Drum corps set to arrive on campus

Although Memorial Stadium was recently damaged by severe weather, Drum Corps International’s World Championship, starting Aug. 7, is still a go, according to the DCI Web site.

DCI holds competitions for the best amateur drum corps – comprised of brass, percussion and color guard sections – across the country. The organization recently signed a 10-year contract with Indianapolis to hold the championships at the city’s Lucas Oil Stadium, said DCI Development and Media Coordinator Diane Peasel. But Bloomington came in as a back-up location when officials realized construction on Lucas Oil Stadium would not be done in time, she said.

“We found out in April that construction wasn’t going to be completed in time, so we ended up moving our plan to Bloomington,” Peasel said. “It turned out to be a really good transition.”

DCI started 36 years ago, and has held the championships everywhere across North America from Pasadena, Calif., to Madison, Wis.

DCI last visited IU in 1993 for a regional tournament, Peasel said. This year, officials expect about 30,000 people to come watch the 40 corps compete for the trophy.

“All the hotels are getting full,” said Bloomington Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Assistant Director Laura Newton. “We’re working with transportation to make sure they see all of Bloomington and not just the football stadium.”

Severe weather threatened the condition of the stadium, but according to the DCI Web site, repairs should be finished by the time of the competition.

The DCI championships are a large deal, both in terms of the number of people coming to Bloomington and the impact the event has on the local music community, said Dave Woodley, director of athletic bands at IU. Woodley said he knows the importance of the event to the Marching Hundred and also to other fanatics, who he deems “corps-heads.”

“We have several kids who march in drum corps who are also in the Hundred. It will be great for them to come home and perform in the stadium they’re used to,” he said. “It’s kind of neat to have the DCI eyes of the world on Bloomington.”

More than a few local band members, from both of Bloomington’s major high schools and the Marching Hundred, are competing with different drum corps in the championships.

Bloomington used to have its own drum corps, the Star of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps, which was a top contender in the DCI championships but stopped competing in 1993. It was also the first corps to finish in the top 10 at the DCI World Championships its first year, according to the group’s Web site. It finished in the top 10 every year it competed, and won the championship in 1991.

Drum corps participating in competitions usually sleep on gym floors in local schools, Newton said. Several local middle schools in Bloomington are housing the bands, but Bloomington High Schools North and South were unable to accommodate them.

“We got about 15 phone calls within a week,” said Bloomington High School North Band Director Janis Stockhouse. “As much as we love to host them, that’s the same week all of our athletics start up, and we have marching-band practice.”

Stockhouse and her students were unable to get tickets to the championships because they were sold out the first day they were available, but the students haven’t given up trying.

“We figure that people will have tickets available at the gate and some kids might volunteer and try to get in that way,” she said. “I hope we get to see the finals.”

Woodley said drum corps has a close-knit following. Many people, he said, follow the championship closely – they know what corps are participating where, and what songs they will play.

“It’s so exciting,” Stockhouse said. “This is the world series of marching bands and its going to be right here in Bloomington. It’s so inspirational.”