‘DRUMLine Live’ brings energy to Auditorium

The crowd jumped to its feet, roared in applause and danced and clapped along as “DRUMLine Live” marched onto the stage.

“All we want to do is sing and dance and clap our hands tonight. Is that alright?” Slater Thorpe, the host of the show, asked the audience in the IU Auditorium. 

The answer was apparent in the energy filled room.

“DRUMline Live” brought the band out of the orchestra pit and onto the stage Saturday. The auditorium was at full capacity, despite the rain, with a crowd ready to hear the beats of a marching band on a stage one-hundredth the size of a football field.

The show depicted a chronology of music, and how different genres inspired the modern drumline.

It began with scenes of African drumming, bright colors and tribal dances that grabbed the audience’s attention right off the bat. 

The first act theatrically depicted how soul music, gospel, Michael Jackson and contemporary rap and R&B music have influenced drumlines today.

Sophomores Dan Russell and Marvin Reyes said they decided to come because the poster for the show caught their eye. Both Reyes and Russell agreed their favorite scene was titled “Midnight Magic” — where drummers wore glowing neon as they drummed underneath black lights to hip-hop beats.

“‘Midnight Magic’ was the best so far because it was different from the typical band performance,” Russell said, adding, “but really the whole thing’s great.”

Despite the differences in tempo and genres of music performed, one factor was consistent throughout each number — the energy. The drum major conducted each number with exaggerated and vitalized gestures, encouraging enthusiasm from both the players onstage and the crowd.

The performers were all current students or recent graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Aheisha Duke, cast member and student at Florida A&M, said she has to have tons of endurance to complete the show. In the show, Duke plays the trumpet, drums and sings.

“It takes a lot of energy, but I push through. Music is my life. I do it because it’s what I love,” Duke said.

Duke and her fellow cast members were often interactive during their performance. Cast members came into the audience at many points throughout the show, waving their instruments in the air, and encouraging audience members to take their hands and drum.

The second act opened with this same sense of interaction,and gave the auditorium a taste of what was to come later in the show. Three drummers onstage played beats typically heard at a football game and had the audience mimic with clapping.

The echoing claps were interrupted by a voice similar to one that would introduce a basketball team before a game.

“Welcome to halftime,” Thorpe’s voiced boomed through the speakers.

This part of the show was a Historically Black Colleges and Universities tribute, where the band played HBCU classics typically heard at a competition or halftime show.

Cast members delivered the percussive beats, strong brass notes and synchronized choreography that are trademarks of a marching band.

After a final drum battle, the cast took its bows and thanked the audience for attending. Though the curtain was drawn, this did not conclude the night.

Snares, bass drums, trumpet and trombones paraded through the aisles to the lobby, where they continued to play as audience members danced to the HBCU beats.