Detail
An Evening of Percussion
With the Crystal Lake Strikers All-Star Drumline
Saturday, February 20, 2010 7:00 pm
This event will be packed with energy and excitement and will feature performances by the Strikers All-Stars Drumline that is comprised of talented high school drummers from Cary Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge High Schools. The evening will also feature ten distinct performances by regional musicians in addition to the All-Stars including drum set, marimba and timpani solo’s as well as percussion ensemble performances and steelpan.
The many highlights of the evening will include “The Drum Battle for All Ages” between local jazz man and Raue Center loyalist Bob Blazier (age 83) and eleven year old upstart Joey Hanley. Anticipating the challenge, Blazier commented “I am sure Joey has the speed, but I have seventy-five years of rhythm behind me.”
This event is a new fundraiser to benefit Raue Center and the Strikers Scholarship Fund. At the end of the evening the first annual Strikers Scholarship will be awarded to one of the seniors in the Strikers All-Stars.
Admission is $12 for adults, $5 for kids 8+ and free for kids 7 and under.
Tickets can be purchased through the Raue Center Box Office in person or by calling 815.356.9212.
About the Crystal Lake Strikers All-Star Drumline
In the fall of 2007, three area men sat in a local coffee shop imagining the possibilities of forming a drumline that would achieve two essential goals: One, provide a performing outlet for drummers of college age and beyond and two, to help support and educate aspiring young musicians. Within a matter of months following that meeting, the founders of the Crystal Lake Strikers Drumline, Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley, Councilman Brett Hopkins and Prairie Ridge Drumline instructor Thomas Kundmann, realized the first of these dreams when the line with the motto “have fun and don’t suck” stepped off in the Crystal Lake Gala Parade. Sporting their zebra skin drums and bowling “uniforms” the members of the Strikers clearly had fun and area crowds clearly loved the music and entertainment. Since that first parade, the Strikers have been widely acclaimed in parades and performances all over the region and have appeared in Chicago’s Thanksgiving Day Parade twice.
