< Previousa routine using their creativity. He joked that all they wanted was candy for payment! With that, how could anyone say that any of these kids didn’t come out as winners?The next groups to enter the Drumline Battle field represented Liberty and the Pacemakers. Liberty’s (right, Glenn Riley) line came on donning masks of the British royal family, complete with a baby carriage for the newest of the clan. This was really hilarious! How often do you see the Queen’s face bopping to drum beats? The Pacemakers (below, Glenn Riley) held their own, but it was Liberty that came out as the winners. The winners from both semi-finals battle advanced to the final round to take place later in the evening. As if the day had not been exciting enough, The Company’s (no photo available) SoundSport team came on to perform their World Championship routine. For SoundSport, they “loosened their ties” and dressed down to white t’s and gray shorts. They had a full percussion ensemble, complete with animal sounds, gestures and choreography. I had a front row seat for the best in the world. Their character was amazing -- dancers, rifle work, flags and sabers were all a part of their presentation. And, oh my, what a horn line! “The Wild Thing” was the title and they were absolutely wonderland-fully wild! Andy Cartwright was an excellent soloist in the remash of their 2013 show, “Circle.”In the Junior portion of the show Paul Morgan surely got the award for the sweetest show of the day with his Thurrock Marching Brass (below, Mark Neilson) corps’ presentation of “Charlie’s Chocolate Factory.” It starred 8-year-old Charlie picking up a key (a prop nearly as big as he was) and unlocking the door to the Chocolate Factory, a field curtain that magically opened. The corps played accompanied by a sound track as the background. The show was filled with nerds, gobstoppers, runts and bottle caps. The corps made their forms and demonstrated their abilities in a cute and delectable way. They featured a very good flugelhorn soloist playing along with the trumpeter to the guard feature. The cymbal line was tastefully created from the color guard. In the finale, the flags of all nations were revealed in the Chocolate Factory. With 20 marchers and four in the pit, Thurrock presented a solid show that you could tell these kids really enjoyed performing! In speaking with Paul, he shared that he arranged the music much the same way Duke Ellington used to expressly write for his band members. Paul knew each and everyone’s capability and wrote exactly to that. Next and final in the Junior Class corps competition was the Concord All-stars (next page, Glenn Riley). If you couldn’t tell already, Thurrock and Concord were the same two groups that earlier competed in the Drumline Battle. Concord flew in with a show about traveling through space. Their color guard was expressive and tossing was apparent from the start. An integrated drill was part of their package. Their silver flags went well with their Star Wars theme. They told a convincing story of traveling through space into galaxies far, far, away, but got defeated along the way, so the corps members had to limp their way back home across the field. Concord was truly loved by the crowd. They clapped as they left the field. There was no one in Widnes happier than their parents.The finals were played to a larger audience than prelims and each corps seemed to be a little more excited to perform under the bright stadium lights. The judges for finals were: Helen Basset (field visual), Russell Malley (ensemble visual), Barry Davis (visual effect), Ivan Balchin (color guard), Elmar Zwart (field music), Twan Trienekens (ensemble music), Marco Harder (music effect), Malte Steiner (field percussion) and Douglas Caldwell (chief judge). They had a very difficult job as there was simply no clear winner at the top. There were very different styles at odds. It must have been a most difficult task to give credit to every child, every adult participant, on a consistent basis. All the corps were made up of amazingly talented and dedicated people who came from their local areas and marched with their mothers, uncles, brothers, sisters, fathers and cousins. The evening’s competition ended with the Drumline Battle betweem Liberty and Concord All-stars. Liberty’s British royal family was overruled by Concord, coming on the evening’s battle with drums lit and neon sticks.All the day’s competing corps were invited back out for a full corps retreat, played onto the field by The Company’s battery percussion. The hornlines from all the corps were lined up in sections to form one expansive semi-circle along the front sideline to play the British national anthem, conducted by Drum Major Dann Gannaway-Pitts of The Company. Having been the previous year’s champion, he led all the corps in the anthem, which is a traditional DCUK honor. As anyone who has stood in front of 250 horns from rival corps playing in harmony knows, this experience gives you plenty of goosebumps, especially when the wall of sound hits you. This one did not disappoint. This display of national pride is one that I wish DCI would bring back at its championship!Before the scores were announced, DCUK Chairman Alan Thompson introduced three inductees into the DCUK Hall of Fame. John Johnson was inducted (posthumously) for his work as the founder and first Chairman of the DCUK. He was recognized for his leadership and founding of the drum corps activity in the United Kingdom, paving the way for many corps. Joe Fitzpatrick was inducted for his unique artistic contribution and his administrative development. Joe formed The Senators Drum and Bugle Corps in 1984 and led them to win a record number of eight DCUK Championships and back-to-back DCE Championships in 2007 and 2008. Mark Mayes was inducted for his unique contributions to shape the artistic direction of the Drum corps activity in the U.K. He was the show designer, brass/percussion arranger and director of the Basildon Blue Eagles, where his creative artistic design incluence from the 1990s and 2000s can still be seen in the shows being performed today.Although there were no placement changes from prelims, the finals panel gave lower scores and a much tighter spread. Though this is the U.K. Championships, the season is not over for five of these groupss as they continue on to the Drum Corps Europe Championships in Holland next week. What an exciting lead up this is!The evening wrapped with each corps sent off the field to a final appreciation from the audience. In a most graceful fashion, Beeches played off the field. Before exiting, Kidsgrove Scouts formed a semi-circle facing The Company and played to their rival. The Company took the field one last time in the United Kingdom for an encore performance. It has to be mentioned that Alan Thompson, Chairman of DCUK, worked tirelessly throughout the entire day. He was the announcer, he set up the stage tarp for the Drumline Battle, he hosted the judges and in between all that he greeted guests and made sure that everyone felt at home throughout the stadium. Alan was assisted by only a small team that pulled off this day without a hitch. It was truly an honor to be with such a dedicated group and to see another Drum Corps United Kingdom Championship written into history. n n nAround the all-age and alumni worldby William Aldrich-Thorpe, Drum Corps World staff(aldrichthorpe@gmail.com)What a fantastic season that was 2017! It seems everyone stepped up their games and the fans were ultimately the big winners. Congrats to the Reading Buccaneers (below, Raymond Fudge)for winning their 15th DCA Open Class World Championship and to Cincinnati Tradition (below middle, Chris Maher) for winning their 2nd consecutive DCA Class A World Championship. Both corps delivered amazing performances with grace, style and a whole lot of panache.The entire DCA World Championship over this past Labor Day weekend was remarkable (if not a little bit wet at times). Further congrats to the DCA Mini-corps champs, Star United (bottom right, Raymond Fudge), winning their 11th title in the past 12 seasons). Also to all the winners and participants of the DCA I&E. Plus, there was Kidsgrove Scouts (below, Mark Neilson) who came across the pond to grace us with their presence for the fourth time in their very long history. We were also witness to the first all-age corps from the great state of Alabama, the Southern Knights (middle, Chris Maher), competing in Class A and, to make it extra special, they were finalists their time at DCA.Well that is now in our history. Let’s see what’s happening now.We sadly report that Maurice Legault, a World Drum Corps Hall of Fame member since 1999, recipient of the “Ontario Award of Merit” and one of the leading figures in the Canadian drum and bugle corps movement, passed away in his 84th year surrounded by his family. He first became interested in drum corps activity in the Ottawa, ONT, area in 1948. He marched in front of La Salle Cadets of Ottawa as drum major from 1962 to 1968, then served as drum major for virtually all of the province of Quebec’s top-rated corps over the next 25 years, including Campagnons d’Embrun, Les Troubadours de Hull, Les Diplomates de Quebec, xtremebrass.comxtremepercussion.com2014-05-12-dci.indd 15/12/14 10:40 AML’Odyssee de Montreal and Les Dynamiques de Buckingham. He also marched in front of Kingston Grenadiers, Rochester Crusaders and Syracuse Brigadiers in the 1980s and 1990s. See photo and article elsewhere in this issue.This season’s silver medalist, Atlanta CV (left, Chris Maher), won the “High Color Guard Award” and a huge congrats to Dr. David W. Stollberg who was awarded “DCA Director of the Year” in Open Class. They also took another first place in I&E Chorus! (12 time champions!) and a firstst place at I&E for their Front Ensemble.CorpsVets, Inc., the parent organization of Atlanta CV, held its annual member meeting. The following individuals were elected to two-year terms to serve on the board: Bobby Crosby, Garry Hilton, Rob Scott, Aaron Spivey and Daniel Smith. http://atlantacv.org/The Bushwackers (above right, Chris Maher) announced the return of their design team. Jim Dugan will be back as program coordinator, Dennis Argul as brass arranger, Travis Peterman returning as the battery percussion arranger, Andrew Monteiro as the front ensemble percussion arranger, Justin McAdams as drill designer and Lauryn Heller as color guard designer, in addition to her role as color guard caption supervisor. http://bushwackers.org/2017/09/15/2018-design-team/ Cadets2 (left, Chris Maher) announced that their first audition camp for 2018 will be Sunday, November 12, at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. https://yea.org/programs/cadets/cadets2 “We're changing things up a bit in 2018” said Fusion Core (above right, Raymond Fudge). They are looking for talented members to bring their 2018 show to life. Join them for their open house at Eisenhower Middle School on November 25. http://www.fusioncorenj.com/ Spread the word! The Connecticut Hurricanes (top of next page, Chris Maher) unveiled a massive on-line THEACADEMY“For the past nine years, we have been honored to be part of the evolution of these incredible instruments and partnered with a brand sharing our commitment to excellence.” Mark RichardsonExecutive DirectorThe Academy Drum & Bugle CorpsProud Member of the KHS America Academic AllianceExecutive DirectorThe Academy Drum & Bugle CorpsProud Member of the KHS America Academic AllianceTo learn more about the KHS America Academic Alliance, visit www.AcademicAlliance.com.fund-raising drive to purchase new uniforms. http://cthurricanes.org/2018-new-uniform-campaign/ Gold medalists, Reading Buccaneers, also won nearly every best caption awards including High Brass, High Percussion and High Music and Visuals. The corps needs to hold on to the music of their 2017 show for just a little longer as they were asked to perform by the Topton Home for the residents. https://www.readingbuccaneers.org/ The Dansville, NY, White Sabers (below, Raymond Fudge) proved their dominance on the DCA circuit this past season, scoring 93.38, the highest recorded score in the corps’ 89-year history. http://www.whitesabers.org/ Sunrisers (left, Larry Eckert) made a change recently, announcing the retirement of Executive Director, Larry Visconti. Larry offered, “Once a Sunriser, always a Sunriser, and that certainly has been the case in my experience. The timing appears to be right for this decision and I feel good about it, knowing the corps is in good hands.” He has turned over the reins to current director, David Hobart who said, “There is no other person who emulates the Sunrisers more than Larry. His dedication and passion for his corps is epic. I’'ll continue to work my hardest to make him proud,” Hobart added. http://lisunrisers.org/ Gold medalists, Cincinnati Tradition (right, Chris Maher) is back to back Class A champion. Also their corps director, Tom Slade, awarded Director of the Year. Tradition's earned themselves High Brass and High Percussion awards and also congratulations to Jessie Tawney for her win in the Visual-Combo category. http://www.cincinnatitradition.org/ Bronze medalists, Erie Thunderbirds (top of next page, Larry The First and OnlyAthletic Shoe with aMarching Band SoleCOMING SOON...There’s a new shoe coming and you’re one of the first people to learn about this amazing secret. It was developed specifically for marching band by a world-class foot doctor working with professional athletes and top drum corps. The goal ... to create the most mechanically advanced piece of footwear that the marching world has ever seen. Crosses over from colleges to high schools and from drum corps to indoor percussion.Crosses over from practice to performance and from marching to cross-training.Get updates or be notified when available: http://dshowcase.com/crossovershoeComing-Soon-v10.indd 19/26/17 9:45 AMEckert), completed the 2017 making DCA Class A Finals. This was the third year the ciros has been back on the competition field. This was the first they also competed in Small Drum Corps Associat, DCA and even as a DCI All-age corps. Thunderbirds also announced their 2018 opening day to be held at McDowell Intermediate High School in Erie, PA, on November 25 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. http://www.eriethunderbirds.org/ The banner headline screamed “The Southern Knights are DCA Class A Finalists!” and it was so great to read. They further made history by making finals in their very first trip to the DCA World Championships and by being the first DCA competitive corps from the state of Alabama.The Knights’ 2018 open house camp will begin on November 18 from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and November 19 from 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Pell City High School, Pell City, AL. http://www.southernknightscorps.org/ As the corps wound up yet another season, Mighty St. Joe’s is proud to continue to be one of the oldest active, non-competitive corps participating in events year around. The staff would like to continue to invite anyone interested or those who may have the desire to fulfill a lifelong dream to play with this great organization, to come out and get on board for 2018. http://www.mightystjoes.org/ Skyliners (left, Chris Maher) announced the formation of their Skyliners Performance Ensemble. This group will perform at parades and other public events, primarily from September through March. The staff includes: Joshua Delanuez as general manager, Rachel E. as brass coordinator and Mike Nederhood as percussion coordinator. Performers can be members, non-members or anyone wanting to help the corps make money. A portion of the proceeds will be set aside for people who participate. “You make a little money and have some fun performing the Skyliners way.” Most parades are planned in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. http://www.skylinersdbc.org/ The first rehearsal of the New York Skyliners Alumni (below, Larry Eckert) 2018 season was recently held on September 24 at the Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, NJ. This was a great opportunity to see, visit and join one of the finest alumni corps around, with deep-rooted drum corps traditions and steeped in great heritage, the New York “Garbarina” Skyliners. http://www.skyalumni.org/That is all I have at the moment. Please send me a message (aldrichthorpe@gmail.com) if you have any news for all-age and alumni or anything that relates to All-age drum corps around the globe. n n nTHE BLUE DEVILSJUST WON THEIR EIGHTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP INMAYBEYOU SHOULD GIVE THEM A TRY? JUST WON THEIR NINTHWORLD CHAMPIONSHIP INwww.drillmaster.comwww.systemblue.orgO ber 2015TENTHNext >