Drumcorps.org.uk: Year in review 2008

The headlines in 2008 were marked by The Senators, winning their second European title, Beatrix making DCI Open Class Finals, Starriders taking the German title back after three years, Phantom Regiment topping the World Championships, and many other developments in the European and worldwide drum corps activity. Drumcorps.org.uk will take you back to the highlights of 2008.


JANUARY

Drum Corps Europe announces that 2008 will see a significant increase in the number of national organisations running DCE Certified shows. With DCN and DCUK now on board as Certified Partners, it means that all of their shows, including their national finals, will be Certified. Other national organisations are also considering making some or all of their shows DCE Certified.

After 17 years as corps director and 35 consecutive years with the Cavaliers, Jeff Fiedler retires from his position prior to the start of the 2008 season. Fiedler, 48, is a past chairman of the Drum Corps International board of directors and has been serving as DCI's interim chairman since last fall.


Drum Corps International will soon have a new governance structure designed to facilitate more efficient business operations, following a 16-2 secret ballot vote of the DCI Board of Directors at the DCI Annual Meeting in Orlando. The new board will consist of nine individuals, including six elected representatives from the DCI member corps as well as three at-large directors.

Proposals to allow the use of electronic instruments in DCI (for 2009 implementation) have been voted on multiple times. After failing closely last year in a 10-10 tie vote, this year tallied 11-7 in favour of passing the proposal. "I'm grateful that it's passed", said George Hopkins, director of the Cadets, who has submitted several proposals relating to electronics in the past including this one.


FEBRUARY

Two members of the Crossmen family have the opportunity to perform with artist LL Cool J. One of the lucky members, Mark Figueroa, submitted photos from the experience and offered the following commentary. The musicians were asked to lay down a euphonium and snare track in the studio for a song on LL Cool J's new album.

The Cascades will remain in the Northwest for the 2008 season, choosing not to embark on the broader national Drum Corps International summer tour as a member of the World Class. The corps has decided instead to field an exhibition unit.

Color guard en indoor percussion units from The Netherlands and Germany have won the European Regional of Winter Guard International. The champions are: Sensation (NL), Starriders (GER), Percussion Unlimited (NL), The Pride Cadets (NL), DrumSquad and Beatrix (NL).


The European Indoor Arts Alliance (EIAA) is officially formed in the fall of 2007 by Winter Guard United Kingdom, Drum Corps Germany, Unik Star (France), Xpression (France), Blue Lions (France) and Color Guard Nederland. In 2009 the first EIAA events will be held.

After nearly 36 years of operating in the Chicagoland area, the doors to Drum Corps International's current Addison - Illinois headquarters close as the organisation opens its new downtown Indianapolis offices.


MARCH

Due to continuing illness of the staff member who is responsible for the sound of the 2007 Championships DVDs, the release date of the product is heavily delayed. Drum Corps Europe sends pre-release DVDs soon to customers who ordered a copy of the 2007 DVDs or CD.

The Black Knights Drum & Bugle Corps from Gravesend in Kent are the first European Drum Corps to produce their own video podcast. The video podcast, the first instalment of which is available for download now via iTunes, will be regularly updated throughout 2008 to keep people up to date with the corps progress.

Reigning European Drum Corps Champions The Senators are once again donning their showbiz garb for an appearance on the final program of the hit television show 'Dancing on Ice' this coming Sunday 16th March 2008.

Six Senators drummers perform on the 'Dancing On Ice Final', supporting the legendary ice dance duo Jayne Trovill and Christopher Dean in a performance to the music of Ravel's Bolero. The show is broadcasted on ITV1.

Edelweiss, DrumSpirit and Unik Star are the first ever Indoor Percussion Europe champions. More than a thousand percussion fans enjoy the climax of the IPE Championships in Wevelgem - Belgium.


APRIL

Drum Corps International announces the relocation of its 2008 World Championships to the Memorial Stadium, on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington - Indiana. The event was originally scheduled to be held in the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which will not be available in time for the event.

All the hard work that the WGUK members have put into performing a small show in a indoor arena has now paid off for the champions who were crowned at the WGUK Championships: Northern Academy (Open Class), The Academy (A-Class), Guardsmen (Junior Class), Southern Knights Rugrats (Cadet Class) and Vintage Percussion (Indoor Percussion).

Drum Corps Europe is proud to present the venue for the DCE European Championships 2008: The 'Parkstad Limburg Stadium' in Kerkrade, home of the Dutch top class football club Roda JC. The stadium is located in the south eastern part of The Netherlands, close to the German and Belgian border. The main stand has a capacity of 3,000 seats.


With a program that pushes the boundaries for visual creativity in the activity that earned caption awards for Effect and Visual, Rhythm X take their first WGI PIW Championship with 'Gone'. Riverside Community College ends in second place (95.8), followed by Aimachi from Japan (94.85).


MAY

On the first day of the ticket sale, Drum Corps Europe sells 500 tickets for the 2008 edition of the DCE Championships. 280 tickets are sold in the first ten minutes after the ticket sale started.

DCE regrets to announce the cancellation of the UK regional contest to be held at Crystal Palace in London on June 21 2008. This is due to a number of corps withdrawing from the show in recent weeks, as well as problems with the venue.

Jubal, Calypso and Johan Friso top the first Drum Corps Netherlands contest in Middeleburg. Hundreds of drum corps fans travel to Middelburg to watch the kick off of the Dutch drum corps season.


Winter Guard United Kingdom announces a number of new initiatives that will ensure its membership receives the highest level of adjudication in 2009 and beyond. These projects include the formation of the Winterguard Judges Advisory Group (WGJAG), the appointment of William Chumley as Director of Education, the allocation of budget towards ongoing education and a far reaching recruitment campaign.

DCI reacts to economic challenges. As individuals and businesses throughout the country stare in disbelief at their checkbook balances in the wake of mounting fuel and transportation expenses and an uncertain economic outlook, Drum Corps International is taking steps to ensure sustainability for itself and its member corps throughout the approaching summer season and beyond.


JUNE

Northern Star has to take a year out to rebuild. The Northern Star Group is working on other performance opportunities in different parts of the UK, in order to take the marching arts to the public. In order to add members to the current 20-strong junior corps, discussions are in hand to deliver four further School Workshops this school term, which will develop a local base for the future of Northern Star.

The 2008 Drum Corps United Kingdom season kicks off with all member corps in attendance at the Saffron Lane Sports Centre - Leicester for the Kidsgrove Scouts sponsored Midlands Drum Corps Contest. The Senators and Poynton Commodores top their classes.

Trinity School Showband celebrates their 10th year. To celebrate a decade of TSSB they re-brand with a new logo, website, image and uniform.

Norway has a drumline: Complete. Using contemporary drumlines as a source for inspiration, a group of drummers have brought a fresh breeze to the Norwegian marching scene. They call themselves Complete, and their mission is to create something new and innovative in a country where traditions is strong, and until today, untouchable.

Beatrix Drum & Bugle Corps top the second Drum Corps Netherlands contest in Apeldoorn. The corps scored 67.05 points - the highest score in this year's DCN competition so far.


JULY

Poynton Commodores receive an Awards For All grant towards new brass instruments. With this money a big decision had to be made; should the corps wait until October to change to new Bb instruments or give the brass line the ultimate challenge of changing to the new key instruments now?

The popular movie section on the DCE website, DCE Cinema, is upgraded to a new version. The capacity of the new Cinema 'movie archive' is extended from 10 to 200 clips.

Millennium Drum & Bugle Corps takes the fifth Italian IMSB Championship title in the Brianteo Stadium. Amaseno Harmony Show Band become second and the Giuseppe Verdi Marching Showband ends up in third place.


In recognition of the Cadets' 75th Anniversary next year, George Hopkins, Director of the Cadets and the CEO of Youth Education in the Arts, announces that for the 2009 season, the Cadets Drum Corps will perform as the 'Holy Name Cadets'.


AUGUST

The Black Knights are approached to appear in a commercial for Samsung mobile phones. Members of the Black Knights spend a day filming the commercial at studios in Wimbledon. The internet viral is a for the new Omnia phone.

It is the closest of victories at the 2008 Drum Corps International World Championship Finals in Bloomington - Indiana. By only 0.025 points, Phantom Regiment passes the Blue Devils to take the gold medal and their second Championship title.


The Beatrix members have a great experience in the United States. They win the International Award, make it into the Open Class Finals and win several contests in the United States. Corps director Henk Rosendal calls the tour the most succesful DCI tour uptil now.

George Hopkins, the Director of the Cadets, announces that Tom Aungst and Neil Larrivee have both tendered their resignations from the Cadets' design and instructional team. Although both resigned within hours of each other, Hopkins makes clear that these are two different situations.

Avant Courir will no longer take part next year in the open Class of Color Guard Nederland. The decision made by staff is taken because the group has a shortage of members.


SEPTEMBER

Beatrix Drum & Bugle Corps are the new Drum Corps Netherlands Champions in the Open Class. The corps takes all captions and scored 83.95. Jubal become second with a score of 82.00. Jong Jubal wins the Cadet Class title.

The Front Ensemble Award will be continued as a permanent award at the DCE European Championships. In 2006 the award was initiated by Cor and Ina Boer Rookhuiszen. Drum Corps Europe decides to 'adopt' the award by adding it to the list of caption awards.

The Senators are crowned the 2008 DCUK Champions in the International Open Class. They take al captions, scoring 83.85. Kidsgrove Scouts come in second with a core of 82.35. Poynton Commodores are the new National Open Class Champions.

After three years, the Starriders take the German drum corps title back at the Drum Corps Germany Championships in Gelesberg. The Wölper Löwen become second, The Blue Bandits third.

Drum Corps Europe produces a live webcast of the DCE Championships this Saturday in Kerkrade, with audio and video streaming. Drum corps fans who can't travel to Kerkrade are still able to see what's happening in the Parkstad Limburg Stadium. Although there are some technical problems during the webcast, 2,300 people tune in to watch the corps.

The Senators and Jong Jubal are the 2008 champions of Drum Corps Europe. In the Parkstad Limburg Stadium, the audience is treated on fantastic drum corps shows in both the Open and Cadet Class.



OCTOBER

Following a unanimous vote of Drum Corps International World Class member corps on Tuesday 30th September, the southern New Jersey-based Jersey Surf is officially approved as a World Class unit, effective with the 2009 season.

The original DCUK logo returns. The current logo was introduced in 1996 and has served the organisation well over the past 12 years but with the 30 year milestone the Board of DCUK feels that now is an ideal time to rebrand as they look forward to reliving the past but more importantly celebrating the present and looking to the future of DCUK.


The bands have to battle continuous challenges with the weather, but the event is one of the most exciting and close fought BYBA National Championships to date. Champions are 27th Kingswood (Division 1), Poynton Commodores (Associates Division), East Coast Elite (Division 2), Spirit of Coventry (Division 3), Coseley Comets (Junior Division) and 37th Kingswood Cadets (Cadet Class).

Due to circumstances beyond their control Southern Aurora parts company with Legion Star. "Darren Spill Corps Director of Legion Star withdrew his corps from competition during the summer leaving Southern Aurora no choice but to follow suit", David Pope of Southern Aurora says.

DCUK announces that the British Drum Corps Championships 2009 will be open to all. Corps will not have had to take part at a DCUK sanctioned event during the season to be eligible to compete at the British Drum Corps Championships.

Indoor Percussion Europe and Drum Corps Europe announce that they will enter a partnership. DCE judges will judge at IPE contests, starting next year.


NOVEMBER

Pride of Bristol announce that they enter into a Strategic Partnership with local education centre Filton College. The new group will be called the Pegasus Academy of Performing Arts, honouring the Engine produced in Filton by the Bristol Engine Company, then Rolls Royce when it acquired the firm in 1966.

A Star Alumni Corps will perform at the Drum Corps International World Championships in Lucas Oil Stadium on August 6th, 2010. The Star Alumni Corps will perform a field show that embodies the essence of the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps that was based in Bloomington - Indiana.

DCUK receives enquiries from over 20 different corps regarding the 2009 season, most of these enquiries come from Drum Corps wishing to return to DCUK or are looking to compete on the DCUK circuit for the first time.

37th Kingswood's Scout Hut Development project is awarded a cheque for £50,000 from The Peoples Millions live on ITV News West. The money will see the replacement of an old, out of date and increasingly unsafe hall that makes up part of the group's premises.


DECEMBER

The Blue Devils will not be able to travel to Europe in 2009. Over the past few months much work had taken place to try and enable the 12 time World Champion Corps to be in a position to commit to the trip but with the worsening economic situation it is decided that to run this European Tour would not be in the best interest of all concerned.

The Cadets will launch their 75th anniversary season with one of the highest honors bestowed upon a marching organization with the recent notification they were selected to perform in the 56th Presidential Inaugural Parade on Jan. 20th in Washington, DC.

At all contests prior to the DCUK Championships Finals (including Championships Prelims) there will be one Open Class for all established corps plus a Junior Class for feeder units to Open Class corps. The Junior Class will also be open to new and emerging Corps (subject to certain conditions).

The IMBA (Irish Marching Band Association) announces that they will host the first ever DCE certified show in Ireland next summer. The IMBA will work closely in conjunction with DCUK to co-host this event.

Drum Corps International is shipping a newly-edited version of the first volume of its 2008 World Championship DVDs. Additional editing of the production was made necessary because of a change in the copyright status of a piece of music by Phantom Regiment. 74 seconds were were removed from the show recordings.