CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Calling themselves a “professional marching band,” an Illinois-based group lit up the field Monday night for the Drums Across the Tri-State show in Charleston.
With 150 horn players, drummers and color guard performers, the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps hosted the show at the University of Charleston’s Laidley Field as part of their 60-day Drum Corps International Summer Tour across the United States.
“We travel and tour just like rock stars, but it’s band to an extent,” said color guard captain and four-year member Aylin Vural, of Westminster, Md.
Vural is a former student of West Virginia University. She said it was nice to be in the Mountain State again and see some of her professors.
“It was kind of like my personal home show as well as Phantom’s home show,” said Vural. “It was a nice change of pace. That’s one of my favorite parts is seeing different places all over the country coast to coast.”
Executive Director Rick Valenzuela said on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline” the world-class corps has hosted the show in Charleston since 2002.
This year, the Phantom Regiment’s field show is entitled “City of Light,” a Paris-themed production with pieces such as “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin and “I Love Paris” by Cole Porter, along with color guard members dressed as the famous Audrey Hepburn from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Conductor David Warren, of Carrollton, Ga., leads the group. He said every year the horn line gets to warm up outside the state Capitol building before heading over to the stadium.
“When we actually walk to the gate we get to walk through the Medal of Honor memorial next to the Capitol. That’s always really cool. We do it with helmets off, like a respect thing for all the veterans,” said Warren, who is also a four-year member.
Five other drum corps from Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington, California and Oregon also performed Monday night. Each production ran 10 to 11 minutes each.
“That’s 11 minutes of non-stop motion. Now-a-days, there’s no standing still,” Valenzuela said about the way DCI shows are designed.
The DCI Tour runs from June to August, but Valenzuela said his group of designers start collaborating in late August – only a few short weeks after their season ends before member auditions begin in November.
“I’ve had 700 people come audition for 150 spots,” he said about the people they see from around the world. “So, the more you’ve done your craft whether it’s drumming or playing a horn or dancing and spinning flags and tossing rifles, the better chance you have.”
Once the group is set at 150, they meet during the winter months to learn music, then in May the entire corps comes together to learn the show before starting their summer tour of 12 hour rehearsal days and competitions in stadiums packed with thousands of fans.
“It’s intense. The hours in the day, the travel and they don’t stay in hotels. They stay on a gym floor with an air mattress and every day they pack their stuff up and move on to the next stop,” said Valenzuela.
Valenzuela said every group is different – from their look, to the music they play, to how they move. The Phantom Regiment is known to play classical music and is the only group in DCI with an all-female color guard.
“Besides the marching and playing and all the forms that we teach, we also teach life long skills. They’re going to learn dedication, commitment and definitely hard work,” he said.
The Phantom Regiment is a youth organization with members ranging from ages 16 to 21. The group has received many honors throughout its history serving as the 1996 and 2008 Drum Corps International World Champion.