Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Drum Squad are BI-WINNING!
Top day today! First off, Bo and top Squaddies Ben LeGrice and Reiss "Red Hand" Hemming hit a Bancroft HEAVING with tourists and sun-worshippers at 2 o'clock to wake up the deckchair dwelling dozers with an hour of hardcore African drumming. And when I say hardcore, I mean actual blood and sweat (no tears...Squaddies don't cry). Reiss played until his fingers LITERALLY bled, and my djembe will forever be stained with his efforts. Couldn't be prouder...true grit dude, respect. The whole thing was in aid of fundraising for the Shakespeare Hospice via the Alcester Rotary Club who had arranged for a bunch of street performers to attack the Riverside with furious entertainment in the name of charity. For fun, Rotary Club activist and Stratford Wing Tsun martial arts coach Alex Green ran a competition to see which of the acts raised the most money. Guess who won? No go on guess......oh alright yes it was us! 40 odd quid in under an hour...not bad going! As a prize Bo was presented with a bottle of wine (hic!) and a VERY swish signed and framed illustration of the Peter Pan monument in Kensington Gardens. No, I'm not sure what the connection is either, but it's beautiful, very much appreciated and will take pride of place here at Drum Squad HQ. Photos and videos of the event, including close-ups of Reiss' shredded digits, will follow shortly.
Then it was a mad dash back to base to pick up the snare drums for today's regular Drum Squad session at The Buzz, where Joel Hinton, Zak-Attack Larsson, Cameron Hathaway-Saunders and Luca Saraceni were put through their paces as Marion Morgan, head honcho of the Shakespeare's Birthday Parade dropped in for a surprise inspection of their preparations for next week's Bard-oriented fandango. With only 2 hours of training, the fearless four (all between 7 and 8 years old!) didn't bat an eyelid when they found out they will be LEADING the entire procession next Saturday in front of the whole town, dignitaries and all, with their military style marching drums. A nonchalent swig of their radioactive-looking fizzy drinks and it was back to doing circuits of the hall, knocking seven bells out of shoulder-mounted snare drums that weigh almost as much as they do! Marion seemed impressed, saying "You guys are going to be brilliant!". Going to be, Marion? This is Drum Squad....this is where brilliant lives!
For all those who want to come out and support our pint-size processioneers, we'll be setting out from the top of Bridge Street shortly before 11am this coming Saturday 30th April and making our way down and right as far as the Holy Trinity Church. As always, we'd love to see any photos and videos you take of the occasion, so please send them to info@drumsquad.co.uk. For video files you can either a) Upload them to YouTube/Vimeo etc and send us the link, b) Send them via YouSendIt.com or c) burn them onto a CD and drop it off at The Buzz.
Then it was a mad dash back to base to pick up the snare drums for today's regular Drum Squad session at The Buzz, where Joel Hinton, Zak-Attack Larsson, Cameron Hathaway-Saunders and Luca Saraceni were put through their paces as Marion Morgan, head honcho of the Shakespeare's Birthday Parade dropped in for a surprise inspection of their preparations for next week's Bard-oriented fandango. With only 2 hours of training, the fearless four (all between 7 and 8 years old!) didn't bat an eyelid when they found out they will be LEADING the entire procession next Saturday in front of the whole town, dignitaries and all, with their military style marching drums. A nonchalent swig of their radioactive-looking fizzy drinks and it was back to doing circuits of the hall, knocking seven bells out of shoulder-mounted snare drums that weigh almost as much as they do! Marion seemed impressed, saying "You guys are going to be brilliant!". Going to be, Marion? This is Drum Squad....this is where brilliant lives!
For all those who want to come out and support our pint-size processioneers, we'll be setting out from the top of Bridge Street shortly before 11am this coming Saturday 30th April and making our way down and right as far as the Holy Trinity Church. As always, we'd love to see any photos and videos you take of the occasion, so please send them to info@drumsquad.co.uk. For video files you can either a) Upload them to YouTube/Vimeo etc and send us the link, b) Send them via YouSendIt.com or c) burn them onto a CD and drop it off at The Buzz.
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Drum Squad is GO!
Drum Squad had it's very first session at the Buzz Cafe youth centre last Saturday. And despite it being early days, the Squad are straight in at the deep end with TWO public appearances this month! This coming Saturday, Bo and two of his more experienced members Ben LeGrice and Reiss Hemming will be doing an improvised West African drumming busk as part of a fund raising event for the Alcester Rotary Club. They'll be hitting the streets from 2 till 3 in the afternoon as part of a Performance Arts based event that will be going on all day. More details to follow!
The second event is a bit of military style marching drums as a small group of Squaddies will be heading up the procession for the Shakespeare's Birthday celebration next Saturday April 30th. It'll be an early start (by rock 'n' roll standards!) as they set off from the top of Bridge Street at 10am and strut their stuff all the way down the hill, round the bend and finish down at the Holy Trinity Church. A proud moment for them and for the Drum Squad, and a great example of our aim to bring our drumming out in public and get involved with the local community.
We'd be very grateful for any and all photos or video footage taken of either of these two events. If you have anything you'd like to share with us, please send it to info@drumsquad.co.uk, or for larger video files you can upload them to YouTube and send us a link, or simply burn it onto a CD and drop it off any time at the Buzz Cafe marked for the attention of Drum Squad.
A great start and LOTS more to look forward to!
Keep the beat, and see you on the street!
The second event is a bit of military style marching drums as a small group of Squaddies will be heading up the procession for the Shakespeare's Birthday celebration next Saturday April 30th. It'll be an early start (by rock 'n' roll standards!) as they set off from the top of Bridge Street at 10am and strut their stuff all the way down the hill, round the bend and finish down at the Holy Trinity Church. A proud moment for them and for the Drum Squad, and a great example of our aim to bring our drumming out in public and get involved with the local community.
We'd be very grateful for any and all photos or video footage taken of either of these two events. If you have anything you'd like to share with us, please send it to info@drumsquad.co.uk, or for larger video files you can upload them to YouTube and send us a link, or simply burn it onto a CD and drop it off any time at the Buzz Cafe marked for the attention of Drum Squad.
A great start and LOTS more to look forward to!
Keep the beat, and see you on the street!
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