Drum Corps Perform at Lucas Oil

This past Saturday, Indianapolis hosted my favorite event of the year, Drum Corps International’s (DCI) World Championship competition, and I spent the day downtown with my two sisters enjoying the amazing atmosphere.

We started the day, fairly early for a Saturday, at the DrumLine Battle on Georgia St. Fans, families and friends packed Georgia St. to watch the drumlines of 16 bands from around the world to compete for the championship title. All of the participating groups were great, and it was even fun to see the drumline for Center Grove High School compete and place second.

Later in the evening, we headed to join my mom and the group of Rushville Consolidated High School band members at Lucas Oil Stadium for the championship performances.

My mom and I were looking forward to watching the color guard of each corps, since we are both former members of color guards. However, my sisters were more interested in the band since one plays the mellophone and French horn and the other plays trumpet.

Of all 12 performances, one still sticks in my mind: Corps of Brothers – 75 Years of Survival, by the Madison Scouts. The Madison Scouts is an all-male group from Madison, Wis. and is one of the oldest continually operating drum corps. The show that the group did was a military theme that left audience members in awe and some in tears.

While the Madison Scouts were my favorite, they did not win. The winners were Carolina Crown from Fort Mill, S.C. with a show entitled E=MC².

If you did not have the opportunity to attend the DCI World Championships or the DrumLine Battle, I would suggest checking out some of the footage from the competitions. I would also highly suggest that you attend next year because it is a show that you will never forget.