DEC. 7 I FIVE-STAR DRUM SHOPS I CHARITY
Big Beat Raises $60K

Eleven Five-Star Drum Shops participated in the second annual Big Beat on Nov. 1. A total of 1,202 drummers took part in the event with nearly 3,500 spectators watching across 11 locations in North America. More than 4,600 pounds of food were collected, and $62,500 was raised for charity, compared with $17,000 last year. The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation will receive approximately $39,000 to purchase musical instruments for deserving children in participating Big Beat cities. The remaining $23,500 will go to children’s organizations and food pantries in various Big Beat areas.

The participating Five-Star shops were: Buffalo Drum Outlet, Buffalo, N.Y.; Columbus Percussion, Columbus, Ohio; Donn Bennett Drum Studio, Seattle; Drum Headquarters, St. Louis; Drum World, Tulsa, Okla.; Just Drums, Toronto; Lemmon Percussion, San Jose, Calif.; The Percussion Center, Houston; Resurrection Drums, Hollywood, Fla.; Skins-n-Tins, Champaign, Ill.; and Stebal Drums, Cleveland.

Each location held a variety of events throughout the day, from demonstrations by Taiko drummers to drum corps to percussion ensembles. Some had guest appearances by notable drummers, such as Jimmy Chamberlin, Ray Luzier, Herman Matthews, Jason McGerr, Russ Miller and Derek Roddy. One drummer in Toronto won a bass drumhead autographed just for the occasion by drummer Neil Peart. The highlight of the day was when all 1,202 drummers in all 11 cities played the same groove at the same time, a feat that was achieved through a video Internet connection, with the director in each city following a conductor in Seattle.

Additionally, 24 percussion vendors enabled each location to give away $16,000 worth of drum gear to participants. The vendors included: Dream, Drum Fun, Drum Workshop, Evans, Extreme Headphones, Gretsch, Istanbul Agop, LP, Mapex, Paiste, Pearl, Pro-Mark, Regal Tip and Remo. MI

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