Distant Thunder (marching band)
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Distant Thunder Show Corps
[[|Distant Thunder Show Corps]]
| Location | Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire |
|---|---|
| Division | Division 1 |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Director | Johnathan Dimmick |
| Championship Titles | 2005 Division 2 champions, 2004 DCE champions |
| Corps Uniform | See uniform section |
Distant Thunder Show Corps is a Division 1 marching brass and percussion band currently competing in BYBA (British Youth Band Association) and Drum Corps Europe. They are currently based in Sharnbrook Upper School.
Contents |
[edit] History
The band was originally formed in 1981 as Bedford and Kempston E flat drum and bugle corps, they were renamed the Buccaneers in 1986 and rested in 1999. They were then reformed as Distant Thunder in 1999 by Johnathan Dimmick, Paul Bishop and Richard Harding. Like their uniforms the band has dramatically changed. The band has now 50-60 members, woodwind instruments have been removed from the corps and Richard Harding left the band at presentation night 2005. They have also moved up from division 2 to division 1 after an undefeated season in 2005. In 2007, a winterguard group, Serenity was formed.
[edit] Sections
This listing is of 2007
Horn Line
The current horn line consists of 20 members including 8 trumpets, 5 mellophones, 5 baritones and 2 contrabasses.
Battery Percussion
The current drummers consist of 3 snare drums, 1 tenor drum and 3 bass drums.
Pit Percussion
Their are currently 8 members of the pit line including 2 instructors. The instruments in the pit consist of 2 xylophones, 2 marimbas, 2 vibraphones, 1 glockenspiel, cymbals, 1 bass drum and gong plus other small percusion instruments.
Colourguard
The colourguard section has 9 members and uses flags, rifles and sabres to give the show some colour.
[edit] Past Shows
2000 - Johnny One Note/Georgia
2001 - Robbie Williams
2002 - Jazz and Swing
2003 - Harry Potter
2004 - Phantom of the Opera
2005 - West Side Story
2006 - CGI: Reality is Not our Business
2007 - Wicked
2008 - Awakening the Elements
[edit] 2007 England tour
| Date | Event | Location | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5th | Southern Preview | Biggleswade | N/A |
| June 3rd | Ouse Valley Sounds | Kempston | Winners |
| June 24th | Colchester YMBC | Colchester | 2nd to 6th Hove Scouts |
| July 14th | Academy Brass | Barnsley | 2nd to 6th Hove Scouts |
| September 9th | Brass Explosion | Stafford | 3rd to 37th Kingswood and 6th Hove Scouts |
| September 23rd | Midland Impact | Hinckley | 2nd to 37th Kingswood |
| September 29th | DCE Prelims | Rotterdam | Failed to make the top 10 and therefore couldn't compete in the DCE Finals |
| October 7th | BYBA National Championships | Coventry | 3rd to 6th Hove Scouts and 37th Kingswood |
[edit] The Uniform
From toe to head, the current marching member uniform from 2005 consists of black shoes and socks followed by black trousers. The jacket is purple and white on each arm divided by a 90 degree black strip with a diamond in the middle and black gloves and gauntlets on the arms and hands. The diamond varies each year:
2005 - Silver
2006 - Black with either a white 0 or 1 (representing computer coding)
2007 - White with a black O and a green Z in the middle
2008 - TBA
The head gear is a white plastic cowboy hat with a black fabric around the middle and a black plume and silver highlights.
The colourguard uniform is plain black with black corset tied up with green and white string.
[edit] Trivia
- On October 28th 2007, Distant Thunder played a static performance of their 2007 show at Wicked Day in London.
