Drum and bugle groups to step into CV Stadium

Some of the country’s top drum and bugle corps will be stepping smartly into the Central Valley High School Stadium on Friday for the Spokane Drum and Bugle Classic.

The fourth annual Spokane event is one of more than 100 competitions leading up to this year’s Drum Corps International Championships in Denver in August. They feature youths aged 14 to 21 performing precision music-and-marching routines like those in the recent movie “Drumline” and the stage show “Blast.”

Judges score the brass, percussion and color guard units in each corps in a variety of visual and musical categories.

Leading this year’s Spokane field are the 11-time and defending world champion Blue Devils from Concord, Calif., and the six-time champion Santa Clara (Calif.) Vanguard.

Their programs illustrate the diversity of drum and bugle corps performances. The Blue Devils present “The SummerTrain Blues MIX,” a tribute to the American traditions of riding the rails and singing the blues; for the Vanguard, it’s “Attraction: The Music of Scheherazade,” based on the classic Rimsky-Korsakov interpretation of the “Arabian Nights” tales.

Other visiting groups include the Mandarins from Sacramento, Calif., the Seattle Cascades and the Oregon Crusaders from Portland. Also, the new Spokane Thunder corps will give its first public performance.

Gates open Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the school, 821 S. Sullivan Road, with the competition starting at 7. Tickets are $20, $17 and $15, through TicketsWest outlets (325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).

The Blue Devils will conduct a free educational clinic today at 6:30 p.m. at the school.