The Story of Thunder

Background

The Spokane area has always had a great musical heritage. We are lucky to have a lot of very talented young persons in the local area and we have the added benefit of several very good music departments and instructors in and around Spokane. There are fine music programs offered through Washington State University, Whitworth University, the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho, Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University, and Spokane Falls Community College. All of these schools are within a 75 mile drive from Spokane.

Over the years, Spokane has had many local musicians participate in drum and bugle corps from various regions of the country. Often these "outside" experiences were all that was available as Spokane did not have a local corps. There are two notable exceptions to this, however.

Between 1961 and 1974 Spokane was home to the Percussion-naut Patriots. This corps was organized and operated by the legendary Howie Robbins. Starting with a small group of his percussion students, the Percussionaut Colonial Unit was born – playing music from the American colonial time and dressing in appropriate uniforms. Over the years, Howie built this into a large and successful drum corps; the Patriots. They competed nationally, winning many awards, and toured Europe and performed in Washington DC

Renaissance Drum & Bugle Corps represented Spokane on the national scene between 1975 and 1980. They were also a successful corps, and in 1980 finished in 27th in Division I at Drum Corps International (DCI) World Finals in Birmingham, Alabama.

According to the website "Drum & Bugle Corps of North America," there were also two other corps in Spokane’s history, but it does not list the years they existed or any other details. These were apparently operated by the American Legion Post 9, and the El Katif Shrine.

The Beginning of Thunder

The Spokane Thunder Drum & Bugle Corps was formed in 2004 in an effort spearheaded by Anton Delateur and the Spokane Drum Corps Association (SDCA). The Spokane Thunder became the first competitive junior drum corps in Spokane in almost 25 years. The corps began with a small cadre of Spokane area youngsters and presented a couple of exhibition performances that year. The next year the corps grew a bit and performed in the Pacific Northwest and California in seven shows.

A Banner Year & a Turning Point

The 2006 competitive year came with high expectations for performance excellence. The number of youngsters in the corps had grown to 60, and the skill level was outstanding. The group set a goal of competing on the national level with plans to travel in the northwest and to the Midwest to participate in 11 Drum Corps International (DCI) shows. The season would end in August at the DCI World Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. The optimism for a great year was appropriate, as the season was a great success. Shown below is a press release issued in September of 2006:

Competed in a total of 9 DCI shows, and won Division III five times
Took second place in the "Great Lakes Open" in Michigan City, Indiana
Took second place in the "River City Rhapsody" in LaCrosse, Wisconsin
Took 6th place in Division III at Drum Corps International World Championships
Won the best band trophy in the Coeur d’Alene “American Heros” Parade

Thunder in Open Class, a Great Year

In 2008, Drum Corps International replaced the old Division I, II, and III system and went to just two categories – World Class (the old Div. I), and Open Class – everyone else. Thunder, competing in the new Open Class, had another outstanding year finishing in 7th place at World Finals at the University of Indiana in Bloomington. Thunder also was voted as the "Most Improved Corps" for the year.

For the 2009 season, Thunder was inactive as a competing corps, but formed a one year alliance with the Northwest Youth Music Association whereby the Thunder members became part of the Cascades Drum & Bugle Corps of Seattle. The Cascades are a World Class corps and competed at DCI World Championships in Indianapolis in August of 2009 scoring in 22nd place. This provided valuable experience for the Thunder members and should serve us well as Thunder re-emerges as an Open Class corps in the 2010 season.