Issue date: 7/19/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Stephen Larrick A Pioneer color guard member waves her flag Thursday at the Thunder on the Plains Drum and Bugle Corp Competition in O´brien Field.

Media Credit: Stephen Larrick The Magic form a circle in the middle of O´brien Field Thursday night during the Thunder on the Plains Drum and Bugle Corp Competition.

Drum and bugle corps from around the country displayed their talent in front of several thousand people attending "Thunder on the Plains," the Drum Corps International (DCI) event held at O'Brien Stadium Thursday, July 14.

Five drum and bugle corps participated in the event and each group was judged in three general categories to determine who gave the best performance that night.

The Cavaliers, a group from Rosemont, edged out the Madison Scouts, from Madison, Wisconsin, by less than two points to win the competition with a score of 87.55 points out of a possible 100.

According to the event program, The DCI judging philosophy is that any group can win at any contest. The judges' decisions are based on the performances they observe and not on corps reputation or past performances.

For the most part competition is friendly but rivalries do exist between the drum corps said Jeff Brooks, a member of the Madison Scouts.

"Sometimes it's friendly but when it comes down to it your trying to win. You want to be your best," Brooks said.

"There are some people who if they don't get a ring at the end of the season they think the summer has been a waste and other people go out for fun," Guillaume Eek, member of the Madison Scouts, said. "Really it's about working really hard and feeling good about it. And, I think that's more the mindset here. We work as hard as we can and do the best that we can."

Members of the different drum and bugle corps spend their entire summer traveling the country competing in events similar to the one held at O'Brien Stadium.

"It's pretty crazy," Eek said. "You spend eight hours a day rehearsing together, eating together, sleeping together, pretty much everything together for the entire summer, with little breaks for anything else."

Everyone deals with being away from their girlfriends and family in their own way Brooks said. Sometimes friends and family are able to visit the groups on the road but to the individuals traveling with these groups it is really about dedicating as much of the limited amount of time you have with the drum corps, with the drum corps.

"It's definitely a one of a kind experience," Brooks said. "You get to spend so much time with the same group of people and you develop such a sense of brotherhood with the people you spend all that time with that it really is a one of a kind experience."

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