One of the hardest things to do musically is to entertain an audience without words. When there are no lyrics the audience focuses more intensely on the sound, waiting for mistakes to be made and errors to be heard. Then go ahead and multiply that pressure that the band feels when there are no other instruments but drums. Not necessarily having a harmony or melody in a piece can make it hard to captivate an audience as well, but this drum line has mastered it all. They are both musically and visually stunning.
This is not your average drum performance – this audience was in for a visual treat they could never have expected.
The group is called Top Secret Drum Corps and they are very popular on YouTube. The Dutch group started out with 7 members performing traditionally, which graduated to them experimenting with other techniques. Once they gained popularity and were invited to play multiple shows, they expanded their team into a full marching drum line. Starting with their uniformity, everything is perfection. Every drum roll, head tilt, and step matches one another and they are rarely out of sync.
The complexity of this performance is wild. This group knows how to move and it’s clear that they know what they’re doing. Multiple times throughout the show the team hits each others drums, without dropping sticks or messing each other up. They mix the up the sound of just the snare and bass drums by regularly hitting their sticks in a way that you would think would break them.
One drill during the show involves the team breaking up, and just when you start to wonder whats happening they start throwing their sticks to each other. Mix in a little bit of chanting and choreography and the crowd is loving every second.. They do all of this seamlessly without missing a beat, and making it look so easy.
The audience was completely mesmerized by the complexity of their routine.
While for much of the show the focus is on the snare drummers, impressing the audience with their speed and tricks, the bass drums holding the piece together and keeping everyone in time are not ignored. They get a moment to shine when they the snare drummers split and reveal them hovering over their bass drums, fully focused and speeding up the tempo, doing head tricks of their own. The flag twirlers are also a great addition, though the drummers are sort of mesmerizing, they create a visual break and add a touch of gracefulness to the show.
And let’s not ignore the climax of the show when the snare drummers face off with the flag twirlers with just their sticks. With their traditional dress, this face off adds a whole new level of entertainment to the marching. This unique addition not only adds to the visuals of the whole performance, but every hit to the flag pole, adds to the piece of music.
They throw in an unconventional twist that has the crowd on their feet in uproar.
Then as if that wasn’t an impressive enough bonus to the performance, for the finale, they actually light their drumsticks on fire. The march in a line and move tilt their sticks to create a stunning view for everyone watching, from the computer or in the audience. This stunning visual makes the crowd go wild, earning them a standing ovation. It’s clear that in this competition, this team is a serious contender.
Watch below for their stunning performance – their precision and choreography is incredible to witness.
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