Drum Corps European Champions

You read that title right, I've just marched with a band who has become the Drum Corps European Champions!

I mentioned recently that I've been marching again with Beeches Performance Ensemble (on trumpet). These past few months have been absolutely manic with searching for new work on the weekdays (more on that another time), and then rehearsing with band all weekend. However, this year has been absolutely worthwhile in not only getting me out and about, but also because we did, indeed, come 1st in the European Championships.

Here I am, wearing the gold medal from the European Championships at Dordrecht

The band's theme this year has been The Hunger Games - a series written by Suzanne Collins involving Katniss as she survives a series of forced survival games and attempts to rebel against the Capitol. The theme has actually been quite enjoyable, but the show has been very energy-intensive and demanding. There have been more than a few times where I've had to really prep myself with as much energy as possible before a show, otherwise it's lights out before the finale. True story here - there was one rehearsal where we did a full-run of the show just before lunch in the blazing sun, but my energy reserves were so low that my body literally just started to shut down halfway through the rehearsal and my legs gave out on me. That combination of being hungry, having low energy reserves from being ill the day before and the humidity just caused me to drop.

Drum Corps United Kingdom victory!

Anyway, after marching in competitive circuits for the British Youth Band Association (BYBA) and Drum Corps United Kingdom (DCUK), we emerged victorious and then marched for the championships for Drum Corps Europe / European Marching Games (DCE)... also coming in first! This is a big deal for me, since I (and Beeches) have never won the European Championships at the top of the main class.

The show is put infront of a series of judges, who will evaluate different areas such as percussion, brass, colourguard, musical effect, general effect and so on, and all of the areas come together to create a score out of 100. Some judges will go around the field, some will sit in a box in the stadium you're playing to. We played our finals show in Dordrecht and scored 84.9, beating the second place corps (Spirit of 52) by 0.6 points.

Below is the very show that scored our victory:

However, the corps has announced that next year marching will be its last. It looks like next year might be the last year of the UK outdoor circuits in general, which will be an absolute shame. So, maybe it's worth I do one last run before I can't ever again...?

Do you march? What band memories do you have? Let me know as I do love to talk about such experiences!