I dreamed of being in the MI Drumline for years while I was in high school and college...and it all became a reality (as corny as that sounds)! I was a member of the ID (in the Bass Line) for the 1997 and 1998 MI seasons, and the 1999 Contest Line.
The Illini Drumline begins auditions through five Saturday camps, usually placed on the calendar like so: February (1 camp), March (1), April (2), and May (1). By June, the sections are beginning to take shape and each have independent all-day camps. July brings on 3-Day Fest (the infamous Fri-Sat-Sun nonstop rehearsal) which unites the almost-complete line for the first time. August presents band camp, 8-10 consecutive 13-hour endurance building days of marching, playing, sweating, followed by some more marching and playing. And then, daily full band rehearsals throughout the football season with 8-hour performance days on home football game Saturdays. The drumline also frequently plays seperate gigs around campus or at high school festivals in the area. Fun fun!
I played the Bass Drum with the same four people both years. We were an amazingly solid group, learning to make beautiful multiple-note runs like you've never heard (on five bass drums of different sizes, that is!) We never stopped striving for improvement, and continued to get cleaner through the 1997 and 1998 football seasons and the 1999 winter contest season.
I continued with the line during the winter of 1999...it's called Contest Line, and it was a smaller selection of the line willing to take their drumming to the next level. First, we had two three-day camps before Christmas. After the holidays, we coordinated drill and music in three weeks of intensive, non-stop rehearsing. We performed once at a U of I women's basketball game, and two more times in the Chicago suburb of Glenbrook, IL (home of the annual Spartan Marching Percussion Festival). As the only college line in a mostly high school competition, we performed two exhibitions of our 10-15 minute show. When I look back, Contest Line '99 was very hard work. But it was a great way to retire from the Marching Illini Drumline!
Illini Drumline - Cadences 1998 (3 min 40 sec) - This is the complete set of four cadences (Long, Latin, SCV, and Bluecoats) that we would play while marching to the Stadium, as well as just about every other band performance. It was great fun and always a crowd pleaser!
"Hey!" Cheer (39 sec) - An old song-turned-bleacher-tune. You'll probably recognize it from the Jock Jams series.
Zeppelin (26 sec) - Another one for the crowd. This classic Zeppelin tune made for a nice ram-fest (i.e. rockin' out!) in the stands.
Trombone Cheer (21 sec) - The trombones wail, the percussion rams, and the rest of the band yells "Go, Fight, Win!" It's quite inspirational.
Beer (21 sec) - I don't know where this one came from, but there is a simplistic comedy to it. =)
War Chant (37 sec) - One of the greatest Illini tunes, devoted to Chief Illiniwek. This one would start with the band director pointing to cue the bottom-most bass drum (sometimes me)...you'll hear why.
The Imperial March (43 sec) - The opposing team (or the ref) upset us? They get a little Darth Vader theme music!
"7" (23 sec) - An inspirational count to 7 (with percussion), when the team offensively had the ball within fifty yards of a touchdown.
The official site of the Illini Drumline, maintained by current ID members.
Here's a listing of all the other Marching Illini sections and their pages.
Check out info, pictures, and sounds of the entire band at the new, improved MI homepage here.
This site represents all branches of the University of Illinois' Fighting Illini!
