip Santy (Director) and Michel Willé (General President) extensively took knowledge of the structure and the operation, the strategy and mission of the Field Band Foundation. Chief Executive Retha Cilliers guided the three Vlamo representatives through the Rainbownation. She did this with passion and respect.

Photos and videos from this years Northern Preview Concert, held at Crawshaw High School, Pudsey, West Yorkshire on Saturday 12th May are now available to view.

The Ceremonial Fanfare Team from the Sheffield based Concord Drum & Bugle Corps will appear on the ITV television recording of 'The X Factor' when it comes to Sheffield for its open auditions.

Drum Corps United Kingdom has presented the details for the 2007 season.
DCUK is pleased to welcome a new corps into membership. Legion Star from Crawley in West Sussex. Senators and Southern Aurora will return to the competition.

It has been an intense week for Millennium, but it paid off. Key Poulan, Shawn Glyde and Dan Bryan, Millennium's music composers, came over to Verdello to help the corps in the process of bringing their show '1492: Mundus Novus' to life.

In celebration of the organization's 35th anniversary in 2007, Drum Corps International is pleased to offer a brand new book titled, 'Drum Corps International: The First 35 Years in Photos'.

Majestic Holland, manufacturer of Majestic instruments, has become a sponsor of Drum Corps Europe. The company, based in Nijehaske - The Netherlands, has a lot in store for this year, including an exclusive for the DCE Championships.

Following a period of lengthy discussions regarding the 37th Kingswood Scouts participation in DCUK, the corps from Kingswood - Bristol has made the decision not to march this year.

Next Sunday. Showband USA from Hellemmes (France) will organise an international music festival. The festival will be hold in conjunction with the city of Hellemmes in the northern part of France. Participating corps include several drum corps style units.

As from this year, the Drum Corps Europe judging team will no longer be working with cassette tapes. The introduction of a new system with digital voice recorders means a drastic change in processing judges' comments.

Craig Walker from The Senators will join the staff of The Cadets this summer. He will be teaching the hornline of the nine time DCI Division I world champions.

Ticket sales for the DCE Championships 2007 kicked off with a massive run on the tickets. More than 350 entry tickets were ordered within 24 hours. Half of the VIP section on the stand has been sold in one go.

Now in its third year Southern Preview returns this weekend with its biggest line-up to date. The event once again take place on stage at Stratton Upper School in Biggleswade, just 5 minutes of the A1 and approximately 25 minutes drive north of London.

The admission tickets for the DCE European Championships in Rotterdam - The Netherlands are now available. Orders are taken 24 hours a day in our webshop at www.drumcorpseurope.org.

In the weekend of 21st-22nd April, Drum Corps Europe organised the third edition of the annual European Adjudication College. Judges from the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Belgium took part in the training course and agreed afterwards that it again proved to be a particulary instructive and practical clinic.

Vintage Percussion, the southwest of England's only indoor percussion unit, have announced the launch of their new website. The old site has served well over the last year but there comes a time for change and that time is now.

Xpression, a French color guard unit from Hellemmes-Lille and part of Showband USA, has a brand new website. The new site contains a lot of new items and features.

The info pages for the DCE Championships 2007 in Rotterdam have been published on the DCE website today. The information includes the line-up, corps repertoires and other corps details.

Drum Corps Europe has carried out an extensive mailshot to introduce itself to companies in Europe and the United States. The European drum corps organisation wants to attract sponsors for the DCE Championships that will take place on 29th September in Rotterdam.

It's the first time that two European corps are working together in one musical program. Con Spirito from Joure - The Netherlands and The Blue Diamonds from Nienhagen - Germany will be playing the exact same arrangements of 'Mamma Mia', music by Abba. The Blue Diamonds were in Joure last weekend to attend the 'Con Charma' festival of Con Spirito.

The domain name drumcorps.fr is in use again. Drum Corps Europe has owned the domain for three years, but as a result of a dispute between the company that had registered drumcorps.fr and the French internet authority, the domain, together with thousands of other domain names, was blocked for several years.

Ticket sale for the DCE European Championships 2007 will start next week, May 1st. The event will take place in Rotterdam - The Netherlands on September 29th. Tickets will be available in the webshop of the Drum Corps Europe website.

Drum corps sounds from the DCN contest on Saturday 23rd June will not be limited to the stadium of FC Dordrecht. During the day, musical performances will take place in the city centre in collaboration with the municipality.

Drum Corps United has announced the details of the venues for the 2007 drum corps season. The season will see three contests plus the DCUK British Drum Corps Championships.

Corps from all over the world are invited to enter the 2007 Kuala Lumpur World Marching Band Competition. The event will be held at Dataran Merdeka from 9th to 16th December.

Drum Corps Europe will organise a large-scale training session for judges in Bristol for this coming weekend. Dozens of judges from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium will be taking part in the 'Judges College'. The DCE Competition Manual and the judging philosophy will be dealt with in depth over two days.

Drum Corps International has announced a new strategic affiliation with the Wyndham Hotel Group as its preferred hospitality partner. Fans of DCI and its member units will now gain exclusive discounted rates on advance reservations (10% below the lowest daily rate available to the public) at Wyndham Hotel Group properties.

Drumcorpstrade.com was launched recently as an online market place to sell and buy drum corps equipment. Its aim is simple, to give drum corps across the world a chance to sell their old or unused equipment to generate finances for their organisation.