Calgary Stampede Sweeps DCI SoundSport and DrumLine Battle

A photo of Calgary Stampede.

The Calgary (Canada) Stampede Showband stole the show at both the SoundSport International Music and Food Festival, presented by Motif Music, and the DrumLine Battle during the 2018 Drum Corps International World Championship weekend in Indianapolis. The group swept both events, winning the DrumLine Battle competition and receiving a Gold rating, Best in Class for youth with more than 50 members, and Best of Show (overall winner) at SoundSport.

“It’s a huge sense of pride for everyone in our organization,” says Ryan Hancock, manager of bands, about the double victory.

For the SoundSport festival, Hancock explains that the band took its 45-minute step show that it normally performs during the Calgary Stampede rodeo and agricultural events held annually in July and condensed it into a seven-minute program. The SoundSport venue in the Pavilion at Pan Am Plaza also required the band to be more stationary than in other performances.

For the music, Hancock says that the group concentrated on “[playing] the most engaging, high-energy stuff we had.”

For the visual component, the group created the band’s initials, “CS.”

The Calgary Stampede Showband last attended the DCI events in 2015 when it also won the SoundSport Best in Show. In DrumLine Battle in 2015, Calgary Stampede won the International Division but not the championship. Hancock reveals that this year’s goal was simply to be at least as successful as the group had been in both categories in 2015.

It was “not the goal or the expectation to take the whole thing home,” Hancock says. Everyone is still “beaming with pride” over the band’s accomplishments, he adds.

Photo courtesy of Ken Martinson/Marching.com.

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Jamie Lee Cortese

Jamie Lee Cortese graduated from Northwestern University with a double major in Radio/TV/Film and political science. Jamie also writes scripts and is an actor, singer, and director who hosts a weekly radio show, Jammin’ with Jamie. Visit her website and read her blog at JamieLeeCortese.com.

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